Indie dev thought their puzzle game "would just die out," but "a weird sales curve" and TikTok virality led to "great" success a year after launch
Jul. 6, 2024Storyteller wrote its own happy ending
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After a bumpy launch period and initially lukewarm reception, one indie puzzler found “great” success through the nebulous power of social media algorithms.
Storyteller is the excellent puzzle game where you essentially need to mix and match comic tiles, settings, and characters on a tea-stained book to build your own stories. You can experiment to make non-canonical and sometimes hilarious remixes of classic stories like Frankenstein or Dracula, but the goal is to meet the brief of the given titles.
Solo developer Daniel Benmergui recently tweeted that he thought the game “would just die out,” but a “weird sales curve” means the game is now “doing great” more than year after launch. Storyteller currently sits at a ‘Very Positive’ rating on Steam based on over 5,500 user reviews - the game is also available on the Nintendo Switch and Netflix Games.
While most games fizzle out after their release period, Storyteller seems to have boomed. But why? Benmergui says the game “blew up again before Netflix” and the only thing he did to further promote it was to “make more game” via an update that added new character, levels, challenges, and more.
“TikTok, spontaneously,” was the answer, Benmergui says in response to his above tweet. So if you’re an aspiring developer, just cross your fingers and hope the almighty algorithms platform an account gushing about your game.
Storyteller is currently38% offthanks to the Steam Summer Sale.
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Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that’s vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he’ll soon forget.
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