itch.io

Good enough. 

Also, you get that $100 'fee' back from Valve as long as you sell as least $100 worth of your product. Might be worth getting a page sooner than later to get folks wishlisting and for marketing purposes. Just an idea.

Thanks for all the answers!!

Yup! Thank you!

How much content is there currently? I know thats a tough question sometimes. Like, how much to see it all right now? Thank you!

It's 100% possible. I have a game on Itch and Steam (it was released on Itch first), and I give Steam keys for Itch purchases. Steam keys are free to the developer. The only thing you'd lose is a bit of time setting it up through Itch, which really isn't much :) I wanna buy this, but I also want guarantee of a Steam key when it comes to that platform. Thank you!

Do you plan on bringing this to Steam? If so, would a Steam key be included with purchase? Thanks. Congrats on launch!

Just curious. And if so, will a purchase get a Steam key?

Thallanor is correct. 

But you are chasing exposure on Itch, which is a digital distribution platform, so I'm confused. Can you explain that?

Do you plan on releasing on Steam?

I'd like to know too. I paid over the amount by about 30%. I'll pay the additional if I can still get it. I also bought this on Steam.

Yes I would like one too. I bought it both places, and paid more here for the bonus content - which never happened. 1 for a Steam Key.

All credit goes to Electric Wizard's Steam Guide. Big spoilers obviously:

Go to the dog's store and choose to buy a random discount item, and sooner or later you'll end up with the Blue Gem. With this item in your inventory, explore the Seaside until you've see an event called LIGHTHOUSE RUMOR. Pay very close attention to the words "Blue Gem" in your inventory; they should be shaking very, very slightly. After this, explore the School and pay very close attention (if you're like me and have seen every event, you may be clicking through very quickly): you'll find an event called EMPTY CORRIDOR (OR IS IT?), and the words "Blue Gem" in your inventory will begin to vibrate again. Once this event is over, explore the Forest, noticing that the words "Blue Gem" are vibrating with every event you see, and eventually you'll get your secret ending

Totally understandable. But you should keep in mind there are other options open to you. You can have a Steam page, don't sell it there (yet) and sell it here. Give the key now and have people be able to play on Steam now. But because it isn't released/purchasable on Steam yet - no reviews will be allowed. This is how I operated the beta for our game, and many other titles do this too. Then release the game on Steam when you want/1.0. And you are generating buzz over on Steam the whole way there and getting folks to wishlist it, talk about it, etc.

As far as the 30% cut - I get it, I really do - but the exposure on Steam is manyfold compared to any exposure you are gonna get here, or anywhere else where the digital distribution platform cut is significantly less. Some consider that cut simply the cost of better marketing. Sure, it's not amazing marketing, but the price isn't all that high either (good marketing is crazy expensive anyways). Bottom line is that you will factually reach more folks on Steam. And as an indie dev with an indie project - you likely need all the help and exposure you can get. More is more, and it probably still isn't enough.

Thanks for the response. Yes, you can easily give Steam keys through Itch - I've done it and can help if you have any trouble.

I'm curious why you are on the fence about a Steam release. It's really only a matter of $100USD fee for the page, and I'm sure you'd hook more folks. But hey, I digress. Anyways I'll keep this on my watchlist. I want to get it, but I'll likely wait for further news.

Thanks again and good luck!

Any plans on a Steam release? If so, will a key be provided for people that buy it here, now?

This is good stuff. Congrats on launch. I picked this up on Steam and am quite enjoying it.

I am part of two teams. We have one game on here under my account, and I want to now add another game from my other team on here. Is this possible? I would hope I don't need to manage two separate Itch accounts.

Thanks in advance,

Congrats on Itch launch! Glad to see it here :D

-Ryan

Just curious. Thanks in advance,

I think I finished the game. Does it just loop back to the first puzzle at the end? No ending or anything, right?

Why? I have complete evidence of my purchase. Is this because of my negative Steam review? I need answers for this.

TL;DR you can hand the chunk to Steam, or Visa, or GoDaddy, or Humble, or some other middle-man. But you have to hand the chunk ;)

Yes, I suppose you could do this, but let me tell you it's almost too much hassle to set up a website to take credit cards and all that (I'd bet that unless you are piggy-backing off some other already existing business you have going - it'd be more expensive at the end of the day). At best, you'd offer a Humble Widget to purchase - but guess what, you still lose the same chunk. Also - I didn't read the fine print (because we simply sold on Steam), but I bet there is something in there that discourages you from getting around it so blatantly like you describe (oh yeah, Steam stats, see below).

The happy medium I guess is to sell on Steam and Itch. Itch has a sliding scale for what you want to 'give' them (IIRC). Then go to your Steam forums and tell people if they want the devs to get a bigger cut - buy on Itch. But then again, undercutting Itch is like stealing some kids milk money. Doesn't feel good; snake eating its own tail and all that.

The other problem is that reviews from keys not purchased on Steam don't count towards your Steam stats - and I gotta say - I'd rather lose a few dollars and have stronger stats, personally. 

1 yeah I don't get it either. Who wants to buy a game twice? It's really simple for a dev to supply a Steam key upon full release to Itch purchasers. Devs do it all the time.

If you sell a copy here and supply a Steam key - Valve doesn't charge anything. So to be clear, there is no additional cost to the dev for supplying a Steam key here. In fact, if you are a dev with a Steam page - you can hand out virtually as many keys as you want for free.

Not sure I understand your second question about 'what is stopping people from adding keys to random purchases?' Well, Valve has the opportunity to make more than just a % of sales IF you don't sell any copies on Steam. Upfront, it costs a fixed (fairly small) fee to setup a Steam page. It is a deposit of sorts. You do get that money back from Valve as long as you sell enough copies on Steam to cover the fee. Make sense? I will emphasize that this fee Valve charges is a token fee and even the most indie of devs with a mediocre game should make back that money in the first month.

As a dev myself, I can tell you that it's super easy to generate Steam keys and provide them to Itch purchasers. If you need help, contact me. And you don't have to 'make the Steam build public'. Just generate 'Steam beta keys'. It's literally the same thing as you are doing here. People can't review it and they get access on Steam still.

Anyways good luck, and let me know when I can buy a key - until then, I just can't justify it.

Otherwise, personally, I'd probably buy it. Just curious of the rationale. I mean it doesn't feel good to buy a game twice.

I would love to get this, but without AI it's really limiting for a lot of folks. I do play couch co-op, but some single player would be a nice addition.  

Key received! Thank you!

Email sent to [email protected]. If you just reply to my email with the key, that will work. Thanks.