How Crit Pick Finds Indie Games Worth Playing • A Conversation With Isabella

Isabella — Crit Pick

It depends on how far along the game is. If it hasn’t been released yet, I think about its potential: what looks interesting, what it could become, and whether I can imagine wanting to play it. I also check whether the developer is active on social media and what they’re sharing, though that isn’t a make-or-break factor. If something catches my attention, I might introduce it in a short post.

Once there’s a demo, I look for a promising hook, positive player feedback, or something that feels different. Sometimes it’s simply a game that appeals to me, even if the idea isn’t entirely new.

I try to make time for hands-on testing, but balancing this with my other jobs means I can’t play everything I’d like to.

Ultimately, there isn’t one checklist a game has to pass. I’m looking for something that makes me curious and gives me a reason to put it in front of other players.

Isabella — Crit Pick

I mainly focus on Steam because I’m primarily a PC gamer, although some games are so widely talked about that you hear about them regardless of which store they’re on. I try to look through as many upcoming and newly released games as I can, and I also check what’s new and trending on Steam.

Maybe my background in marketing and SEO is talking here, but when you’re looking through a huge number of demos and new releases, presentation makes a massive difference. I’m still human: when I’m scrolling through a long list of unfamiliar games, capsule art is often what catches my eye first. It can be what makes me click rather than scroll past. Once I’m on the Steam page, the screenshots and gameplay footage need to show what makes the game interesting.

I also use AI to help me look beyond whatever happens to catch my eye visually, because I don’t want to overlook a promising game just because its capsule art isn’t particularly strong. That’s part of my own process, though.

Of course, people don’t only discover games by browsing Steam. A video that gets widely shared can put a game in front of people who might never have clicked on its store page otherwise. How a game comes across in motion can give it another way to stand out.

For me, that could be a distinctive visual style, an unusual mechanic, or simply a familiar idea that makes me think, “I’d like to play that.” It doesn’t have to reinvent a genre, but its appeal needs to come across quickly.

Isabella — Crit Pick

I think discovery is often the bigger struggle, but there are a few different problems hiding inside that question.

Some indie games have a very experimental or strongly artistic style that naturally appeals to a smaller audience. That doesn’t make them bad games, but even excellent quality won’t necessarily give them broad appeal. On the other hand, a developer with a strong technical background might build something genuinely great, but present it with simple visuals that don’t catch people’s attention. Those are two very different reasons a good game might struggle.

Then there’s the challenge of getting noticed at all. There are countless games and social accounts competing for attention, and self-promotion isn’t always welcome in the communities you’re trying to reach. Marketing also asks developers to do things they may not feel comfortable doing: start a YouTube channel, show their face, or even record their voice. Being good at making games doesn’t automatically make someone comfortable being their own spokesperson.

The suspicion around AI adds another layer. Even my own voice has been called AI-generated, although I record everything myself. It can be frustrating to put your own work out there and have people question whether it’s yours.

So yes, I think many smaller indie games struggle more with discovery than quality. But discovery isn’t just about getting enough eyes on a game. It’s about reaching the right people and helping them recognise what’s good about it.

Isabella — Crit Pick

The first thing I learned is that I can be my own biggest obstacle. I’m very critical of my voice, and the energetic delivery you often hear on social media doesn’t come naturally to me. I tried a calmer approach and got comments that I was too slow. Finding a style that feels like me while also working for viewers has been harder than I expected. My English is also a little rusty because I don’t speak it regularly these days.

I also learned that people finding you through one game doesn’t necessarily mean they’re interested in everything else you want to cover. A lot of my early attention came from Aniimo, but some viewers were disappointed when they realised I wasn’t going to be an Aniimo-only creator. Some also reacted badly when I gave it an average rating. That taught me that attracting an audience and finding an audience that understands your approach are different things. That sounds obvious in hindsight, but it feels different when it happens to your own project.

The platforms have surprised me too. On Instagram, my follower count can grow quite quickly, but that hasn’t translated into much reach for my carousel posts. Reels seem to travel further. TikTok has worked better for me so far, even though, honestly, it’s not a platform I particularly enjoy. To be fair, I’m much more of a website person than a social media person. I barely use social media privately beyond lurking on Reddit and watching YouTube, so creating for those platforms has been a learning curve in itself.

I’m also learning to work with what I have. I know there are equipment upgrades I could make, but I want to keep developing the format before adding more costs.

I’m also very introverted. Seeing my friends a few times a year and spending time at home with my husband is honestly my idea of a great life, so putting myself out there publicly doesn’t come naturally to me. I understand why developers find this side of things difficult, because I’m figuring it out too. But I want to give smaller games a chance to be seen and have a place where I can share my honest opinion. The challenge is finding a way to do that which I can actually sustain.

Isabella — Crit Pick

Press kits. Honestly, a good press kit makes a huge difference, especially for smaller publications and creators who are fitting coverage around other jobs. Clear information about the game, downloadable screenshots, logos, gameplay footage, relevant links, and a contact for questions save us a lot of time. Make it clear which assets we can use, and keep release dates, platforms, and demo availability up to date.

Having your own website helps too. A Steam page is useful, but a website gives you room for more detailed information about the mechanics, development, and team, with the press kit somewhere easy to find.

Interviews and exclusive information can make a real difference, especially for smaller publications. If you give a journalist something useful that isn’t already available everywhere—whether that’s an interview, development insights, or details about an upcoming feature—you help them create original reporting rather than another version of the same announcement.

That matters for discovery too. I put a lot of work into SEO, and having original information gives an article a stronger reason to be found, linked to, and cited, including in AI-powered search. It can help people discover your game through the publication while also helping the publication reach new readers. That makes it a collaboration with value for both sides.

Reaching out directly can help, particularly with smaller publications. Take a moment to check what they cover and explain why your game might fit. A short, relevant message with a press-kit link is much easier to work with than a generic pitch.

Finally, give people time. Early access to a demo or review build, clear embargo details, and someone available for follow-up questions make it easier to prepare thoughtful coverage. Small publications may have limited time, but we can still give a game a lot of attention when we have what we need.