Indie Game Marketing Examples: Campaigns We Loved

With so many great games launching every day on Steam, finding the right approach to make your marketing campaign a hit can be really challenging — especially for small studios and solo developers in the indie game industry.

However, there are still authentic, innovative, and budget-friendly campaigns that small teams can implement to successfully leverage their projects. So, nothing beats learning from real cases, right?

That’s why we hosted an insightful panel at last year’s marketing event in Bristol – IMPACT! Indie Games 2024 – featuring three key figures in games marketing:

• Abi Le Guilcher (Future Friends, an indie game publisher that also offers self-publishing support)
• Jack England (YRS TRULY, an award-winning marketing agency for games)
• Matt Brown (Vicarious PR, an internationally recognized video game PR and marketing agency).

Each speaker shared a standout marketing campaign that captured a special place in their hearts, offering invaluable insights for indie developers looking to make their games shine. If you couldn’t attend, don’t worry — we’ve distilled their top tips and key takeaways to guide you with your own game marketing strategy. Let’s go!

 

🦀 Another Crab’s Treasure: Marketing Through Memes and Humor

Abi Le Guilcher from Future Friends kicked off the session by praising the quirky and meme-driven marketing campaign for Another Crab’s Treasure. This souls-like game, set underwater and featuring a crab protagonist, was marketed with a humorous, relatable, and highly personal touch.

One of the standout moments in their campaign was an April Fool’s video promoting a fictional “Dark Souls-like” mode. This parody mode drained the game of its colorful, lighthearted aesthetic and turned it into a bleak, desaturated world, poking fun at typical souls-like tropes.

Abi emphasized the importance of authenticity and personalization in indie marketing. Another Crab’s Treasure successfully combined humor with direct involvement from the developers, leading to a sense of fun and community. “They’ve embraced memes and a personal touch, making their marketing both engaging and authentic”.

The development team actively participated in content creation, often building bespoke in-game content, and contributing ideas directly to the marketing team. This close collaboration resulted in viral TikToks and Twitter/X posts that resonated with fans.

 

 

Having developers actively involved in the creation of social content allowed the marketing team to produce genuine, on-point posts. The game’s social media presence exploded, with the title amassing over 360,000 TikTok followers and 10 million likes — massive numbers for an indie game.

For other developers, Abi’s advice is clear: “Investing dev time into social media and content creation can make a huge difference”. Whether it’s funny videos, memes, or personal stories, a collaborative team effort can create a marketing campaign that feels authentic and connected to the game’s core identity.

 

⚠️ Content Warning: Fun Patch Notes and Post-Launch Engagement

Next, Jack England from YRS TRULY shared his thoughts on Content Warning, a horror-themed game where players take on the role of a YouTuber exploring spooky locations. Rather than focusing solely on pre-launch efforts, Jack highlighted the importance of post-launch marketing — an area often neglected by indie developers.

After a game’s launch, many developers fall into the trap of thinking their work is done. However, Jack’s key message was that post-launch marketing, particularly through patch notes, can be a powerful tool to re-engage players. Instead of simply posting a dry list of bug fixes or gameplay updates, Content Warning’s team used the game’s assets to present patch notes in a creative and humorous way.

“Patch notes are usually mundane, but you can make them engaging by integrating them into the game’s content. In ‘Content Warning,’ Landfall (the publisher) used in-game assets to showcase new features in a fun and relevant way”. By embedding new features and changes into the game itself and presenting them through entertaining in-game footage, they kept players interested.

 

 

The close relationship between the social media team and the developers made this possible. This collaboration enabled the marketing team to present patch updates as engaging content, showing off new in-game mechanics with humor and personality.

Jack encourages other indie developers to look for fun and creative ways to deliver updates, ensuring that even the most mundane details could be turned into something that strengthens the game’s community.

 

♟️ The Ouroboros King: A Late-Stage Marketing Turnaround

Matt Brown of Vicarious PR presented a compelling case study with The Ouroboros King, a chess-based roguelike developed by Oriel Cosp, a Spanish developer with a background in data science. The story of this game’s marketing campaign offers a powerful example of perseverance and adaptability.

Initially, The Ouroboros King struggled with visibility. For nearly 10 months, the game’s Steam page attracted just 500 wishlists — a low figure considering the effort put into the game’s development.

However, in the final two months leading up to launch, Oriel shifted focus and experimented with targeted outreach to streamers. By researching content creators who had previously shown interest in roguelike and chess mechanics, he crafted personalized, well-designed pitches that resonated with this audience. He timed the outreach to coincide with Steam’s Next Fest, creating significant exposure for the title. The result? A dramatic peak in wishlists!

 

 

As a result, The Ouroboros King saw its wishlist count surge from 500 to 20,000 in just two weeks before launch. This incredible turnaround was driven by understanding the importance of targeted marketing and reaching out to the right influencers at the right time. Matt’s example reinforces the idea that experimentation and adaptation are essential, especially when the initial marketing strategies don’t work as planned.

 

🧑‍🏫 Key Marketing Lessons for Indie Developers

Across all three examples above, the marketing experts shared several actionable insights that you can apply to your own indie game marketing campaigns:

❤️ Be Authentic and Personal

Players are drawn to the people behind indie games. Marketing should reflect the unique personality of the developers and their game. Whether it’s through humor, developer involvement, or personal stories, creating an emotional connection with your audience is key.

🤝 Collaborate Between Teams

Integrating developers into the marketing process allows for more genuine and creative content. As seen with Another Crab’s Treasure and Content Warning, this close collaboration ensures marketing feels directly tied to the game’s heart.

📈 Don’t Neglect Post-Launch Marketing

After a game launches, the work isn’t over. Creative approaches to post-launch updates, such as fun patch notes or community-driven content, can keep players engaged and, better yet, attract new audiences.

🧪 Experiment and Adapt

The Ouroboros King’s marketing success was the result of trial and error. Oriel’s willingness to pivot and try new strategies, like influencer outreach and leveraging Steam Next Fest, transformed his game’s trajectory. Flexibility is essential in indie game marketing.

🪝 Find Your Game’s Hook

Each game has something unique, whether it’s the art style, gameplay, or narrative twist. Developers should focus on identifying this hook and using it to craft their marketing message. This can make the game stand out in a crowded marketplace. (Don’t know your game’s hook? We have a dedicated article to help you with that!)

“The success of a marketing campaign often hinges on persistence and adaptability. Even with initial failures, finding what works and adjusting accordingly can lead to substantial growth.”

Indie game marketing thrives on creativity, authenticity, and close collaboration between developers and marketers — this is the secret sauce. By learning from campaigns like Another Crab’s Treasure, Content Warning, and The Ouroboros King, developers can approach their own marketing efforts with confidence, knowing that success comes from experimentation, adaptation, and a strong connection to their audience.

Got hooked and want to know more? Press play on the video below to watch the entire panel with Abi, Jack, and Matt on our YouTube channel.

Did you find these tips helpful? We hope so! Sign up for future educational posts and access our additional marketing tools, including Press Kitty, Coverage Bot, Steam Revenue Calculator, and more! And don’t forget to follow Abi, Jack and Matt to get more top tips on finding the right strategy for your indie game!

If you have questions, hop into the IMPRESS Discord Community!