Harpagia · B2C · idle RPG game
Post screenshots of your rough game on Reddit and stress it's free to play
Revenue jumped from ~$1K to ~$10K a month almost overnight, despite harsh comments
Workedcommunityorganic-social
What they did
Six months after launch, with no audience or budget, made a first Reddit post about the game: a few screenshots, a short explanation of what the idle RPG is, and a few metrics about how free-to-play it is (gamers want to try before paying). The game was still rough; the post drew mostly critical comments, and the discussion itself pushed it in front of thousands of players.
What happened
Revenue went from ~$1K/month to ~$10K/month almost overnight; hit his quit-job goal and left Meta that month
- Stage
- Launch (6 months after launch, early alpha)
- Effort
- One post
“The very first post that I made just showed some screenshots of the game and kind of just explaining a little bit about what the game is and a few metrics about, you know, how the free-to-play it is”
“The response was actually overwhelmingly critical, but the post gained significant traction and put Harpagia in front of thousands of players.”
“My revenue jumped from roughly 1,000 a month to 10,000 a month almost overnight from that one single post, and I hit my goal.”
Related topics
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More from this episode
- Harpagia: Share big game updates on Reddit every few months, within subreddit promo rulesEach post brought a jump in new players; revenue rose from $10K to a ~$18K/month peak
- Harpagia: Price in-game purchases between $4.99 and $9.99Players buy readily in that band; above $9.99 converts worse. No test numbers given
- Harpagia: Make the game free and sell optional extras that speed up progress~6% of downloads pay (games typically 2-5%); over $3 per active user a year
- Harpagia: Launch after 6 months no matter what, and let real players shape the gameFirst $10 sale within days; ~$150 in month one, ~$1,500 total by month two
- Big 2 Wild: Build a tiny practice app in 6 weeks to learn launching before the real oneTaught AI-assisted building and app store approval; lessons fed the main game
- Harpagia: Focus on keeping players coming back before worrying about making moneyFounder credits it; no separate numbers