It never ceases to blow my mind just how many board game Kickstarters are successfully funded every month, I like to think I’ve gotten much better at managing my money in the last few years but my wallet definitely trembles when I scroll through the outpourings of all these exceptionally talented people!
While I’m just starting on this journey, I think it’s important to look forward to what the finish like looks like, if only to cement the idea that standing there is something that is going to happen, not just something I want to happen.
Most Recent? Hidden Leaders!
Hidden Leaders is an awesome little 30 minute card game, of course it’s already going to be funded when you click on it but it’s sitting at $375589 as I read it now and damn have they earned it!
From a marketing stand point their Kickstarter page is awesome, I only came late to the project so I have no idea how big their crowd was before they hit launch but the effort, passion and attention to detail that went into their campaign is as clear as day.
I’ll definitely do an in-depth analysis of their campaign on this blog at a later date and go over the things I think were the big wins but I just can’t NOT praise the fantastic art and composition of all the graphical elements on their campaign page.
From the evocative introduction to their games setting of Oshra to their personal and humble Risks and Challenges their campaign oozes their love for what they have created and they deserve every bit of the success they have earned.
I can’t wait to play it! =]
The First Project I Backed
It’s hard to believe it was so long ago but that title goes to Dark Souls – The Board Game, way back in 2016!
You can see the differences in how campaigns are marketed pretty clearly when you compare these two but Dark Souls was a massively successful campaign and is a great game!
I should mention I guess that at one point I did say that I was going to boycott steamforged but I was definitely much more naïve about how the world worked at that point in time. Why did I feel that way? well I received the last of my kickstarted rewards in 2020! I honestly for a long time thought I would NEVER get them, but I’m glad I did because I love the game and have had some great games nights with Halley and my friends tangling with its awesomely difficult bosses.
In their defence though, they did ship it with an absolute crab load of miniatures, and I can’t imagine the difficulties in producing, manufacturing and delivering such a massive project. I sure do respect it though.
What did I learn from that experience? don’t go too big for my first project, as much as I would love to ship a big game packed full of mini’s ( did I mention I’m a Warhammer addict yet? ) we’re going to start with realistic expectations of what we can accomplish so we can make something great and get it in peoples hands as fast as possible.
And hey, you would be surprised how much working with constraints just drives that creativity even harder.
