Issue #18 - Spring Updates
Heyo! Time for some spring updates on Barty's Adventure progress. My life has been a little upside-down for a few months (being a federal employee has been not great recently!), but in the end I'm able to put that much more time into the game as well as some fun little game-adjacent treats. So let's gooooooo...
Development Update
So I should start with an update on what's been happening since the Steam page release in January. Friday will be two months since the page went live, and we're up to 136 wishlists. I expect that number to start to rise once I get the demo out the door (more below!), but I still want to do what I can until then. I've been applying to as many game festivals as I can, and even got into the Days of Ramadan Festival on Steam. Even being one of over 400 games in the festival has resulted in a bump in wishlists this month, so every little bit helps.
I'm also meeting with a PR firm tomorrow to see if it makes sense to hire a professional to get the word out. Usually these firms are pretty expensive to hire, but it will still be good to get a conversation started and focus my marketing efforts.
My goal is to have everything come to a head at the demo release. I have heard back from a bunch of journalists, streamers, and websites who are interested in checking out a demo once it's ready. That means the demo release will be a huge test for how viable this game idea actually will be upon full release. If the demo does well and gets some attention, I can use that momentum to push towards more interest (and hopefully some sales next year!). Right now I'm planning a May demo release, so keep an eye out here for more info soon.
POP QUIZ!
I mentioned above that I've been working on some fun surprises, and the first released this morning: The Old Toys Personality Quiz!
Are you a determined Rainbow Sprinkles? A devout Duck Duck? Take the quiz and leave a comment with who you got!
Up Stream
The last bit of news is that I'm looking into streaming my game dev progress a couple times a week on Twitch. I think this could not only open up the game to a new audience, but also keep me on a consistent gamedev schedule now that I am untethered from the 9-5.
Follow here for streaming at some point in the future!
Seabass Picks
I'm going to start ending these newsletters with what else I've been into lately. Feel free to share your own recent picks!
Games: Baldur's Gate 3 (still!); Avowed (all the choices!); Link's Awakening (first time!
Books: The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
Shows: Severance (Season 2); White Lotus (Seasons 1 and 3)
Hoping to have demo progress in a couple of weeks to share. Thanks! 😄
This newsletter is an update series for the development of the game Barty's Adventure. Please wishlist on Steam here!
If you are interested in continuing the conversation, please join the community Discord server: https://discord.gg/M7p2Mtgkyx. Your input in these early stages of the game are invaluable and much appreciated. Thanks!
