Publishing lessons

Last month I discussed the quick digital demo that I had just released for Race to the Raft, with the idea of letting people get a taste of the game before having to make a purchase decision.

It has now been live for a month, and I thought I would review the data so far.

• The puzzle page has been visited 3,531 times.
• There were 2,291 first-time visitors and 1,240 return visitors.

For the purposes of the following stats, I will be referring to unique visitors.

• 1,374 (60%) people started the tutorial by clicking the “Got it!” button.
• 1,276 people completed the tutorial which is 93% of those who started it.
• Of the people who completed the tutorial:
  • 34% of people lost.
  • 35% of people won.
  • 31% of people stopped mid-game, some of which restarted part way through, but I don’t have reliable data on this to state how many.
• The average time spent on the puzzle was 11 minutes 23 seconds.

There has been a lot to learn from testing this puzzle and my key takeaways are:

• Over 50% of the people who visited the page went through the entire tutorial which is far higher than I had anticipated. These people now have a good understanding of the game which is very beneficial for a pre-order or crowdfunding event. Additionally, if any of those people buy the game, they will have a much easier time getting started and that will positively impact their first play experience.
• An average time of over 11 minutes is remarkably high, this suggests the people who played were really engaged.
• With only 35% of people winning, perhaps the demo was a little too difficult. With a puzzle-based game that takes 10 minutes to play I don’t mind people losing the first time and having to try again, especially as the stats show people were engaged, but I would perhaps make it easier next time around.
• The most popular days for the demo were the day I announced it and 24-hours before my Kickstarter ended.
• There were a number of people who reached out via comments, forums, and social media saying they really enjoyed the demo, and it reaffirmed their decision to buy the game.

All-in-all I think it has been a success, I am interested to see how the stats will change in the months to come, and how much use the demo will have when the retail release happens in 2023.