Every once in a while I get the question “Where do you find all these cool games?” so I thought it would be good write about it. It just so happens that a Kickstarter for such a game is happening right now, so if you do nothing else, please check out Nighthawks.
I should admit that I don’t know of any special technique that ejects cool but relatively undiscovered games. Answering the question means describing a fun way I’ve been engaging with games that has also resulted in me finding some interesting stuff. The question about finding “those games” is an acknowledgement that there are more and better games to play than ever before, with the side effect that it is harder to find an individual title by browsing. We’re not so much looking for new information as we are looking to effectively sort through what we already have.
One obvious place to look is where you’ve found good games in the past. If you played Transistor or Pyre, there’s a good chance it’s because you enjoyed Bastion. But follow ups to popular products take time, and sometimes you’re looking for something brand new. When I reflect on how I’ve found some of my uncommon choices, it’s not very different from following developers who have made things I’ve liked. The only difference is a greater emphasis on people over products. Studios are active on social media, but so are the people behind those studios. Taking an interest in those people, and following the ones you find interesting lets you peek backstage.
There are reasons why following developers who are active on social media is an effective way to find new games in the early stages, but we should focus on why this is worth doing on its own. Following these kinds of accounts is fun. Beyond the sneak peeks, you get to see the personalities behind the games. This can enhance your enjoyment of games as every once in a while that personality slips through and you recognize it. Social media does not always produce positive encounters, so being a source of positive interactions (even just a simple ‘like’) is mutually beneficial and so worthwhile in its own right. It will also expose you to different perspectives.
The inclusion of different perspectives is what gives you access to new games. This makes sense because we are looking for information about a game that someone else has. We don’t know when it will happen, which is why this isn’t a fast track to ‘scoops’, but this should be good news since we enhance our enjoyment of our existing games, as well as find out about new ones.
Following individuals gives you a direct view of what people are playing. Better still, sites like Twitter also display interactions such as likes and retweets of other developers, allowing you to find other people with interesting perspectives. Individuals talk about what they’re working on, keeping you informed up front. As a bonus, they talk about what friends are working on, which means there will be links to demos and crowdfunding. These mechanisms complement each other, since it is remarkably easy to overlook Yet another Early Access/Kickstarter/Itch Demo™. Repetition from multiple sources does a nice job of finally getting you to act.
I am always looking for new and interesting games because I like games and there is a benefit to me as a small streamer to find cool and underplayed games. I have every incentive to be on the lookout and yet I fail much more than I succeed. I love the Shadowrun games but needed HBS to e-mail the slacker backer campaign for Battletech before I was aware of it. A friend let me know about a voice audition for Unavowed (which I chickened out on, partially because I thought it looked really neat and so no place for amateurs), and yet it took everyone Tweeting about it for me to finally check out the Steam page. It required three people tweeting about In Other Waters before I finally Kickstarted it and that one turned out to be a project mentored by Weather Factory (which is a heavy recommendation for me since I enjoyed Cultist Simulator so much). I had a chance to get a Shadowhand key which I didn’t take because I didn’t think I could make time for it, though I have since bought, played, and enjoyed it. All these games clearly have value to me through either my backing decision or my enjoyment on release, and yet I’ve come to them kicking and screaming, not Kickstarting and streaming.
Repetition from multiple accounts is a powerful way to get you to pay attention, which is why the benefits from following developers extends beyond their own products and out to the accounts they follow and engage with. And if you follow interesting people, you get to learn things. Yes, I see things that annoy me or that I consider unfair, but I do my best not to treat Twitter as a complaint box. Since the exercise is about finding information I don’t have, listening is better than talking.
Social media is a convenient tool, but it’s not the only one. I have flogged Cultist Simulator and Nowhere Prophet at a local gaming bar to anyone who will pay attention. In return I found out about Slay the Spire. I also visit a local gaming collective to see what what is being made in my own backyard. I also did this before I moved to where I am now.
None of what I’ve written here is new. It’s an exposition on a perspective and why it has been effective at refining a search for new games. Even if we were indifferent to the people making the games (and shame on you if you are), they talk to and support each other when they have something new coming up. Tapping into that network doesn’t just inform us of what is going on, but gives us a beacon to guide us out of our suspicion of untried products.
Of course, no article like this would be complete if I didn’t talk about some of the things I’m interested in right now. I’ve seen Richard Cobbett as a punny commenter on a lot of Alexis Kennedy’s tweets, along with hints from the latter that something cool was coming up. There’s a Kickstarter for his game Nighthawks going on right now which very much fits the “You’ll probably like this when it comes out, so why not make it a reality” mold, and came to my attention exactly through the channels outlined in this article. Eric Billingsly let me try out a game he was working on called Hexagon Falls which was really enjoyable and had a funny tweet. Sean LeBlanc always seems to have something to show at each meetup, and I will never forget how he had the entire room in the palm of his hand with his MMO. Sophia Niergarth showed off a prototype of her game Full Feather, which looked really interesting, and she was remarkably thoughtful and articulate when we spoke on Twitter. Jesse Ringrose has been showing off these interesting little clips of a game that I now know is called Spek.
All of these games are in various stages of development, and if I even know anything about the people behind them at all, there are no common threads in terms of personalities or interests. Each of these games and their creators had something that caught my attention. It is too easy to walk by cool stuff like this and never think of it again, which is why I like following as soon as I can. Even if these projects don’t turn out, or become the thing that originally interested me, these are people who have made something I found interesting at some point. I am much more likely to find something interesting from them, than I am a Steam or Kickstarter sorting algorithm.
Note on affiliate links: I have an affiliate status with GOG.com for which I am given a portion of sales for traffic I drive to the site. The inclusion of a given title is for illustrative purposes first, but when it is available on GOG I will provide such a link. Naturally I encourage you to do your own price comparison or buy on your preferred platform. I include, on occasion, affiliate links from other broadcasters to support people who helped me in a given post or the cast in general. For this article, Humble Links support the streamer JessyQuil.
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