Kickstarter

Game makers, heart breakers, and failed success

I shared this KS Round Up with my TYL crew a short while back through email. I just pulled a massive list of campaigns through my Gmail search and only picked up on the ones I thought were worth writing about. I share snippet reviews via email all the time but only ones worthy due to an interest or a lesson get a write up on ADLi. This snapshot review might be the last of the old campaigns though. I have now caught up with the Canadian tabletop gaming campaigns on KS and will be posting more timely campaigns.

It’s become a bit of an obsession right now with my games so close to play testing and possibly funding next year. Share you thoughts and ideas with me in the comments below — but please give each campaign page a view before you do out of courtesy to the the creators. Now without further ado, this week’s KS campaign round up. 

War of the Ancients

FAILED!
Game is in early development. This project stood out to me in some way. Though it’s a digital video game, it’s a digital card and tabletop game. The game could clearly be transferred to an analog version which would be fun to play in the same way. I like the concept, the game play is challenging and I find it not difficult to learn. Gets players to play the game without spending an hour reading a manual on rules and regulation. The tactical aspect of this game is also common enough that anyone who’s played a RP tabletop or card game would feel right at home. The designer needed $30K to get this campaign off the ground. They raised $102. What a shame!  Production of this game already seems to be in rolling and I’m sure a ton of time and money might have already been spent. The back story sounds intriguing, the storyboards are nice as well. I was very impressed with their video and page presentation. What was the failing here? Maybe it was awareness, maybe lack of pre-marketing or possibly just not enough interest at the moment.  I’m probably not the only one who’d like to see something like this on Android or iPhone. Hope they get this game developed either way.

MMA Cage Combat

FAILED! Yes, this project is very old but I thought I’d share anyway.
2 backers! Man, I feel for this dude. Not sure what to say here. I’m pretty sure with all the play testing he’s presumed to have, there would be more than 2 people close to him that would support the project. Honestly, his presentation needs work. I get the ‘spur of the moment’, live speech style works for some, but not for all. Though I have to give him credit for jamming a lot of game information in a casual video such as this. A little better than Tai-Jii due to the game mechanics video and intro video but as for backing tiers and written presentation it falls short. I think it’s risky to get your backers to support your campaign if the chance of production and delivery confirmed. From what I’m understanding from his video he’s looking for $25K to;

• Getting a couple prototypes made
• Finish developing the game (play testing)
• Support his family?

Now here’s where I’m a little baffled. Is he looking to raise this money to do everything, from prototype to production? That’s what it sounds like to me. Basically, we’re backing him to;

1. Build a game that is still in its infancy,
2. Get it play tested and validate balance,
3. Then get it produced and shipped

… all in one go? I get that people need time to produce games, and with time comes cost. This kind of mentality seems to stem more from video game developers than tabletop developers. If I can make $25K to develop my game, this cost may include covering costs spent on designing and testing, building and breaking the game, play testing, marketing and presentation, print collateral and other media. Assuming I don’t have a job then part of that money is also going towards paying for work commissioned (artwork, music, media, etc.) and my cost of living. You never really admit you’re going to pocket some of the cash if you’ve come out of pocket before hand. In case you were wondering where the game play video actually is, click on Updates link. The good; It’s actually has a neat game mechanic and has time-based components. Build up your fighters based on how you want to play them by adding cards that aid their fighter type and compete. The bad; Has potential for sure, but like a lot of others I’ve covered here on KS Campaign Round Up this one falls short due to common flaws such as poor pre-marketing, possibly lack of extensive play test which usually attributes to general interest and the promise on delivery (which is super vague) assuming it ever gets out of  play testing. I’m looking forward to something like this but it’s way too early to push it on KS at that level.

RealmClash

CANCELLED! Another oldie.
These chaps brought the noise. I chose this one to show you folks another example of a well oiled KS campaign machine. Now, a game of this magnitude would require a lot of funding and we all know that. Not just for the board but for the miniatures as well. Injection moulding is not cheap and I know they are not doing 10,000 pc run for $12,500. They also need a shit ton of cards printed plus multiple boards. Scope-wise this is huge.  I’d figure they’d shoot for more like $25k minimum. They had 29 backers and though they only raised just over 10% of the money it’s nice to see this game had fairly large interest. I think anything around 20+ backers has been play tested or demoed in front of at least 100 people. Maybe even more. Best of luck to them in the future. After reading through their comments I was informed that due to the CCG nature of the release it deterred people from wanting to back the project. Backers wanted to choose their own cards and miniatures to build their armies. No blind selections. They had some really good media, updated the campaign throughout, wonderful write ups and info. It was even expressed by the designing team that they would cancel the project so they can relaunch it under the LCG model to enrich the players experience and provide a game that their audience has been begging for. And fixed scheduled releases also means new content will always be available.  I’ll give them this — they’ve listed time and time again that they listen closely to their audience and adjust to please. That’s a great habbit to have because at the end of the day you’re designing for them. I visited their Facebook page but there hasn’t been any updates to this or any other campaign by the creator. I had contacted the game developer and he had sent me this message.

“Life kind of got in the way for a lot of us unfortunately. Financial and timing issues caused some obstacles but I’m confident we’ll get back on track eventually. We put too much work in to let it die completely.”

Are they on hiatus… or it’s a wash for RealmClash? Only time will tell.

Ravenous: Biohazard Level 5

CANCELLED! Another oldie from 2013.
Hm. Don’t know what to say about his one. Apparently the video they promised never made it to the campaign page. Shame. The presentation and content is solid, artwork is top notch, game sounds interesting and tiers are varied. An otherwise flawless delivery on what one can only assume was not highly anticipated. With only 19 comments on the campaign page, the game interest of those willing to leave feedback were few. I think it’s a rather cool game too. There are SO MANY zombie themed games out there it’s hard to jump on the wagon and expect a flood of interest, but this one claims to be 100% original. I can believe that. Thought the zombie theme has been flogged to death but I had hope for this one. The project was cancelled before it reached the end, and the project was only up for 8 days before it got cancelled, and the cancellation update was not made public. Only backers could access the final notes by the creator. This must have been something pretty big to pull the plug on something this big so early in the campaign. Oh well.

Touhou Project ft. GS System

FUNDED & CANCELLED?!
I don’t know what happened?! Funding cancelled and they actually met their goal?! Something fishy is going on here or maybe something bigger than they expected? At first glance it threw me off. I figured maybe they got pulled for some legal matter, but here is their official broadcast on the situation:

“We, and Team Shanghai Alice, have concluded that Kickstarter is not an appropriate method regarding production of dōjinshi materials for Touhou Project. The reason for this is because receiving funds before production is considered an investment, and a method like this can not yet be recognized with the production of dōjinshi materials for Touhou Project.”

So to sum that up, they want proper credentials for producing dojin material but can’t do so ethically because they are taking money before work is distributed. At least that’s the way I interpret that. Hm! Moral dilemma cans an otherwise successful campaign. I can live with that… but then again I’m not a backer. I’m pretty sure that if I was I’d disappointed as much as the rest of them were. There we also looking to license the Touhou Project characters/brand/assets for this game and that was also something they were striving to achieve. There are some honest people out there, trying to share with the world and not just line their pockets. The micro card game system that had so much potential has lost all steam, and the same can probably be said about the backers. Either way, a definite blow to the backers of this project who were so amped on getting this really cool game. Game play seems like a standard CCG but the card config and mechanism make this micro card game stand out in a crowd. Hope they can find a way to publish the game without a public investment. Good luck GS System.

They just keep on coming … and going

A short follow up to the last set of campaigns I shared in part 2. Another set of well appreciated campaigns that had fallen well short of the mark. Trust me, it’s not like I’m ONLY picking on the campaigns that have failed, but statistically speaking there is a large percentage of campaigns that just don’t make it. I’m only picking out the campaigns that interest me based on their name and snippet. I don’t intend to cover all tabletop game results. The 3 presented here in this snapshot review are just examples of campaigns with huge expectations (by the creators) that received very little ROI. Any who, rolling along.

Senet: Priests

CANCELLED!
Is there anything more boring than a remake of an old game with new rules? Well, an old game with old rules. I feel that is a massive understatement for this project. And for most who have no idea about Senet, they may feel exactly that way. I love Senet. I found out about the ancient game a couple years back and instantly enjoyed it’s simplicity and ease of play. Strategy based on chance, my favourite type of games, and the design of the boards, then and now, are just inspired. Custom and creative materials and finishes have been construct by many game and crafting enthusiasts. Personally I’d like to build my own board. I have a basic print’n’play one that I use on occasion. Hand carved and painted pieces would make it a great center piece in any office, den or living room space. Shelf it or play it or both. You can’t go wrong.  Hell, it even inspired me to create an ancient-style, race to the finish style game called Summit: The Great Race. But enough about me. This is a digital remake with a twist. He’s added spells to the game. Cards that you can use to cast spells to create a more competitive race. I think that’s a great idea and if this was a hand crafted game for $60 I’d back it, honestly.

Normally this wouldn’t be on this list of tabletop game snapshot reviews, but I feel even if it was he would be hard pressed. The design work is top notch, his presentation and information is grade A. Everything is right about this campaign but it just failed to gain momentum. This guy was looking for massive money for this project for music and sound effects. But again, just like some others it’s his first campaign and he may not have planned for such a slow uptake. This goes back to my opening statement; remake of an old game with new rules may be boring. It might have been marketing, it might have been general interest. It might have been backers realizing there are a ton of other games out there like this. Too many speculations to put a finger on any one cause. Unfortunately, he just scratched the 1% mark. It’s an unfortunate bust, but I hope the best for the designer in the future. Senet is a pretty cool game and the artwork and merch collateral is impressive for this campaign. I would have loved to play this.

Grid-Hammer

CANCELLED!
Go my man! What’s better than Chess X Football??? I like the idea of this game. The look, the presentation, the everything. It all feels good. The funding however… *sigh* They need a lot of dough and I can see why. Game with injection or cast moulding will always be leagues ahead in cost than any tabletop card game. I’ve looked into injection moulded components for my game NUPUGA and it gets really pricey. And because it’s an all plastic board game, $20K sound about right. They failed to meet that mark cresting just over 10%, so instead of catching a fail, they opted to bow out for now. It’s all good though. Good things come to those who wait, watch, and work successfully. Good luck in the future dude.

ZOMBIE ATTACK

FAILED!
Hard FAIL!! I thought Fallen Gods was bad? I don’t know what these people think. Just put it up on KS and people are going to back it? Sometimes I feel that seems to be the case for a lot of these types of campaigns. Yes you have a video (thought this guy doesn’t). Yes you have content (barely). Yes you have a playable demo (but not shown). BUT that’s not all it is. Communities fund these games so you have to get your game into the community to fund the game. SHIT MAN!! It’s not rocket science. Hell, it’s not even Gr.10 science. It’s Go-Fish. Follow the rules, better your hand, have a plan. He has no video (I can see past that one), no game play, no images, no details on campaign, no enthusiasm, no assurance to the backer, no, no, no! Anger and sadness courses through my blood when I think about poor effort like this. Poor effort in ways of the campaign presentation, not the game. We will never know how cool (or boring) the game actually is. Just like zombies, this campaign seems drab and lifeless.

Closing Notes

Hm. Not really sure what to make of these. 2 of the 3 I really liked. Zombie Attack had an idea… and I feel that’s all it was. An idea that fizzled into a constructed concept with no depth or division. It was just “another zombie game” that dared not be different in any way. Senet: Priests was my favourite as you can probably tell based on the write up, and Grid-Hammer had all the right elements for a fun (and eventually loud) evening with the guys at a BBQ or basement party. All met an unfortunate end of the line, but that’s common place among the crowd funding community. Next time boys, next time!

If you’ve missed the earlier posts for the KS Campaign Round Up, I suggest you continue your read on this and other KS related posts here today at ADLi.

Disclaimer: The purpose of these reviews is to share an first impression critique based on expectation received and presentation provided. It is not to demean, demoralize or flame the creators and/or their games. Just sharing my honest point of view on the project’s success or failure as a fellow game designer.

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

Here are some interesting facts: It has been reported as of January 2014 that just under a mere 44% of KS campaigns are successful at reaching their target goal. A recent analysis of Indiegogo’s site showed a somewhat lower overall success rate of 34% if only projects that received more than $500 in funding are included in the analysis – and that rate drops to less than 10% if all projects are included (source). For most it’s a hardship waiting to happen if planning and preparation are not tight as a drum, and even then that doesn’t guarantee you success. That being said, on with the show.

Battles of Telnarus

FUNDED!
Another campaign I think was scripted to succeed. What do I mean by that? Well, look at the number of backers per tier and tell me what seems odd. For that many people to go with the second highest tier versus the scrapings in all the other nominally priced tiers had me thinking. Having the majority of your backers already pre-sold on the game is your greatest weapon. I don’t think it’s by any chance that this project did so well. Everything  they did was bang on and if you read further down the page they tell you straight up that KS was chosen as a venue for offering early supporters fantastic incentives. Kudos folks. Great use of the platform.  The ‘deal delivery’ method of using KS worked well in this instance. Must keep that in mind.

Set up is good, info is good, presentation is good (neglected to use a video though). They also used an incentive my friend had mentioned to me before — Coming to meet and hang with creator at convention. Not sure how much of a draw that would be for the casual backer, but for a fan I think that’s fantastic. And speaking of fantastic, the effort in artwork and materials looks top notch. Overall great template campaign to reference.

Amazing Bingo

FAILED!
What a great concept. The video has it all, and the game itself is a platform for many other great things. I wished him luck. He’s obviously been doing this a long, long time so it’s no big surprise to people in his community. I don’t know if this project had a general attraction to anyone outside of the bingo community though. That being said there are so many people who are in the bingo community, how could this project actually fail? I don’t know! Here are all the factors he had going for him;

• He had 4 tiers. 3 of those tiers didn’t include the game which is fine in most cases, but again I don’t think this was a particular problem.
• He had several videos outlining the game play, the project and providing interest.
• Lots of info. Very upfront with his needs and goals. Outlined how the money will help and provided reviews and testimonials.
• Possibility to go digital with multi-player online gaming.

This is what’s so incredibly amazing yet frustrating about Kickstarter. Projects you expect to succeed usually do. You can see it, you can feel it. There are also the cases where one would think ‘ so what’s the big deal’ yet it blows up over 200%. Then there are ones like this where you’d THINK backers (like bingo lovers) would just clamber for something unique in the game genre they love so much. You’d think, with a community so large that if he were to even promote this at 10 bingo halls that 10 percent of the people would be interested, share with their friends and have this thing blow up. I’m not a bingo fanatic by any means but this seems to be a hella more fun than standard bingo. The board game itself adds a whole new aspect on the game. But in the end only 3 people backed this? Where’s his family and friends support? I say for any project you run at least 1 friend and 1 family member should back it. But only 3?! I’m stumped this didn’t do better. $25K is a lot to ask for but I thought it would have done better.

Train Heist

FUNDED!
Cool Game. Done! And funded. Another project that was scripted to succeed. He worked 3+ years on it. It’s probably gone through play testers like pigs go through slop. It has the makings of a mainstream game. Congrats to dude. Can’t say enough. He covered all his basis and his largest audience is from BoardGameGeek.com which is were it actually matters! Gamers happily anticipating the launch of something cool. They’ve played or watched play through and it excited them. Heck, it excited me. I never got a chance to get on that train though. I know this isn’t much of a review per se. More of a snippet of emotions than a thoughtful write up. Well, that’s how it is. Success was earned with this one and kudos to the developer and the community.

Top This!

FUNDED!
First off I have to say I can see this game as an addition to almost every gamer’s shelf of after-dinner entertainment. Very cool game and very simple game. He basically reworked crokinole and gave it a purpose beyond sinking the center. For those not familiar with crokinole, read up on it and check out tournament videos on YouTube. It’s actually quite interesting. I like it, and I think people will like it regardless if you’re a fan of dexterity games or not. I’m working on a dexterity game as well but mine will include magnets.  I’m IN LOVE WITH MAGNETS! Imagine the cost on that one?! I’m actually afraid to see what a vendor will quote me on it. But enough about me. Top This! is an easy to learn game with fun for all ages. This is another example of a game I can see in a box store. Indie mainstream games seem to be cropping up more and more on KS the further I research. It’s nice to see these quality of games make it through the development stage into official first runs. Congrats to the UniForge Games team.

Tai-Jii

FAILED!
Cool minimalist game. So what’s the issue you ask? It’s lacking… lack of information and lack of backing options would have single-handedly crippled this project. The write up isn’t terrible but it lacked actual information about the core component(s) of the game. No game play images or videos were provided. I  up on the campaign presentation. No video and no images of how-to play the game. Not even a sell sheet explaining how the game works. He did build a little intrigue with his write up though. I’ll give him that. He also left minimal options for backers. 1 of the 3 tiers is for $3000. Not sure what to make of that. Just poorly planned to say the least, and that’s too bad to. I was willing to invest in a game like this. So much so that I had to send the publisher a note through KS to investigate more about the game (More details in my closing notes). He never met his $20K goal, understandably so, even with all the play testers he said to have demoed the game to. Frustrates me to see interesting ideas flop like this.

Closing Notes

I had contacted the creator of Tai-Jii, Richard, directly about the campaign and tried to learn more about the game. The conversation was casual and I provided him my opinion on where he could have focused on attracting more interest. He stayed vague in response and clearly expressed his apprehension of sharing the game’s details because he is afraid someone will take it and be first to market with it. I understand, but that doesn’t mean the rest of the gaming audience does. In the end I hope I left him with things to contemplate and hopefully put into use. He’s contacted me offline to share his game concept, and for that I’m appreciative of the type of community I’m in.

KS Campaign Round Up has just started, but don’t miss a beat on this and other KS related posts here today at ADLi.

Disclaimer: The purpose of these reviews is to share an first impression critique based on expectation received and presentation provided. It is not to demean, demoralize or flame the creators and/or their games. Just sharing my honest point of view on the project’s success or failure as a fellow game designer.

Not the first and definitely not the last

Hi, and welcome to the first in a series I like to call ‘Kickstarter Campaign Round Up’ where I provide snap analysis of Canadian KS campaigns. After going through a plethora of campaigns over the past year or so, I’ve decided to focus my interest in Games. Tabletop gaming to be specific because heck, I’m developing board games. The purpose of these review posts are to be educational and critical towards the expectation received and presentation provided. It is not to demean, demoralize or bash the creators. I’m just sharing my honest point of view on the project’s success or failure as a game designer. I’m not new to the crowd funding approach but KS, IndieGoGo and the likes have had me really apprehensive about taking that big step. The old school way of demoing a game, doing play tests and sharing your self-published game through websites, e-commerce and Facebook has always been around. Now with the increased popularity of digital crowd funding and attracting a larger audience than just your local community is very key to a projects success. The entrepreneur in us all can thank the internet for helping them get a piece of that pie.

Hardcopy, analog games with a tactile approach and player communication is all the rage. Classic board gaming is back with a vengeance and anyone capable of writing, drawing, crafting or printing parts can get in on it.  I’ve been sharing with my group the critiques and adulation of campaigns I’ve come across and I thought I should share them with you. Here are some of the ones that have caught my interest.

Kill the customers

FAILED!
I think either they failed on the marketing aspect or didn’t pitch it to the public early enough to run the campaign. Kill the customers has an Eff The World type of mentality where whether or not you like the game, others will. Cards Against Humanity is probably the king of offensive card games at the moment and I feel the creator(s) of this game wanted in on that space. We’re all despicable at times, why not exercise that angst and rage in a board game. Great concept poorly executed. The video was cheeky, I like the artwork and the portrayal of “revenge” but things didn’t work out. It felt lacking. From the onset most of the content was a set up. Some artwork drafts were shown and then the rules. A site link was provided but that link doesn’t work any longer. I assume the developer(s) just nixed the whole project entirely. Sad really. Barebones at best, this project has wings but never considered the application of the runway.

Ruudy Vikings

FUNDED!
Equation for success on Kickstarter: Short concise video + Additional video(s) + Outline of cards + Outline of game play + Quality of components + Bonus items + Nice artwork + Constant updates + Good mix of tiers + Exclusive items to higher tier backers + Entry backing tier is the actual game (no digital or or thank you donations). I can’t say enough about this campaign. A solid game and a solid campaign period. For that type of return they probably did a ton of play testing and betas to get people amped before the KS launch. Awareness is the most important part of any campaign, no matter how incomplete a project is.

Golem Academy

FUNDED!
Fusion is the key. I like the concept, gameplay and such. Got me thinking about Ghost Matrix actually. The artwork for this is top-notch. The game designer knows his manga style really well. Box art artist is a different dude. The card art artist still holds some strong lines and designs. Golem Academy is a testament to a well structured, thoroughly planned project which delivers all the information one should ever need. They outlined all the facts about the game, about the creators and about their vision. Nice artwork is always good but game play videos, to me, are probably the most vital. They even provided a link to download the beta game so you can play test before you invest. Kudos to the team at Silly Kids Games and best of luck getting the game globally recognized.

RPG Mobile Card Game

FAILED!
Zero. Absolutely Zero. That number, word even sums up the hopes and dreams of this whole campaign. Here’s someone who clearly missed the part where KS aides you by fleshing out the barebones of any project. Even if that wasn’t easy enough, how about “follow your fellow man” and just copy another (hopefully already successful) KS campaign format. All he had to do is look at ANY 5 card game campaigns to benchmark his presentation and backing tiers. Actually, never mind card game campaigns. He could have followed the format of any KS campaign out there. I guess some folks just want to get something up and hope that the internet community will find and fund it. All good in theory but ultimately a unanimous FAIL!

Rise of the Dragon Lords

FAILED!
Someone who’s looking for quite a bit of cash and may not have gone through all the pre-play, marketing, and media to get the game in front of as many people as possible. Maybe he did, but we can’t tell from the campaign. Maybe it’s just too much money to ask for, but then again the game looks fairly large in scale. The presentation is good, I’ll give him that. Cheeky and fun video, details about the project provided clearly, a breakdown of the funds required listed, and overall a good foundation. Better than most, but again, another who stifled his backers by limiting their budget cap to just 4 tiers. Even has a facebook page — https://www.facebook.com/riseofthedragonlords. Even with a  visibly solid delivery projects can still falter. What truly makes up a great crowd funding campaign? Only the pros know, but if you’re willing to spend the extra money there are a few well recognized KS services out there that will run your campaign for you… for a cost of course.

Closing Notes

I noticed that all the campaigns that got good things going for them are 2 fold; Market awareness + Justifiable Cause. Great awareness in their community due to a great presentation really helps. Regardless the cost of backing, people can appreciate the value of the game. Moreover, they and are willing to invest in something tried and true as they’ve already had exposure to it. There are very few games I see that pique my interested in backing for over $40 due to the tier structure and perceived entertainment. But like most board gamers I’m willing to play any game once. Not too sure about buying every game though. See you next week when I take a look at the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Disclaimer: The purpose of these reviews is to share an first impression critique based on expectation received and presentation provided. It is not to demean, demoralize or flame the creators and/or their games. Just sharing my honest point of view on the project’s success or failure as a fellow game designer.