I released my first game on Google Play, but after 3 days, it had exactly 0 organic downloads. The only installs were from friends and family.
It was a huge shock to realize that just because you published a game, doesn't mean it actually exists in the real world. It’s like Schrödinger's game - it’s simultaneously live on the store and completely non-existent. Without an "observer" (someone with a direct link or the exact title), the wave function never collapses. To the rest of the universe, my 5 months of hard work simply don't occupy a position in reality.
I know I didn't do any marketing, didn't post anywhere, and didn't buy ads, but the realization that a game essentially doesn't exist without marketing was still pretty crushing.
I was feeling a bit down while doing mutual testing with other devs just to get some initial downloads and test the build. Then, I received this message in a private chat from a fellow developer:
"A very solid game. Even though it might look simple at first glance, and some might think card games are easy to develop, this is my Top 1 among everything I’ve tested in this group. As soon as the tutorial started, I was instantly hooked by the beautiful design. Keep making cool games like this!"
After reading that, I got my hope back. I'm currently working on a trailer for Topdeck Duel to finally start making some noise and show it to the world.
Has anyone else experienced this 'Schrödinger's game' phase after their first launch? How did you get your first 100 organic players?