Has anyone done a Ki
[2023-03-28 10:50:54 PM] : Has anyone done a Kickstarter for a product? As I'm putting together my sales page, I'm toying with the idea of doing one for either a follow-on expansion to JitterTed's TDD Game, or a new game (based on Refactoring). Obviously these are pretty niche products, but no idea how to evaluate whether it's too niche and/or worth the effort. The main appeal is that I can get a larger volume printed and shipped all at once (by someone else, not me at home), vs. getting a few printed up here and there as orders dribble in over time.
3 Replies
[2023-03-29 08:07:38 AM] : I've helped a lot of people with them, there are lots of tips around things like how your structure rewards (that mirror good advice on tiered offers in general) but the thing that is unique to Kickstarter is that you basically want to launch with a VERY solid plan to get at least 30-40% of your launch goal - basically pre-selling the pre-sales and getting people committed to be one of the first people to buy.
If you dont hit 30-40% in the first day or two of. Kickstarter campaign, it's very hard to take it across the finish line. Psychologically Kickstarter is even more about momentum than a usual launch because it's all about that progress bar and people are MUCH More likely to buy if they think it's gonna be fully funded, and less likely to buy if it seems to not have momentum
[2023-03-29 05:43:37 PM] : What kind of effort and timeline do you think is needed to prep? And what if the goal is low (say, $5,000)? I'm thinking that I probably don't have time to do it for my TDD Game (which is basically in production), but I can see an expanded edition in my future.
I guess I can do some of the same things with a normal sale, the "introductory special" for say, 2 weeks (and you get it before anyone else, since I'd order in one batch), and then raise the price to "normal". Since they take a month to produce, it's having inventory to ship quickly vs. cost of inventory (though not like I'm gonna order 100). I'm probably overthinking this. :grin:
[2023-03-29 05:51:57 PM] : Hm, Ill think about how to answer that.
[2023-03-29 05:53:04 PM] : Inventory/fulfillment part is easy by comparison.
[2023-03-29 05:53:22 PM] : No rush, I'm not in a hurry to implement. :smile:
[2023-03-29 05:53:34 PM] : The upfront effort depends on how confident you can land 30-50% of a target.
[2023-03-29 05:54:34 PM] : Better to set the goal conservative and stack up "stretch goals" - I think the big effort besides a normal launch is thinking about the reward strucutr that incentivizes "upgrades"
[2023-03-29 05:55:00 PM] : Rob walling's new book launched on KS and imo he nailed the entire thing, top to bottom.
[2023-03-29 05:55:20 PM] : https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/robwalling/the-saas-playbook-by-rob-walling
[2023-03-29 05:56:10 PM] : Tons of stuff to steal, though I didn't see his wind-up before launch
[2023-03-29 06:04:06 PM] : yeah, his book has all the benefits of wider appeal and already large audience that I certainly don't have. I've looked at much smaller, much more niche KS products (on the order of 50 copies sold) and I could probably get to that level, but I need to think more about what I hope to get out of a KS other than some excitement and one big batch of sales. I don't have a feel for how many I will sell, let alone how many I could sell. (I'll certainly find that out soon!)
[2023-03-29 06:05:21 PM] : IMO the main reason to do Kickstarter is reaching people you wouldn't otherwise reach that are on KS. Otherwise I'd just run a Kickstarter style pre-sale but without Kickstarter itself.
[2023-03-30 06:03:25 PM] : Thanks, that is a great way of thinking about it. I think the game might be fun for "regular" board/card gamers, but I'd need a new way of describing the game to make it appealing.
I think I'll just go with a pre-sale. (I could also do Indiegogo, and could hardly do worse than https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/non-fun-game#/ or https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/design-eye-the-graphic-design-education-game#/, but I think that is also only useful once I know how to reach non-coders.)
[2023-04-01 12:39:34 PM] : I just watched your unboxing and it looks like a pretty good game just for playing. :+1: I've bought several games from The Game Crafter. So keep them in mind as a seller.
If you're thinking of presenting this as a tightly themed game, though, Gamefound.com is a place you can look into. As you have probably found out, producing a board game isn't the same as putting out a digital product. They only work with crowdfunding campaigns and pledge managers for games.
Also boardgamegeek.com has creator forums and help. You can list your game there, too.
Gamefound is where amazing gaming projects come to life. Made by gamers for gamers to easily manage crowdfunding and pledge managers.
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[2023-04-01 05:32:45 PM] : Thanks Chris C! The game is actually manufactured by The Game Crafter, but because they deliver the hex tiles still in the 8x10 "slug", it won't fit in the medium-sized box unless they're separated from the slug. I also think the sootiness of the tiles (due to the laser cutting) is an awful customer experience (I almost went with Print & Play Games for this reason), so I'll be reboxing the game (separating the tiles and wiping them down). It also means I get to throw in a personal touch, like stickers and magnets and such.
I'm aware of Gamefound.com, but will have to take a closer look. And yeah, I'll probably get around to the BGG forums soon.
[2023-04-03 08:46:11 AM] : I know what you mean about the ash on laser cut parts. If you can afford the time to clean them up and repack them your customer won't know what they're missing. (that's a good thing)
There are a lot of very experienced people in BGG that can give you a serious leg up on getting through the crowd funding maze of a physical game.