Things Discovered While Perusing 2000 Games Via Steam’s “Discovery Queue”

If you’ve read this far, congratulations on having both a superhuman attention span and godlike reading skills, and thanks for taking the time. Sorry not sorry for not including screenshots and more links, but I feel most every game deserves a fair shake. I only ever review games I’ve played through to the “end“, whether that’s a credit roll, killscreen, or breaking myself on a difficulty curve. I think that even the most Overwhelmingly Negatively received game can come back from the abyss with enough care and attention, so it isn’t really my place to directly bash on things I haven’t even played. That said, time is the most precious commodity we get in this life, and spending a few days avoiding things that could end up wasting even a second of it are a solid investment. See also: indie market research. It can be a refreshing wake-up call to find out that a game you’re trying to make has already been made, especially early in the development process. Such a discovery could push you to make something even better, or something else. Far better that than having to live in the shadow of someone else’s work.

Some advice for Steam page formatting from someone who’s looked at thousands of them:

I really wish I’d had the ability to do this level of research back in ’08 when I was preparing for a career in indie game development. I could’ve saved a ton of time and heartache. Sadly, the Discovery Queue system didn’t even exist back then, and it’s only recently that it’s become robust enough to use. Coupled with sites like Steam Spy and regularly checking the Recent Popular Releases and Top Sellers lists, all the tools are available for taking a clear look at the state of the PC video game market on Steam.

I’ve recommended that Valve’s Steam team adds the option to input feedback when clicking “Not Interested”. I think this would be a huge help to developers to know why players weren’t sold on their game. (As of March, 2025, this suggestion has gone unnoticed. —Ed.)

2016.05.23


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