Funded by the People

I’ve been really busy and haven’t had time to post anything recently. In the time off that I had, I came up with a topic that seemed interesting to me. The idea came to me partially from playing a few rounds of Battleborne Legacy.

Many game companies and people who want to self publish their game use Kickstarter and now some people also use Indigogo. These are sites that allow someone to basically propose an idea through the internet and basically get people to decide to donate to their cause of creating a game. People can browse what the creator is intending to make, and if they are interested they will give a certain monetary amount to try and get the game to print. The creator will usually create different levels of pledge money that the backer can decide to spend and if the game is funded, will potentially give the backer some sort of gift such as the game itself when it is completed. Most times there is a minimum total pledge amount that has to be reached for the game to be funded. After this amount is reached, there can be higher goals called stretch goals that if reached, can potentially give a backer free additional gifts if over funded. Sometimes the creator will make additional extras that can be purchased as extra if a backer wants to pledge a higher amount. These extras can be upgrades in components, parts, cards, pieces, or other merchandise such as clothing or trinkets.

There are many games that have been successful and controversial through sites like those mentioned above. Two games that immediately come to mind are Exploding Kittens and Kingdom Death Monster. Exploding Kittens is a very quick and simple card game to learn but for some reason is one of the most funded games on Kickstarter. I have not played the game but I watched a video review and seemed pretty basic with some strategy and decent artwork but a strange theme. Kingdom Death Monster was a very expensive game that came with a lot of miniatures. I have not played this game either but from a video review, I learned that it is very challenging, long and the artwork is very controversial. I’m not sure I would really want to play either of these games and am highly likely to not play Kingdom Death Monster.

While I enjoy playing games, I realized that I am more of a gamer as I have backed multiple crowdfunding projects. The first thing I backed a few years ago was another season of the Dice Tower. I have learned quite a bit from them so I wanted to support what they are doing which is putting out informational content related to board gaming. The first year, I pledged a level where I got some dice. The next year I pledged a level where I got a board gaming bag or grocery shopping bag. This past year I again pledged a level where I got more dice. While I have not pledged a lot for their crowdfunding compared to how often I use their information, I hope that what I have done has helped them become better at what they do. Now, I keep using the word crowdfunding because they use to use Kickstarter but last year started to use a site called Indigogo which seems to work out better for them.

Another game that I have backed is Hero Realms by White Wizard Games. This is the same company that have created Star Realms and originated by some ex Magic players. I really enjoyed Star Realms and so I decided to back Hero Realms. I have backed this game at a higher level to get a lot of extra expansions that I have not received yet but am informed that they will be coming. This is a game that is basically the same game as Star Realms except that you are in a fantasy setting. The one major difference is that there are expansion character packs that you can get to define your character and give you a different starting set of cards. Since Star Realms has been out for a few years they found this way to improve on Star Realms and put it into Hero Realms. I’m not sure it is necessary to own both games but I am happy with the purchase.

Finally, the last game that I have backed is a game called One Deck Dungeon. While I have not received my copy yet, I have watched some reviews on it and the game looks really fun. This Kickstarter was for a stand alone expansion that they are releasing. The original game has been out for maybe about a year now and was sold out a few months ago but I think might be in stock now. This game is for one to two players. You will take control of a fantasy character and go into the dungeon to beat the boss. It seems as if you can play this as a kind of RPG where you can level up your character over the course of multiple games. The game is card driven and seems like a quick fast game that is very entertaining.