How to find your game's hook
2 min read
By Eduardo Orellana ·
A game's hook is the one thing about it that makes a player say "wait, what?", and then repeat it to a friend. It is usually a familiar genre with one surprising twist: a farming game where the crops fight for you, a roguelike where you are the dungeon. Find it by listing what your game does that its comparables do not, writing each as one sentence, and testing them as short clips. The one that gets the reaction goes on the capsule, the trailer's first seconds and the short description.
Players do not repeat feature lists
Nobody tells a friend "it has crafting, a skill tree and 40 hours of content". They say "it is a cosy farming game, but your vegetables fight". That sentence is the hook, and it does more marketing than any feature list.
Finding it
- List your five closest comparable games.
- Write everything your game does that none of them do.
- Turn each into one sentence: familiar thing + twist.
- Keep the ones you can show in a few seconds of gameplay.
Testing it
Cut a short clip for each candidate and post them on different days. The one people comment on, share and ask about is the hook. If none get a reaction, the game may need a stronger twist, which is better learned now than at launch.
Using it
On the capsule, in the trailer's first seconds, as the first line of the short description, in every creator email and as the title of your pitch. Repeat it until you are tired of it; players are hearing it for the first time.
Where Flockbay fits
Flockbay's Video studio cuts shorts around one moment with three different hooks, which makes testing candidates quick, and Social posts posts them to TikTok. Free in beta until 1 December 2026.