Marketing

Audience:

A Midsummer Night’s Cat combines simple, relaxing gameplay with straightforward storytelling, making it appealing to a wide audience, roughly ages 12–35. Potential target players include:

• Fans of cozy and easy puzzle games who enjoy gameplay without high-intensity controls or challenging mechanics.
• Fans of fairy tales and fantasy themes.
• Players who appreciate cute and charming character designs.
• Players who are interested in handcrafted visual styles.
• Players seeking relaxation and emotional comfort through gaming.

Platform:

Although this kind of gameplay based on block fill is well-suited for touch-based mobile devices, I have decided to develop the game for PC. The main reasons are:

• The Fungus plugin I use is PC-based, and developing a mobile version would prevent me from using it, which is a significant issue for me.
• I do not intend to create a vertical-screen game, which further reduces the rationale for mobile development.
• As a non-professional programmer, focusing on a development environment I am familiar with allows me to work more efficiently and effectively.

Although mobile and console gaming have seen rapid growth in recent years, the PC gaming market remains relatively stable.

For student developers, Steam doesn’t seem to be the best platform. Steam’s internal visibility mechanisms are losing power, and 46% of traffic to Steam games now comes from outside the platform via social media, creators, and community buzz. (Newzoo, 2025)

Therefore, I have decided to release A Midsummer Night’s Cat on the Itch.io platform. First, the platform allows free game publishing and brings together many talented indie and student developers. Also, Itch.io is recognized within the industry, which makes releasing the game there advantageous for promotion.

Competitors:

The Witness

• Abstract:
  • You wake up, alone, on a strange island full of puzzles that will challenge and surprise you.
  • You don’t remember who you are, and you don’t remember how you got here, but there’s one thing you can do: explore the island in hope of discovering clues, regaining your memory, and somehow finding your way home.
  • The Witness is a single-player game in an open world with dozens of locations to explore and over 500 puzzles. This game respects you as an intelligent player and it treats your time as precious. There’s no filler; each of those puzzles brings its own new idea into the mix. So, this is a game full of ideas. (The Witness, https://store.steampowered.com/app/210970/The_Witness/)
• Tags:
  • Puzzle; Exploration; First-person; Open world; Colorful.
• The Witness is a puzzle game whose core mechanics closely align with the concept of my own project. It features a strong visual presentation and over 500 puzzles that are seamlessly integrated into the environment, making it an excellent reference case. However, some Steam reviews point out that the large number of puzzles can lead to aesthetic and mental fatigue. Although my game will not feature such a high puzzle count, this serves as an important reminder to avoid excessive repetition in level design.

Rusty Lake Series

• Abstract:
  • Welcome to Rusty Lake, a surreal place where anything can happen. We offer you the most mysterious game series you’ll ever play. (Rsuty Lake, https://www.rustylake.com/)
• Tags:
  • Puzzle; Point & Click; Indie; Psychological Horror; Horror.
  • Pick-up-and-play: easy to start but hard to put down.
  • Unique storyline: experience the beginning and end of characters’ lives and build your own family tree
  • Full of suspense and atmosphere: switching from calm to very dark moments.
  • Immersive soundtrack: each level has its own theme song and variations.
• The Rusty Lake series is undoubtedly a classic within the escape-room puzzle genre. Its rich and cohesive narrative, surreal aesthetic, clever level design, and memorable soundtrack all contribute to a highly polished and impressive experience. Based on the success of the Rusty Lake series, I will place greater emphasis on the integration of puzzle mechanics and narrative depth. By introducing variations in context, setting, and narrative focus, the sense of repetition caused by reusing similar mechanics can be effectively reduced, resulting in a more engaging and cohesive overall experience.

Critical Analysis:

I aimed to develop A Midsummer Night’s Cat as a low-failure-cost, lighthearted fairy-tale game that emphasizes a gentle player experience. However, this design approach also introduces several limitations.

Firstly, the relatively simple core mechanics significantly reduce the cost of trial, allowing players to progress with ease. As a result, the sense of achievement is largely process-oriented, lacking moments of short-term emotional intensity.

Secondly, due to the limited variety of core mechanics, variations in levels primarily rely on narrative progression and thematic changes. Under low-penalty conditions that encourage repeated attempts, players may become more aware of the mechanical repetition, which could lead to aesthetic or experiential fatigue in later stages of the game.

From a narrative perspective, the game adopts a traditional fairy-tale tone that celebrates classical virtues, intentionally minimizing dramatic conflict. While this supports a calm and comforting atmosphere, the linear storytelling structure may reduce the level of immersion for players who seek stronger narrative tension.

Finally, the choice of distribution platform also limits the game’s exposure to a broader audience, particularly mobile players, thereby constraining its potential reach and recognition.

More Information:

• For more research and reflection details, please check the section: Home Page – Semester 1 Design Appendix