I've always wondered about this. Indie developers need to promote their games in any way they can. So is it possible that some of the reviews online are completely fake and written by the creator himself?

I have a friend who made an app and he asked all his friends to download it and write positive reviews about it, which I did.

If you check on steam, there is a game called "Labyrinthine Dreams" and there is only one review. It reads:

"I've never played a game quite like Labyrinthine Dreams, a very human and realistic story set in a very surreal and atmospheric dream. Labyrinthine Dreams tells the tale of Beth, a young woman struggling to find her place in the world while dealing with her ever-present anxieties. Beth comes face to face with a serious illness which forces her to look deep within and find what is truly meaningful in life. 

The gameplay revolves around a series of puzzles, each unique and challenging and brought to life with lush mapping, atmospheric effects, and a dazzling soundtrack. These puzzles are difficult, but figuring them out is immensly satisfying and their ever changing nature always keeps you on your toes. 

The most impressive thing about this game is the seamless cohesion between the puzzles and Beth's story. Each puzzle has a discernable symbolic relationship with a critical period in Beth's life and her battles with her inner demon are among the games finest moments. 

This is an extremely unique game which is definitely worth a purchase. It isn't very long but the journey is well worth an hour or two of your day. While the player learns the specifics of Beth's illness, but her story is universal and can be appreciated by anybody dealing with any sort of oppresive force in their life. Give this game a shot, you won't be disappointed."

Sounds like an ad to me... It is the only review on the game and it came out today, as in an 2.5 hours ago and he's already played it for 1.6 hours and decided to also write a review about it. Seems a bit fishy to me.

So my questions are: have you noticed any reviews that seem to have been written by the developer(s)? Are you ok with that practice? Does the one above seem to be a genuine review to you?

Comments welcome.

Yeah some devs review their own games. I, personally, dont think it is something any dev should do since they have a bias towards their own creation. Looks like a fake review to me, could be real but I have my doubts

They are human beings just like you and I, but question everything.

Yeah, that was definitely written by a dev. You should check to see if there's any more fishy ones!

I think many people do that and unfortunately the worst indie games do it the most from what I can tell

It's far too common.

If I remember correctly, the star trek game last year was a pretty bad offender. One of the top devs was on steam writing reviews and fighting other posters. That was odd enough since it was a bad game, but then people noticed he had already played it for like 30 hours, and this was on launch day. Junior detectives stepped in and figured out who the guy was. Lots of controversy about it. You should be able to find videos and articles explaining the situation.



I think it depends on the situation. If you want to write just one anonymous review that's fine, but if you're posting multiple times then your name should be attached. Writing multiple reviews is never good.

Of course, people will do nearly anything for success.

Wow. I had no idea. I mean, I heard something about a metacretic review from a dragon age 2 developer, but nothing like that about Star Trek. To be honest, I don't mind developers writing reviews, but if you're gonna try to deceive me, at least try to make it sound believable? Don't like to be taken for a fool.

I think it's pretty common practice these days. It wouldn't surprise me if the big publishers also pay for "user reviews" and "forum posts" as a form of viral marketing, so it doesn't surprise me when smaller teams do the same thing.

A lot of the official reviews in some magazines seems like made by the dev, if not at least well paid.