KickstarterForum.org

Hello everyone! Long time no talk! I did a successful Kickstarter a while back ago for my kindness project (which is still going strong). I got a lot of good advice on this forum and now I am back for more. My fiance and I are developing a table top card game. This is our first game. We intend to put it on Kickstarter so here are my questions: At what point in the development phase should we start the Kickstarter? Should we wait until development is complete and we have a full fledged game to show off, or during development where we can have cool updates to post? Also, at what point should I start advertising the game? I know that in general you should start advertising before the campaign but does that work with games during production? Especially when is our first one?

I am by no means an expert here, as I've just helped my student's launch their first tabletop card game via kickstarter. (we are at http://goo.gl/44UZeK) I can share our experience. The great thing about card-based games is you can get very high quality in low quantity -- it just not a great price. The more important issue is being really sure its the right mechanism(s), art and rules for your audience and building the backer.

We developed the game last Jan, did lots of playtesting and refinement in the spring. Originally they wanted to launch in March, but then I asked then about production and quality samples they were not ready. I helped them, first go through TheGameCrafter.com. Got better quality decks out for playtesting. Cases were not good enough for what we want and cards were just okay. Nice API to allow our customized decks.

We moved on to test "fixed decks" with a publisher in China, where the paper quality was a little better but still not great. (We also tested 2-3 that were worse). We also tested2 other US publishers). We were okay to go, but the students did have any reviews lined up and did not have any good play videos. Classes got the best of them so we slow down and planned to launch during semester break. During the In that time, I moved forward with testing production with Drive Thru Cards whose quality was better and produced our 100 or so initial prototypes with which we did much larger scale testing.

The review videos were not posted until we had already launched and raised issues we had to address on the fly. We quickly t pushed through their F&F network and mine we and gained (more than enough reach our goal which was intentionally pretty minimal ($1000). But since then its been a bit of a lull and we did not get as many backers, though we got some big ones as I had "pre-sold" to larger corporate users and they had 1-2 F&F lined up for for home runs.

Now that we are 6 days into the campaign,, I wish I had pushed them harder to consider advertising and getting more reviews and more buzz before they launch. We did not get enough backers to make page 1 of popularity which we've been told is important,(but I've not personally experienced the boost, but it seems mroe quiet than we expected). We are currently at $100 pledged from Kickstarter (which is removing our F&F members that searched to find us) and $1670 pledged via external referrers (i.e. our direct contact/links). Not seeing much backing from the Kickstarter side but maybe that is because we did not make the front page and are competing with exploding cats. Its really hard to beat an exploding cat for internet interest, so maybe no one going to page 2.

I second these questions and thanks for the helpful information!

What is the disadvantage of advertising before the launch and using social media to create buzz before launching a campaign? I am hoping to launch a landing page with newsletter sign up an be active on social media until I feel the time is right to get crowdfunding going. I have heard that the first 30 days are critical. Any thoughts are greatly appreciated.

At what point in the development phase should we start the Kickstarter?

Should we wait until development is complete and we have a full fledged game to show off, or during development where we can have cool updates to post?

I've seen both approaches work. I don't think there is any right answer, but I think it will depend on how much you want to raise and how cool the game is. Maybe ask the folks at BoardGameGeek what they think about it?

Also, at what point should I start advertising the game?

I would start getting active on social media, blogging, and forums from the moment you start making the game. It's cool to see the progression and that kind of involvement over time will show that you are serious. You will also make more connections over time.

I know that in general you should start advertising before the campaign but does that work with games during production? Especially when is our first one?

Well, there are different forms of advertising. Some advertising is like "click this link and order this product." Obviously, you wouldn't do that if you don't have the game available .

I prefer the type of advertising where you are sharing cool behind-the-scenes snapshots and stories from creating the game. This is very effective for building up an audience prior to launch. The goal here is not to sell something, but to gain followers via social media, to build your email list, and to make genuine connections with people/get to know the people who are interested in you.

Here is an example that is not related to table top games, but I think proves useful:

This weekend, while I was on the subway to a superbowl party, I was listening to this "startup" podcast. The guy basically shares his experience launching and growing a company in real time and people are hooked on this thing. It's very popular for just having been launched recently.

It's a good advertisement for his business, and it also helps others who want to launch their own company. That is an example of the latter form of advertising I was referring to. It has also led to him being featured on big-name podcasts like Tim Ferriss, who is the bestselling author of the 4 hour work week. All of this is good for his business overall and all he's doing is sharing his process of building a business and it has lead to great connections.