Six Month Crowdfunding Plan

Well, I can definitely respect that he's successfully done a Kickstarter campaign before, those kind of steps are far more respectable than some guy that comes from nowhere and thanks they've got what it takes.

I read it more in the sense of hand-holding one individual per month. That's more than I do. What I admire is that it is built into his business plan.

Small contributions - like commenting on another designers Threads or Blog (on BGDF) is positive and constructive feedback.

Reading over a rulebook - is probably in that once a month category. It takes a lot of effort. But some people are good at it like Calvin. He took a couple of hours and had proofed my entire rulebook with suggestions and all (@Calvin: big thanks - it came as a surprise!)

Playing someone PnP game - that IS a BIG investment. So if you do help in this manner, well I doubt you'd do it often - maybe only when the game peeks your interest... We don't get many people who actually do invest time in printing and cutting PnPs. Hamish has done some wonderful Japanese Samurai/Ninja PnP with really nice artwork and all... Not many takers. We also collaborated on a Mech-type game made for solo play (it too was PnP). Again not many takers...

So come and visit us ... as often as you like. Share your comments / feedback / suggestions / ideas, etc.

I second what Joe (above) says. Go study what Jamey has done.

Your steps look good, and it is significant how you intend to be active in and help build up the community, because it's the community that's going to be buying most of your project.

Daniel,

Last year, the board and card game industry saw impressive numbers with folks spending $1.8B (yes, that's with a "B")! While it's nowhere near the lofty heights of the video game industry (currently sitting at around $17B/year, but forecasted to exceed $20B by 2020), it's doing exceptionally well. While I can't point to specific reasons for the surge, I'll simply note that when I visit a number of Game Nights in the D.C. area they're always packed (we're talking about 25-30 folks coming out for an evening of gaming), and the demographic skews younger (I'm toward the older end in my late 40s).

Another reason for the success is the perceived ease of entry unlike other areas on Kickstarter...meaning, you actually have to know something about Technology or Journalism. Unfortunately, when the barriers came down, we never set in place a proper Gatekeeper (the role previously held by leading publishers). There's clearly good and bad elements to that effect. With the barriers, we may never have seen a Jamey Stegmaier. However, without the barriers, anyone with an idea feels "ready" to publish.

Also, there are the numbers. On average, the combined number of "live" projects on Kickstarter for Comics, Crafts, Dance, Journalism, Photography, and Theater (or 40% of all KS categories) at any given time equals the total number of "Games" projects. So, in part, there's a more vibrant community surrounding tabletop games than many other areas.

As a developer and now a published game designer, I'm ecstatic about the changes...but I also fear that we'll continue to see really poorly made/play-tested board and card games on KS. The saving grace, by and large, is that the community decides what does and what does not get published. Moreover, the broader community decides what ends up in the top 500 games on BGG and what's relegated to a place much further down the list.

Cheers,
Joe