Okay, I've tried messaging Total Biscuit, BrainScratch Commentaries, and SomeCallMeJohnny on Youtube, and I've left a message on Analog Reviews' Steam page. These I found by searching "Strider" and "Guacamelee" reviews, figuring that reviewers for recent products are more likely to reach a buying market. I tried to mention specifically that the prototype doesn't take long for them to play, and relating it to previous products of theirs, hoping to help out with their business needs.
I noticed Guacamelee seems a very similar product- relatively "Indie," quirky and unique setting, Metroidy. How was
it marketed, and how can we emulate it? Is anyone more familiar with Guac's publication history? (Does a little digging)- They released five days after announcing it!? Where did the funds come from? And they were able to squeeze a 2D fighting environment with palette swaps onto the Vita!? On second thought, maybe not the best example to follow, darn. Not to mention
Indivisible's potentially three-times longer playtime and much, much more complex fighting system.
Super Mario Maker's really popular still. Is there any way we can use that to our advantage? Maybe recreate the prototype in Mario? On the other hand, that'll just drive demand for the not-happening Wii-U port.
Maybe let's try to break this into simpler questions: What groups of people have money and would be interested in
Indivisible? Unfortunately, I kind of live under a rock and spend most of my focus on
not spending money, so I am reduced to sheer speculation:
- Fighting Game Community helped Skullgirls. Conceivably a fighting-game event/tournament/thing could be done to raise awareness; I don't know how these things work. Maybe a tournament only of people who've donated to the campaign?
- Bronies helped Skullgirls in exchange for the Z engine. Maybe a similar synergy could be reached with Them's Fightin' Herds? A Goat-Incarnation, maybe? Their goal is significantly smaller than ours, but they're also having some trouble.
- Zone? Already an awesome help. Can't really ask for more. Thanks!
- Waifu Wars 2? Fan-art's been really good so far, but there's only so much that can be done with the canon material at hand. Plus, there's isn't a competitive edge between characters- they're all or nothing. The "Auction for a 10K Incarnation Tier" idea's pretty good, I think.
- Speedrunning community? I'm not familiar with it, so I'm just throwing it out there. One minor problem off the top of my head: I Wanna Be the Guy was free. On the other hand, Awesome Games Done Quickly raises money (for charity), so maybe something similar can be thrown together. Wait, how does AGDQ raise money, anyway? What's the setup? It's something I've only heard about, and not actually taken part in.
- JRPG fans? I seem to recall something about Mike Z regularly doing Chrono Trigger playthroughs on stream, maybe that could help? Plus, I've seen a lot of Final Fantasy fans pine for a return to ATB-ish systems.
- Anime? Cartoon fans? My post on /r/theLastAirbender seemed to get some good attention, so I think that might be a good avenue of attack. Any other forums besides Reddit?
- Youtube reviewers? Current points of interest. Unfortunately, building an audience relies on essentially being news, and "indie metroidvania" isn't really news anymore, even though this one actually is.
We can do this! Don't give up hope! It just so happens that marketing is kind of really hard. Anyone can have a brilliant idea at any moment. I've thrown what I can out there. Hopefully somebody clever can take it and run.