How did I make my game's debut showcase stand out? I designed an amazing booth! My game, SK89, was a simple skater game parodying the battle royale genre. My team and I decided the best way to make a first impression, is having a booth that shines across the room. THIS WORKS! The more unique and weirder, the better.
During our first hour of showcasing the game, we already had 10 players come through! Everyone liked playing the lighthearted game, but they LOVED the booth setup even more. Some even came just to hug our adorable dog plushie we brought! We remembered to work within a budget and cut expensive unnecessary decisions. The other indies showcasing with us reminded us the cheaper the booth design, the better. Having a booth aesthetic was beneficial, but maximizing the weird cool accessories relating to the game was even better. Other developers brought Legos to build with while others literally had coloring books relating to their game. None of us had a booth fee so we took advantage of being saving even more money.
Here's our booth setup:
● Photos Matte ($0.06/each) from Walmart for handouts
● Dog plushies from the Dollar Store to raffle off
● +10 books about dogs, jokes, and fashion
● Leftover 'I Voted' stickers from the election
● A Laptop & Mouse
Why is this important? Regardless of where you go, we learned that there are cheap options to stand out compared to AAA games. By the end of the week, people were telling other gamers to find our booth! This really brought a smile to my face and reminded me of the importance of first impressions with booth designs.
Our booth spotlight from DreamHack Atlanta
