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Hi, my name is Shane

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chainivory
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I like making games and hope to get connected with a game making community, not only in the game board arena but in web game design as well. I am trying to design games and stories, and have begun pre grand opening activities. Suddenly, BGDF comes back with a notification that my membership has been accepted. Hoorah!

Wait, who? It has been forever, I thought you forgot about me. But then you were there and I wonder what this is all about. Hi my name is Shane, and I am making a game. The kickStarter begins in February, and I am hoping that it is not too late or too early to begin speaking about it.

The game is finished and I am, almost, ready to send the prototype out for reviews. Having found a basic flaw on the cover, and a need for an addition stat on the Fighter card I want to make sure I have all the changes, scheduled for the Kickstarter, as fully listed as possible before I do. I might make one more change but I am on the fence about it.

My main focus, right now, is gathering information about marketing so that my Kickstarter listing gets seen by as many people as possible. I am a low income wage earner, and so this move is important for me to succeed in since it can cost money up front. I can not waste any money, that would hurt my feelings. Without a successful KickStart, I will have to wait on a, profit level, print as I save my save money to pay for the printing myself.

I put off launching the KS in October, deciding I wasn't ready even though the game is in a playable state. Already this process has taught me a lot about scheduling a production cycle. Looking at your tools speaks volumes as to what this site might be helpful with - Creating that design cycle - for an optimized, product to profit supply, for profit demand.

If that made sense, High Five - Shane: Best Regards

Jay103
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Welcome and good luck! Having

Welcome and good luck!

Having a playable game has.. very little to do with whether or not you're ready to launch a Kickstarter. Marketing marketing marketing.

When you launch your KS, how many people will hear about it within the first hour, and how?

Mosker
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Paper Pilots or something new?

Just checking out your link...if the project is in line with your site, there are plenty of really talented--and accessible--creators hitting on that crossover (unintentional) space.

ElKobold
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chainivory wrote:I am a low

chainivory wrote:
I am a low income wage earner, and so this move is important for me to succeed in since it can cost money up front. I can not waste any money, that would hurt my feelings. Without a successful KickStart, I will have to wait on a, profit level, print as I save my save money to pay for the printing myself.

Don't want to discourage you, but I really really really recommend to avoid Kickstarter in your position.

Running a successful campaign requires substantial cash investments upfront and there's no guarantee of success.

Crowdfunding is a good option when you have disposable income. Otherwise it's much safer to go through publishers.

Jay103
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ElKobold wrote:Running a

ElKobold wrote:

Running a successful campaign requires substantial cash investments upfront and there's no guarantee of success.

I had a successful kickstarter.. $18k goal, $25k raised. If I hadn't shelled out a lot of my own money to be sure my customers got their games by Christmas (after some glitches in manufacturing and my own lateness by a month or so), then I'd be broken-even about now. As it is, I'm still running at a loss.

And that's with a success.

Being an independent game designer is not a source of income any more than starting a restaurant is a source of income. Maybe eventually, but certainly not for a while.

Consider the route of pitching to publishers.

ElKobold
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Jay103 wrote:I had a

Jay103 wrote:
I had a successful kickstarter.

Jay103 wrote:
As it is, I'm still running at a loss.

Funded is not the same as successful.

Only a fraction of campaigns that fund are actually successful.

Jay103 wrote:
Consider the route of pitching to publishers.

This.

questccg
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Better know your numbers

We too had a successful KS and more in the Backer Kit to almost raise $50k USD. After all of the effort, we are dangerously close to the RED for the final stages of production and fulfillment. This was a gross miscalculation as the margins were much too close to cost. My Publisher is trying to save money by shipping two (2) games together. Instead of $15 USD each (so $30 USD), they could SAVE by shaving maybe $5 USD (so $25 USD both games). That could save $1,000 USD...

Let me present to you "Kickstarter 2.0". It's something that I am piloting.

The idea with "KS 2.0" is that not only does the designer make money so does his company. What do I mean by this? Well EVEN "successful" KS campaigns don't have enough monies to pay for a 2nd print run... THAT IS SAD! (And of course I'm in that boat).

With INSUFFICIENT PROFIT the game is "stalled" until another source of revenue can be found to allow for a 2nd Print Run.

What happens in these situations (and believe me there are a LOT of them)... The game just dies even IF there was a crowd interested in "expansions" and more game ideas!

Back to "KS 2.0"... And sufficient markups.

How do you price your game??? Well it's pretty SIMPLE: 5x Landed Cost to make. So if it costs you $10 USD for Manufacturing and Freight, then your price point is $50 USD. You'll need to be AGRESSIVE with the Manufacturers, a lot of them are charging KS people HIGHER rates (because they figure if you make more, you should be paying them more too!) The basis of negotiations is that Retail needs to be 5x Landed Cost to make PERIOD.

Otherwise you can NEVER get into ANY STORES (unless in your area and with you making $0.00 USD in profit)...!

So @Shane, before you go and KS your game... You should share with us your financials. What I mean is KS Goal, Reward Levels, Stretch Goals, etc. To ensure you don't F-ck yourself royally...

Also make sure to get your logistics company to take out INSURANCE on the freight in case of damaged goods. It happened with my Publisher: a fire. The bottom-line is there are so many things that can go wrong.

If you have little to no disposable income... Don't KS ALONE. It's not meant for individuals. It's meant for COMPANIES or people who have a company and want to break into the Table Top Gaming Industry...

Like the others, I would find a Publisher to work with... Don't go it alone... Unless you are prepared to take on financial responsibilities! (I have a company and even I partnered with a Publisher. Even so we are F-cked because of too low rewards and too many stretch rewards...)

Get the community involved... We can't help you FIND a Publisher ... But we CAN tell you if your goal, costs and rewards seem reasonable. Again we offer only ADVICE not guarantees. So if you still want to KS... Let us know!

Jay103
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ElKobold wrote:Jay103 wrote:I

ElKobold wrote:
Jay103 wrote:
I had a successful kickstarter.

Jay103 wrote:
As it is, I'm still running at a loss.

Funded is not the same as successful.

Only a fraction of campaigns that fund are actually successful.


Well, that was my point :). I think anyone would describe my campaign as a "successful Kickstarter". The problem is that having a "successful Kickstarter" doesn't mean you're making a profit. It was certainly a success.. I made my game! And people like it!

However, most people who go into KS campaigns without pre-marketing fail outright.. and by "most" I probably mean "95% or more"

Which leads back to my original question, which I think is a good litmus test for KS campaigns:

"When you launch your KS, how many people will hear about it within the first hour, and how?"

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