Kickstarter Journeys

Today I spoke with a master wordsmith, so talented with letters that he can just rip the vowels right out of words and create an interesting game out of it! Learn about this first time creator's experience launching, then relaunching, his 2-6 player card game about words! He tells us a bit about choosing reviewers, managing prototype costs, and establishing a unique scoring track.

Today I spoke with a master wordsmith, so talented with letters that he can just rip the vowels right out of words and create an interesting game out of it! Learn about this first time creator's experience launching, then relaunching, his 2-6 player card game about words! He tells us a bit about choosing reviewers, managing prototype costs, and establishing a unique scoring track.

Things are getting squirrelly around here! James Staley, of Tin Robot Games, tells us about his Kickstarter journeys beginning with Tanks! or no thanks, Queen of Scots, and Nutty Squirrels of the Oakwood Forest. Some great business tips and general strategies to share here!

Some launch day reflections for Questeros.

Always be yourself, unless you can can be Batman, then always be Batman! I had the pleasure of speaking with Daryl Andrews, co-designer of the solo Batman, the Dark Knight Returns game that came to Kickstarter this March. Learn about creating solo games, working with licences, mastering custom components, and some thoughts on Kickstarter and pledge managers! It was a great opportunity to speak with an experienced designer (he also designed Sagrada, City of Gears, and many many other games!).

From the United Kingdom, I join Oliver Josiah of the Ministry of Meeples game company. He and his spouse created a game of godly development in their independent title, Theurgy. It is described as "Jealous gods clash in this deeply immersive midweight strategy game for 1-6 players".

Learn about how the game came to be, some of the kickstarter hurdles they overcame, and how it was more successful as a relaunch due to some significant changes to price and components!

Lance Myxter, AKA The Undead Viking, shares some of his extensive experience with Kickstarter and the gaming business as a whole. He has played a part in game development, marketing, design and more with Grey Fox Games, and previously with Tasty Minstrel Games. He shares some interesting stories that we can learn some Kickstarter lessons from!

Ami Baio created a company called Pink Tiger Games a few years back. Her company motto is "We make sweet, kind games to connect people and make them feel seen and heard." Learn how she approaches this in her games, and her very sincere and subtle way of approaching Kickstarter as a funding platform for her card games!

In this episode I spoke with a Cult! Well maybe not a cult, but a creator of Cult of the Deep, a hidden traitor / dice game that launched and funded on Kickstarter this February! As of the recording of this episode they've nearly doubled their funding goal and are on track to exceed $50,000 USD! Find out some of their game design and marketing strategies in our discussion.

In this episode I discovered what a Cryptid really is, and many other cool things! Most importantly, Chip Cole shares three big things he did that turned a $5k campaign into a $50k campaign when he relaunched Harry's Place into Cryptid Cafe! Definitely worth a listen to anyone who is designing a kickstarter, or who has failed one and is looking for a success story to learn from.

In this episode I had the pleasure of chatting with all 3 people that brought Dogs BOND to life on Kickstarter earlier this year. We talk about the great diversity presented in their game, the video creation process, and some of the anxiety of launching a Kickstarter during a worldwide pandemic!

First time creator Aaron Smith put together "The Best Game in the Eweniverse" back in 2018, and delivered it in 2019. Although a few years have gone by, his game is still available for purchase and is another example of successful funding on the platform. Hear what he has to say about his Journey!

As a new creator, finding avenues to sell your games post-kickstarter can be a challenge. Rob Wynkoop has built an online game store that focuses on selling kickstarter based board games, even including an option to sell through his site. Learn a bit about his perspective on being a kickstarter retail boardgame store in this episode of Kickstarter Journeys.

Matthew Hocker composed a beautiful word game featuring anthromorphic animals in a successful kickstarter in 2019.

Learn how he did it, and what he's up to next. Also learn about digital playtesting, and how Break My Game is a growing community of dedicated gamers that playtest multiple times every single week!

In today's episode I take a break from a standard creator interview, and spend some time with a talented boardgame content creator to hear what they have to say about Kickstarter. Jesse, the creator and host of the Quackalope youtube channel, was kind enough to chat with me about a few Kickstarter related topics.

Included are discussions on why Kickstarter is a positive influence in the hobby, what selection criteria is used for his channel, and some of the common mistakes seen in some games and Kickstarter content. Come and check it out!

Also, a few links...

Learn how a new game company has tried approaching the hobby. From a $150 monster of a space game, to a $7 small scall card game, Rob McBride is learning all about the industry as he explores Kickstarter.

In this episode we talk about Dig! and Overbattle, with some thoughts on conventions, prototypes, previewers, and more.

A young, yet powerful wizard embarks on a Kickstarter Journey of magical proportions... meet Mike Bregel, the creator of Wizards & Relics. He did all of the artwork for this very visual card game, as well as the graphic design and kickstarter page, and more! Learn about how he prepared some of these challenging aspects during his first Kickstarter campaign.

In this episode we dive deep... VERY deep. The deepest place on Earth, The Marianna Trench! A very talented artist and graphic designer, Tristam Rossin, has now delved into his own game company called Bright Light Games. He has already done art for several published and soon to be published games, but now we see him venture out on his own. Enjoy!

A very successful microgame launched last year by a new creator, the game was simply called RUNE. Then, a completely different style of game (visually and mechanically) was created called Kingdom Candy: Monsters. Another success! Listen to the creators process and how he developed a partnership to relaunch Rune this year!

A perfect blend of game designer, game developer (Jonny Pac), artists, graphic designers, and a superb manufacturer (Panda Games) has crafted a wonderful kickstarter campaign and boardgame. Learn how deckbuilding and worker placement merged together, and how they shared the prototypes and TTS of the game. Some great learnings from a campaign that has raised over half a million US dollars with just under a week left in its campaign at the time of recording!

A first time successful creator joins the show to share of his experiences. From coming up with the game, to figuring out how to create and playtest it, and some of the challenges he experienced running his first crowfunding campaign. Come have a listen to Jim and his store about Kleos!

A new style of RPG that involves a backstory created during gameplay, and a novel use of a Tarot deck. Check out what Steve Dee has to say about his successful Relics campaign, and some lessons learned in his game design experiences.

Dice, infantry, tanks, and more populate the boardgame called Dice Command, created by Sam Cristall and Tyler Holman of Ejected Planet. Listen to how these two first time Kickstarter creators planned out their game and funded it on Day 1!

For Episode 50 I was approached by a fellow game designer, and fan of the Podcast, about conducting an interview with me. Having heard similar things on other podcasts, I thought this would be a great way to celebrate having 50 episodes, and funding 5 different campaigns now over the past 2 years.

Have a listen, see what kind of approaches I have taken to this amazing hobby and game design, and see if some of my strategies work for you!

Thanks to all of the listeners and supporters, really looking forward to continuing on!

As for the guest interviewer, Michael Bregel will be Kickstarting his own game called Wizards & Relics in November. I highly recommend this as a light yet strategic, fun multiplayer experience! Learn more about his game in the links below:

This interview features another first time creator who smashed through with over $100,000 USD raised on their 2-3 player social deduction game, Mantis Falls. Discover how unique gameplay, displayed awards, and enthusiastic reviewers helped launch this campaign to success!

First time creator Anthony Gibbins discusses how his passion for language and teaching turned into making a card game. From its elegant, simple art style to its easy to learn but in depth strategy, Bellum Sacrum is worth taking a look at!

This episode features a creator who has run just 2 Kickstarters, but exceeded $100,000 on each of their games! Mal shares his initial foray into game creation and Kickstarter with his fun, simple card game about the experiences of travelling. With such amazing success in that game, he went on to create a game about one of his passions, film making, with Roll Camera.

Learn about his advancement from card to board game creation, and maybe gain some more insight to help you with your next campaign!

Come and have a listen to a first time Kickstarter creators experience after the journey!

Thats right, John DeCampos is back, this time sharing his thoughts on how the Kickstarter for Token Terrors: Battlegrounds performed, lessons learned, and some insight into previews and playthroughs.

Have you ever been lost in the Backwoods? Today it might not be too hard to find your way out, but back in 1830 life was much different! I once died in those woods alongside Kickstarter Creator Ryan Williams! Ryan launched, then relaunched, this 1-4 player co-operative survival boardgame with some strong success the second time around. Have a listen and learn about his cost effective, independently driven effort to get his game creation out to the world!

Heather O'Neill shares her experiences with 9th Level Games. They have been crowdfunding on Kickstarter since 2013 with some great games and Zines. Some examples include "Kobolds Ate My Baby", "Meeple Party", and "Pavlov's Dogs". Learn a little about what a Zine is, and why 9th Level is continuing with Kickstarter after all these years.

Have you ever heard of Smirk n' Dagger Games? After 16 years of self publishing, Curt Covert has now come to crowdfunding! Hear what he has to say about the distribution of board games has changed, what prompted him to jump into Kickstarter, and how he was able to create a mid-campaign spike in both Cindr and The Night Cage this year!

"Smirk and Dagger is widely known for their love of backstabbing games,  and more recently has broadened their appeal with the Smirk and Laughter  line - but all built on  a simple premise... that when you engage people on an emotional level,  you create a more memorable experience at the gaming table."

An amazing beautiful game, with very unique cards and a perfectly crafted video. Canvas raised over $700,000 on Kickstarter, and Jeff from Road to Infamy has several other games to talk about in this interview.

In the 40th episode of Kickstarter Journeys I had a chance to talk to Brenna Noonan, a game developer and marketer that has been involved in more than 40 boardgames over the past 4 years. Some highlights that we talk about include the Everdell tree, and how her new company, Quillsilver Studios, was involved with the live Ascension Tactics kickstarter campaign.

Come and have a listen to a first time Kickstarter creators journey before the journey!

The designer of Catapult Kingdom shares his thoughts on his nostalgic creation of the game, and how he built up prototypes and interest over the past few years. If you are interested in hearing what it can be like to work with a separate publisher doing a Kickstarter for your game, this is a great episode for you!

Do you enjoy Taco Tuesdays? What... you don't? Well that could change if you had this game. T.A.C.O. is a strategic party game for 2-8 players. It's about collecting Taco Points before they run out. Out-think and out-taco your competitors by linking ingredient effects to strip your opponents' tacos and win all the Taco Points and the Taco Trophy! Your Taco Tuesdays will never be the same!

This creator is very knowledgeable, with 20 years in graphic design, and a prior art-based kickstarter that raised over $8,000 US. In this episode we talk about how followers don't jump in on everything you do, we discuss how it can be challenging to get some types of games serious reviews, and plenty of chatter about art and game creation.