How to Market Your TTRPG: A Guide for Indie Creators

You made a game. You're proud of it. You put it on Itch or DriveThruRPG.

And then... crickets.

This is the most common experience in indie TTRPG publishing. The games that succeed aren't always the best designed. They're the ones people hear about. Marketing isn't sleazy. It's just telling the right people your game exists. (If you're still in the design phase, start with our guide on how to make a TTRPG and come back here when you're ready to launch.)

Here's how to actually do it.

Before You Market: Define Your Game's Identity

You can't promote a game you can't describe. Before you post anything, nail down these three things:

The Elevator Pitch

One sentence. What is your game, who is it for, and what makes it different?

• "A one-page RPG about running a food truck in a post-apocalyptic wasteland."
• "A horror game where the GM doesn't know the monster's weakness, only the players do."
• "A solo journaling game about being the last librarian in a dying city."

If your pitch doesn't make someone say "oh, that's cool," keep refining it.

The Audience

Who is your game for? Be specific:

• GM-less groups looking for a one-shot?
• OSR players who want deadlier dungeons?
• Parents who want to play with their kids?
• Solo players?
• People who've never played a TTRPG before?

Knowing your audience tells you where to find them and what language to use.

The Vibe

What does your game look like? The visual identity (cover art, colors, typography) is often the first thing people see. It needs to communicate genre and tone at a glance.

You don't need expensive art, but you need intentional presentation. A clean layout with a strong cover does more than you think.

Build in Public

The best time to start marketing is before your game is finished.

Share Your Process

Post about your design decisions, playtesting stories, and art previews. People love watching things get made. It builds an audience that's invested in your game before launch day.

Where to share:

• Twitter/X is still one of the biggest TTRPG communities. Use hashtags like #ttrpg, #indiettrpg, #rpgdesign, #ttrpgdesign
• Bluesky has a growing TTRPG community with less algorithmic noise
• Mastodon is niche but has an engaged tabletop community (dice.camp is the big instance)
• Reddit has r/RPGdesign for design talk and r/rpg for general promotion, plus system-specific subreddits
• Discord has tons of TTRPG design servers. Join and participate genuinely. Don't just drop links.

The 80/20 Rule

Spend 80% of your social media time engaging with the community. Comment on other people's stuff, share their work, answer questions. Spend 20% promoting your own stuff. People support creators they like, not billboards.

Launch Strategy

Don't just drop a link and hope. Plan your launch.

Pre-Launch (2-4 Weeks Before)

• Announce the launch date
• Share final cover art and key spreads
• Send review copies to TTRPG bloggers, podcasters, and YouTubers
• Post a countdown or behind-the-scenes content
• Build a mailing list if you can (even a simple one through Buttondown or Mailchimp)

Launch Day

• Post everywhere with your elevator pitch, cover art, and a direct link
• Ask friends and playtesters to share and leave reviews
• Engage with every comment and share. The algorithm rewards early activity.
• Cross-post to Reddit (follow each subreddit's self-promotion rules)

Post-Launch (Ongoing)

• Write a dev diary or postmortem about the creation process
• Respond to reviews and actual play reports
• Update the game based on feedback and announce updates
• Submit to game jams that allow existing games
• Keep showing up in community spaces

Where to Get Visibility

Listing Sites and Directories

Get your game listed on every relevant directory you can find. Each listing is a backlink for SEO and a potential discovery point for players.

This is a big one. A lot of creators skip this step because it feels boring compared to posting on social media. But directory listings work quietly in the background forever. Someone searching Google for "solo horror ttrpg" might land on a directory page that features your game. That's traffic you didn't have to chase.

TTRPG List is one of those directories, and we built it specifically for this. More on that below.

Actual Play Content

Nothing sells a TTRPG like watching people play it. You don't need Critical Role production values.

• Record a short actual play session with friends (even audio-only works). If you need players, check out our guide on finding playtesters.
• Reach out to small actual play podcasts. They're always looking for new games to feature.
• Write a play report and post it on Reddit or your blog

Reviews

Send your game to TTRPG reviewers. Focus on smaller creators. They're more likely to cover indie games and their audiences tend to be more engaged.

Look for:

• YouTube reviewers who cover indie TTRPGs
• Blog reviewers on WordPress and itch.io
• Podcast hosts who do review segments
• Newsletter writers covering the indie TTRPG scene

Game Jams

Itch.io TTRPG jams are incredible for visibility. Even if your game is finished, many jams allow existing games. Your game gets featured alongside others, and jam audiences actively browse for new stuff.

SEO for TTRPG Creators

If you have a website or a blog, basic SEO helps people find your game through search.

Quick Wins

• Title your Itch.io page with searchable terms. "Starfall" is hard to find. "Starfall: A Sci-Fi Horror TTRPG" is searchable.
• Write a description with keywords people actually search for. Think about what your audience would type into Google: "sci-fi horror rpg," "one-page rpg," "solo journaling game."
• Get backlinks. Every listing, review, and mention that links to your game's page helps your search rankings. This is why getting listed on as many directories as possible matters.

Blogging

If you have a website, write about your game and the process of making it. Blog posts targeting specific keywords can drive traffic for years.

Ideas:

• "How I designed the magic system in Your Game"
• "Your Game: A genre TTRPG for audience"
• "What I learned playtesting Your Game"

Paid Promotion (On a Budget)

Most indie TTRPG creators don't have an ad budget, and that's fine. But if you have a little money:

• Reddit ads targeting r/rpg and related subreddits (cheap, targeted)
• Facebook/Instagram ads targeting tabletop gaming interests
• Sponsoring a small TTRPG podcast episode (often $50-200)
• Kickstarter/BackerKit advertising built into the platform

Don't spend money until you've exhausted free options. The TTRPG community is small enough that organic reach still works. For more on the business side, read our guide on how to sell your TTRPG.

What Doesn't Work

• Posting only in your own Discord. You're talking to people who already know about you.
• Cold DMing influencers. Send a polite email or public @ instead.
• Spamming links without context. Always lead with what makes the game interesting, not just a URL.
• Waiting for someone to discover you. Discoverability doesn't just happen. You have to put the work in.
• Comparing yourself to big publishers. They have teams and budgets. You have authenticity and passion. That's actually an advantage in this community.

Get Listed on TTRPG List

One of the easiest things you can do for your game's visibility is submit it to TTRPG List.

We're an indie project too, and we built this site because we were frustrated with how hard it is to find smaller games. Here's what you get when you list your game:

• A permanent, searchable listing. Players can filter by genre, system, and type. If someone is looking for exactly the kind of game you made, they can actually find it here.
• A free backlink to your store. Whether you sell on Itch, DriveThru, or your own site, your listing links directly to you. That's good for SEO and it sends traffic where it matters.
• Equal visibility. There's no algorithm deciding who gets seen. Your game sits alongside everything else in the database. A solo zine game gets the same treatment as a 400-page hardcover.
• It takes five minutes. Seriously. Fill out the form, add some tags, and you're done. It's free, it's permanent, and it works in the background while you focus on everything else.

The TTRPG space is fragmented. Games live on a dozen different platforms and storefronts. Having one more place where people can stumble across your game only helps.

The Long Game

Marketing a TTRPG isn't a launch-day event. It's an ongoing practice.

Keep showing up. Keep talking about your game. Keep engaging with the community. The indie TTRPG scene is small and interconnected. People remember creators who are genuine, helpful, and consistent.

Your game deserves to be found. Now go make sure it is.