Game Design Secrets

Understanding Best Practices of Crowdfunded Games, Part I: Overview and General Advice

As of Summer 2012, about $30 million out of a total $230 million in pledges to Kickstarter, the leading crowdfunder service, have been made to video game-related projects (see Figure 15-3.) There have been more than 1.5 million unique pledges to all Kickstarter projects (some individuals pledge more than once), with more than 200,000 distinct pledges going to game-related projects.

Figure 15-3: Double Fine’s successful crowdfunder on Kickstarter.

Far more people, it’s worth noting, have considered making pledges to Kickstarter projects. According to Compete, Kickstarter gets about one million unique visitors per month. Earlier this year, the company added social network features (connections, messaging, and so on) to Kickstarter, which will probably grow the site’s user base.

Although every Kickstarter campaign is different, some basic guidelines (shared with me by an insider) generally apply to all of them.

Be Clear, Be Compelling, Be Concise—Be Video

The first best practice is to hone your project into a story that establishes the premise of your project, the journey and struggle you’ve made to develop it, and what you need to complete it. (This ends the story on a cliffhanger and makes Kickstarter users the hero of the story who ride in to help save the day.) Clearly articulate what you’re ...