I’ve just finished my first small round of Meta ad testing for my indie roguelite.

Rather than trying to optimize for purchases or wishlists (my Steam page isn’t live yet), my goal was simply to answer one question:

**What fantasy actually gets players curious enough to visit the landing page?**

I kept the creative, targeting and budget as similar as possible so the main variable was the messaging.

# Results

1. **The spellbook is the game. Every page is a room, every chapter is a floor.** 309 landing page visits
2. **Remember Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books?** 290 landing page visits
3. **Would you sacrifice half your health for power?** 201 landing page visits
4. **We made a roguelite where you draw your spells.** 168 landing page visits

# What surprised me

Going into the test I expected “draw your spells” to perform best because it’s the game’s most unique mechanic.

Instead it was the weakest performer.

The strongest responses came from communicating the fantasy:

* Living inside a spellbook.
* Making meaningful choices.
* Exploring a world that feels different.

That changed the way I’m thinking about future marketing.

Instead of leading with mechanics, I’ll probably lead with the fantasy first, then let the mechanics reinforce it.

# Next steps

I’m planning another round of testing using variations of the two strongest narratives.

I’m also interested in testing whether different audiences consistently respond to different fantasies.

Has anyone else found that communicating the fantasy of your game outperformed leading with its core mechanic?

I tested four different marketing messages for my indie game. Here’s what surprised me.