2018 was an incredible journey of trial, error, and patience. I started off the year with the goal of transforming my stream from a Clicker Heroes stream to a variety stream. After trying many different games and struggling with variety streaming, I was introduced to a game that would finally generate the growth I was looking for. That game, of course, is Marbles on Stream.
(A) First Quarter: A Gradual Decline
In September of 2017, I had stopped AFK streaming 24/7 and started adding other games to the program besides Clicker Heroes. Overall interest in Clicker Heroes seemed to be declining, so this seemed like a good time to make a change. As the new year began, interest in Clicker Heroes continued to dwindle, even with the release of a new patch with more heroes.
In the first quarter of 2018, I attempted to make the transition to variety streamer. I streamed many games – Slay the Spire, Hearthstone, Cities Skylines, Golf With Your Friends, Jackbox Party Pack, and a few others. I grew increasingly frustrated as stream attendance continued to decline while my channel continued bleeding followers. Was there something I could do to reverse this course?
(B) Second Quarter: Rise of the Marbles
I’ve always liked the idea of an interactive stream. I’d tried playing games with viewers before, but couldn’t get very many people to participate in Golf With Your Friends or Jackbox Party Pack. Marbles, as I’d soon discover, had three clear advantages over these types of games:
Viewers don’t have to buy the game. Viewers don’t have to pay much attention to participate. And perhaps most importantly, it’s simple to understand what’s happening no matter what your level of education or language is. Because of this, Marbles was an instant hit on my stream. For most of the second quarter of 2018, this was the only game we played.
(C) Third Quarter: Variety Stream Redux
Upon the release of Clicker Heroes 2 Beta, I made the decision to try and incorporate Marbles as part of a variety stream again. I had anticipated that CH2 would result in a flurry of viewers returning, and possible Twitch partnership. Unfortunately, interest in the game died off very quickly.
I streamed Clicker Heroes 2 almost every day for a few weeks. After the third day of its release, however, stream attendance took a massive nosedive. This was basically the same phenomena I’d observed during each update to the first Clicker Heroes game – a flurry of traffic for a very short period of time. I thought this would change with CH2, but alas it did not.
I tried adding other games into the mix. Other incrementals, card games, building games, even other games with viewers. But at the end of the day, nothing brought in new viewers and community growth like Marbles did.
(D) Fourth Quarter: Finding Focus
In early November, with my three year streaming anniversary on the horizon, I decided it was time to stop wasting time with things that aren’t working. I all but removed every game from my program except for Marbles, and the growth returned.
The best decision I made for my stream in 2018 was to stop streaming games for the viewers who only return once a year. Now we get viewers coming back daily instead of yearly, and the community is growing again. That doesn’t mean I’ll only stream MOS forever, but for now it’s definitely our game of choice.
My sincerest thanks to everyone who’s remained a part of this community, no matter what game has been on the stream. You guys are the best!