This New Genre For Game Devs Is A Gold Rush...

It's okay to try and make games that are trendy or popular right now. It's not a sin to focus on finding a profitable genre and pour your style and your talents into that popular genre. At least that's what my guest Chris Sakowski, he's an indie game marketing guru, had to say. This is a clip from the Full Length podcast and he was incredibly honest. There are a handful of genres for indies right now that are absolutely blowing up. He breaks down these genres and he tells us how to capitalize on this emerging trend which he calls the golden age for indie devs. Despite the fact that I was kind of baffled by these kind of games being popular because well frankly I don't love them. I felt encouraged at the end of this conversation knowing that indies like you who don't have a ton of time or money on their hands can still make hyperp profofitable games on a pencil thin budget in their free time. Why do you think this is somehow a trend now? I don't I don't quite understand. Actually, let's back up because I need a definition from you. You said earlier um these uh vampire survivor type games. We're also saying small games, right?

What what what is this genre? Like c can you describe it? Is it is it gambling games? Is it friend slop games? Like what what is this genre you're talking about [snorts] that is exploding in popularity?
Okay. I for the article I called them great conjunction games because and it's not a genre it's not one genre it's five six genres and that's what's so amazing it is not one genre and there's not a universal thing between all of them okay it's complex and this is why I consider this like we we're in the middle of a golden age because all these genres are kind of popping off at the same time I typically see this one genre like I used to see just vampire survivors did this and again now we're seeing five or six genres doing this simultaneously. Okay, so I'll go through all the genres that I consider um these golden age genres that we're seeing. Okay, so the first one is friend slop. I think we're very familiar with it. Uh or you've heard whispers. I

know a lot of devs who are like, "Oh, we're making a friendlop game, too." Friends slop basically is co-op, not multiplayer, not like servers and lobbies and Call of Duty where you have to dial in and you need a huge player base. They're just smaller um games where you just need like four to five friends and they just join in. And you're usually co-op or slightly competitive. They're not party games. A lot of people mistake this as oh yeah, like Mario Party is not Mario Party. They're usually cooperative and you usually have a single goal that you're all trying to achieve together. Like the the most popular one right now is Peak where it's like we're all trying to get to the top of a peak. And so you have all these things going on and they're a little jankier. like you'll see stuff clipping through like textures clipping and arms are kind of waggling around. That's one. And so [clears throat] those are there's several of genre several games within that genre specifically friend slop. There's another one called idle games and idol games are like cookie clicker and that sort of thing. But that genre is so like effervescent

right now. There's so many entries into it. So, that's one where it's like, oh, people are making uh Clicker Citybuilders, Clicker Civilization, [laughter] Clicker Black Holes. There's all kinds of these incremental games.
Is that also Click Holding by uh by Zolivir Nelson Jr.? Is that a similar game?
Kind of. I I I still think there's possibility in that space of what clickolding was. Kind of because I don't think there was enough clicking in the game, ironically. Um but um and this kind of goes to the next one, which is horror. horror genre is very good because um I've seen a lot of genres they just take horror and they apply it to these other genres like the people who invented friends really are like Lethal Company, Repo, uh Fasmophobia that uh I think that's how you say it where it was you you and your friends are in a haunted house together and you're trying to beat the baddie to get out of the haunted house. And so it was a co-op
thing and I think a lot of people saw those co-op horror games and they're

like why does it have to be horror? Let's do um let's make it friendly like a peak game or you know something like that. Um and so we've got those. And so what you'll see is also a lot of horror put on top of it. And so I think clickolding started. I don't see too many horror incremental games, but I totally could see if you're creative, uh, maybe you could repurpose some assets from Twisted Tower that you throw out, make a a [laughter] horror incremental. Free idea, Thomas, just put me in the credits. That's all I care about. I don't want any money from that. The um, so there's a lot of options there. Another genre that is is uh kind of I consider in this is uh casino games where it sounds weird but uh typically grim dark casino games and there was a couple that just came out like uh one's called Clover Pit where you're like working all these slot machines and you're in this dungeon type of thing. There's another one called I think it's like slots and dice. No, it's dice and swords. I I'll look it up. Don't don't quote me. We'll link it down below. Uh, but it's also a casino slot machine grim

dark kind of fantasy RPG type of thing. Uh, where it's a lot more random and it's um dice and all that kind of stuff or slot machine type of thing to also do well. Um, so you've got this uh kind of slot machine thing. Pure horror where it's just a one person thing going through it. You've got another one which are shop simulators. Um, you know, there was supermarket simulator and that took off and then people just started like slopping that thing. you know, you did some store assets, you do some stuff there and um you make a store game. Well, people are now doing horror shop simulators. There were two that popped off at at uh Steam Nextfest. There's just so much vibrance of so many genres that fans are like, "Let's go. I want to try this." And so, it's not just one genre. And some of them are are quite countered. It's not the same audience. like the friend slop is different than the casino horror are different from the incremental. But they're all I call it the great conjunction genres because all these genres all of a sudden are coming together

and they're they're made in a way that they can be made in like four to six months.
So they're not necessarily co-op or multiplayer or single player. It doesn't matter.
Some are, some aren't.
Okay.
Idol games are are solo solo games only idol. um horror games. Some horror games are solo and they do well. Some horror games are multiplayer and they do well. So, it's it's lots of genres. It's that's why I say it's a golden age. You have lots of choices of finding these genres that are doing well.
So, games like I'm looking at slots and daggers right now.
Slots and daggers. That's it.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's from Freedman. And Freedman was on the podcast uh I think it was six months ago. Um and I didn't even know he was working on this uh when he was on the podcast. He didn't he didn't even shout it out, which I thought in a weird way is admirable. Um
maybe he wasn't even started on it yet.
I know. Too fast. [laughter]
Yeah, that's seriously maybe he made it like at three months. I don't know. But yeah, Slots and Daggers is just I think it's just a solo game. Um very positive.

Uh 1,500 reviews and that is in like a week.
A week. That's unbelievable.