Should I use an installer or .zip for my game? My game folder's size is currently just under 100mb (this may be significantly reduced after I've removed temporary files). Is there a best practice? I don't know how to make an installer at the moment, but I can learn how to make one if necessary.

i'd say it depends if you plan to release your game for capable persons or inept.

note, i don't sell games...

I take it we are talking about Windows only? (different platforms have different expectations in this regard).

I'm a fan of zips, so long as the game is fully self-contained in it's folder, and doesn't need to be installed to Program Files, or have a bunch of dependencies installed, etc.

If you're releasing on Windows then a signed installer is generally preferred, especially since an uninstaller can clean up after your game by removing registry entries, cache files, save games (if the user wants), etc. (And signing it will help the user know it came from you and it was not altered along the way) Installers can also make sure prerequisites are installed like the MSVC libraries and DirectX.

Though with Windows 10 they're starting to push people towards using the Windows Store which means you basically package your game up and toss it up there - no installer required, basically like a mobile store.

If you're releasing on Mac I believe they generally prefer the program itself on a disk image that they can just drag and drop into the applications folder.

Dunno about Linux, but I believe they have package systems there to handle dependencies and the like, but probably depends on the distributions you're targeting.

For mobile you'll be packaging and releasing on their stores.

Definitely use an installer, for everything.

Maybe i'm biased a bit but once youve set it up, you dont ever really need to touch it until you do your next game. Automating your build makes a lot of things really easy and you'll get more testers of a less technical nature (which might be what you need) if you can even package your betas in installers. It will make things like updating the files a lot easier and leave less to user error.

I leave you with this simple question: Do you want to spend your time coding your game, or manually zipping and uploading stuff and supporting your beta testers?

When I still did Windows application development, I had a blank Windows XP virtual machine that had nothing but service pack 3 installed. My rule of thumb was that if I couldn't zip my application and run it on that VM, then it needed an installer. This basically meant that every single program I ever wrote needed an installer.

so long as the game is fully self-contained in it's folder, and doesn't need to be installed to Program Files, or have a bunch of dependencies installed, etc.

That's my take as well.

If your product is meant for people who know what they are doing and the product is self contained -- meaning you are not launching it to the masses -- a self contained file is good.

If you are launching broadly your product needs to integrate with the system, getting itself listed with all the other games, or otherwise registering with the system, an installer and uninstaller are necessary.

Most "normal" people struggle to install programs that don't come with a "next, next, next, done" setup interface. Decompressing a file overwhelms the general population.

Installer if you ask me, I've recently did this the first time and used "Inno setup".
Works like a charm, looks professional and is easy to use (also if a user wants to uninstall).

You can also add a txt file which can be shown before or after the install (readme, eula etc.).

You can check it out here:

http://www.crealysm.com/games/booh_setup.exe

This basically meant that every single program I ever wrote needed an installer.

Yeah, youll always need something bundled, be it the DX11 redistributable runtimes, .NET redistributable, XNA framework redistributable, hotfixes, or other rammel.

I am a strong proponent of installers for this reason amongst others.

Thank you, everyone! To avoid a confusing sea of quotes, I'll try and respond more generally. Yes, this game is for Windows only. I would try going cross-platform but I don't have access to other OS for testing (although I could use virtual machines, I suppose). I'm a big fan of .zips too, swiftcoder, because I usually prefer not to install things on my computer if I don't have to (Notepad2 +1), but several good points have been made about the use of installers. I do like the idea of signing the application, including TOS if necessary, and streamlining the installation of the game with an easy, familiar interface ("next, next, next, done", as frob puts it). I agree with cozzie in that it does give it a more professional look.

I'll get started searching for installer tutorials. Maybe I can consider providing both methods as well: one for those who are more tech savvy, and one for those who prefer a .exe.