u/Constant-Specific878

Game Title: Around The Core

Playable Link: https://draftentropy.itch.io/around-the-core

Platform: Web (browser), Windows, Mac

Description: Around The Core is a stationary incremental space shooter where you're fixed at the center of the screen. You don't move - you only aim and shoot asteroids to collect resources and upgrade your ship with increasingly powerful enhancements.

The core gameplay loop focuses on the satisfying transition from clean early-game precision to overwhelming late-game chaos. As you progress through the upgrade tree, your screen fills with thousands of projectiles, explosions, and visual effects while you continue aiming and shooting.

I'm specifically looking for feedback on three key areas: whether the aiming remains readable when the screen becomes chaotic, if the visual chaos feels satisfying or overwhelming, and if the upgrade progression speed feels balanced. I delayed my release from July 17 to July 31 to polish this chaos transition after seeing how players reacted to the late-game.

Free to Play Status:
[x] Free to play
[x] Demo available

Involvement: Solo developer - I handle all gameplay programming, game design, art direction, and sound design. Built with Unity. (Capsule art made by professional artist on Fiverr)

Steam demo also available: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4300950/Around_The_Core/

**EDIT:** Quick correction - it's been 1 month (31 days since May 31st), not 2 months. I only posted 5 videos total over that period. The title is misleading but Reddit won't let me edit the header, sorry.

Hey everyone!

I wanted to share my short-form video marketing experiment and get your honest feedback. I've been posting on TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts for about 2 months, and the results have been... disappointing.

The Strategy:

- Posted 5 meme-style videos across all 3 platforms

- Posted every 3 days (same video on all platforms simultaneously)

- Zero paid promotion - 100% organic

- Videos are humorous takes on my game (asteroid dating sim, astro insurance, etc.)

The Results:

- YouTube Shorts: ~1,400 total views (best: 400 views)

- TikTok: ~1,340 total views (best: 718 views)

- Instagram Reels: ~614 total views (best: 171 views)

- Total: ~3,364 views across all platforms

- Wishlists from social media: Wishlist growth stayed flat during the 2-month period despite 3.3k views (conversion rate is too low to measure)

My Questions:

1. Is this normal conversion rate? Or am I doing something fundamentally wrong?
2. Meme content vs gameplay: Should I switch to pure gameplay clips instead of humorous meme-style videos?
3. Cross-posting strategy: Is posting the same video on all platforms at the same time hurting my reach?
4. Posting frequency: Is every 3 days too infrequent? Should I post daily?
5. How do you improve conversion from views → Steam visits → wishlists?

Context:

- Solo dev, zero marketing budget

- 1,000+ wishlists (mostly from organic sources)

- Release date: July 31st (1 month away)

I'm not discouraged, just trying to figure out if short-form video is worth continuing or if I should focus my energy elsewhere. Any honest feedback would be appreciated!

AI Disclosure: No generative AI was used in the game or marketing content.

Hey everyone!

Around The Core just crossed 1,000 wishlists, and with our release date (July 31) just one month away, we're both excited and nervous!

What worked for us:

1. Browser demo - Making it playable in multiple platforms without download increased engagement a lot
2. Reddit feedback - Communities like this one gave us invaluable feedback about sounds visuals and progression
3. Delayed release- We moved from July 17 to July 31 to polish the late-game chaos get better playtime

What we're struggling with:

- Converting browser players to Steam wishlists (we have 6,000+ browser plays)
- Standing out in the incremental/shooter hybrid space
- Last month push to reach our goal (we're aiming for 3,000+ by launch)

If you're into incremental games with a twist, we'd love your feedback on the demo!

Browser demo: https://draftentropy.itch.io/around-the-core
Steam page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4300950/Around_The_Core/

Thanks for supporting indie devs! And If you have any questions about the game, the demo, or our journey to 1,000 wishlists, feel free to ask - I'll answer everything!

**AI Disclosure:** No generative AI was used in the game's development.

Hi everyone,

I’m trying to figure out what to improve in my indie game marketing instead of just repeating the same things.

Over the last ~2 months I tried:

- TikTok
- Instagram Reels
- YouTube Shorts
- posting web builds on different sites
- emailing YouTubers/streamers
- sharing the demo on Reddit/itch.io/Steam

After all of that, the game is at around 580 Steam wishlists.

I’m not sure how to judge this. It feels like progress, but also slower than I expected considering how many channels I tried.

For people who have marketed small indie games:

- Is 580 wishlists after ~2 months a bad/normal/decent result?
- How do you decide whether the problem is the game, the Steam page, the trailer, or the audience targeting?
- Should I keep trying more creators, focus on improving the Steam page, or make a stronger demo/trailer first?
- Which metric would you look at before deciding what to change?
- How do you keep promoting without looking like spam?

I’m not asking for wishlists. I’m trying to understand what to learn from these numbers and what to test next.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4300950/Around_The_Core/

AI Disclosure: No generative AI was used for any in-game assets (art, audio, text). AI coding assistants were used during development to help write and debug code, but all game content was created by the team.

Hey everyone — I'm one of the devs on Around the Core, an incremental/automation game. This clip is from near the end of the free demo, where all the systems you've been stacking finally start going off at once. It gets... loud.

It started as a balance test and somehow became my favorite moment in the whole demo. Figured this crowd would appreciate the chaos more than anyone.

It's free in the browser if you want to break it yourself on itch.io

Honestly curious — too overwhelming, or is that kind of the point?

(Full version hits Steam July 17 if you end up liking it — link in comments.)

Around The Core is an incremental - skill tree - space shooter where you destroy asteroids and grow stronger every run. You can test on steam or itch.

Steam, itch.io

Want brutal feedbacks!

Game Title: Around The Core

Playable Link: Steam , itch.io

Platform: Windows, Mac, Web

Description: It’s an incremental space shooter where you destroy asteroids and grow stronger every run.

Open to any feedback!