"Some people have told me that it has encouraged them to keep doing what they're doing, which I think is always a positive thing," says Steve "moshboy" Cook. "We lose so many developers because all that they get in return for their hard work is little feedback or complete silence."
Cook is referring to his unique curation project which he dubbed the 1000 Game Makers Thread — a collection of tweets containing gifs and links to unique, personal, and interesting games from around the world that Cook wanted to see supported. The project began on May 14, 2016, when Cook tweeted out a link to the Itchio game q_dork. It concluded this past weekend, when Cook tweeted out his thousandth link, this one to the work of indie game maker Sylviefluff.
Many news outlets, including Kotaku and IGN, have taken note of Cook's ambitious project. We sought out some of the developers who had been touched by it, and asked them for their reactions.
We heard from over 40 creators — a small amount of people whose work Cook singled out. But in collecting responses, we got a clear sense of the widespread positive effect that the 1000 Game Makers Thread have had on the people whose games he curated, and how one person's efforts made many, many artists and creators feel a little bit more appreciated, and a lot less alone.
Hacksaw Unit (Ugly Turtle)
It was a pleasant surprise! I didn't really see any changes in traffic, but it made me happy that someone enjoyed my work enough to feature it in a list. It reminds me that the hours I spend making games are worth something to someone. It keeps me from quitting!
Dennis Ramirez (The Z-Files)
I've heard lots of people say they "love" video games, but I've found that few people love them as much as Steve. It's easy to be awestruck by the latest AAA titles; it's much harder to sit down and give a small freeware game that same type of attention. It's too bad, too, because there are so many cool and unexplored ideas in unpolished, incomplete, or ugly games. Trash games are important! Weird games that don't quite fit anywhere are weird precisely because they try to do something new, or push the boundaries of the medium in unexpected ways. I see these little games as interesting experiments. They might not always be successful, but you learn something interesting about game dev and design from each one.
There's a lot of love and energy that goes into making games, and It's no different for Free Indie Trash games except that these small games never really get any love back. Steve's curation of these games though the Pirate Bay bundle and the 1,000 game makers thread really helps to bring attention to games that would otherwise be lost or ignored.
Mike Lasch (Cave Game)
The impact any press has on me, including the Moshboy list, is less monetary and more emotional. I make hardly make enough money per year on average to pay to remain a developer for iOS, so I really haven't been in it for the money (most of my stuff is free anyway). When my creations are featured anywhere ,it's really just a wonderful validation and almost a relief that what I'm making does have an effect on people, and people are enjoying my work. I do see an uptick in views, and maybe one or two donations via itch.io, but mostly I'm just in it for the joy of creating and sharing!
Kyle McKernan (Ghostkeeper)
I can't be certain that Moshboy's inclusion of my work brought more attention to it, but it had a definite mental effect to be a part of the 1000 game makers list. It was very encouraging, and helped me build confidence that my work was valued, at a time when I wondered if it was worth it and when I felt like what I was doing was mostly overlooked. I think it's important to have voices recognizing, boosting, and curating art that might not get a lot of attention on its own.
AergiaGame (Hyper Haiku)
When there can be hundreds or even thousands of games released for a game jam, it is invaluable for both players and developers to have curators such as moshboy sift through them to find the rough diamonds. Having a game mentioned on a list like his may not result in a lot of downloads, but it means a lot to know that someone who cares about silly, experimental, and personal games saw something of value in your work despite the bugs and rough edges.
Amorphous (Starlight)
Just off the top of my head, I didn't notice any difference being in the thread. It's not that I think the thread didn't have an effect, it was just that there was a lot going on at the time. So for a bit of context, I've been making games since 2013 (I was in high school at the time), and released a few games to very little fanfare. Then I quit for a few years, and came back late 2015. Again, made a few games that didn't really gain any popularity...and then one that did. One of my games, Starlight, placed highly in a game jam (LowRezJam 2016), and got some popularity amongst the game jam Youtube crowd and some review sites, and suddenly I was seen as a game developer online. My work since then hasn't had the same popularity, but there's been a notable increase in interest from then on out. In the end, I don't think that being in the thread caused anything, but rather was one of the effects of that game jam. I might've had an uptick in popularity because of it, but so much happened because of that one game I cannot tell the effects of one thing over another.
Sergio Cornaga (Tree Vandalism)
The game of mine featured was Tree Vandalism, which honestly, I had to look up the title for! It's a game I made in an hour for @foodshipnine (#20 on the list) to test out their unreleased mod of flickgame (originally by @increpare, #420 on the list). It was fascinating to see such an obscure, almost inconsequential game of mine chosen - a game I'd done basically no promotion for. I was also impressed that moshboy managed to capture a playthrough of the entire game in GIF format. I have no idea if my work received any additional views following inclusion in the thread, as I don't have (or tend to ignore) any site analytics. I definitely didn't see any increase in sales, which is unsurprising since all my games are free or PWYW. My total profits from game development over the past 15 years remain at around 70 cents.
James Earl Cox III (Zestboi Ice Racing)
When I was tagged in Moshboy's "1,000 game makers thread, 1 tweet at a time" it brightened my day. There are countless developers making unique experiences and not often do they feel discovered, much less reach an audience. Moshboy is gem.
Joe Cox (Cheeseburger (in Paradise)
There's a strange gratification in being recognized as one of a thousand artists working in the same space. I feel that Moshboy's list solidified a sense of community for indie game makers.
John D Moore (Turtle Lord)
Being included in moshboy's thread was really encouraging for me, and helped me to feel like I'm part of something larger. That's kind of the power of curation, I think - that it incorporates you and your work into a broader conversation. Working mostly solo as a fairly obscure hobbyist, I've released a lot of games that I actually don't know if anyone else has ever played. It can feel like you're working in a vacuum. Being included in moshboy's thread (and--I should note--the Pirate Bay Bundle of one hundred games he assembled in 2014) felt validating and exciting, reduced my sense of isolation in the global game making community, and also helped turn me on to some other people doing really interesting things. I really appreciate that moshboy's work doesn't just highlight cool games by unknown game developers, but that he highlights the developers themselves. A lot of people have their games scattered across the Internet, and it's easy to encounter just one cool game and never discover its context or find the person or people behind it.
Jaroslav Meloun (Cock Rider)
Being featured in the thread brought me a terrific feeling of satisfaction for being noticed and recognized. It was a sign that there's an audience even for small and weird games and they can actually affect and inspire people.
Noah Ratcliff (Barely Afloat)
At the time he added me to the thread, I didn't see too much change in sales/traffic. Now that the thread is coming to an end, and there's all these articles being written about it, I'm definitely noticing a lot more traffic to my itch page. Emotionally, it was really awesome to be added to the thread. I found it about half a year after it started, and had kind of a passive goal to make it to the list before it ended. There are lots of game makers whose work I really enjoy in the thread, and it's really nice and validating to be listed along side them.
Ciro Duran (Voting Day)
My games are free and mostly browser based. They also tend to be very local, so my audience is understandably reduced to Venezuela and some other Latin American countries, even as I usually ship them in English and Spanish. The mention in this thread did not bring me many eyeballs or commentaries, but I appreciate curation that does not limit to countries that already have a established gamedev industry, I'd love to know more about gamedev in countries not known for their gamedev industry.
Sean Han Tani (Grocery Bag)
It was a kind gesture to be included amongst many other developers with experimental games who are working towards advancing the medium. I think it's a very motivating thing for a developer to be included in. However, I think Twitter is not the best platform for this - there's no easy way to browse the whole list other than slowly loading through Twitter. I think a separate tumblr/archive in addition to Twitter would help.
Sonny Bone (Bunko)
Having my gamejam games selected for any kind of curation is great because it helps me choose which projects might be worth pursuing commercially. Even if I know the game is broken or unpolished and lacking any real depth, there's at least something in there worth appreciating. Being acknowledged and appreciated is always a positive feeling and helps keep the dream alive.
Anthony Tesija (Lost in Thought) - I follow moshboy because he picks out some of the coolest hidden games on the internet and shares them with the world. One of my goals as a gamedev was to be in his list, so when he picked Lost in Thought, I was excited and honored!
Dylan Gallardo (DrawL)
Seeing the post was kind of bittersweet for me. The game gif used to showcase the spot was a collaborative effort by myself and @jedlondo, so straightaway, it felt a bit odd with only my name hovering over it. Plus, that game in particular was probably one of our most conflicted collaborations. I suppose moshboy has a knack for picking out those dirty little secret games - the stuff even I had kind of tried to tuck away and forgotten about. Not that I take any issue with how it was presented. Moshboy is an unconventional curator, so it's fitting that I was shown in a light I wasn't expecting. I knew about the thread beforehand, and it was cool being selected for it. I'm not sure if it had much of an impact exposure-wise though. Certainly didn't affect sales because all of my work is available for free haha. But it was good for some self-reflection and being selected in the first place helped validate what I do as a developer.
Eric Neuhaus (A-Grazing Treasure Hunter)
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