Press for “Drew and the Floating Labyrinth”

So “Drew and the Floating Labyrinth” will finish it’s Kickstarter campaign in about a week. It only received a few backers in the last couple of weeks, one of which was especially generous. Overall, it still looks unlikely that it will lead to a successful funding.

It’s strange… my previous Kickstarter campaign got three times as many backers, despite even less press and an obvious lack of quality and polish. Many of those original backers were the sort of people to back hundreds of projects… maybe this is a sign that Kickstarter fans are finally starting to get wary about giving money to people after not receiving their dues from past projects. Or maybe they were hesitant that I made an entirely new game when the first Kickstarter failed, even though the two are ultimately very similar. Most likely, I’ll say that August is one of the worst times to run a campaign, perhaps because people are still reeling or gone from those expensive, time-consuming vacations. I won’t say it’s all entirely because of the game’s quality to keep myself sane, and also because it actually received more praise than anything I’ve shown before. Anyway, I’ll let it finish, but it’s disappointing that it’ll leave yet another black mark on my game, my studio, and my name. And it helps me feel better if it doesn’t support additional languages or features, since no one would care (maybe I’m being cynical here, but unless I ever sell more than a dozen copies, I’ll assume it true).

I’m not getting as much press either. I did get a bit a little later (I apologize for spamming news sites). Thanks again to The Highscore Blog, Two-Dash-Stash, The Indie Game Mag, LootAndLoreInc(Youtube), Cliqist and IndiE3 for all helping preview the game. A few of my many Twitter followers have kindly encouraged the game’s development. But indieDB and reddit, both of which were high sources of traffic in the past, have seen almost zero feedback and no followers. I did try free press release sites (ultimately worthless), and Facebook ads (for the small amount I paid, not too bad, but barely any change in interest), and can’t think of anything left.

It’s as if everything I thought I knew about the Internet and indie fans flipped on it’s head. And only one week before “Drew and the Floating Labyrinth” releases (on Desura, tentatively on August 29).

But I’m still proud of “Drew and the Floating Labyrinth.” It’s still one of the most unique things I’ve seen, enough so that (despite personal feelings of it not being nearly as impressive as most indie titles) I think it can stand tall next to even the most stand-out indie games. And it’s complete, again more than most indie developers can state. If only there was a way to get more attention…

Well, if I can’t go to the gamers and the press, I’ll let the gamers and the press come to me. “Drew and the Floating Labyrinth” will be on show at PAX PRIME from August 29, 2014 to September 1, 2014, at Dust Scratch Game’s booth on the 6th floor of the Washington State Convention Center.

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(some more press, updated October 13, 2014):