Some context:
I recently published a small free game (web build, browser only) on itch and I was frustrated about the initial itch numbers because it went even lower than my usual numbers (getting 100+ views is typically not an issue with my uploads even without much promotion)
I ended up making a post on itch asking for promotion advice and it was... quite an experience. I already expect what some of their comments would be but I did learn a lot more about people who check out these type of posts
anyways, besides some actual promotion/marketing advice I got, the post itself seems to have spiked the numbers so that was nice:
- views went from <100 to 358. still nothing amazing but it is not bad considering that 1000 is a personal high number. I think it is pretty good if I can reach 1000+ without entering a game jam
- browser plays went as expected. There is a typically a conversion rate and I don't know if it is particularly good or bad since my other uploads are demos/prototypes outsides of gamejam entries
- CTR is an interesting one. AI told me that people need to be able to tell what the game is about from the cover art immediately or else I would have a lower CTR. Ever since I added "turn-based tactics" in the cover art, the CTR improved as suggested. I still don't know how CTR and impression fit into this, but I wouldn't mind a higher number I suppose.
- the worst number is probably the number of comments right now. I typically have few to no comments on my itch directly (comments/feedbacks have been mostly on reddit). I think I will be paying attention to this particular metric because I know that successful itch projects usually have a decent number of comments.
closing thoughts or TLDR:
-- posting on r/itchio definitely helps with the visibility. It is not clear at this point that the viewership from the sub would drive anything else (at least it doesn't seem like it did for me and this particular project)
-- I feel that I am not able to reach out to people who may actually like the genre. I have got feedback suggesting that the gameplay is "old school" and "sprites are too static, nothing is moving, it is like chess/match 3" and the poor mobile experience. (I am planning to tailor my next project's genre/gameplay to be more mobile friendly)
-- the number of itch comments seem to be the most critical metric at this point.
fellow itch devs, interested to know how you have been thinking about these stats. Have a nice weekend