Helen Carmichael
Grey Alien Games
Helen is a writer and game designer who helped take an indie horror demo to #1 in Steam’s New & Trending charts through creative collaboration and focused marketing. With hands-on development experience and 20 years in journalism and copywriting, she specialises in getting eyeballs on her games, and keeping them there.
Helen Carmichael is speaking at the following session/s
How a Small Indie Hit #1 New & Trending with a Steam Demo: Lessons from a Horror Game
Launching a demo on Steam can be a powerful marketing beat in indie development. In this talk, Helen breaks down the full, unfiltered data behind the public demo launch of Forbidden Solitaire, a retro FMV horror card game that hit #1 in Steam’s New & Trending Demos and broke into Trending Free, without a publisher or external marketing agency.
Drawing from internal metrics, the session walks through how a small team planned, timed, and executed a demo launch designed to maximise wishlist conversion, Steam visibility, and streamer engagement. Helen will cover how an earlier, curated streamer demo informed the public release; how the team polished and positioned the demo; and how Steam tools (wishlister emails, news posts, reaching existing audiences and streaming live video) added visibility.
The talk includes concrete results: wishlist gains and losses, downloads, completion rates, median playtime, and chart performance; alongside outcomes from press and streamer outreach, and social media. It also explores how the team used the demo data and feedback, to further hone their efforts for the next marketing push.
Attendees will leave with practical ideas for demo-driven marketing, insight into Steam discovery for smaller games, and a realistic picture of what a focused, data-led campaign can achieve for small teams, especially those working in trend-led genres like horror.
Session Takeaway
- Timing and focus matter: Demo launch + Steam tools + targeted messaging = max eyeballs & wishlists.
- Curated attention beats general noise: Thorough and thoughtful streamer & press outreach cut through, sparking genuine enthusiasm.
- Data feeds the next campaign: Campaign data and demo feedback drove game improvements and will make subsequent marketing beats even stronger.
Session speakers
