WHAT MAKES YOU WANT TO PLAY ONE GAME OVER ANOTHER?

A profile page that isn't just paragraphs of text. I like it when the game/story/setting is described in just a few lines.
Showing some of the main characters. Having unique art for them helps.
List of features that lists stuff that interests me.
Screenshots. I don't care if it's RTP or custom tiles, as long as the mapping looks good. Screenshots showing dialogue that's fun to read.

Having a main character that isn't Aluxes or whoever the new stock guy is now. I know not everyone is adept at spriting, but when its the main character of the game, I think you could at least open up MS Paint and try to make a few edits.

Also,

author=unity
-A game description that's not walls and walls of text.

An interesting story concept that stands out. I don't care how good the art or gameplay is. If there isn't a story I can engage with, I don't care.

For me, it’s usually something that catches my eye, like a particular screenshot, character profile, an interesting game mechanic, gameplay movie, etc. or if it’s something fancy that I will more often than not enjoy. I usually don’t care about what engine it’s made in or how huge the file size is as long as it fits my set of criteria. Also, it doesn’t hurt if that particular game is made by somebody that has a long running history of making a whole assortment of good and interesting games here on RMN. Very rarely will I check out anything that even wreaks a scent of amateurism.

-Something new and fresh! There's nothing wrong with Medieval Fantasy #762, but please do something different with it!
If it can be helped, I'd prefer something totally original but a new spin on something old can be just as interesting. In fact, in some ways I'd say it's even trickier to do.

-As unity said, walls of text on a game page. Why is this acceptable here, when it's not when it's inside the actual game? For me, at least, a massive exposition dump is the most effective way to turn me off a game. If you insist on having a novel dedicated to your game's history, at least start it off with something snappy. For example, tell us what we're going to experience in the game. What happens in the first scene? What's the main conflict? Who are the protagonists?
In the grand scheme of things, what's happening to the player is the important thing. So tell us what we'll be experiencing, instead of an in-depth essay on the royal family's genealogy.

-Concerning graphics, I don't mind RTP. What I do mind is cluttered maps with little practicality. I've seen some very pretty maps in my time, but if at first glance I can't work out where I can walk and where the exits are I'm not going to enjoy playing it.

These are the important points, in my opinion: do something different, tell us what your game is ACTUALLY about and make it playable.
Also,

author=LockeZ
Explosions, underdressed ladies, and one-liners

author=unity

author=Milennin
Screenshots showing dialogue that's fun to read.

...I totally don't have any of this in my gamepage screenshots. Damn, that's a good point. I better remedy that.

By all means do. To me, this isn't merely important, it's possibly the most important thing I look for.

Fundamentally, what I'm most interested in when I'm deciding whether to download a game or not are demonstrations of skill. Lists of features tell me something about the time and effort the creator put into the game, and what they intended to accomplish, but very little about how well those goals were executed. If the game is supposed to be funny, don't wait until I've downloaded the game to try and make me laugh. If the story is supposed to be gripping, don't just tell me that the game has a strong story, show me how good a writer you are so I can believe in your ability to carry that story off. If the mechanics are supposed to be well thought out and challenging, try and find some screenshots representative of that.

I absolutely disagree with any prescription against putting walls of text on one's description page. Why? Because if the developer does that, and the description isn't actually engaging, I immediately know not to play that game. I want game pages to accurately show me the ability level of the game's creator, not disguise their deficiencies and keep me guessing at the quality they're capable of.

Interesting to see so many people say that walls of text on the gamepage is a no-no. What would you people saying so think that the right amount of text is?
Not saying I disagree, just curious since I'm currently editing one of my own gamepages.

author=SnowOwl
Interesting to see so many people say that walls of text on the gamepage is a no-no. What would you people saying so think that the right amount of text is?
Not saying I disagree, just curious since I'm currently editing one of my own gamepages.

To paraphrase something I said in another thread, your goal isn't to get the audience's understanding, it's to get their attention. Say what you need to to get across the things which will interest your target audience.

Suppose you're creating a game which stars a young mercenary named Theodore, who's joined an army invading a country called Fiore to the South of his homeland, and gradually comes to question the morality of his own actions and the expansionist policies of the king in whose service he's enlisted. I have absolutely no opinion about whether I'd like to play a game about a mercenary named Theodore, or a war in a country called Fiore, or whether South is a good direction for it to be. I do have an opinion on whether I'd like to play a game where the protagonist is forced to confront his conception of his own morality, make difficult choices, and change his world outlook. I have opinions about whether I'd like to play a game focusing on a complex political drama, an epic fantasy confrontation or what have you. Focus on the sort of information that helps people decide whether the game will be interesting to them or not, not the sort of information which would help them know what was going on if they jumped into the game midway.

Obviously, this doesn't answer the "how long should it be?" question, but I think that if you leave out everything that's not really relevant, you'll rarely run into the problem of your game description being too long.

author=ShortStar
Really. What is it that makes a game stand out? Original art? Original music? Dialog? Combat? Its made by a dev you know. Is it the features list? Is it the fact you get points for reviewing things?

Hmm, I think you need to look at this on a case-by-case basis. I mean I can tell you exactly why I didn't even download a game or why I stopped playing it way before I was finished with it, but it's hard to find a general rule.

As for downloading a game at all I often do it like this:
- Look at screenshots: Default assets and especially default battle systems are a big turn-off for me.
- Try to figure out in the description what the goal of the game is (as in the goal the developer had - why he made it): I have several wishes towards games and if the developer of a game picked up one of those wishes and made a game out of it, chances are good that I'll play it. If such a message is completely missing and I can't even conclude anything out of the introduction other than that it's a generic RPG, then it's hard to convince myself to download it. Also sometimes the idea might be great, but also totally not my type of game. This will usually make me skip the game. I'm pretty good in estimating what I like and what I don't like, only in very rare cases something surprises me.
- When still unsure, I might search for videos or look at reviews to grasp if I'll like the game or not.
- Lately I've been trying out the top games in our "Best games of all times" list which I haven't played beforehand, but the things that prevented me from trying them previously really made the games less enjoyable for me too.


I wish more developers would present their game more from their viewpoint. As in "I made this game because I like X and X didn't exist in games at all lately, so I decided to make a game that has X myself." rather than a general description of the plot like "This is about a young boy/girl who gets into X and then has to do Y and eventually he will be caught up in Z."