Marketing a Heartbreaker

[Egonblaidd]

In my opinion, names like X and X (X being two different words starting with the same letter) probably shouldn't be used because it immediately makes the reader think of Dungeons and Dragons.  This identifies that game as a D&D knock off, which may or may not be true in reality.  Even if it is true, you generally don't want people to compare your game with the most popular RPG of all time, because even if your game is better you will still lose because the majority of the fanbase is dedicated to D&D.  When it would be appropriate to use a name like X&X would be if you were doing a parody or comedic RPG (the name "Bunnies and Burrows" comes to mind, though I don't know what that game is actually about).  Anyway, this is one way I think your choice of name could have had a negative effect on your game's popularity.

As for names that sound bizarre or are turned into derogatory slurs, like if some refer to your game as BS&BS, where the "B" stands for "Bull" and the "S" you can guess (hey, that rhymes!), this is not actually a bad thing.  Think about how much popularity the Wii got due to how bizarre the name sounded to us Westerners, and from all the dirty internet jokes it spawned.  In fact, if your game is more comedic, you can even capitalize on this.  For example, if your game is named, say, "Big Sword," then the cover art could feature a huge B and S with the rest of the title in small letter, with perhaps a picture of a minotaur.  If your game is more serious, then this is less desirable, but you can still benefit from negative popularity as it will drive people to check your game out to see what all the crass humor is about.  Once they see how good (assuming it is good) your game is, they may be inclined to try it out, and spread the word that in spite of all the dirty jokes it's actually a decent game.  This is along the same lines as a company giving to a charity or some similar attention-drawing action: if you can get other people to talk about you, your company, and your product, then that's that much less marketing you have to do yourself.

[Daniel B]

Further to others' comments on the whole BS&BS: how about Shattered Swords & Broken Bucklers instead?