One of the hardest stages for an indie developer is the beginning. You launch your Steam page, post about your game, and very little happens. There are no comments, barely any wishlists, and no real community yet. This is often when developers start wondering how to promote an indie game before launch, or more specifically, how to get your first 100 players when nobody knows your game exists.
You do not need thousands of people to start building momentum. Your first players can be especially valuable because they often become your first testers, community members, and early supporters. Some will give feedback, some will follow development closely, and a few may eventually start recommending the game to others. The goal is not to suddenly create a large audience. It is to start finding the right people and give them reasons to stay involved.
This guide walks through a practical process for finding those first players, starting conversations around your game, and gradually building a small community before release.
Step 1: Define who your game is actually for
Before you start looking for players, you need to know who you are looking for. Saying your game is “for everyone” does not give you much direction. A much more useful starting point is to describe the type of player who would already be interested in the experience you are making.
For example, you might be looking for players who enjoy cozy organization games like Unpacking or A Little to the Left, horror fans who prefer slow psychological tension over jump scares, players who enjoy story-heavy visual novels with branching choices, or strategy fans who like optimizing systems over time.
The more specific you are, the easier the next steps become. You can search for the games they already play, the creators they already watch, and the communities where they already spend time.
Step 2: Find the places where those players already gather
Instead of trying to build an audience from nothing, look for communities that already exist around your genre and comparable games. Start with Reddit, Discord, Steam Community Hubs, forums, YouTube, Twitch, and any smaller niche communities that make sense for your game.
On Reddit, search for your genre and similar games, then look beyond subscriber numbers. A smaller subreddit with active discussions can be much more useful than a huge community where nobody responds. Read recent posts, check how developers are treated, and pay attention to which kinds of posts actually create conversations.
Discord takes more digging because servers are harder to search. Google, Reddit threads, creator descriptions, community websites, and the Discord servers of similar games can all lead you in the right direction. Do not join twenty servers just because you can. A few relevant, active communities are more useful than a long list of dead ones.
Steam discussion boards are also worth exploring. Open the Community Hubs of games similar to yours and read what players are talking about. You will quickly start noticing what frustrates them, what features they care about, what they ask developers for, and how they describe the experience in their own words.
YouTube and Twitch work a little differently because creators themselves act as community hubs. Look for people who regularly play games similar to yours and pay attention to their comments, chat, and audience reactions. Those viewers may already be exactly the type of players you are trying to reach.
Step 3: Observe before you promote
One of the easiest mistakes is finding a relevant community and immediately posting your Steam page. In many places, that either gets ignored or feels like self-promotion from someone who has never participated before.
Spend a little time watching how the community works first. What gets replies rather than just likes? Are people sharing clips, asking questions, discussing mechanics, posting memes, or telling personal development stories? How do people respond when developers post about their games?
Tone matters too. Some communities are playful and casual, while others are more critical or analytical. If you understand how people communicate there, it becomes much easier to contribute without sounding like you arrived only to advertise. You do not need to spend months pretending not to be a developer. The point is simply to understand the room before you start talking about your game.
Step 4: Share small moments people can react to
When you do start posting, you do not always need a polished announcement. Some of the best early content comes from small moments during development.
You could share a puzzle that took several attempts to get right, an unexpected bug, a before-and-after comparison, a short gameplay clip, or a design choice you are still thinking through. These posts give people something specific to react to, which is usually much easier than asking them to care about a game they have never heard of.
A polished trailer says, “Here is my game.” A small development moment can say, “Look what happened while I was making this.” That often creates a more natural conversation. Over time, people start recognizing the game and the developer behind it. That familiarity is useful long before launch because you are no longer introducing the project from zero every time you post.
Step 5: Use social media to help new players discover your game
You can reuse many of those same development moments on your own social channels. A short clip, funny bug, satisfying mechanic, or interesting question can reach people who are not already inside the communities you found manually.
I would not think of social media as the place where your entire community needs to live. It is more useful as a discovery layer. Most people will scroll past. Some will watch. A smaller number will comment, ask something, follow the game, join a playtest, subscribe to your mailing list, or eventually wishlist it.
Those small signals matter. If somebody asks when they can play, wants to know more about a mechanic, or responds strongly to a clip, that is a much warmer lead than somebody who simply viewed the post.
Step 6: Give interested players a clear next step
Once someone shows interest, give them somewhere to go. That could be a Steam wishlist, a playtest signup, an email list, a Discord server, or another community space you are actively using.
The important part is that the next step should make sense at that moment. If you are testing a new level, invite interested players to the playtest. If you are collecting feedback, tell them where they can join. If your Steam page is already live, give them an easy way to wishlist the game.
I would not force everyone into Discord by default. A Discord server is useful when there is already something happening there, but a quiet server with no activity can create more work than value. Use whichever next step fits the stage your game is currently in.
Step 7: Give your early players a reason to stay
Getting somebody to play once is not the same as building a community. If a player tests your game and never hears from you again, there is very little reason for them to remain involved.
Follow up. Share what changed because of feedback. Ask another question. Give early players a look at something new. Let them know when another test is happening. If somebody’s suggestion influenced the game, acknowledge it.
This continuity is what starts turning individual players into people who follow the project. Eventually, some of them may begin talking to each other, sharing feedback without being asked, or showing up repeatedly for updates. That is when a real early community starts forming.
How to get your first 100 players: Keep repeating what works
Your first 100 players will probably not come from one lucky post, one subreddit, or one creator. They usually come from several small wins adding up over time.
A few people might come from Reddit, a few from a gameplay clip, some from a playtest, a creator video, Steam discussions, or your own social posts. On their own, those numbers can feel small. Together, they are how your first real audience starts to form.
The key is to notice what is actually working and repeat it. If one type of post brings comments, make more of it. If one community keeps sending interested players, spend more time there. If creators in a certain niche respond better, build a bigger list around that niche. Do not keep spreading your effort evenly once you start seeing clear signals.
Your first 100 players are useful for more than just the number. They show you where your audience is, what makes people stop and pay attention, and which channels are worth doubling down on before launch. That knowledge makes the next 100 much easier to find.