I have a very specific target audience in mind for my games. They are either wargamers that like PC based war games or they are board wargamers who occasionally dabble in PC war games.
The problem for me is they are also a very scattered group. There is really not one go to place to reach out to them. Many of them are part of small online groups with words in the title such as PBEM, HEX Based Wargames, Avalon Hill, Historical and so on.
I need to be careful when telling them about my game as some don’t like the idea of being advertised to in their group. I fully understand and respect this – so how do I get them engaged and at least aware I exist and am trying to produce games they may like to play.?
I have started to build up a list of these groups, researching what is allowed in their forums, asking permission if I cannot see that someone has announced a game previously. It takes time and patience. I do not want to offend any one of these groups.
But it has been useful. I have found a small PBEM group and I think they would be ideal to reach out to and ask them to test my next game which will include PBEM. They get a free game I get valuable feedback – I am hoping it will be a win win situation.
Of course these groups want their members to be active in their forums. I have a genuine interest in everything they talk about but not enough time to be as engaged as I should be. Its tough for me to spread my time around all the things I need to do to get a game published (and remember I have a full time day job too!).
For my next game, Battle for Korsun, I am going to try and get some interest in the game from some of the big review sites that cover off war games. I am a little wary about this as I don’t have a lot of time to produce slick videos or fancy marketing – and yet I want them to know I am serious and passionate about what I am doing.
So far I have not upset anyone. Fingers crossed it stays that way!
