I’m strongly considering joining a group pledge for it to reduce shipping costs. It might be delivered as early as May because it’s just a reprint.
I’ll let you know before the end of the campaign. Would be happy to bring it to a game meet.
In that case I’d be happy to chip in.
God I’m angry the SpaceBourne 2 Kickstarter didn’t succeed. The developer, like so many, just launched and then did basically nothing. Halfway through I suggested they do some updates, of which they did two.
GAH. Kickstarter, while it’s running, is basically full-time work. You have to update constantly, preferably daily, to not only build momentum but keep it. The dev is gonna try again with a demo next time but I told them they HAVE to be more engaged with the campaign or it’ll fail again.
Just so mad.
Alas, they don’t really allow retailer pledges in large enough numbers for the group pledge I was going to join to have free slots (8 copies max per retailer). So I’ll likely skip Mind MGMT.
I chipped in with 1$ in the kickstarter of The Witcher, but I never felt urged to complete my backing. And the latest update just looks so ugly
They remind me of Flying Frog Touch of Evil games bad cards (I think they took pictures from the team in costumes)
I don’t feel the art, they look like being based on photographs and then photoshopped to look like painted and added fictional details. So no real drawings or paintings.
I’m tempted… if it were $50, kind of not as a big deal. But $120? Hmm. It’s not that everyone doesn’t like it apparently, but that I doubt I’ll play it enough to merit the expense.
Oh wait, that’s $120 in loonies, didn’t notice. $88 greenskins isn’t quite as bad.
You take that back! The art in those games is B Movie awesome!
I am assured that the photos in Flying Frog games are of actual hired actors. But yeah, not what I would choose personally.
Orange Nebula is doing a new Kickstarter with additional content for the Unsettled game, which I am enjoying immensely.
Unsettled® Board Game Plus All-New Content by Orange Nebula — Kickstarter
I was tempted the first time, but passed after seeing the very average solo mode that ended up in Vindication.
But I see on BGG this game is full co-op, has no solo, and is best with 2 players, so as a solo player I would play it two-handed. Do you think it’s feasible to do this? How is the general level of mental/physical fiddliness per player?
I’m someone who finds dual-handing Jaws of the Lion a bit much… :)
It’s way simpler than Gloomhaven. A bit more complicated than Pandemic, I’d say. I didn’t like it nearly as much solo as I did coop, but I never really want to solo when I could go coop so YMMV.
The game says it can handle solo, that there’s no hidden information but is designed for co-op. I don’t think it would be nearly as enjoyable solo, but I haven’t tried it either.
Interesting to see how boardgame focused KS projects are when it comes to gaming:
101 tabletop projects crossed the $500,000 crowdfunding mark in 2021, according to a blog post from Ico Partners’ Thomas Bidaux - the first time that over 100 tabletop games have made more than half a million dollars.
In total, tabletop games made $272 million on Kickstarter last year - the seventh consecutive year that tabletop projects have set a new record for the amount of money raised.
…
Tabletop games continued to vastly outpace video games on Kickstarter. 2021 saw more than 400 video game projects funded, a total of 441, only the third time that figure has been surpassed since 2009. However the amount of money raised by video game projects fell to $24 million from $26m in 2021 - less than 10% of the figure raised by tabletop games.
https://twitter.com/icotom/status/1495765823704686595?s=20&t=UlRjW7wCrnkBkBgMIy8qpA
When I Kickstart a boardgame I nearly always get a boardgame, and I get one sometimes cheaper and definitely far more easily than trying to get that game later at retail. When I Kickstart a videogame, I don’t get a videogame about 20% of the time and when I do they often go heavily on sale or hit a bundle before I have a chance to actually play them. So I pretty much stopped doing the latter, and I bet I’m not alone.
Also, most boardgames are already pretty developed and the costs are mostly production and fulfillment, which are solved problems and not particularly expensive so a boardgame can do very well on a million or less. Videogame budgets are much much higher and KS doesn’t often cover all the bills. It might work well enough for a small indie team but they also tend not to draw nearly as much attention.
Those are good points. While I’ve pulled back a lot from backing unknown boardgaming quantities on KS, I generally know that the game will be produced and I will receive it. If there was a rulebook or previews available during gameplay, I know what to expect.
And KS games can indeed be harder to source at retail or second hand.
Video game development is quite different in those respects. I haven’t backed one in years. And, thinking about it, those are indeed the reasons why.
Indy video games and indy board games are fundamentally different businesses, and Kickstarter is much better suited to one than the other.
Board games need money up front to cover physical production and shipping: otherwise the developer can find themselves out of pocket for every unit they produce. Getting money up front also allows the dev to gauge how exactly many units are going to be sold, crucial in a business based on physical product. So Kickstarter is the natural choice, and thus an entire Kickstarter boardgame culture has developed.
Video games, on the other hand, have no such worry about up-front physical costs or figuring out the exact number of units: the dev doesn’t have to even consider the question of how many copies to make.
Video games also have the option of going to Early Access on Steam as soon as they have something playable. This has the great advantage of putting the game in a place where potential customers ordinarily hang out, i.e. on Steam, and not on a separate location. You can sell the game while you’re still working on it.
So what you have is two different kinds of groups - boardgame communities on Kickstarter, and Early Access communities on Steam et. al. - drawn to the different channels due to the ways the two businesses differ.
So, $24 million, divided among 441 projects, after taxes and fees and the like, seems a lot of aspiring game developers think they can make a game with around $30k. I’m sure it’ll work out for them.
Yeah, I think it’s mainly the things Malkav mentions. Plus minis. People love minis for some reason. Maybe videogame kickstarters should promise minis.
God I wish people would get over minis.
I love minis!
