An indie dev community and display case

Midnight Cafe is a free cozy cafe in the browser and a small indie dev community: indie game developers, makers and freelancers hang out there. Your room can double as a stand for your project. It is new, so expect a few people at a time, not thousands.

Play free in your browserFree. No download. Guests welcome.

The How it works guide in Midnight Cafe, open over The Plaza, with tips on walking, chatting, furnishing a room and showing what you make

What you can put in your room

A project stand

The Displays tab in the shop has a project stand for your pitch and links. Visitors click it and read what you are building.

Picture frames

Hang screenshots or art on your walls. Uploading pictures needs a free account.

A Q&A board

Visitors leave questions on the board and you answer them. A cheap way to get first reactions to something you made.

Why a cafe and not a form

Most places to show a project ask people to click a link, look for ten seconds and leave. In a room, someone walks up, you are both sitting there, and a conversation can start. It is a slower and friendlier way to get a first look at what you built.

Every new person who enters your room earns you beans, so sharing your room link is in your interest. Beans buy furniture, displays and records. They are earned by playing and cannot be bought.

What to expect, honestly

This is a new, small community, not a traffic source. You will not get thousands of views from a project stand. What you can get is a few relaxed conversations with other makers, and a place to come back to.

For reach, you will still want the usual places. Our guides cover them: where to promote an indie game for free, how to get first feedback on a side project and indie maker communities worth joining.

Start in under a minute

  1. Press Play. You land in a public room as a guest.
  2. Say hello. Read the short guide that opens on your first visit.
  3. Create a free account to keep your room and upload pictures.
  4. Open the shop, go to Displays and place a project stand in your room.
The shop window in Midnight Cafe, with tabs including Displays
The shop has a Displays tab for stands and frames.

Questions people ask

Is Midnight Cafe a place to launch my game?
No, it is a place to hang out and show it to a few people. For a launch you need a store page or a site, plus the communities where your players already are.
Does it cost anything?
No. Playing is free, and so is the account. Beans are earned in the game.
Who is it for?
Indie developers, makers and freelancers, though anyone can walk in.
Can I show a web game or app?
The project stand holds a pitch and links, so you can point visitors to anything on the web.

Related

  • Remote work communityA free, small remote work community in your browser: a cafe where freelancers, remote workers and makers sit, chat and show what they build. What it is and what it is not.
  • Promote an indie game for freeFree places to show an indie game and what each is good for: itch.io, subreddits, Hacker News, Discord. With the rules to check before you post.
  • First feedback on a side projectPractical ways to get honest first reactions to a side project: what to ask, where to ask, and how to read the answers. Includes the Show HN rules.
  • Indie maker communitiesWhere indie developers and makers share work and get feedback: Indie Hackers, Hacker News, Reddit, Discord, itch.io, and how to take part without spamming.

Come in and look around

No download. As a guest you can walk into a public room straight away; a free account keeps your room and beans.

Play free in your browser