Though Roblox makes publishing a game easy, getting people to play it is another matter entirely. A myriad of factors will determine the popularity of your game, and we’re here to share a few of the quickest and most effective to attract players.
Make a Great Icon
Each Roblox game on the Games page has an icon that represents it to the community. This is your chance to make a first impression, so choose a picture that’s colorful, well framed and aesthetically pleasing. For assistance in creating your place's icon as well as tips on what to do or avoid, please click here.
Add Awesome and Informative Images and Videos to Your Place
While your icon and title can lead to your first clicks, the gallery will help them decide to press Play. While a nicely framed standard thumbnail might be enough, you can also add images you have created with your favorite image editor or a YouTube video to help really sell it. For more information on this, click here.
Make a Game That Keeps ‘Em Coming Back
Make as many badges and achievements you can for your place, and make sure the top ones are difficult, or nearly impossible, to earn. A lot of Roblox users are hard-core gamers, and they don’t think they've beaten the game until every achievement is completed and every trophy is obtained. Make ‘em work for it. You can also incentivize repeat visits by utilizing our Data store, which allows users to save their in-game belongings (clothes, coins, weapons, etc.) and continue to earn more cool items in-game.
VIP Shirts/Game Passes
You can sell VIP shirts/Game Passes that will give users special powers in your game. If someone is willing to spend money on the shirt or pass, chances are they’re going to want to utilize the powers that come with it more than once.
Be Social
Forums are a huge part of Roblox, and keeping the community at large updated with what you’re doing with your place can garner a lot of interest. Remember, your job is to build your name as a personal brand. Going into a forum and simply saying, “Please play my game” doesn't work as well as going into a forum and saying “I've added some new designs to my place—it looks way different since my last post, check it out.”
Having conversations with people is important. Ask for feedback. You can explore other social avenues as well—advertise your game on Facebook or Twitter, or show off some of your new designs on YouTube.
Utilize Genres
If you’re just starting out, it may seem difficult to get your game noticed. Take a look the Genres bar to see how many visits certain types of games are getting—you’ll find that it’s easier to get your game to the front of certain genres than the top of the Games page. You can even do research before you start building your game—if you notice that “horror” is a genre that doesn't take a ton of visits to make the front page, you might consider creating a horror game to help you establish a reputable name.
Advertise Your Game
Advertising your game on Roblox is a great way to get noticed and an awesome creative outlet. Roblox's two ad systems, User Ads and Sponsored games, are fantastic ways to get your game seen by people that might otherwise have missed it. There are a limited number of ad slots, so they work on a bidding system—the more Robux you choose to spend on your promotion, the more frequently it’ll pop up on Roblox.com while users are browsing. But bidding is only half of the art—make creative, colorful ads that will draw people’s attention. For a more in-depth look on these systems, please see the following links:
Keep At It!
Don’t be discouraged, as a lot of factors are at play that will determine the success of your game. If something doesn’t work, try again. And again. Part of the joy of our platform is that you can build to your heart’s content. Keep at it, and keep trying new things!