The Idea of A Crowdfunding Exclusive

So the reason that companies do this is so that you have FOMO. It is something you can only get on the Kickstarter or Gamefound campaign. If it goes to retail, that piece won’t be available. Sometimes it is truly exclusive to the campaign, sometimes it just won’t end up at retail locations and the company might sell the extras themselves.

But yes, the whole point of an exclusive is to entice you into backing the game now because you can’t get it later. Simply, it is FOMO and honestly, one of the worse parts of Kickstarter and Gamefound. Because it makes you spend more than you really meant to spend. Or backed something you might not have backed. Again, see yesterday’s article.

Now, it’s not always a negative. Sometimes it is something that’s exclusive because you helped support them. So it’s extra value to your pledge. This happens pretty often in CMON campaigns. You get some extra miniatures, characters to play, that won’t be available after the fact. Stuff like that holds it value more and is worth it, as long as it’s not driving up the price with what you pay.

The Bad

Game Play Exclusives

These suck and should not be done. You have a gameplay exclusive that adds playable content to the base game, there’s a decent chance I won’t back your campaign. Why, because if I don’t add on that piece, and often it is going to cost me more, now I don’t know if I have a full game. I might just have part of a game that is okay, and I need that piece to get a really good game.

An example of this could have been Marvel Zombies by CMON. The base box you play as the zombies which is awesome and fun. But what if I wanted to play as heroes fighting after hero zombies. Well, you need to get the X-Men box. So you need both of them to get the full experience. If they had made that X-Men box Kickstarter Exclusive, there likely would have ben riots. Why, because that means you need to back that Kickstarter and pay more to get the full game.

Add-ons Galore

Now, this one CMON is definitely guilty of on Marvel Zombies. The idea that there is just an add-on after add-on for the game that drives up the price. And it’s more game play content, and that’s what normally gets me. I don’t mind if it’s something like added minis or metal coins, generally don’t need them. And really I don’t need all the add-ons either. But if it’s something like game play, or a character for Marvel Zombies I really want, I’m likely going to add it on. And that is driving up the price on what I back. So that can take a $100 game to a $500 game with enough of them.

The Good

Free Exclusives

Now, this seems obvious, you want an exclusive to be part of what you pledge, You don’t need to add anything for it and you get something cool. Often times these will be the stretch goals that are unlocked as you go along that might be only for the Kickstarter backers.

Cosmetic Exclusives

Now, we also see exclusives that don’t add to game play, and I’m much more fine with those. Why, because even if they are an add-on, I determine if I want that extra. Do I want the minis, maybe if they look awesome. For example, I chose to get the minis for ISS Vanguard, at least the ones that came with a pledge level. I didn’t get some of the other minis that were even more cosmetic for the game.

I decide if I want extra dice for my Marvel Zombies game or not, it’s not like I’m being forced to get it, or it’s being bundled with some level of game play and adding to that that cost. As long as it’s an add-on and I can choose, I like those cosmetic ones, and sometimes I’ll pick them up but I can pick my favorites.

Final Thoughts on Crowdfunding Exclusives

These, I think are generally something that are well done. I don’t think too often companies go too crazy with exclusives, and a lot of the time they are the cosmetic add-ons. But sometimes, that is enough to drive me away. Especially if it seems like part of the core game that you need to have fun it behind that crowdfunding exclusive wall.

On the flip side, when you get something free, that feels great. So exclusives, while it could seem negative aren’t a bad thing. It is something that can get you really excited about the game and that is fun as well.

What are some of the best crowdfunding exclusives that you’ve seen?

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This, however leads to a problem. There are a ton of games on Kickstarter, in fact they make Kickstarter millions of dollars. And now Gamefound is in the mix and that is where all the Awaken Realms games are and they are getting a lot of other really big games. So how do you decide what to back.

Only So Much Budget

I did a series of articles on Kickstarter 101. You can find the first one there and then I went into more details about what I look for. I generally follow my guide when it comes to backing games or talking about them in my Back of Brick Series. But one thing I don’t talk about is budget, or at least I don’t talk about it much.

Right now that is my biggest issue in getting board games, which is a good thing in a lot of ways. If I didn’t have a budget I would just have my game room stacked up with even more board games and no where to actually play them. Plus, there is only so much time to play board games in my life right now. I’d love to play more, but I’m generally playing once a week with people and once a week while streaming.

But That Means Hard Choices

As the header says, that means that I have to make hard choices as to what I back. Early in the year I tend to be a bit more free. By that I mean, if it looks really cool, I’ll back it and not think about it. But now, in the middle of the year, my budget is drying up, and we are getting a lot of cool games on the different crowdfunding platforms.

Just what I know is coming up, there is Lords of Ragnarok from Awaken Realms, Divinus from Lucky Duck Games, Slay the Spire from Contention Games, and those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head. Plus there is Middara acts 2 & 3. There is a Dune game based off of the Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game system, not Kickstarter from what I know. Plus I could still late back Deliverance or Witcher: Old World, and I’m actively backing Valor & Villainy, the cooperative legacy version that is out there now.

So how do I go about picking? Do I keep backing Valor and Villainy because it’s a known game? Do I save for other things that are coming in later? How much do I care about the CMON Masters of the Universe Game?

So How Do I Pick?

Compare to the Collection

Firstly, I think it’s important to look at the games in a vacuum. Well, kind of a vacuum. I don’t want to look at everything I know is coming to Kickstarter or Gamefound. It’s hard to compare games that are active to games that are coming. If a game is active and it looks amazing except for one little thing, I won’t be able to accurately compare it to the ones that have almost no information on Kickstarter or little on Gamefound.

Instead, I should look at it compared to what I have in my collection. So with Valor and Villainy, it’s a campaign and a legacy game. I have two unplayed Legacy games, well, 3 actually with Pandemic Legacy Season 0 that I just remembered. And I probably have 6-10 unplayed campaign games counting what is currently backed on Kickstarter. So do I need more games of that type? But also, does this one look better than the games of that type I own?

Who Would I Play It With

Is this a game for a small group? My campaign group? The board game club group? The game night group? Me? Or is it a game for a group that doesn’t exist yet?

If it’s the latter, do I want to put the effort into finding a group or a person to play it with. Let’s look at some things I’ve backed, Project L and Tiny Tubro Cars are for the small group and game night group. Primal is for small group, board game club group, and campaign group. Aeon’s End Legacy might just be for me. But does a game fit into any of the groups. If not, I have to put in the effort to get it played, and will I do that?

Retails vs Crowdfunding

Another thing I consider is, can I get it later. A crowdfunded game is a little bit of a risk. I’ve gotten a few when they came in they weren’t as good as I had hoped. Lost Woods was a simple game that wasn’t what I was hoping. Bring Your Own Book is a cool idea but doesn’t work as well as it sounds. Now the only way to get Lost Woods was via Kickstarter, but Bring Your Own Book went to retail. So I could have waited, gotten an uglier copy that was the same thing, or waited for reviews.

But there’s more to that, I could have gotten Marvel United at retail, but I’m glad I didn’t. So it’s the flip of Bring Your Own Book. With Marvel United I got way more characters because I backed it on Kickstarter. And basically none of the expansions are going to retail, so I’d have missed out on all of that content. So, is the value there to take the risk on the game on the crowdfunding platform?

So What’s Coming Up?

Out of everything I talked about coming up, I am confident that I’ll back Lords of Ragnarok. I like Lords of Hellas a lot and Norse mythology. Slay the Spire is also likely because I love that video game. CMON’s Master’s of the Universe game, probably not, it’s not a theme that I love as much, though the minis look amazing. Divinus, probably, though Lucky Duck Games also do come to retail.

How do you balance what you back or don’t? Do you just ignore Kickstarter or Gamefound? Or do you do less retail because you get most of your games are coming in via Kickstarter?

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