The title explains mostly what is happening. My game is getting no players. like it isn’t even few players, and low retention rates doesn’t boost it, every visit i got on it is either me or friends. i did everything i could think of to make it more appealing to click on, but not even a single person that isnt a friend joined. I dont think this is an issue with the game itself, since no one actually joined, so i want to know what i can possibly do to boost plays on it.
it’s sad, but there’s nothing we can do.
from what I know you have to have a certain amount of visits before your game starts to appear on search/recommendation.
you can also buy search sponsor, it still costs lot…
and using your game’s logic/gameplay. If the player needs to use a specific game mechanic, the bot should be able to as well (or, usually).
While I know they aren’t easy to implement, I recommend having bots for multiplayer games so that people can enjoy the game solo. There are various issues with that, one is the time it takes to make, and two is that a bot obviously isn’t going to be like a real human.
Topic #1: Oversaturation of the Horror Genre (Good and/or Bad)
Your game is competing with Doors and many MANY other Horror games. While all those eyes on the theme/genre of Horror can be good (allowing multiple games to be sought by players), it might also make it harder to have players.
If looking at this from the possible con perspective, then you need to bring something new to the table, doing so quickly. Making something visually appealing, performant, “scary”, etc. Much of those things are subjective. All that said, I don’t think that’s why your game is not getting players.
Topic #2: Current Genre Discovery Issues
Roblox doesn’t have a good way to discovery Horror games on Roblox (that and any genre right now really), and won’t for a while:
Topic #3: Getting into the Fun Quickly!
Games on Roblox need to have “low friction”. Your game has a main menu, which is fine, but starting off in the main menu would be FAR better than needing to click the TV (when first joining).
It’s nice, don’t get me wrong. But, I think some users might get confused as to what they need to click. I question the option in the first place cause I couldn’t seem to click anywhere else.
You can use Onboarding Events to see where players get confused. While you don’t have a bunch of players now, when/if you do, you want to be sure players get past the start of the game.
Topic #4: Advertising (On & Off Roblox)
For On Roblox, I don’t have experience or knowledge at all. So, all I can really do is link this: Ads Manager | Documentation - Roblox Creator Hub. I do recommend advertising if you haven’t though (as FroDev1002 said).
I didnt advertise it if the way of paid advertising, but i did post 2 trailers for the game before release, and some screenshots on instagram. ill try and promote it on roblox though, even if its expensive to get some players. and get some new thumbnails
The oversaturation of the horror genre is really some unfortunate timing, since ive been working on this for a while (before doors released, and horror games were not that saturated in the platform). but yeah, the main menu thing is something i thought of, and i really dont know why i made it so you start outside of the menu, but the option to look around is so i can add some easter eggs and other things so i can tell the story of the game through this menu. about the genre discovery thing, i think ill prioritize discovery of the game outside of roblox, like promoting it on tiktok, and instagram, etc. Thanks so much for the reply!
idk why but when i talk about npc or ai peoplr usually response to me by saying something related to pathfinding service lol im talking about npc who can for examplr summon monsters do stuff that a player can do
This is because most Bots or NPCs in video games move around. If your player has to move around, and you are adding bots (that simulate a player), then that bot most likely needs to move as well.
For this, you should design your game with bots in mind from the start by using Functions.
To give a example, let’s say I have a fighting game where the player can use a sword. From a top-level, the player side of things would look like this:
local function swingSword()
-- code functionality here
end
if input then -- this would use InputService in reality
swingSword()
end
The player’s input is the CAUSE of the sword swinging (EFFECT).
For a bot, you would do the same end action (usually). You would change the CAUSE of the EFFECT. So, instead of checking for input, you would check the following:
proximity to other players/things a normal player would swing
cooldown (if need-be)
a custom scaling system (fancy words for how “skilled” or “challenging” a bot should be)
bots shouldn’t be impossible to defeat (if it’s not the game’s design, which it isn’t usually in a fighting game. Players are able to be defeated, so the bots should be able to be as well.)
local function swingSword()
-- code functionality here
end
if *whatever my requirements are (proximity or whatever)* then
swingSword()
end
If you are wondering about the game design side of things rather than code, it depends on a case-by-case basis (mainly intention: genre, difficulty, etc.).
In my opinion, the game although very clean and cool looking regarding the menus, there is a lack of grace period for you to even gather players in a server before someone decides to leave because nobody is there. Instead, a new player is met with an empty server, and most likely leaves in the first 15 seconds, unfortunately.
To mitigate this, and what most games do, is create a pocket between loading in, and the gameplay which allows the player to have some discovery of their environment before actually initializing gameplay, and this is the grace period that allows more than one player to gather in a server (if it were to happen).
It’s almost like you need a leadup to the computer/game menu. I don’t know the exact environment, but walking from the front door of a small dirty apartment hearing muffled music blaring from an adjacent apartments walls, occasional scratching on the walls or inexplainable thumping, doors slamming, sink dripping, tv static with occasional broadcasts flickering on- the environment is your master distraction for playtime and creating that necessary pocket to give players a chance to play.