(1) Can we talk for a second? We need to discuss bad #indiegames trailers because it's getting out of hand the last few years in the #indiedev scene. I'm sure we've all been seeing it forever, especially with all the new games on Steam.

(2) First of all, the use of realistic royalty-free orchestral music in your #pixelart game's trailer doesn't fit 99% of the time. If you have to roll with royalty-free music, find something that matches your style. Ideally hire a musician, there are tons looking for work!

(3) Secondly, stop using long text intros on your trailer. Nobody reads it. If you're lucky they'll fast-forward through it. And especially don't linger on your logo if you don't already have an established audience. You've got 3-5 seconds to grab people's attention.

(4) And for the love of God, get to your game's action quickly. The good stuff, and make it clear. Don't linger on non-obvious gameplay elements or busy screens where the audience doesn't know what the hell they're supposed to be looking at. Communicate the gameplay succinctly.

(5) And we don't need to see your user interface in the trailer UNLESS your UI is a central gameplay mechanic! I mean, maybe if you have a particularly beautiful interface like Persona 5, but even then, most folks aren't watching trailers for menu navigation.

(6) Trailers are not the time for heavy-handed backstory. The audience doesn't need to know all the details about your main character or your world's lore. Leave some questions and avoid infodumps. If you have a great story, have the confidence to hint at it.

(7) Use press releases! There are numerous services where you can do this for free. Don't expect a Youtube link or even your Steam page to find people's eyeballs otherwise. You need the press in this dance and they need you. Send emails, but don't spam.

(8) Unless it really suits your game, avoid movie style narrator voices especially if you don't have a proper voice actor. In fact, unless your game is stylistically using film elements, be really careful emulating Hollywood movie trailers in general.

(9) And while we're talking about audio, hire voice actors if your own recordings aren't cutting it. And make sure your sound effects make sense, too. An ugly game can be saved with great audio, but bad audio will ruin even a beautiful game.

(10) Trailers that start in medias res, or right in the middle of the action, should be used more often! Get to the hook. Instead of having a big climactic explosion at the end of the trailer, put it at the beginning so people have a reason to keep watching. Show the best early!

(11) Record your gameplay footage without music, please! There are games on Steam right now, where there trailers are playing music on top of their damn in-game music. Disable music while you're capturing video, then add it in on the trailer so it doesn't murder people's ears.

(12) And lastly (and perhaps most importantly) a shorter, punchier trailer is better than a long drawn out one. Get to the point, and leave on a good note. Have some links at the end so potential new players can get more info if they want it.

(13) And that's it for now. I hope this thread doesn't come across mean-spirited; that's certainly not the intention. There's bound to be a million exceptions to these "rules", especially for satirical stuff or developers intentionally trying to subvert tropes.

(14) Having made a few trailers for our team's past endeavors, I've been guilty of a few of these learning the ropes, but that's part of growing. Maybe one day I'll disassemble everything wrong with my old trailer for Stardust Vanguards from 5 years ago.

(15) If there's anything I left out, please chime in. The world needs more #indiegames and especially experimental gameplay, but your trailer is a vital first impression in spreading the word, so make it a good first impression.