We recently launched the demo for our game PLAGUN – The Plague Goes On, and in just one week our Steam wishlists literally doubled.
That’s without ads, without paid marketing... just the power of the demo.

About the game:
PLAGUN is a roguelike bullet-hell inspired by Hell is Other Demons in terms of visuals, and by Vampire Survivors / Risk of Rain when it comes to gameplay.

You play as a doctor who uses Plagun weapons (guns infused with plague serum) to fight hordes of mutated enemies.

The game features masks that completely change your abilities, passives, and playstyle.

Between runs, you return to The Pile, an eerie hub where you unlock permanent upgrades and interact with strange NPCs.

Each run lasts 10–20 minutes, with handcrafted stages, wave-based encounters, bosses, and other stuff everyone likes(I hope)

Besides swapping weapons mid-run, you can collect bullet modifiers and other power-ups that change how your shots behave, bouncing, piercing, homing, splitting, growing, etc.

Currently there are 40+ weapons, 130+ power-ups, multiple masks, and 5 stages.


What we learned:

If you’re developing an indie game, my biggest tip is: release a polished demo as early as possible.
Players don’t just want to read about your game, they want to FEEL it. And when they do, if it clicks, they’ll wishlist right away.

We’ve seen this firsthand: the demo gave us visibility, organic word of mouth, YouTube videos, and most importantly, wishlist conversions that no amount of tweets or screenshots alone managed to achieve.

If you want to try it out, here’s the demo:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3805100/PLAGUN__The_Plague_Goes_On/

Would love to hear your thoughts, and if you’ve also seen similar results from a demo release!

Our game PLAGUN – The Plague Goes On doubled its wishlists in just one week thanks to the demo!