How To Write a Video Game Slogan

Slogans are really unique, cool, and low-risk marketing tools. Let's dive into what they are, what the best ones have in common, and how to write yours.

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From a video game marketing perspective, slogans are pretty cool. They’re unnecessary to the point that even the most heavily invested fans likely won’t even notice if your game doesn’t have one, but a great one can grow to become an inside joke and a rallying cry in your game’s community. Simply put: when it comes to memorable slogans, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

What Is a Slogan?

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A slogan is a short and catchy phrase used in advertising to promote your video game. Slogans are often found on store pages, in social media posts, at the end of trailers, and on the game’s cover art. Slogans can change over time to reflect the game’s development and marketing objectives, so you don’t need to fret about making something as perfect and evergreen as your game’s title.

Examples of Slogans From Video Games

• Build. Explore. (Minecraft)

• Prepare to die. (Dark Souls)

• In war, not everyone is a soldier. (This War of Mine)

• Some mountains are scaled. Others are slain. (Shadow of the Colossus)

• Finish the fight. (Halo 3)

• Only the dead survive. (Dead Space)

• One giant step on mankind. (Destroy All Humans)

Are Slogans the Same As Taglines?

While slogans and taglines are very similar, and you may have even heard someone use the word “tagline” when talking about a slogan, they are not the same thing. Unlike slogans, taglines are longer-lasting and are used to convey the tone or feeling of a whole brand. Two famous non-gaming examples are:

• Tagline: Think different. (Apple Inc., 1997-Now)

• Slogan: 1,000 songs in your pocket. (iPod, 2001)

The tagline is broad, and it is as accurate and effective today as it was 27 years ago. The slogan, however, is very specific, and it is no longer as accurate or impressive as it was at the time.

3 Elements of a Successful Slogans

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Just because slogans are low-risk and can easily be changed at any time without much effort or notice doesn’t mean you should just throw your first idea at the wall to see if it sticks. Like with anything else, there are certain features that make up an effective slogan. Though, admittedly, you won’t actually know how great it is until you throw it against the wall.

1) Great Slogans Are Short

The rule of “less is more” applies just as much to slogans as it does to many other facets of marketing. You want your game’s slogan to be easy for fans to remember and repeat so they can recall it during gameplay and cite it to their friends. Try your best to keep your slogan to a single sentence of eight words or fewer.

2) Great Slogans Are Catchy

If you want your game’s slogan to catch on, it needs to be catchy. Consider the elements of poetry—such as rhythm, rhyme, alliteration, and double meaning—when brainstorming catchy slogans. You can also utilize references and inside jokes, just like with game titles.

3) Great Slogans Stand Alone

A great slogan grabs attention and paints a picture without being paired with anything else. It accurately describes the game and its tone in a way that piques curiosity and gives people a reason to pay attention. It takes everything from all of your marketing efforts and squeezes it into a single elegant idea.

How To Write a Powerful Slogan

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Before you begin drafting a single slogan, you need to define the tone and intent that you’re aiming for. Tone and intent are even more important than the three elements listed above because even if your slogan is long, clumsy, and unclear it can still be functional if it conveys the desired tone and intent.

Tone is what feelings you want the slogan to stir up in your audience. The tone of your slogan should typically be the same tone as your game mixed with a dash of mystery or excitement. After all, you want people to see the slogan and want to learn more. This doesn’t mean you need to tease some plot detail, but rather try to say something that appeals to your target audience.

In the above examples, consider the different approaches that Minecraft and Destroy All Humans take to tone; Minecraft uses two words that directly state what you do in the game to elicit tone, while Destroy All Humans uses metaphor, parody, and humor to convey the tone.

Intent is what information you want to convey to your target market. To determine the intent, consider the following questions:

• What is the most important information to convey?

• What does the title not say that is true about the game?

• How do you want players to interact with your game?

Once you have defined your tone and intent, start a brainstorming session by drafting everything from simple phrases to full thoughts. Remember that no idea is too terrible for your creative juices in the drafting phase, so write down every possibility you think of even if it doesn’t include the correct tone, intent, or any of the three elements of a perfect slogan.

Quick Tips for Brainstorming Creative Slogans

• For inspiration, look at your unused game title ideas, lines of dialog in your game, or established themes and references that you can pull from.

• After going at it for a bit, step away from your drafts and do something else, then come back to them later with a fresh pair of eyes.

• Mix and match slogan ideas to see what works.

• Use a thesaurus to play around with any slogans that you particularly like to see if you can add a more compelling rhythm, rhyme, alliteration, or layers of meaning.

• If you have a few drafts that you like but don’t quite love yet, try to figure out what they’re missing and ask friends and family for advice.

One of my favorite tricks of the trade is to try turning a slogan into a call to action by adding a verb to it. For example, I can turn the slogan for Shadow of the Colossus into a call to action by changing it to “Scale the mountain. Slay the mountain.” While I think the original slogan better matches the tone of the game, the call-to-action version boldly and confidently evokes excitement, action, and curiosity.

What are your favorite slogans? What topics would you like me to cover in the future? What questions do you have for me? Leave a comment to let your voice be heard!