An incredibly important list of things that all LD developers should do:

  • Name your files. There are one thousand other games with files named LD44. This will simply not do.
  • Nothing sketchy. If there are dodgy looking (Korean??) advertisements on the download page, I won't even bother, because I rather my system clean. No, I am not the one millionth visitor, and no, I don't want your iphone.
  • Avoid using installers at all costs. Some games use third party installing software to package their game. DON'T DO THIS. These set off red alerts on every single antivirus software known to mankind, and if I see such a warning, your game is not getting played. A zip file works magic, we all know what to expect from them, and we all know how to unzip a folder.
  • Try viewing your game page in incognito mode. One of the biggest mistakes to make is providing a link to a project (often on Itch.io) that isn't public. By opening your game page on incognito, you can see what the casual viewer sees, and save the comments on your LD page claiming your link is broken.
  • Give other games a chance. LD is a time constricted space, so not all games will be plated in gold. Pretty cover art and screenshots doesn't mean the game will be good, and basic graphics don't mean the game will be bad. I often find that the inverse is true, as too many people spend 90% of their time on graphics, then realise their game is hollow. Give the ones with simpler graphics a go, you may even discover something innovative, without the time for a crazy level of polish.
  • Still though, include screenshots. It gives us an idea of what to expect. If there's a problem, I can at least know what the game should look like. Whilst I'm not this way, your LD page will often govern whether or not your game is played, and screenshots can help heaps.
  • Think about screen size. I play on my laptop, and too many games are unplayable due to my smaller screen. Whilst it's probably too late to change the supported screen sizes, 1366*768 at least is nice. It is a good idea to add a fullscreen feature, since this will work on almost everything. An issue that is too frequent for my tiny computer screen is that the bottom of the window is cut off by the windows taskbar. In this case, I can't move the window up any further, so I'm missing out on whatever is at the bottom. A fullscreen option can fix this.
  • Web versions do wonders. WebGL versions makes your game more accessible, tenfold. Skip the sketchy download phase and just take me straight to the game.
  • Think about sound. Sound is an afterthought for me too. I'll often spend half an hour on music, when really five times that amount is necessary. And that is OK. But please, include audio controls in the game. I have played all too many games with ear-piearcingly horrid sounds that simply need to be muted, and it would be so much nicer for a control to exist in game.

I hope these helped. I've applied as many of these tips as possible, and I hope you do too, to help us play and rate your game.