26 replies to this topic

[Hiznopellagio]

Hey, I was wondering;
1. How do i get my game into spotlight? It's always innoquous, unitron 2, Helicopter hero, Laos quest, Sprint the king of lion, etc. Does all these game will permanent on spotight? If not, How to get in there?

2. How do i get my game into featured? I've upload many games and it's not get in featured.

I know maybe my question is n00b , But i really don't know anything .

[Hugo_Peters]

Erhm... Your games have to be more popular than Innoquous (and others) to get them featured. No offense, but I don't think that will happen.

[Jack Indie Box]

LUCK, catchy name, word of mouth, good advertisement, eye catching app icon and screenshots, good price(or free), lots of content to promote good ratings, ask the users to rate the app, AND ofcourse brilliant gameplay, ideally very addictive.

But basically, dont worry about it, just develop the best you can as there is a huge chance your game wont even get close the the competition even if you have 10 years of development experience, in the end its down to the crowd audience

[Mailas]

I actually e-mailed a few top developers who had featured apps.
They all said it was just pure luck.

There are way better apps on the market that are better than the featured ones,
but they aren't featured.

[RedChu]

There are no particular guidelines to follow to get your games featured, as moderators feature games they enjoy and feel deserve more attention than it's currently getting; people have different tastes, and there's no way to cater to everyone. The best advice I can give you to increase your chances of getting a featured game is to make a good game, get people to play it and hope a moderator sees it; don't ask a moderator to feature your game though, as this will likely hurt your chances of getting it featured rather than helping.

As for the spotlight, I believe that's usually updated when enough new games have been featured (or that's how it's seemingly been ran for the past couple of years,) and only YYG staff update it.

[Jordi957]

Ever since the new website was launched, though, the spotlight feature has not been updated.
Someone should really still be keeping tabs on the sandbox and updating it periodically.

[Jack Indie Box]

i think i overheard that its being redone(may be wrong), i know the reviewers thing is being redone and opened up to the "public"

[chance]

I actually e-mailed a few top developers who had featured apps.
They all said it was just pure luck.

There are way better apps on the market that are better than the featured ones,
but they aren't featured.

Pure luck? So you're saying the YoYo staff just pick games at random to be featured? Not hardly.

It's a question of personal taste. Some staff liked a particular game and found it well made, so they decided to "feature it". But not everyone has the same personal taste -- so yeah, you'll always find other games you think are more deserving. That shouldn't come as a surprise.

[Hiznopellagio]

@scylla: Can you tell me the sandbox's moderarator's email please? I want to e-mail 'em . Thanks

[Chris_Devl]

I actually e-mailed a few top developers who had featured apps.
They all said it was just pure luck.

There are way better apps on the market that are better than the featured ones,
but they aren't featured.

Pure luck? So you're saying the YoYo staff just pick games at random to be featured? Not hardly.

It's a question of personal taste. Some staff liked a particular game and found it well made, so they decided to "feature it". But not everyone has the same personal taste -- so yeah, you'll always find other games you think are more deserving. That shouldn't come as a surprise.

That.. That sounds a lot like luck..

@ OP
Yeah everyone here is right. If the game is good, it qualifies. But the rest is pure luck.
(PS: I'd think innovative and unique games will have a better chance.)
But It's not something you should strive for. It's just a nice treat for the lucky few.

[Yal]

The best advice I can give you is to learn to make good games. Even though I would feature games if bribed (hint hint) you'd risk getting people disappointed if you get the limelight with a bad game (and then they flame and one-star the game into oblivion). Concentrate more on making fun games that appeal to a big audience. They don't have to be original or have good graphics or audio. They just need bearable resources and they'll be OK. But the fun factor is important! The game most be fun.

What is fun differs between games, but the following often works:
- Fluid movement (aka, 60 frames, acceleration in all movement rather than instant motion)
- Explosions that destroy lots of stuff at once
- Lots of really easy enemies that try to overrun you, with waves of few strong enemies that works as mini-bosses every now and then for variety.
- Variety in general. One gimmick at a time to accompany the core gameplay. Never use a gimmick twice in a row (aka, not two stages with the same gimmick in a row), but always use it at least twice!
- Visible, measurable and fast/easy progress. You gotta make the player get 'hooked'.

[JoshLS]

I think it's just luck. Have a catchy name, an attractive thumbnail, and hope that a website moderator finds it!

EDIT: Oh, and have a friggin' awesome game!

Edited by JoshLS, 21 October 2012 - 03:42 PM.

[CrazyGuyGames]

Well it haves to be good to be featured, but there are a lot of good games in the sandbox that are not featured (I have a game that even was finalist in a compeition, but since none moderator haves cheked it I don't have chance).
Also spotlight never changes because (if I am right) only NAL can change it, but he doesn't puts a foot in the sandbox anymore.

[Terrified Virus]

Erhm... Your games have to be more popular than Innoquous (and others) to get them featured. No offense, but I don't think that will happen.

What a mean person...

[Yal]

What a mean person...

In general, there's a lot of people thinking that "No offense, but..." lets them be flat out offensive with no retribution. This is, after all, the internet.

[Hiznopellagio]

Errr... Is admin there still active?

[Yal]

NAL is active, he did a game for the Jam just weeks ago. Active there, though, is more questionable.

[Hiznopellagio]

Yes, that's what i meant. So, i'll re-ask

Is mods still active there?

[Yal]

I have completely no idea.

If this post was helpful, please click the +1 button.

[Keypress]

First, you need retro graphics. People here have a fetish for them, regardless of quality, so any old programmer can make them. Find some guy who will do 8-bit tunes for free. Gameplay is the easiest part, grab a platform engine and introduce a neat gimmick.

Congratulations, you are the proud author of a featured game. See you on greenlight.

Edited by Keypress, 28 November 2012 - 11:08 AM.