Crowdfunding is a fun way to get new things, from board games, to part of a brewery, to books, but how do you navigate it? Yesterday I talked about how the landscape is changing. How the pandemic means that certain normal patterns and pricing aren’t going to be the same anymore. You can read that here. That was about what changed. Today, we look at crowdfunding through the eyes of someone new, what do you need to know for board games.

What Is Crowdfunding?

This might be too basic, you might know what crowdfunding is already, but let’s talk about it quick. Crowdfunding is basically getting other people to buy into or invest in your product or idea before it even exists. This can be anything, really that they want and there are a few different platforms, for board games it’s generally Kickstarter and Gamefound.

The big thing with this is that technically you are backing, supporting your money, only if the project funds. So when you select to back a project, only once that project funds do you get charged. Then the money raised is used to produce that product.

Is It A Scam?

While there certainly have been scams run via Kickstarter, it is generally not. Especially in the board gaming side of things. Even the other side of things where projects might fail to deliver. Most of the time when something fails to deliver, it’s because the product didn’t work as expected. Board games, that’s less of an issue, though games with apps, especially for a person new to the industry, might come out buggy or take a long time to come out.

Is It A Store?

Now, some companies do use crowdfunding like a store. They have their products ready to go and can get them out to you in a few months or less. This is not common. Most often you are helping fund the development and design of the game, and then also the manufacturing.

Making a board game is not the most expensive thing, if you don’t have minis, but it is certainly not cheap to make a lot of them. So even established companies often need the money up front to be able to produce a game in a large enough quantity to put into retail.

What To Look For In A Good Crowdfunding Campaign?

Well, let’s first talk about the two different types of people using crowdfunding. The more established companies use it as a pre-order system, almost. Game design and development might be going on, but they have a solid idea of what the game is going to be.

The other type is the passion project. This is going to be from a small designer or a single person. It is an idea that they have put a lot of their own spare time and effort into. This is not going to be as polished when it comes to Kickstarter or Gamefound. They need to get their art, and graphic design, often, done with the money raised from crowdfunding.

Created and Backed Count

Every person has to start somewhere with crowdfunding. But generally I am a bit more hesitant on a first time creator. That’s now always fair, but it means that they need to make up for it in other ways. I’m not sure if Gamefound shows how many created there, but I hope that they do.

One of the ways a new creator can make up for it is by having backed projects previously, and board game projects. That can help you know that they know the hobby well, and what type of game they are apt to make. If they mainly have helped support light party games, expect that type of game to be made.

Polish Look Of Page

This again varies from a passion project to a big company. For a big company, they have a graphic design team. Or they know people and have people to work with. I want the page to look polished. I want to see renders of what the board and components are going to look like. And ideally I want shipping numbers and some prototype previews or playthroughs.

For a smaller publisher or a passion project, I want it to look like you know what you are talking about. Don’t sell me something grandiose that seems too good to be true. If you say stuff like “the next thing like [game]” or “the first” or “most innovative”. Those are red flags to me. Those things tell me that you probably have designed this for your group or only gotten feedback from your friends. And that you might not know board games as well as you think.

Consistent Updates Throughout Project

Now, this one again there is some leeway for more established companies. But throughout the project, I do expect consistent updates, whether you’re a large content creator or a small one. Be engaged with the project while it is going on. An update every couple of days at least. Let people know that you appreciate them. Give them updates or more details on your plan for your game. If you’re doing stretch goals, talk about those stretch goals.

Game Rules/Game Play

And the biggest thing, I need to know how your game plays. And this is for big companies and small companies. I want to know how your game plays so that I know if it’s a game for me. If you say that it has innovative mechanics, you better tell me about them in detail.

For bigger companies, yes you have minis in the game. I don’t care. I want to know how your game plays. Looking at cool minis is great, but if the game isn’t, then I want to know before I put $100+ into the game.

And for passion projects, don’t take your idea to crowdfunding, take your game. You won’t get paid for an idea, and yes, that means work before you have the money to pay yourself to do the work. But I want a good idea of what your game is going to be and how it is going to play.

For both groups, design and development can and will happen. For me, that is expected. What I want is a good idea of what the game is going to be. And if you need to massively change the game, I want the opportunity to back out at that point. Which I realize isn’t possible for all designers, especially on passion projects. So come to the table with a plan.

Benefit of Backing

What are you getting as a benefit for backing it now versus waiting for retail. Sometimes the answer might be that it isn’t coming to retail so don’t expect to get it then. Other times, it might come to retail, but there is an exclusive expansion, miniature, deck of bonus cards, character, freebie, whatever it might be. And is that worth it to you. Know that a crowdfunding game that goes to retail often ends up being cheaper there.

Final Thoughts

The good news is that board games rarely fail to deliver. That doesn’t mean that all the games are winners. There is a reason that the game play and rules section is the longest thing that I talk about. If I don’t know what your game is going to be, then I’m going to be hard pressed to back it.

And as a new person to crowdfunding, all of those the things are a decent metric. I do think that tomorrows topic, tempering FOMO is going to be useful as well when thinking about a board game on crowdfunding. But really look to see what the core of the game is, see what previewers, reviewers, and more are saying. Find a play of the game to watch. Even if the rules are changing, get an idea of what it is going to be.

What game are you thinking about crowdfunding? Or what was the first one that you backed? Let me know in the comments below.

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