After showcasing my game "Move or Die" at over fifteen events worldwide in countries like the US, UK, Japan, Vienna, Germany, Romania, Denmark and more, I have compiled a list of the most important aspects of creating a great experience for players on the show floor. This talk is the distillation of my learnings, which can be summed up in three main points: Show floor presence, Player experience and Follow up. My aim is to demystify the process of showing games at events for new developers, and teach them how to sidestep the many common pitfalls.
I will go in-depth with a variety of things I have learned including visual identity, how to grab the player's attention, building an effective booth, how to talk about your game, the importance of spectators, play session times, showcasing as a source of motivation, the importance of networking and mixer parties, optimizing your game so it runs on its own, wired vs wireless controllers, how to handle sound, various ways of applying for conventions, documenting the experience, showcasing as a form of play testing, why flyers are horrible and why people should stop printing them, giveaways and what both you and the player takes away from the whole experience.
I will also talk about common misconceptions such as "I can't possibly get accepted into big gaming events because I'm a small developer," "recovering exhibition costs by selling copies after events" and "you need a lot of money to exhibit at an event".
Finally, this talk will highlight the most important mistake new developers make when showing their games: Focusing on selling copies rather than networking. Developers showing at events should focus on networking, and realize that just being present at an event can lead to potential collaborations in the future, even without having a booth on the show floor.
