collab - arimia

Hi everyone! This month I thought we’d try something different. I typically write articles based on my own experiences and research, but I want to include more commentary and experiences from other developers. I’ve tried this before with using surveys like for my TikTok marketing article, but this is a step further—today I’ll be interviewing another developer!

ingthing is a visual novel developer and friend of mine who is currently developing Of Sense and Soul, a queer Victorian romance visual novel following a pair of men after a misconstrued newspaper ad.

Of Sense and Soul is a highly detailed, lovingly crafted visual novel that showcases how we can elevate indie visual novels to new heights. Its attention to visuals is something that can be felt throughout every store page and screenshot for the game but is even more breathtaking once you actually play it.

Today I’ll be interviewing the lead developer, ingthing! You may have seen her previously talk on this at Visual;Conference, an annual online visual novel developer conference.

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Social media platforms come and go, and with them audiences shift from one to another. After the Tumblr exodus a few years ago, long-form posting became sparse again and Twitter became the haven—or hell, depending on your outlook—for those users. After Vine closed down, YouTube took in the new-found celebrities of short form comedy.

With the emergence of any new social media, marketers will flock to it to find any way to monetize it. But for the past few years, TikTok has flown under the radar of game dev marketers.

Not any longer.

Today I want to talk about how marketing indie games on TikTok is a lot easier than you might think and why you should give it a shot—it might be life-changing, as you’ll see.

This article will not go over privacy concerns with TikTok and how much of your data it tracks, nor prior reports of LGBT+ content suppression. Please do your own research into the companies and policies for social media apps before diving in, especially ones as large as TikTok.

Before we get started, if you’re new here then hi, I’m Arimia! I own Crystal Game Works, a visual novel studio focused on chuuni LGBT+ games, and I’m the marketing force behind Studio Élan, a visual novel studio making sapphic games. I use Tiktok to promote both of these studios.

Now let’s get started ♥

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Tag: collab

Developer Interview – Scene Direction in Of Sense and Soul

Marketing Visual Novels on TikTok