I bought Super Fatty RPG for $15 USD and don’t regret about that. I definitely would like to pay for any good finished WG games around $15-20 USD. The problem is that only Super Fatty RPG I found worth to be payed for. I think I would buy “Fatties eating Fatties” if creator finish this game and will sell it. Unfortunately I can’t think about other WG games which I like so much to possibly buy them.
3 Likes
I’m more likely to throw support at a project with a solid free demo and a Patreon.
If I already know the kind of work the creator does, I’d pay upfront - amount depends on the scale of the game.
1 Like
if the game is up my ally i am more than willing to pay for it no matter the price BUT! it must be said that if we are expected to pay 20$ for a game we expect a game worth 20$
in this economy? cannae do it, not because i dont want to, mind
1 Like
I would buy one if there was a large amount of effort put into it, especially on the art front. I’m not really intrerested in buying cookie cutter RPG maker games with the same 3 decade old gameplay loop and predominently stock assets or purely text games. But some of the projects on here have definitely been worth giving donations or a price tag. Chub Chomp Chill, Comfy Companion and other VNs by Cakecatboy, Burgomatic, and especially Feed the Crown are some examples that I think would be worth at least $10 as a full game if not more. I’m sure there are decent amount of other projects that are very high quality too even they don’t align with my personal preferences.
3 Likes
The cost is not so much of a factor for me per say. I would gladly support a project continually, off and on throughout development, or outright buy a game that I was interested in. However, projects with demos/free releases and a good project thread are normally a must for me though to be able to make that informed decision for my support/purchase.
2 Likes
this is also my sentiment. There are many games that deserve my support. There are none that receive it aside from me recommending it to others.
But there’s a 0% chance I’m gonna pay ticket to ride if it’s an “I’m not sure” situation. I don’t do this with mainstream or indie games, there’s no WAY I can afford to do it here.
1 Like
I’d much rather pay for a finished project. The game I’ve supported the most was The Weighting Game during the original Patreon. There are a couple projects I’m watching now though that look promising and I could see supporting if they get further along in development
It depends, if the project is made by a dev that I know does good stuff or there’s a lot of content already, then I’d be happy to pay. But if it’s something like asking for $5+ for a game with like… 2 weight stages in total and no plans to be continued, then I’d be less inclined to spend money
I also payed for SFRPG since I actually played so much of the old version and wanted to play the new one. I think I payed around 10$ and can honestly say that I got all the money I payed out of that product. Only other I ever bought was Smasher and the Worshippers of the Gain, both of which also lived to the price they were put on (Smasher was so fun). I have been on 4 different patrons, and I can definitely say that I won’t be joining any more of the disorganized ones. Out of said 4, 2 of those had inconsistent updates, not even about developments nor anything, namely they were the devs behind Eat The Dungeon! (which was gone for like 3-4 months if not more) and Soulstream Expansive (had a discord-dedicated patron-chat, which could be accessed via help through his Patron, which he didn’t give so I couldn’t access the closed betas of the games I was supposed to be able to download, as well as not updating that often to warrant that price(I think last update was last year but can’t be too sure)). One of the I joined for an update to a game, namely Project F.A.T (where a known game-breaking bug that was fixed on the patron version but not on the supposed free version, (which is just the previous version) that in turn stopped me from finishing the game entirely, which then corrupted my save file somehow and in turn had to also pay to get it done with). The last one I paid 10 whole dollars to play and it was not enough to warrant a monthly payment of that caliber, although I’ve seen it get updated consistently (won’t mention it cause I’m still watching it to get it again when it actually gets interesting)
1 Like
Sorry, didn’t mean for you to have a bad experience with it.
I’ve been focused on other projects kinda neglected the game a little (that and trying to navigate my giant pile of spaghetti code induces headaches galore)
As for this, I don’t mind buying games if I feel they are worth the investment. I bought SRPG and loved it, I also support a bunch of different creators, cause the more games that come out the better. Although, I do prefer ones that have at least made more than one update before I commit to a Patreon or subscribe sub.
1 Like
Not sure how to vote… I tend to play free games, I must confess. If there’s high production value or the game has a rare theme I like, I’ll spring for the listed cost, or pay the suggested price if the game is PWYW.
More about what strikes my fancy than if I’m willing to pay $2 vs $10.
there should be an option for only paying when I’m 100% sure I’ll like it
If I think it’ll be worth the money I’d pay any amount really, if your game is of the quality of a 60$ nintendo game, hell I’d even pay that, but only if I really will like it and itll be worth it.
1 Like
This thread remind me that i really oughta make a secondary itch account. I’m willing to throw a couple bucks at creators, but only if i can do so (semi)anonymously
@skitterwave
If we are talking about privacy/anonymity, you should know that the creator can see your email whenever you pay for something. I do not do anything with this info, but I can imagine not wanting to share this.
Now to stay on-topic.
I don’t mind paying for a game, but I do want to know what the game is like before I do.
Either a demo version or the full version with the option to support the creator after is what I prefer to see.
2 Likes
Mostly depends on the quality and the effort that was put in the game. A friend one day told me that people should always put value to their work ,but, despite that i understand that, is hard for me to say when is about games of the type that are here. However, i would support a game if there is the option for that after playing it because at least i want to test it.
This is my thoughts as well. I will happily pay money for games I know that I enjoy. I happily buy Chunky Cheerleader, The Weighting Game, and D.I.E.T, because I’ve played the demos and highly enjoy them. I need to know I’ll enjoy the game (via some kind of demo or other user reviews). It also helps when the dev is communicative.
1 Like
I don’t have much disposable income at the moment, but my general criteria are:
- Must have a playable free demo that is largely bug-free showing the main game-play loop. If it doesn’t work, hangs, or have obvious bugs then I’m not going to accept that the paid version is better. This is your shop-window, and it needs to be treated as such.
- Obviously it has to something I might enjoy.
- Writing is important with few typos or spelling errors. Any inattention here often infects the code too.
- It’s got to be accessible to my colour-blindess (protoanomalous)
- I don’t get on with platformers, rythmn-games, and RPGmaker
- If it has art, it ideally should be a style I like
- Single-player
- Must have a decent amount of gameplay. I tend to evaluate on a $/hr-of-fun scale. Don’t expect me to pay $5 for a 30min game with no re-play value.
Things that additionally put me off purchasing/supporting:
- Demo games that are way behind the paid release.
- Paid releases that add content but don’t address long-standing faults/bugs. Fix what you’ve done first, then move on, otherwise the whole thing becomes fragile.
- Release immediately followed by a bevy of bug-reports that should have been caught by basic testing.
- Constant advertising/mention of the paid version.
Note: Patreon is kind-of different to platforms like itch. It isn’t a “purchase” really, just support for something you believe in and want to encourage.
1 Like
Regardless of the outcome (of this poll or otherwise), the investment NEEDS to be worth the “reward”. 
Any games are still paid, maybe not directly, but the games have all sorts of paid bonuses that make it more fun to play.