It has become commonplace, if not imperative, that a game Kickstarter have stretch goals in order to provoke backers to share the campaign in the hopes of unlocking those special somethings that will ultimately benefit all those who pledge.
Many are easy - better components (standees become figures, chits become wood or plastic tokens, card stock quality improves, printed dice become engraved...)
Others expand the game itself (new characters, powers/abilities, etc.)
But what if a campaign seeks to offer the highest quality up front, and the game is so small and simple that the stretch goal formulas don't so easily apply? Should the designer reduce the quality in order to dangle the promise of an improved game, and pin that quality on the chance that the funding tier will be met?
What if the game does not lend itself so easily to expansions? What if the game "is what it is," and to try and expand for the sake of creating stretch goals may be forced, and not ultimately improve the player experience?
What case can be made for a simple Kickstarter for a simply fun little game? Can such a campaign reach heights far beyond the funding goal based on the game alone? If the designer is satisfied with "just" reaching their goal, is that all that can be hoped for or expected?
Games have created such a unique ecosystem within Kickstarter...it's fantastic and daunting at the same time!
The charity idea is an interesting one, as most in my family have been involved in several charities throughout their lifetime. I suppose the trick is finding one that is both deeply beneficial (health or education) while feeling holistic with the game itself. An educational charity would be the more likely benefactor...
As for traditional stretch goals, those that I think could be meaningful to my all-dice game are:
- 1 extra die, though as all dice are used in play, this does affect the flow and balance a bit. It's doable...but I do like the balance as it currently is.
- Molded plastic dice box; significant cost to me in both tooling and cost of goods, would be tough to justify the increase per unit as it would come out of the bottom line, which I'm trying to keep small just to get the game funded. It would have to be offset by a significant drop in unit cost, driven by volume...so this would have to be a lofty goal triggering a production run of 5K pieces at least, or at $20 per game, at the $100K mark (for a goal of $15K)!
- Colored icons on dice...currently all engraved icons are black on white dice, so this would be a purely aesthetic addition. Not sure how this would affect gameplay, as it may be disorienting to "read" the dice in different colors, and as this is a game of speed, anything that detracts from a player's ability to quickly "read" the dice during their turn is a negative. Another one of those "too much/unnecessary" ideas...