I don't wanna sound like a prick, but the article is basically stating the obvious. Or perhaps the obvious isn't that obvious to everyone and I'd better keep my mouth shut. 

You think it would be obvious.  It's why I used similar wording in the intro, but I reckon out the game I've played recently over half have some glaring errors.  The common ones I find is a lack of description, no intructions/readme file and no central website.

Essentially: Don't be lazy. Because your audience almost certainly is.

I like it.  A great summary.

I didn't mean for it to be a plug, just thought it may be of interest to people.  I've removed the link in the intro so people don't take it the wrong way.

[The article:]

I wrote a quick article last night about some simple errors made when releasing a freeware game and I thought it might be of interest to some people here.  If you have any comments, points to add or disagreements I'd be happy to hear them so I can improve this article.  If anyone could suggest useful links to add to the bottom I would be a great help.  I haven't released a game in 7 years now, so I'm a bit out of touch with some of the sites that it is worth getting your game on.

Thanks!

The article:

After seeing many games pass through xxxxxxx.net I thought I would share some tips and ideas about the good practice of releasing your freeware game.

Many of these pointers, if not all, may seem obvious, but it is surprising how many releases make basic errors. Of course this isn't a hardline 'you have to' guide to releasing a game, but hopefully it will raise some issues worth considering.

So you have spent months/days/hours labouring over your game and you feel that it is finally finished and want the public to see it. Now what?


1) Beta test your game first.

I have seen a number of cases where the author is finally happy to unleash their game unto the internet, but only to receive a torrent of replies about small, but game breaking bugs. When you release your game you want a positive response to get it noticed, so get some friends or a small community to test it out first to see what they think. Sometimes developers get so caught up in their games, they can often miss the obvious problems.


2) Give the option to download a compressed version that doesn't use an installer.

Especially for small games under 20mb, this bugs me quite a bit. I have hundreds of games downloaded and I would just like to keep them stored all in one folder and not clogging up my start menu and other parts of my computer.


3) Name the download of your game something relevant.

Downloading a folder called 1234.zip when your game is called 'To Hell and Back' makes it hard to find your game again at a later date. Name it something relevant.


4) Provide a good description of your game.

So many games suffer from a bad description. After you've put all the time and effort into the game give it a longer description than 20 words. After reading your description I want to have a good idea as to what your game is about. Tell me, what are the unique gameplay elements, what genre it is and why I should be playing your game instead of the other 10 releases today.

Unless you are a well known freeware game developer do not give a cryptic description of your game. I know sometimes excluding 'details' is a part of the gaming experience, but you need to at least give people something to go on.


5) Provide at least 2 screenshots.

The classic, 'a picture is worth a 1000 words'. A picture is the quickest way to allow a perspective gamer to understand what your game is like.


6) Provide a readme with your game.

Provide a file with your game that lists the controls and contact details. It's annoying to have to visit a thread or website each time I play a game to remember what to do.


7) If your game requires a dll or other files to run, tell us and make it easy for us to access these.

Either provide in the folder the dll/files needed to run your game or at least provide a link to them. If you do have to download something extra, please include this in the description. Gamers are less likely to play a game the more you inconvenience them.


8) Include system specs in the description of your game if the recommended specs are high.

Don't waste my time by letting me download a game I can't run.


9) Have a website to represent yourself.

It can be as simple a signing up to a blog. Some sites like to link to the author's homepage in the article and would prefer linking to a website instead of a forum thread. It also allows players who enjoyed your game to easily find your other pieces of work.


10) Post your game on as many website as possible and submit it to sites to be reviewed.

I recommend getting it posted on:

GameJolt
FreewareHub.net

Reviewed by:

TheGameHippo.com
The Independent Gaming Source
Indie Games' Blog
Play This Thing!

It won't run for me on Windows Vista.  As soon as it starts I get the error 'Bo has stopped working'.

Hey, your game has been featured on the Freeware Friday Section of Big Download.  I thought you would be interested.

http://news.bigdownload.com/2010/03/26/freeware-friday-10-second-war/

No worries.  In reference to above it is definately not a RAM issue as I played it fine on an old laptop with 256mb.

Nice game.  I've only played the first few levels so far, but enjoyed it.  I would have to agree with above that at first I struggled to tell the difference between the real world and the mirrored world. I hope you odn't mind, but I featured it on the release section of my site.

Just had a quick play at this.  Really enjoyed.  I can agree with the slower controls, but wasn't bothered by it due to the quick restart time and so little punishment.  The only other thing I owuld is to make the readme includes press R to restart.  I stuck in a level where I couldn't die/progress and wasn't sure how to get around it at first.

Great game though.  I had fun playing.  Thanks for making it.

I'm currently working on a puzzle game with a slightly morbid theme as the objective is to lead bankers to their death.

The title of my game at the moment is: Capital Punishment

Hi I'm Hatsu.

I've been making freeware games for about a decade now, but after a two or three year hiatus I have got back into the freeware scene and I have started programming games again.  I have a couple in the pipe works and hoping to have something to show for both by the end of March!