Creating public-facing game demos (especially at expos and cons), comes with granular approach and human interactions. Learn about practical steps in developing your demo and providing the best experience for your gaming audience. Originally presented at Devcom 2017

1. The art of building amazing demos
John Cooney - Director of Premium Publishing at Kongregate - @jmtb02

2. Hi I am John Cooney.
Director of Premium Games at Kongregate
(A cross-platform publisher and web games platform)
I am also an indie developer
• 100+ titles released with +1b plays worldwide
• Flash games veteran

3. I move quickly so I’ll post this deck at developers.kongregate.com

4. 30 Minutes Ago
I abandoned helping
team currently
assembling our
booth demos right now
at Indie Arena Booth…
to talk to you about
demos

5. Make amazing demos!

6. An amazing demo is a
sessionable, enjoyable, playable, and honest representation
of the full game experience
Much of building an amazing demo are
tiny (often game-external) tasks
that don’t take much time

7. Why create demos?
• Show off your game. Getting players in your game to
Gamescom and other amazing events
• To get feedback. Be able to collect feedback and see
players engage, whether online or in-person
• A marketing chip. A way of generating buzz about your
game, whether during Kickstarter or post-launch
• Test launch. Demos are also a demo for your launch
experience. Sometimes we call them “open betas”

8. WHERE do we demo as developers?
• Player-facing events. Expos like PAX,
Gamescom, EGX
• Business-facing events. Events like
Devcom, Casual Connect, GDC. For
publishers and investors.
• Online demos for marketing the game
(Steam demos, Kickstarters, etc)

9. Preparing your event demo

10. Your ultimate 3-step action plan to a great event
demo:
• Step 1: Make the player Comfortable
• Step 2: Maximize player Enjoyment
• Step 3: Generate Player Action

11. Step 1
Creating Comfort

12. Comfort starts external to your demo,
fostering a human relationship with
the player

13. “Hi, I am the creator of this game, I hope you love it!”
• Identify that you are the creator! Be excited!
• Interact! Players LOVE being able to interact with the creator!
• Sometimes your interaction with the player is more powerful
than the actual game (no offense to your game)
• Be nice even though you’re probably exhausted and
overwhelmed

14. Hand the controller to the player.
It’s one of the most cathartic experiences you can have as a
developer.
Don’t drop it on the table and point at it.
Handing the game controller to the player is important,
literally handing off your game is good practice for launch

15. Only offer the best control scheme you got.
• Keyboard + Mouse
• Controller
• Mouse only
Hide everything else! Options are paralyzing, don’t offer options!

16. Don’t make these bad charts.
They’re fun to make but they
confuse the player. Memorizing
controls is not fun.
Instead. Show a simplified version
on a control card below the monitor.
Just the basic controls (move, jump,
etc)

17. Read player engagement and body language.
• Some players want to be left alone.
• Some want to constantly ask questions.
• Some are tired and fussy.
Engage with players the way they want to be
engaged.

18. Remove screen-based distractions
• Disable OS notifications (seriously)
• Hide cursor for controller play
• Play in true fullscreen (no application bar)
• Thwart exiting the game (seriously people check their emails)

19. Make sure your demo space is accessible.
• Wheelchair accessibility
• Controller/keyboard adjustable
• Approachable monitor with removable seating
• Be helpful and accommodating!

20. Make some sound choices

21. Headphones are better for solo play.
• Expo noise is LOUD, headphones isolate sound
• Have an easy-to-reach volume knob if you can, set
to LOW and let the player adjust up
• Clean them!
• Remove the microphone (who are they talking to?)

22. Speakers are better for group play.
• Much easier for players to talk/interact
• Competes with ambient noise, its
going to be expensive for good sound
• Nothing to clean!

23. Step 2: Maximizing minutes of enjoyment

24. • Your player is now comfortable. EXCELLENT.
• Enjoyment is about providing an excellent,
memorable gameplay experience, fast
• This is accomplished by providing a
frictionless, seamless, correct length
experience.

25. Controllers
• An Xbox controller has 19 discreet inputs, which
should you push first? Start the demo with the
primary input
• Make sure your real buttons match the UI
counterparts
• Offer y-axis flip from the pause menu, don’t bury it

26. Respect player’s time.
Their time with the demo is limited.
• Story is important but monopolizes time. Try to
set precedence but not tell a wildly long story
• Skippable cutscenes
• Checkpoint progress before difficult portions/boss
fights
• Limit incredibly repetitive actions
• Learning through experience, not 10-page tutorial
reading

27. “How long should my demo be?”

28. • Generally I recommend 5 to 10
minutes in-person, but potentially
longer (10 to 30 minutes) for
downloadable demos
• Demo should be short enough to not
make people in line wait forever,
multiple computer/console setups
help
• End your demo after the peak of
enjoyment, don’t let the demo run
forever
Understand the enjoyment curve then cut the
player off after peak

29. • Make a clear breakpoint in the demo Removing the
awkward moment of “Ok, please stop playing now”
• “Thanks for playing!” is a very happy, clear signal.
Players naturally will put down the controller with
this messaging
• Remove false breakpoints from the game. End of
level screens and similar will cue the player to
leave the game. Simply head to the next level
automatically and don’t wait for player input to go
to the next screen.

30. By the end of the demo, your player should
know the following:
• Basic controls/feel
• Core loop
• Game difficulty and progression
• Art style and tone
• Sound direction and design
Your demo doesn’t have to actually show
these, but can allude to their existence

31. By the end of the demo, YOU should know
things as well:
• Is the difficulty right?
• Did the player perform as expected? What
was unexpected?
• What was their emotions throughout the
experience?
• Was there bugs?
Compare and contrast all data points.

32. Demoing VR

33. • Wipe the headsets before each play or get a
VR Cover.
• “Is this comfortable?” Help the player get
acclimated to VR, many players have never
engaged with VR content before!
• Mirror the game to a screen for others to see.
• Consider setup time into demo length. VR
requires time to set up/take off/clean, lines
can take forever.

34. Step 3: Creating Action

35. The demo is over.
This is a golden minute to captivate your players with
next steps.
Players are excited. Your game is either out or
coming soon.
Take advantage.

36. “Would you like to sign up for our newsletter?”
• Email newsletters are great for keeping
players engage. Lots of good apps for this
(iPad is good). Internet is often bad at large
events, so using an offline app is better.
SignUpAnywhere is great. So is pen-and-
paper.
“Here have a button!”
• Buttons are cheap, easy to make (or get
printed), and mean that the player will have a
physical connection to the game (and have a
visual representation of your game to wear
and share).

37. Should I sell a copy right there at the demo?
Maybe. Probably not.
• Tax implications of making in-person retail
sales are muddy.
• Having to make change, take credit card.
• Holding up waiting players while you make a
transaction.
• It could make sense, just weight your options,
there’s implications.

38. Downloadable Demos

39. Good news. Your event demo will be pretty good for
downloadable demos as well. Just a few things to
think about.

40. How are demos different as downloadable?
• You are probably not in their house watching them play
• The internet is at their fingertips!
• Anonymity = More critical and honest feedback
• Social media call-to-actions!
• Click a link to buy/preorder the game
• Broader range of hardware requirements, settings to support
• Players will want you to fix bugs
• Download/install friction

41. When should I release an online demo? Depends.
• Kickstarter? Along side. Builds confidence in
players that its a real game, influencers can get
involved early and promote the Kickstarter.
• Before release? Sometimes. Its a marketing
chip and can generate excitement for the game
before launch, but a bad demo experience could
jeopardize your launch. Read your hype.
• After release? Definitely. If you haven’t created
a demo and have a work day to create one.
Creates a round of buzz.

42. Recommend places for demos:
• Steam
• itch.io
• Gamejolt
• Kongregate (webGL/HTML5)
You need to still get out there and
promote your demo, can’t set and
forget.

43. Demoing for Business

44. Feel free to use an expo-style demo for business
conversations.
However, 2 major caveats:

45. “Would you like me to drive?”
When pitching to a publisher or
platform, let them know that you’re
willing to play the demo for them.
Sometimes you’ll be asked to
drive. Practice talking and playing,
its an important skill.

46. Laptops for demos.
• Low-power mode is AWFUL. Most
common error I see in demos. Plug
your computer in or disable.
• Charge your laptop, batteries go quick!
• Used wired controllers to skip trying to
pair/replace batteries in wireless
controllers

47. Final Takeaways

48. Optimize for player setting
One demo does not fit all. Expos are different from business meetings
from online demos. Craft carefully.

49. Your demo should represent your game in the best light possible, and
honestly
Your goal is to show a finite, vertical slice of your game
that represents its true gameplay

50. Earn player action
Provide a demo that energizes your audience. They’ll want to look
forward to your release date, or be moved enough to purchase a copy.
Create actionable items for your players. Keep them excited!

51. Thank You
John Cooney - Director of Premium Publishing at Kongregate - @jmtb02