Seeking "angel investors" via Kickstarter.

This posting is one-part shameless self-promotion and one-part, "Holy cow! I've found this fantastic resource and I'd like to share it with you." In fact, the shameless self-promotion acts as the "proof of function" that drives me to share. That said...

Jeremy and I are self-publishing a game called Inevitable. We've created a website ( http://www.inevitablethegame.com ) with a store and a "leaks" blog (updated weekly with sneak previews of the game). We plan to "go live" with the game this Summer. We're going to release it in three formats: A free Demo PDF, a $9.95 Complete PDF, and a limited run of 100 Deluxe sets for $49.95 each.

As many of you know, publishing a commercial-quality board game is not cheap. We were talking about how to fund the 100-set run and Jeremy mentioned Kickstarter ( http://www.kickstarter.com/ ). Kickstarter is a web site that acts as a middleman (of sorts) for creative types (like us) to connect with sponsors. Kickstarter empowers you to create a project, describe it, make a video that explains it, set a donation target, set rewards and recognition levels, and set an end date for sponsors to pledge. Once you've done this, go live with your project and you're good to go.

Jeremy and I collaborated on Google Wave to figure out and create all these things. Our Kickstarter page for Inevitable ( http://kck.st/cqqYv5 ) went live yesterday afternoon. Jeremy promptly cross promoted it on the Inevitable Facebook group and Twitter feed. In less than 2 hours, we'd received more than $650 in pledges. This morning, we're just a hair shy of $950. I'm amazed, startled, humbled, and pleased by this generous response; in less than a day, we're almost 33% of the way to our goal. This brings me to two things:

1) If you're looking for financial support for your independently produced game, consider using Kickstarter. We're not fully-funded yet (and you only get the pledges if you make your goal by the deadline you set - it's all or nothing), but I'm optimistic that we'll make our goal. Note that you can't start a Kickstarter project and expect that free money will just come pouring through your doorway. It's not "free money" – we're offering real things with real worth (like signed copies of the Deluxe set) to encourage sponsors to pledge – but it's a really helpful financial boost (and it's good for your morale too!). Go to Kickstarter and check out the array of projects there. You'll notice that there are lots of comics, novels, and movies there, but not many games and even fewer board games. I think it's a fantastic opportunity for us (board game inventors) to connect with sponsors, and people in general, in a unique, mutually beneficial way.

2) Check out the Inevitable Kickstarter page ( http://kck.st/cqqYv5 ) so you can see what we did. If it inspires you to do so, make a pledge. You'll join a select group of phenomenally awesome people and you'll get nifty Inevitable-related stuff as soon it's available. Also, I'll genuinely appreciate it. Like the end of the video pitch says, "Every little bit helps."

Thanks for reading. I think that the support we raise with Kickstarter will make a real difference in the success of Inevitable, and I hope it can do the same for some of you.