API tools faq
paste
Guest User

August_10_2013_LOB_GUIDE

a guest
Aug 13th, 2013
165
0
Never
Add comment
Not a member of Pastebin yet? Sign Up, it unlocks many cool features!
text 125.45 KB | None | 0 0
raw download clone embed print report
  1. #######################Intro#####################
  2. #################################################
  3. #################################################
  4. #################################################
  5.  
  6. A Lobster's Guide for Video Game Projects on Kickstarter.
  7.  
  8. Greetings. Some of you may know me as Lobster who lurks this subReddit on weekends. I've backed [over 600 crowdfunding projects](http://www.kickstarter.com/profile/iankragh) since May 2011 while also watching the Kickstarter ecosystem grow and also helping to reboot many failing Kickstarter campaigns as a hobby. I hope you find this guide helpful even if it is a big read. Feel free to comment on individual parts of this guide with your own Kickstarter experiences, questions for me about parts of the guide or advice for others.
  9.  
  10. With this guide I want to go through my general approach to how I would create a project in the Video Games category on Kickstarter. Other categories like Film and other sites like IndieGoGo can have projects behave very differently and need to market themselves in other ways. Some of you may remember [TinyKeep's AI series](http://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/1fbs5t/monster_ai_system_for_tinykeep_explained_part_5/). It inspired me to post this guide here first after it did better than I hoped. While some may not like applying the term pre-order to Kickstarter rewards, I'll still be using that term because it makes examples simpler to explain. There are also parts that are oversimplified to reduce space.
  11.  
  12. **Table of Contents**
  13. Part 01 [Setting Goals](http://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/1k67t0/a_lobsters_guide_for_video_game_projects_on/cblrupw)
  14. Part 02 [Brainstorming Rewards](http://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/1k67t0/a_lobsters_guide_for_video_game_projects_on/cblrwl6)
  15. Part 03 [Planning a Rewards Structure](http://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/1k67t0/a_lobsters_guide_for_video_game_projects_on/cblrz7a)
  16. Part 04 [More About Structuring Rewards](http://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/1k67t0/a_lobsters_guide_for_video_game_projects_on/cbls838)
  17. Part 05 [Setting Delivery Dates](http://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/1k67t0/a_lobsters_guide_for_video_game_projects_on/cblsnmy)
  18. Part 06 [The Pitch Video](http://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/1k67t0/a_lobsters_guide_for_video_game_projects_on/cbltb3l)
  19. Part 07 [Project Page](http://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/1k67t0/a_lobsters_guide_for_video_game_projects_on/cblu7r3)
  20. Part 08 [Project Graphics](http://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/1k67t0/a_lobsters_guide_for_video_game_projects_on/cbluczp)
  21. Part 09 [Building a Community](http://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/1k67t0/a_lobsters_guide_for_video_game_projects_on/cblukne)
  22. Part 10 [Additional Research and Preparations](http://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/1k67t0/a_lobsters_guide_for_video_game_projects_on/cbluogl)
  23. Part 11 [Scheduling Launch and End Dates](http://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/1k67t0/a_lobsters_guide_for_video_game_projects_on/cblv409)
  24. Part 12 [The First 48 Hours](http://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/1k67t0/a_lobsters_guide_for_video_game_projects_on/cblwq13)
  25. Part 13 [Popularity Rankings](http://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/1k67t0/a_lobsters_guide_for_video_game_projects_on/cblx50g)
  26. Part 14 [Editing Reward Tiers](http://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/1k67t0/a_lobsters_guide_for_video_game_projects_on/cblxc6m)
  27. Part 15 [Monitoring Your Campaign's Performance](http://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/1k67t0/a_lobsters_guide_for_video_game_projects_on/cblytnw)
  28. Part 16 [Media Coverage](http://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/1k67t0/a_lobsters_guide_for_video_game_projects_on/cblyusy)
  29. Part 17 [Releasing a Demo](http://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/1k67t0/a_lobsters_guide_for_video_game_projects_on/cblyx98)
  30. Part 18 [Project Updates](http://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/1k67t0/a_lobsters_guide_for_video_game_projects_on/cblyyrp)
  31. Part 19 [Dealing With Objections](http://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/1k67t0/a_lobsters_guide_for_video_game_projects_on/cblz1q8)
  32. Part 20 [Dealing With Going Viral](http://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/1k67t0/a_lobsters_guide_for_video_game_projects_on/cblzf2n)
  33. Part 21 [The Trough](http://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/1k67t0/a_lobsters_guide_for_video_game_projects_on/cblzhu1)
  34. Part 22 [Social Media](http://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/1k67t0/a_lobsters_guide_for_video_game_projects_on/cblzlbd)
  35. Part 23 [The Last 48 Hours](http://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/1k67t0/a_lobsters_guide_for_video_game_projects_on/cblznam)
  36. Part 24 [Sending Out Surveys](http://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/1k67t0/a_lobsters_guide_for_video_game_projects_on/cblzqt3)
  37. Part 25 [Community Management](http://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/1k67t0/a_lobsters_guide_for_video_game_projects_on/cblzuwn)
  38. Part 26 [Actually Producing The Game](http://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/1k67t0/a_lobsters_guide_for_video_game_projects_on/cblzwue)
  39. Part 27 [Physical Rewards Fulfilment](http://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/1k67t0/a_lobsters_guide_for_video_game_projects_on/cblzyae)
  40. Part 28 [Digital Rewards Fulfilment](http://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/1k67t0/a_lobsters_guide_for_video_game_projects_on/cbm04g9)
  41. Part 29 [Refunding Backers](http://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/1k67t0/a_lobsters_guide_for_video_game_projects_on/cbm064q)
  42. Part 30 [How to Reboot](http://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/1k67t0/a_lobsters_guide_for_video_game_projects_on/cbm0842)
  43. Part 31 [Returning to Kickstarter Again](http://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/1k67t0/a_lobsters_guide_for_video_game_projects_on/cbm09lb)
  44. Part 32 [Afterword](http://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/1k67t0/a_lobsters_guide_for_video_game_projects_on/cbm0c0t)
  45.  
  46. #################################################
  47. #################################################
  48. #################################################
  49. #################################################
  50.  
  51. *Part 1 of 32 Setting Realistic Goals.*
  52.  
  53. A game design document can really help at the preparation stage of doing a breakdown of the costs that will decide how large a goal you select. As an example, if your design-documents says you need 30 sprites and you've contacted a freelancer that quotes $20 per sprite, then you'll need to plan to include $600 for those assets when you set your funding goal. By just throwing out a number like $500 without thinking it through would have meant there would not be enough for 5 of the sprites.
  54.  
  55. I'd like to note that when I browse Kickstarter, I will mentally group projects together by the pricing of their main tier such as $5, $10, $15 and $25, then I compare the projects within those groupings. A game may be able to compete well against the other $5 games, but that same game may look rather underwhelming competing against the $25 games. These groupings are similar to how there is lightweight and heavyweight divisions in boxing. This guide is intended more for the $10 games like the kind you see launch on [Steam](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_%28software%29) for $10. $10 is still low enough that many people will still impulse buy it. Above $10 you need to work harder to justify the game is worth more money. Don't expect to be able to price your game like a $60 AAA production values console game.
  56.  
  57. One way I think these small campaigns can succeed is to have an understanding of how many backers they need to bring in for the goal they've chosen. I see a lot of [Video Games](http://www.kickstarter.com/discover/categories/video games) category projects have a per backer average of around $25 in pledges when they have a $10 main pre-order tier. As an example, [Volgarr the Viking](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1829034266/volgarr-the-viking) was a $10 game that raised $39,964 through 1,608 backers for $24.85 per backer. Your average pledge can actually be lower if you become very popular because you are bringing in so many cheap gamers just stopping by to pick up a basic pre-order. [Shovel Knight](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/yachtclubgames/shovel-knight/) was a $10 game that raised $311,502 through 14,749 backers for an average of $21.12 per backer. A basic technique to estimate for how many backers you will need is divide your goal amount by an expected average per backer, with a recommended average to use being $25 and then also try $20 and $30 averages. Using a $25 per backer average, a project with a $10,000 goal should expect to need 400 backers. When you include the stats for the other categories on Kickstarter the [average pledge per backer is $70 and $25 is the most common made pledge]. The average pledge per backer for your campaign is going to depend a lot on what your main pre-order tier is and how attractive the immediate tiers above it are. [Ouya](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ouya/ouya-a-new-kind-of-video-game-console) was able to break funding records with a [$136 average](http://www.kicktraq.com/projects/ouya/ouya-a-new-kind-of-video-game-console/#chart-daily) because it was being backed by many people at a $99 main pre-order tier. A tool called [The Kickback Machine](http://www.thekickbackmachine.com/) for looking up how projects with similar goals to yours performed. Comparing your goal amount to the [Successfully Funded Projects](http://www.kickstarter.com/help/stats) expanded chart of Kickstarter's Stats page is another thing you can do.
  58.  
  59. If you need to bring in more than 2,000 backers then you are going to have to run a campaign well and not just put it up and wait for it to reach its goal. I often see small campaigns struggle to get over 3,000 backers. There has yet to be a campaign with more than 100,000 backers although I hope to eventually see one surpass that mark within a year or two. The closest so far has been 91,585 backers for [Veronica Mars](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/559914737/the-veronica-mars-movie-project). Other superstar campaigns were [Ouya](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ouya/ouya-a-new-kind-of-video-game-console) with 63,416 backers and [Project Eternity](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/obsidian/project-eternity) with 73,986. [Double Fine Adventure](http://www.kickspy.com/projects/doublefine/double-fine-adventure), the project that helped bring Kickstarter to the attention of many gamers in 2012, had what was then an incredible 87,142 backers. KickSpy maintains a section for [the most backed](http://www.kickspy.com/browse/most-backed). If you go into Kickstarter planning to set new funding records then you will likely be disappointed. A common trait in the superstar campaigns above is that they received way more than they were initially asking for.
  60.  
  61. It can be argued that giving a backer a postcard is a gift. A pre-order for a game is taxable. Play it safe and plan to have to pay taxes on all the funds you receive from Kickstarter. Kickstarter provides a [1099-K form](http://www.irs.gov/uac/Form-1099-K,-Merchant-Card-and-Third-Party-Network-Payments). If you are a incorporated studio, consider having your Kickstarter near the start of your [fiscal year](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiscal_year) for tax reasons.
  62.  
  63. Stretch goals, for what to do with the additional funds after your project has surpassed the 100% mark, help continue to motivate backers to promote your project. A big downside to many stretch goals are that they often add features, like multiplayer, that can extend the development time far beyond what was the initial plan. Do not get carried away creating stretch goal after stretch goal. It is very easy to let the scope of the game become too large. At some point you need to stop promising more features and just let the extra funding go towards shipping the game or hiring more team members to handle the extra work. I do not favour immediately announcing what all your stretch goals are as it can seem too ambitious. You can get community feedback for what stretch goals are most important. [Kaiju Combat](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/14214732/kaiju-combat-giant-monsters-awesome-fighting-onlin) let backers vote on how extra funding was to be spent.
  64.  
  65. For unforeseen costs, one thing you can do is padding your goal by at least 10% as a buffer. Sometimes a backer's pledge will bounce when Amazon tries to charge his or her credit card. There can be currency conversion losses if you are not paying yourself in US dollars. There can also be increases in banking fees that you may not be familiar with. You may want to budget stretch goals so that each goal contributes a bit more to your buffer funds.
  66.  
  67. While a marketing money can be part of your budget for what you need to raise, I dislike when I see campaigns where over half the funds are budgeted towards buying advertisements. Bad marketing can be a waste of money.
  68.  
  69. If your goal is below $25,000 then you might look at [microfinance](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microfinance) as alternative to Kickstarter. There may also be government tax credits available. If you have a complete development team (Programmer, artist, musician and in some cases a 3D modeller) then there may be the option of using [sweat equity](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweat_equity) to get the goal lower because you won't need to contract out work. Not everyone will want to work for weeks without pay.
  70.  
  71. Some people have advised setting your project goal lower than what you actually need. The idea is that you lower your goal and then hope you cover your needs by getting overfunded. Statistics show your chance of getting funded do rise when your minimum goal is smaller, but I prefer if the number being asked for is the real amount needed. Kickstarter's ecosystem is becoming increasingly competitive and you may not even reach your first set of stretch goals.
  72.  
  73. Remember to factor in that there are credit card processing fees in addition to the [5% Kickstarter charges](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fees). UK-based developers need to be aware of [VAT](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value_added_tax) on fees when setting their goals.
  74.  
  75. #################################################
  76. #################################################
  77. #################################################
  78. #################################################
  79.  
  80. *Part 2 of 32 Brainstorming Rewards.*
  81.  
  82. Unless the game will be freeware, you should provide rewards with pre-orders, discounts off the game's launch price, backer-exclusive content or some other fair forms of consideration for the risk backers take by giving you funds. I've seen games with no pre-order at any tier have their campaigns perform very poorly.
  83.  
  84. Pricing is a very large topic to cover as consumer expectations are a factor. An iOS game will have difficulty pricing itself at $15 because of the expectation for cheap $1 or $2 prices in that market. One of the reasons mobile games often have their Kickstarter projects fail is that a $2 pre-order does not contribute much towards the goal amount. It takes five $2 tier backers to cover the same amount as one $10 tier backer of another campaign. The project with backers placing $10 pledges is going to have an easier time rising up the popularity rankings and getting more visibility because it needs fewer backers to do so. If priced too high, visitors to the project may not take it seriously or will consider pledging elsewhere to get more value for their money.
  85.  
  86. There should be one tier that you intend to be your most populated tier. It is often the first tier that offers a pre-order for the game and should be priced below $30. For this guide the tier would be priced at $10 and referred to as the main pre-order tier. I find that many project creators do not make this tier strong enough, so try to have it include more than just a copy of the game. There needs to be an incentive to back that tier now, such as being listed in the credits, instead of waiting for the game to go on sale later. It should be a completely digital reward or have any physical items be add-ons. The highest priced rewards sometimes don't really contribute much to the total amount a campaign has raised in comparison to what is raised by in the tiers below $50.
  87.  
  88. The $1 reward tier is the smallest tier you can offer. Over time I have come to strongly believe that the $1 tier should have the backers get their names in the credits. It could also grant access to a backers-only forum section. At the time of this post, [DwarfCorp](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1078333633/dwarfcorp) has 30 backers at the $1 tier. Every backer helps your campaign compete in the project popularity rankings. I know that some of those $1 backers are Linux users waiting for the Linux port stretch goal before raising their pledges.
  89.  
  90. The [Bartle Test](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartle_Test) divides video game players into achievers, killers, socializers and explorers. I like to recommend that your rewards have something available to cover each group. [DwarfCorp](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1078333633/dwarfcorp) organized its rewards by fluff such as being named in the credits, creative rewards such as designing a monster, digital rewards and physical rewards.
  91.  
  92. Don't have too many physical rewards. Physical rewards like t-shirts are very attractive to some types of backers, but there are downsides and risks. It is important that you still make a decent amount of revenue from a tier with a physical reward after fees have been processed, the physical reward paid for and the costs of shipping covered. There is also an inflation effect to worry about from the additional amounts added to pledges to cover international shipping. Those additional amounts get you closer to reaching your campaign's goal on the Kickstarter website, but since they will go towards shipping they don't contribute to your game's available budget. There have been campaigns that did fine without any physical rewards. To avoid the hassles of international shipping it is possible to restrict specific reward tiers to only US-based backers. [Star Command](http://gamasutra.com/view/news/168618/Star_Command_dev_shares_realities_of_costs_after_Kickstarter_funding.php) was a campaign with very little funds left over after shipping physical rewards to backers.
  93.  
  94. You may be able to find a sponsor. [Strike Suit Zero](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/43153532/strike-suit-zero/posts/334187) was provided joysticks by [Logitech](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logitech) to include in a $70 reward tier. It may be possible to find companies that will donate items to you to be used in your rewards.
  95.  
  96. You can create a reward tier for backers to pool funds towards a shared goal. I've seen this done in the [Film](http://www.kickstarter.com/discover/categories/film & video) category to decide where a short film would rent theatres for public showings to backers. For this example a group of backers are getting a digital download of a film, but also want to actually experience it in a theatre. If the tier received more than a stated minimum number of backers then the project creators would play the film in that major city. This can help the prevent the project creators spending money to rent a theatre, then discover that not enough people showed up to make it worth the effort. If that tier didn't get enough backers, then it would still have backers receive the digital download of the film. Having at least two tiers can be used for backers to vote similar to the idea of a [Tupac versus Biggie tip jar](http://gothamist.com/2011/02/10/biggie_vs_tupac_tip_jar_edition.php). This type of reward tier can also be used to prevent incidents like what happened with [Kaiju Comba](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/14214732/kaiju-combat-giant-monsters-awesome-fighting-onlin/posts/370072). An expensive reward tier offered to have a fan created monster put into the game. People transferred money to one person so that he could afford to back that tier so a specific monster could make it into the game, but then he disappeared with the money. If a new tier had been created that required a specific number of backers to get the monster into the game, then the risk of transferring money to one backer could have been avoided.
  97.  
  98. #################################################
  99. #################################################
  100. #################################################
  101. #################################################
  102.  
  103. *Part 3 of 32 Planning a Rewards Structure.*
  104.  
  105. After first pricing a main pre-order tier for a game, I will then try to decide how to price the related early-bird tier. If a project can raise 30% of its goal before halfway through the campaign's length, it has a very significant chance of getting funded. The 30% funded point can be called a tipping point. Kickstarter itself says that [81% of projects were later successful after reaching 20% in pledges](http://www.kickstarter.com/help/stats). I am a big fan of using early-bird tiers to get to either 15% or 30% funded quickly. The backers jumping onto the project to fill those early-bird slots help provide early traction. The early-bird pricing rewards those backers for getting the project to a tipping point and for the boost in popularity they give the project in its early days. The set below shows how the pricing of rewards can be designed to reach tipping points. It ignores the contributions of larger reward tiers for now for simplicity.
  106.  
  107. For this example the project has a $20,000 goal:
  108.  
  109. With a $5 for basic pre-order:
  110. Number of backers to reach 30% tipping point is 1,200
  111. Number of backers to cover minimum goal is 4,000
  112. [Total number of backers to aim for 4,000]
  113.  
  114. With a $10 for basic pre-order:
  115. Number of backers to reach 30% tipping point is 600
  116. Number of backers to cover minimum goal is 2,000
  117. [Total number of backers to aim for 2,000]
  118.  
  119. With a $10 for basic pre-order and $5 early-bird tier:
  120. Number of backers to reach 15% tipping point is 600
  121. Number of backers to cover minimum goal is 1,700
  122. [Total number of backers to aim for 2,300]
  123.  
  124. With a $10 for basic pre-order and $8 early-bird tier:
  125. Number of backers to reach 15% tipping point is 375
  126. Number of backers to cover minimum goal is 1,700
  127. [Total number of backers to aim for 2,075]
  128.  
  129. With a $10 for basic pre-order and $5 early-bird tier:
  130. Number of backers to reach 30% tipping point is 1,200
  131. Number of backers to cover minimum goal is 1,900
  132. [Total number of backers to aim for 3,100]
  133.  
  134. With a $10 for basic pre-order and $8 early-bird tier:
  135. Number of backers to reach 30% tipping point is 750
  136. Number of backers to cover minimum goal is 1,900
  137. [Total number of backers to aim for 2,650]
  138.  
  139. The lower the target number of backers, the less work should be needed to get funded. From the above set, I would recommend the $10 basic pre-order with 375 $8 early-bird pre-order slots. If there are too many early-bird slots then potential backers won't feel rushed to fill one before someone else could; 375 slots does not seem like too many open slots to me. This option has the second lowest target for the number of backers but the lowest option doesn't benefit from reaching 15% quickly. Only 300 more backers at the $10 tier would be needed to reach the 30% tipping point once all the 375 $8 tiers are filled.
  140.  
  141. I suggest arranging the contents of rewards by how inexpensive it is to fulfil them.
  142.  
  143. An initial cost is only for the first time something is produced. Examples are digital art books or the music soundtrack. After it is completed, the cost to make more digital copies is insignificant. These rewards are great for lower tiers as you can make as many digital copies as you need. Sometimes project creators make the mistake of pricing these rewards too high.
  144.  
  145. Rewards with variable costs will add to the overall cost each time something is produced. These rewards also have an initial cost such a creating the art that will go on a t-shirt. The variable cost for physical reward items like t-shirts goes down with larger orders from the t-shirt printing shop, so sometimes these rewards are better at the medium priced tiers.
  146.  
  147. Unique rewards that are not time expensive, such as having a backer's name included the end credits for a game, have a insignificant to low initial cost that happens each time this reward is individually fulfilled. These rewards are better for the low to medium priced tiers. They can be extremely easy thanks to the surveys that are sent out to backers after a project is funded.
  148.  
  149. Unique rewards that are time expensive, such as having a backer design a monster to be put in the game, have a high initial cost that happens each time this reward is individually fulfilled. These rewards are better for the highest priced tiers.
  150.  
  151. #################################################
  152. #################################################
  153. #################################################
  154. #################################################
  155.  
  156. *Part 4 of 32 More About Structuring Rewards.*
  157.  
  158. Rewards should be priced and arranged to up-sell backers to the highest level they are comfortable with.
  159.  
  160. One of the most important tips for planning rewards, from my experience, is to aim to set up a structure that can up-sell a backer to the next level higher than what they may have been initially targeting. To sell that higher reward, the discomfort endured to increase the pledge just one level higher needs to be smaller than the expected gain from enduring that discomfort. This is about managing diminishing returns. As an example, a person who enjoys having one marshmallow may easily accept a second, but after ten marshmallows they start to feel another one of the sugary blobs isn't a good idea. You have to spot where a jump may not be worth it for a backer. When the next reward is more than double the price of the previous reward, it can create a barrier that stops more backers from upgrading their pledge amounts.
  161.  
  162. A common setup to rewards on Kickstarter is to have each higher priced tier include all the contents of lower priced ones ("This and all of the above."). I prefer the extra flexibility of the system where each tier lists what is has ("This, this and this plus the contents of the $20 tier.") because you can add in speciality tiers later such as a pure digital tier for international backers that want the contents of a high price tier but not the t-shirt and cost of shipping. With [DwarfCorp](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1078333633/dwarfcorp) there is the experiment of a "From this tier onward everyone gets this" reward structure.
  163.  
  164. [The Banner Saga](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/stoic/the-banner-saga) is one example of a project using multiple tiers with the same pricing. It had two versions of the $50 tier (One without physical rewards but compensating with more intrinsic rewards). With [DwarfCorp](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1078333633/dwarfcorp) there is the experiment of having four $25 tiers with a finite number of slots.
  165.  
  166. Each reward tier can be given a name to call it. [Legends of Aethereus](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/460738485/legends-of-aethereus-co-op-hack-n-slash-action-gam) did this with an example being the $10 main tier being labelled "The Solo Hero" at the beginning. Having tiers named can be a source of humour. [Cult Awakening of the Old Ones](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dhagar/cult-awakening-of-the-old-ones) labelled its $1 tier as "Human Sacrifice". It also had the level a backer pledged at have an effect on their prestige in the forums.
  167.  
  168. Add-ons are when backers add more onto their pledge amounts without moving to a higher priced tier. [Star Citizen](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cig/star-citizen/posts/341460) is an example of how to do add-ons. Some small physical rewards are better to have as add-ons to tiers. You can use an [IF function](http://wiki.openoffice.org/wiki/Documentation/How_Tos/Calc:_IF_function) to check if a backer pledged enough when Kickstarter sends you an spreadsheet file with the survey results.
  169.  
  170. An advanced step is to use the assistance of a spreadsheet [solver program](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solver) to optimize your rewards. You provide multiple requirements such as cell B12 must be greater than E6, pick a target cell that you want the value to be minimized, matched to another cell or maximized and then pick cells that the computer will be allowed to modify within designated ranges such as 0 to 1,000. The solver will find one or more optimum values for the targetted cells. [Open Office has a built-in solver](http://wiki.openoffice.org/wiki/Documentation/OOo3_User_Guides/Calc_Guide/Solver) and an add-on is available to [install one in Excel](http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/excel-help/introduction-to-optimization-with-the-excel-solver-tool-HA001124595.aspx).
  171.  
  172. Rewards should not be too vague and confusing about what they include. Are you providing a copy for PC or Mac at that tier? Are you providing a copy for PC and Mac? Select your wording carefully or else it will create more work to make project updates to explain what you really offered. [Auro](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dinofarmgames/auro) has a $15 tier that is an example of backers getting the game for every platform the game was developed for. That $15 tier was very successful with 441 backers which was more than the 256 backers at the $7 tier that was a pre-order for only one platform.
  173.  
  174. #################################################
  175. #################################################
  176. #################################################
  177. #################################################
  178.  
  179. *Part 5 of 32 Setting Delivery Dates.*
  180.  
  181. It has been very common for Kickstarter campaigns to [deliver late](http://money.cnn.com/2012/12/18/technology/innovation/kickstarter-ship-delay/index.html). I'm still waiting for games I backed in 2011 that the developers are still working on and still making project updates for. Estimate how long you think you need to finish the launch version of your game, then add a generous amount of time onto that. If you do stay on target for your early time estimate, then you can use the extra time to refine your game's mechanics and focus on quality control.
  182.  
  183. One of the reasons I like to have beta access included in every tier that offers a pre-order of your game is that you can have the delivery date be for the beta period. Your beta may go on far longer than you anticipate so it is harder to calculate a date for the final game. Some games that are labelled as beta versions were really just late alpha versions.
  184.  
  185. Tiers with physical rewards like postcards may state an earlier delivery date than the main pre-order tiers because the date would be for the mailing out of the postcards. You can clarify this in a project update.
  186.  
  187. Remember to factor in certification process time like receiving an [ESRB rating](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entertainment_Software_Rating_Board) if you require one or getting [approved for the iOS app store](http://reviewtimes.shinydevelopment.com/).
  188.  
  189. If you are working on your game part-time, then you may experience a lot of delays when your schooling or job get in the way. A lot of project creators turned to Kickstarter because they wanted to switch to working full-time on their games. As well, you may need more time than you think if you are still learning to use the tools that you are making your game with.
  190.  
  191. Also take into consideration if your delivery date is a good time of year to release your game. If you are making a horror game you may want to target a launch before Halloween like [Haunts](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2066438441/haunts-the-manse-macabre) planned to so that your sales will be higher than if the game was launched before Easter.
  192.  
  193. #################################################
  194. #################################################
  195. #################################################
  196. #################################################
  197.  
  198. *Part 6 of 32 The Pitch Video.*
  199.  
  200. Backers have come to expect pitch videos. Kickstarter itself has said that by not including a pitch video a project was [less likely to be funded](http://www.kickstarter.com/help/school#making_your_video). They don't have to be elaborate or long. Short and simple can be best. Try to encode for your pitch video's file size to fit below [a 250MB limit](http://www.kickstarter.com/help/faq/creator+questions).
  201.  
  202. Here is one of the most important parts of this guide. It is my strong opinion that you should front-load your pitch video with gameplay or cinematics if you can. I don't want to offend, but put your game before yourself as the game is what most people will care about. A studio logo or title screen for a few brief seconds at the front is okay, but I do not want to see someone going over their biography that early in a pitch video even if you are a famous. A minute and a half long game trailer can then be followed by you talking on camera. It could also be okay to talk over the gameplay at the start. The reason for this is that you have just 5 to 30 precious seconds to keep a visitor's attention or else they might click the back button in their web browser. Even after you begin talking, regularly splice in clips of gameplay footage to keep the video from becoming dull. Try to show in the game what you are talking about when you talk about it. For example, if you are talking about a character's freeze ray then that moment should by during or immediately followed by a clip showing the freeze in action.
  203.  
  204. Unless you really know what you are doing as a film-creator or comedian, I warn against trying to emulate a comedic sketch like how [Double Fine Adventure](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/doublefine/double-fine-adventure) was pitched. What that pitch did very well was to [justify that they were the right team to make that type of game]. [Nelly Cootalot: The Fowl Fleet](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/315061806/nelly-cootalot-the-fowl-fleet-retro-pirate-adventu) is one of my favourite comedic pitch videos.
  205.  
  206. Sometimes a pitch video goes on for much too long. I like a pitch to be less than 4 minutes. If it is longer than 8 minutes then consider removing parts and embedding those clips as their own separate videos on the project page. [Cryamore](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/robaato/cryamore-a-true-first-class-take-on-the-action-rpg) felt like the longest pitch videos I ever watched even though I've sat through longer ones. Audio mixing can be a problem. It is common for me to sometimes have to crank up my laptop's sound to hear what is being said. Occasionally there are pitch videos with the sound too loud, so you can check if it is too loud through playback on multiple devices like mobile phones.
  207.  
  208. Some people are hesitant to back a project without a human face or voice to associate it with. Don't have your entire pitch done by a computer synthesized voice. When you do speak in front of the camera a simple template is to start by introducing yourself, give a summary of what the game is, talk about what is already implemented in the game and then talk about what the game could be if you get funded. It is polite to thank people for watching at the end.
  209.  
  210. A good quality video can be recorded with a low budget. Most modern digital cameras are good enough to record a pitch video if you are in a well lit room and the camera is not being shaken. The quality of cameras and microphones in recent smartphones can be very impressive. A pop filter can be made out of [a nylon stocking over an embroidery hoop](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLavNbfH7j0) so that the "P" and "S" sounds don't create audio spikes when you are speaking close to a microphone. If you want a decent budget microphone I suggest researching into USB condensor microphones that have become popular with Let's Players. Try to avoid the whine of a PC case fan in the background. [Audacity](http://audacity.sourceforge.net/) is an open-source program that I use to clean up audio. Harsh lighting can be diffused with [translucent cloth](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7PPWtmbtjk) between you and the light source. Smartphones can use timelapse apps if you want to get creative.
  211.  
  212. Gameplay footage should be at an acceptable framerate. If you are on an underpowered computer then you can ask someone else to help record footage for you. In program development there is the [iceberg effect](http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000356.html) where users will judge the quality of a program based on its interface. Even if you say that what you are showing is not a final product, people will still have first impressions based on what you display. Try to avoid using the default grass texture, flashlight effect and trees provided with [Unity](http://unity3d.com/) as they really stand out after seeing so many games based off that engine.
  213.  
  214. Simple video cuts or fades will do the job. There are many free video editing programs with [OpenShot](http://www.openshot.org/) being the one I've used even before its [Kickstarter campaign](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/421164014/openshot-video-editor-for-windows-mac-and-linux). Please do not use the default [Windows Movie Maker](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Movie_Maker) titles because so many poor quality projects have used them in the past. Hiding things in the background can make a pitch video more interesting. The developers of [ShadowGate](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/zojoi/shadowgate/posts/352472) decided to hide a URL in the background of their pitch video to see if anyone would notice. I often see iconic toys on people's desks.
  215.  
  216. Uploading your Kickstarter pitch to YouTube is another way potential backers could find out about your project. YouTube supports higher definitions and there is also the option to subtitle your videos for the hearing-impaired or for offer different languages. The open-source program that I use regularly to subtitle videos is [Gaupol](http://home.gna.org/gaupol/). Subtitling your video can help its exposure because search engines can look for keywords in the transcript.
  217.  
  218. Kickstarter has come a long way in raising public awareness of crowdfunding, there are still people who don't know how it works. You may want to remind people that you get nothing if the campaign fails. Your pitch may be viewed embedded on another site, so a great pitch video is able to stand on its own and provide all the information needed to convince someone to back it. [Dropsy](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jaytholen/dropsy-a-surreal-exploration-based-adventure-game) had a Reward-O-Bot song after 3 minutes in its video listing the main rewards in a song.
  219.  
  220. #################################################
  221. #################################################
  222. #################################################
  223. #################################################
  224.  
  225. *Part 7 of 32 Project Page.*
  226.  
  227. For web searches the title should preferably be easy for potential backers to remember, not too difficult to spell because exact spelling counts and not easy to confuse with the titles of other existing games or projects. I also find it confusing when someone decides to make their project creator's profile and their project's title the same name. Kickstarter puts a heavy emphasis on a project being related to a physical location, so try to avoid having the same name as a major city to avoid confusing searchbar results like thinking you were search for [Aurora](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora,_Colorado) when you were really searching for [Auro](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dinofarmgames/auro).
  228.  
  229. The project description beneath the thumbnail is also important. Try to summarize the game with one or two sentences. It is good to include what genre your game is.
  230.  
  231. You might be surprised that one problem that I see that continues to plague projects is someone completely forgetting to list the supported platforms for the game anywhere on the page or in the pitch video. Make it clear what platforms you plan to support. If you do or do not plan to support Linux, you should say so somewhere on the project page because otherwise Linux gamers like myself are going to be asking if there will be a Linux port. In the Q&A section at the bottom of the page is a good place to repeat what the platforms are as that is one of the first places a potential backer may check.
  232.  
  233. Over the length of a campaign, I often see the main landing page of a project become longer and more visually cluttered as new things are added. While [Shovel Knight](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/yachtclubgames/shovel-knight) was one of the best run campaigns I've seen, its project page became very messy over time. It can be good to plan areas to expand and fill later.
  234.  
  235. A breakdown of the budget is appreciated. When [Skullgirls](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skullgirls) was crowdfunding it [one video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=US7RbhjMo78) did a fantastic job explaining that its 2D fighting game needed 1,300 frames of animation for a character.
  236.  
  237. If the soundtrack is a main selling point for your game, you can embed music samples into the project page. [Dropsy](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jaytholen/dropsy-a-surreal-exploration-based-adventure-game) and [Bik](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mikepinto/bik) are examples of how this can be done.
  238.  
  239. You can send out preview links for others to comb over your project page for issues like spelling mistakes. [DwarfCorp](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1078333633/dwarfcorp) had a preview link posted to [its TIGSource thread](http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=28001.555) for feedback before the campaign went live.
  240.  
  241. There is also well used sales techniques such as mentioning a benefit whenever you talk about a game's feature. Avoid calling yourself the "greatest" or "most addicting" without actual proof because many people will see through claims without substance. Try to build up [rapport](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapport) with potential backers by having commonalities such as having played the same classic point and click adventure games.
  242.  
  243. In the risks and challenges section you should be honest about the obstacles you are facing. What I really liked about [Double Fine Adventure](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/doublefine/double-fine-adventure) was that it promised to deliver a game or document the disaster unfolding. They made it clear that the project was an experiment. [Dropsy](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jaytholen/dropsy-a-surreal-exploration-based-adventure-game) put a breakdown of its budget in that section.
  244.  
  245. Don't forget to tag your project with its genres like adventure or racing. Tagging is a recent addition to Kickstarter.
  246.  
  247. [Kicking It Forward](http://kickingitforward.org/) will display projects that have promised to put 5% of their profit back into other Kickstarter projects. It does generate goodwill, but so many projects do this now that it may not be worth the 5% from a advertising value perspective. We will likely have to wait until 2014 to see how significant Kicking It Forward will become in the Kickstarter ecosystem as the main projects behind it haven't released their games yet. If you do join, do not forget to display the logo on your project somewhere.
  248.  
  249. I like to see projects have a section to list project updates that helps provides a quick summary like a table of contents. This section is where you have the title of an update as a link to that update. For example, "Update #4 - A talk about goal oriented soldier AI." would bring visitors to the 4th project update when they clicked it. [Shovel Kinght's section](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/yachtclubgames/shovel-knight) is an example of how it can be done although the font size doesn't need to be that large. One of the reasons to do this is that new visitors can't be expected to know what is in the project updates until they actually click on the updates tab and read through all of them.
  250.  
  251. #################################################
  252. #################################################
  253. #################################################
  254. #################################################
  255.  
  256. *Part 8 of 32 Project Graphics.*
  257.  
  258. Images that fit within the [uncanny valley](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny_valley) or poorly made with MS Paint can scare away potential backers. Part of Kickstarter is building confidence in the project.
  259.  
  260. A project's thumbnail image is important because a bad thumbnail image can really hurt a campaign. It can serve a purpose like a billboard for your project. They can be used to convey information such as a "Less than 50 Early-bird tiers remaining" or "New pitch video" banner over them. Once people see a thumbnail image multiple times, they won't notice it as much when they are browsing. A tactic is to switch up the thumbnail image throughout the campaign. If a previous thumbnail image didn't attract someone's attention, a newer image might. After the project deadline many parts of the page can no longer be edited by the project creator for archiving reasons. Pick the thumbnail image that you want to stick with before the end of the campaign. The graphic design of the thumbnail should also take into account that the video play button will cover the centre of the image and that the thumbnail should be able scale down in size. The mobile version of the project page uses a horizontal strip from the middle of the thumbnail to use instead of the full thumbnail.
  261.  
  262. Your project creator avatar image can be the logo for your studio if you are part of one. If not, then it should be the face of the person the account belongs to. You can use a cartoon version of yourself instead of a photo if it fits the tone of the project. A [QR code](http://zxing.appspot.com/generator/) that directs people to a website may also work. I've also seen the protagonist from the game used as the project creator avatar.
  263.  
  264. Keep your project page graphics to under 700 pixels in width to save file-size as Kickstarter will shrink it under that width if larger. Some project updates had massive images when view through e-mail because they weren't shrunk there. If you have a lot of graphics your pages may load slowly. One way to speed up loading is to reduce the file-size of images. I use [Trimage](http://trimage.org/) to optimize batches of images. Both [Photoshop](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe_Photoshop) and [GIMP](http://www.gimp.org/) can optimize images when they export them under the right settings. You may want to set a budget of 10MB for the image files on your main project page to add up to. [Animated GIFs](http://www.quackit.com/web_graphics/gimp/tutorial/create_an_animated_gif_layers.cfm) can be used to show off animated sprites for games. [Mercenary Kings](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/322438897/mercenary-kings) serves as a good example. [Chicken Suit](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/akhottman/chicken-suit) was the first time I've seen of a project where almost the entire project page was one infographic.
  265.  
  266. Visitors to your project page may not be able to play the pitch video with their smartphones. Some visitors may not even bother to watch the pitch video first and will skim the project page. In those scenarios its helps to have screenshots from gameplay on the project page. Screenshots can also be joined together in grids, such a four screenshots in a 2 by 2 grid or six in a 2 by 3 grid, to take up less area on the page.
  267.  
  268. Titles for sections like "Who Are We?" and "Combat Mechanics" can be separated by graphical titles instead of simple bold text. [Delver's Drop](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pixelscopic/delvers-drop) is an example of how to use graphics to distinguish between sections of a project page. I find project creators often make them many pixels taller than they need to be, although it does help when viewing the page on the smaller screen of a mobile device.
  269.  
  270. If you or a team member didn't appear on camera in the pitch video then have photographs somewhere on the project page. These can be accompanied by a short biography.
  271.  
  272. Tables and charts can help organize information. A table that indicates what comes with each reward tier can help reduce confusion. I would say creating one of these charts can be a low priority because if you word your rewards clearly enough, a project doesn't need to have one of these. [DarfCorp](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1078333633/dwarfcorp) has an example for a clean and compact rewards chart. It also has an example for a stretch goal chart. [Shovel Knight](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/yachtclubgames/shovel-knight) has the example of using an animated GIF for its stretch goal chart.
  273.  
  274. #################################################
  275. #################################################
  276. #################################################
  277. #################################################
  278.  
  279. *Part 9 of 32 Building a Community.*
  280.  
  281. The superstar campaigns often have large existing fan bases to help get them to their goals. Part of a good Kickstarter preparation strategy should include trying to get as many people following your game's development as you can. These people may be your earliest backers, so have some way of alerting them by e-mail or through social media when your campaign goes live. When you are getting close to being ready to launch, you can make your followers aware that you eventually plan to run a Kickstarter campaign so they can coordinate to pledge on day 1. If you can get enough followers you may be able to reach the 30% tipping point very quickly.
  282.  
  283. Try to be visible in indie gaming and indie dev communities. [Screenshot Saturday](http://screenshotsaturday.com/) is a good place to start. When I look over [Screenshot Saturday #131](http://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/1k2mp9/screenshot_saturday_131_no_idea_what_im_doing/?limit=500) I am seeing a lot of Kickstarter campaign announcements. The development tools you are using may have forums like the ones for [Unity](http://forum.unity3d.com/forum.php) and [Construct 2](http://www.scirra.com/forum/). You could start maintaining a regular development log on your own blog, over on [IndieDB](http://www.indiedb.com/) or in the [DevLogs section of TIGSoruce](http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php). Getting press coverage also helps because someone may remember seeing your game somewhere before when they browse over your project thumbnail.
  284.  
  285. Get people you are not your friends and family to try your game for feedback. Reddit has /r/playmygame where you can post playable builds. You may want to create your own forum using popular engines like [phpBB](https://www.phpbb.com/) and [others](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Internet_forum_software) and have users help with playtesting your alpha builds. You can also seek out Let's Players to play your game like [DwarfCorp did](http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=34662.0).
  286.  
  287. #################################################
  288. #################################################
  289. #################################################
  290. #################################################
  291.  
  292. *Part 10 of 32 Additional Research and Preparations.*
  293.  
  294. Get you banking account ready for Kickstarter. One requirement for Kickstarter project creators to fulfil in the early days was to have a bank account in the United States to transfer the funds into. As a Canadian, to open a bank account in the US would require applying in-person at the branch, a minimum deposit amount in US currency to cover fees, a valid passport, another piece of government provided photo identification like a driver's license, submitting [Form W-7 for an IRS ID number](http://www.irs.gov/instructions/iw7/ch01.html), then submitting [Form W-8 for income tax reasons](http://www.irs.gov/uac/Form-W-8BEN,-Certificate-of-Foreign-Status-of-Beneficial-Owner-for-United-States-Tax-Withholding) and utility bills that show a home address. It is also important to learn how to later close the account if you won't need it, but know that same account can also be used to collect otherwise withheld advertisement revenue from web game portals like [Kongregate](http://www.kongregate.com/) and for transactions in US dollars to avoid losses from repeat currency conversions. Since [Kickstarter Canada](http://www.theglobeandmail.com/technology/tech-news/kickstarter-crowdfunding-arrives-for-canadian-ideas-finally/article13629886/) is planned and [Kickstarter UK](http://www.kickstarter.com/blog/kickstarter-in-the-uk-0) is already live, developers in those two countries shouldn't need to go through as much of a hassle to link a bank account anymore. A good read is [a post from the dev of Xenonauts](http://www.xenonauts.com/kickstarter.html) about the process to register your company.
  295.  
  296. If you are not a regular user of Kickstarter, then it can help to become more familiar with it and to watch what other project creators have been doing with their campaigns. The successful middle-sized campaigns are the best examples because they didn't get money handed to them because they were famous. An exercise is to make a Kickstarter account, go to the [Recently Launched](http://www.kickstarter.com/discover/recently-launched) section and click the "Remind Me" button on campaigns you think will do well and those you think won't do well. When you get the reminder e-mails at the end of those campaigns you can see if your predictions were right and start to see what separates a well run campaign from a bad one. I've been going over the [Recently Launched](http://www.kickstarter.com/discover/recently-launched) section like that for every day since December 2011. By becoming a backer of another campaign you can experience what the survey process is like. You may also receive some goodwill when your potential backers see on your profile page that you've supported other campaigns.
  297.  
  298. If you live in a big city there may already be project creators living near you. You could seek them out for advice. There is also advice on the official [Kickstarter School page](http://www.kickstarter.com/help/school). It that has a lot of good summaries of data. Kickstarter can look very different from the project creator perspective. There is [a good post to read on The Juggling Writer blog](http://www.christophergronlund.com/blog/tjw/2012/07/15/behind-the-scenes-kickstarter-peek/) about information project creators get to see that backers don't.
  299.  
  300. Performing a [SWOT analysis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SWOT_analysis) can help you identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for your project. Use your strengths, compensate for weaknesses, look for opportunities and mitigate against threats.
  301.  
  302. Take some time to read up more on game design. There are many sites out there, some already mentioned in the /r/gamedev sidebar. It can help you realize where your game can be improved to provide a better player experience. [Extra Credits](http://penny-arcade.com/patv/show/extra-credits) is a great resource and I really recommend watching the ["So You Want to be an Indie" episode](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxzNddMkdf8). [Lost Garden](http://www.lostgarden.com/) has essays and [Gamasutra](http://www.gamasutra.com/) has industry news updates and a bit of everything for game design.
  303.  
  304. Making small freeware games can be good practice for when you start creating your first commercial one while also helping to build up a brand for yourself. Valuable experience can come from participating in game creation jams like [Ludum Dare](http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/about-ludum-dare/) and later you could link to the games you've created from your project page. If you win a contest then that can also be something worth mentioning.
  305.  
  306. You can attempt to simulate a campaign by using a [random number generator](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Random_number_generation) (RNG) and weighting reward tiers based on historic data. The objective is to get a better estimate for how many backers you will need to reach 100% and then help to minimize that number, not to try to predict how much your campaign will be able to raise. A spreadsheet with functions can be used or you could write your own program if that is more comfortable. The RNG spits out integers within a range, such as from 1 to 1,000, until told the minimum goal was met. If there is a 54.9% chance someone will pick the $10 tier based on data from similar campaigns then if the RNG spit out a number between 1 and 540 an additional simulated backer is added to the simulated $10 tier. A spreadsheet can be run thousands of times and results averaged (So a random 3 $500 pledges in a row has less influence). You also need to factor in that people will go to an early-bird tier while there are still open slots. The effort spent to do this may be better invested into working on improving your project's graphics and just going with the trick of dividing your goal by an expected average. Real world results may have a specific tier be unexpectedly unpopular or you may be lucky and get some huge pledgers.
  307.  
  308. Remember to do a final check if your campaign doesn't break any of Kickstarter's [guidelines](http://www.kickstarter.com/help/guidelines) then submit your project for approval. The approval process can be go smoothly or be rough bureaucratic process like it was for [DwarfCorp](http://www.dwarfcorp.com/site/2013/07/17/whats-happening-with-the-kickstarter/).
  309.  
  310. #################################################
  311. #################################################
  312. #################################################
  313. #################################################
  314.  
  315. *Part 11 of 32 Scheduling Launch and End Dates.*
  316.  
  317. Your first 48 hours of time in the [Recently Launched section](http://www.kickstarter.com/discover/recently-launched) is very valuable. After that period you need to start competing against other campaigns for visibility.
  318.  
  319. First, I strongly suggest you avoid launching on a Friday or Saturday. I've tracked hundreds of campaigns and those days often experience slowdowns. Back in 2011 when I was only a weekly visitor, instead of a daily visitor, I learned to browse Kickstarter on Tuesdays as that was when the better quality projects would be launched. With [the launch of Kickstarter UK](http://www.kickstarter.com/blog/kickstarter-in-the-uk-0) it felt like that tradition was thrown out the window because now good quality projects tried to launched for every day of the week. Mondays to Wednesdays are the days of the week I suggest launching on. Launching on Thursday to Sunday may not give bloggers enough time to find your project to include it in their weekend Kickstarter roundup posts.
  320.  
  321. Second, try to launch in the first week of a new month. For 2012 and 2013, the month of June was a poor one to launch partly due to the many gamers focusing their attention on [E3](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Entertainment_Expo). With July 2013 I noticed the impact that [Steam Summer Sales](http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/143912) had on reducing the disposable income of many PC gamers so they were less likely to be making big pledges. During the [2012 Summer Olympics](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Summer_Olympics) there was one of the worst slow periods I've seen. Late December has always been slow because of holiday spending's impact on people's budgets. The middle of the month can also be almost as good a time to launch as the start of a month. The superstar campaigns like [Project Eternity](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/obsidian/project-eternity) sometimes launch in the middle of a month.
  322.  
  323. Third, do not launch in the morning for the [Eastern Time Zone](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Time_Zone). Kickstarter works in increments of 24 hours. The time of day that your project launches will also be the time of day your project is scheduled to end. A lot of potential last minute backers might not see the campaign's final countdown in the morning because they were still in bed or commuting to work. From noon to midnight can work. I personally like 19:00 EST because it will be 16:00 PST and 23:00 GMT.
  324.  
  325. A 30 day campaign is standard and is what I recommend. It can be a poor choice to make your campaign significantly longer than 30 days. Stats have shown that campaigns that run for [40 to 60 days in length](http://www.appsblogger.com/behind-kickstarter-crowdfunding-stats/) generally do not do as well. One reason for that is that a 45 day campaign can be interpreted by potential backers as a lack of confidence in a campaign by its project creator. Another is that many backers won't even be bothered to click on a campaign that looks sickly (Such as only 2% funded after 40 days), so it can be harder to recover from a stall in a project's momentum. Campaigns shorter than 30 days have less time to work with.
  326.  
  327. You can add or subtract a few days onto the length of a 30 day campaign. It could benefit your promotion by aligning your deadline with the anniversary of a historic event related to your subject material.
  328.  
  329. Being aware of what other campaigns will be active can be crucial. When [Kickstarter UK](http://www.kickstarter.com/blog/kickstarter-in-the-uk-0) launched there was a massive wave of projects that had waited for the site to go live. I felt that some projects didn't get funded simply because there weren't enough backers to go around. It was one of the few times I ever felt overwhelmed trying to track so many active projects. [Sir You Are Being Hunted](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1499900830/sir-you-are-being-hunted) was one of the few UK-based projects that did make it through that chaos. If you have a tower defence game and there are three other active tower defence games then consider delaying your launch. The pricing of other active campaigns is also something to note. If you are pricing your game at $15 you may have difficult competing with a superstar campaign that is only pricing its main tier at $10. Backers on tight budgets will shop around to get the most value for their money.
  330.  
  331. #################################################
  332. #################################################
  333. #################################################
  334. #################################################
  335.  
  336. *Part 12 of 32 The First 48 Hours.*
  337.  
  338. Your time in the [Recently Launched](http://www.kickstarter.com/discover/recently-launched) section is not something to waste. Your initial momentum is very important for how much in funding you might bring in when your project reaches its deadline. You should be busy sending out notifications to people that your project is now live. [Obsidian Entertainment had a countdown](http://www.destructoid.com/obsidian-countdown-reveals-project-eternity-kickstarter-235016.phtml) for their project's launch.
  339.  
  340. If you designed your early-bird rewards well they should start to be the first to fill with backers. Some of the expensive reward tiers might be selected by people that were passionate about your game before the project launched.
  341.  
  342. [Kicktraq](http://www.kicktraq.com/) should be one of the most valuable tools available to you. Its site promotes campaigns in a [special section](http://www.kicktraq.com/dayones/) when the logo image is displayed on your project. Before [Kicktraq](http://www.kicktraq.com/) I had to manually do calculations to see if a project was trending towards being funded. I consider the graph that shows the number of backers each day to be the most important.
  343.  
  344. A presence on [Steam's Greenlight platform](http://steamcommunity.com/greenlight/) can bring in a lot of backers. Your backers can also help vote your submission up to help get it approved for the store.
  345.  
  346. In the past projects would often congratulate the first backer. You can ask for permission from the backer to do so. It is not that common anymore. You could also thank some of your first backers at the largest pledge amounts.
  347.  
  348. Seeing many $1 pledges shortly after you have launched may be a sign that you priced your main tier too high. I've seen this happen multiple times before. The game might look good enough that people wanted to at least show some support with a $1 tier, but the main pre-order tier is uncomfortably priced.
  349.  
  350. I know the tension of watching the first day of a campaign when a rewards structure I helped design is being tested in real life instead of a simulation. Sometimes you need to temporarily stop watching the pledges pouring in and actually get some sleep.
  351.  
  352. #################################################
  353. #################################################
  354. #################################################
  355. #################################################
  356.  
  357. *Part 13 of 32 Popularity Rankings.*
  358.  
  359. Projects will rise and fall in the popularity rankings for the category they launched in. When projects rise to the top of the [Discover](http://www.kickstarter.com/discover) pages they get a lot more exposure to people that are browsing Kickstarter than the projects that sunk to the bottom of the rankings. It is similar to how Reddit posts get voted on, but it involves people voting with their pledges. The [Recently Launched](http://www.kickstarter.com/discover/recently-launched) section is a way for the newest campaigns to stand a chance against the ones already established in the rankings. If you mess up your launch it can be a hard climb to get into the middle of the rankings.
  360.  
  361. I hope you selected the [Video Games](http://www.kickstarter.com/discover/categories/video games) category instead of the overall [Games](http://www.kickstarter.com/discover/categories/games) category or else your video game will also be completing against [Tabletop games](http://www.kickstarter.com/discover/categories/tabletop games) for visibility. I see this happen occasionally.
  362.  
  363. You should feel comfortable if your project is occupying one of the first 15 spots that appear for the [Vide Games](http://www.kickstarter.com/discover/categories/video games/popular) section. The farther you drop the less people will see your campaign, so it becomes increasingly important to get media coverage to bring in backers to help you climb back up. You should treat Kickstarter more as a payment processing platform and less as a marketing platform. The superstar projects will often hog the top ranks, but successful smaller campaigns can be right below them.
  364.  
  365. Getting a [Staff Pick](http://www.kickstarter.com/discover/recommended) can help bring in many backers, but the projects that actually get picks sometimes seem to be almost random. Don't count on getting picked. I also rarely see video games featured in the site's newsletters. As well, [curated pages](http://www.kickstarter.com/discover/curated-pages) still don't feel like they are being used to their full potential yet. The [Small Projects](http://www.kickstarter.com/discover/small-projects) section is a nice idea, but I don't know how effective it actually is.
  366.  
  367. Kickstarter's staff have not made it clear exactly how they calculate the rankings. Projects getting more backers and more funds do better. I do not know if views or backer comments actually have an impact on popularity.
  368.  
  369. A project must not look dead because then it fall down the rankings faster. I look over every project to find hidden gems, but don't expect everyone else to have that level of patience. There are many backers that will only make a pledge to a project that they are confident will get funded. They won't even click on the projects at the bottom of the lists.
  370.  
  371. #################################################
  372. #################################################
  373. #################################################
  374. #################################################
  375.  
  376. *Part 14 of 32 Editing Reward Tiers.*
  377.  
  378. Some changes can still be made to the rewards structure after the project goes live. You can add new reward tiers if there is demand for them. If you take away rewards that were promised to a backer it can be grounds for the staff to suspend a project if there is a complaint.
  379.  
  380. You can not edit the wording of a reward or delete it if there is at least one backer pledged at that specific tier. If you want to edit a tier, you can first prevent new backers from selecting it by setting it to zero open slots remaining and then privately messaging that tier's backers to ask for them to voluntarily deselect the tier so you can modify it. If there are already too many backers at that tier you can lock it down with zero remaining slots and then create a tier that says that it is the new version and that backers of the old tier will get what the new version offers.
  381.  
  382. One tactic is to offer time limited tiers. For example, you could have a tier with a 10,000 slots that says it is a special deal that will only be open to new backers for the next 24 hours. When the time is over you set the remaining open slots to zero remaining and if a backer vacates a slot you lower it again so there are none open.
  383.  
  384. With the example in [Part 2](http://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/1k67t0/a_lobsters_guide_for_video_game_projects_on/cblrwl6) about pooling pledges towards a goal, if you have a $10,000 tier that is not filled yet you could break it down into a pool of 100 $10 pledges or 10 $100 pledges.
  385.  
  386. During the campaign you may discover you will require more time to deliver specific rewards. One of the first things to do would be to explain the delay in a project update. You could create a new $1 tier that informs people to go read the project update about the delay. Since you would not be able to edit the wording of the old $10 tier while it is still occupied, create a new $10 tier that also points to the project update about the delay. The new version can call itself UPDATED or REVISED. Have it use the new delivery date. You could ask backers to switch over to the new version and if the old version is completely vacated then you can delete it. It may be a good idea to lock down the old $10 with zero slots remaining to force new backers to have to read about the delays. If you can no longer offer a reward due to more than just a delay then you may need to cancel the project.
  387.  
  388. The rewards structure that you chose can influence how easily you can edit reward tiers later.
  389.  
  390. #################################################
  391. #################################################
  392. #################################################
  393. #################################################
  394.  
  395. *Part 15 of 32 Monitoring Your Campaign's Performance.*
  396.  
  397. [Kicktraq](http://www.kicktraq.com/) will need a few days of data before it can give a more accurate trend. If you have a strong launch then it will often be over optimistic in the trends it shows. Weekends are slow, so don't panic when you trend it shows drops a bit on Saturdays and Sundays.
  398.  
  399. In my opinion, some of the most important numbers to look at are seeing how many backers each individual day is bringing. A quote from the baseball movie [Moneyball](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiAHlZVgXjk) that I really liked was "Your goal shouldn't be to buy players, your goal should be to buy wins". You should be trying to focus on getting backers more than worrying about how much they individually pledge. If you get enough backers, the pledges need to reach 100% will eventually follow. If you ever see zero backers for a day then you have a serious problem somewhere.
  400.  
  401. As a project creator, a view counter is available that shows how many people viewed your project's pitch video. In advertising there is the concept of a [conversion rate](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conversion_rate) for determining how large of an audience you need to reach. For example, if your getting 2 backers for every 100 views, and need 20 more backers to get funded, you need to worry about getting 1,000 views. Getting those extra views often means media coverage.
  402.  
  403. Clicking [HERE](http://i.imgur.com/OxGvB9z.png) shows an example of the type of graph you can update throughout your campaign to see what tiers are being effective. In that example, $310 are unaccounted for as they are likely international backers pledging the extra needed for shipping costs on physical rewards.
  404.  
  405. One aspect of a campaign I look at is the "quality" of the backers. A backer who has contributed to a lot of campaigns may have experience promoting them through his or her connections. Experienced backers can also provide valuable feedback and advice.
  406.  
  407. You could search every day for new mentions of your game on the Internet over the past 24 hours. That is if you can easily stomach criticism. You can get some of your most honest feedback about your game from people that don't know you will be reading their forum post. To easily find those mentions again, you can bookmark them in your web browser.
  408.  
  409. #################################################
  410. #################################################
  411. #################################################
  412. #################################################
  413.  
  414. *Part 16 of 32 Media Coverage.*
  415.  
  416. A presskit makes things much easier for bloggers to cover your game. It includes details like what the game's genre is, facts about the team behind it and screenshots from the game for bloggers to use. I've been recommending the tool [Do Press Kit!](http://dopresskit.com/) since I heard about it on in [Indie Chatter](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nx8gIQf144s). Not having a presskit can mean losing coverage from bloggers that don't want to go through the effort of researching it. I research a lot of campaigns and it can take a fair amount of time depend on how hard it is to collect information. A presskit is something I appreciate.
  417.  
  418. I've started to strongly recommend making an infographic that summarizes many of the same points a presskit covers. It can be included with the presskit or even serve as a substitute for a presskit. It can be displayed on the project's main page as a condensed source of information for visitors of the site. [Spate](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/379113968/spate) has one of the best infographics I've ever encountered on Kickstarter so far. [Paper Sorcerer](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2088045881/paper-sorcerer/posts/244196) is another good example of an infographic. You do not need to go through the effort of making them too fancy.
  419.  
  420. Offering exclusive material like unique screenshots to a blogger and also offering to then link to their article in a project update could get a blogger interested. A press roundup post is when you make a project update that links to the sites that have reported on your project. [TinyKeep's press roundup](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/phidinh/tinykeep/posts/498791) is a good example. You can take a look at the press roundups of other campaigns to see what sites are covering Kickstarter projects. When potential backers see that a lot of bloggers are paying attention to a project it can increase their confidence in the project. More bloggers may want to cover you so that they get linked to from your project page.
  421.  
  422. Pixel Prospector has a [list of video game websites](http://press.pixelprospector.com/) and other really good lists. The sites that are more likely to cover you are those that specifically cover indies or if they fit with the subject material or genre of your game. [IndieGames.com](http://indiegames.com/) and [Rock Paper Shotgun's Kickstarter Katchup](http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/tag/kickstarter-katchup/) are two places I suggest approaching early in your campaign. If you feel like you can do an interview then there is [8 And A Half Bit](http://www.youtube.com/user/8andaHalfBit). There are small YouTube channels that have appeared to talk about Kickstarter campaigns that have launched.
  423.  
  424. [Shovel Knight](http://www.destructoid.com/pax-shovel-knight-is-amazing-249406.phtml) received a lot of attention from having a demo at [PAX](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penny_Arcade_Expo). It can be tiring and expensive to run both a Kickstarter campaign and a convention booth at the same time, but convention exposure can really help.
  425.  
  426. If you offer the prototype to bloggers then you can possibly get quotes from them. Having quotes reinforces that this is a serious campaign. An example is the game [Unwritten](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1599677835/unwritten-that-which-happened) having a quote from [Rock Paper Shotgun](http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/) and [Kotaku](http://kotaku.com/) at the very top of the main page. It is easier to prepare these quotes in advance than to try to get them while the campaign is live. These blogs can mention that you are preparing to launch a campaign.
  427.  
  428. Marketing is a big topic, but there are a lot of good articles and podcasts out on the Internet. Identify your target audience and then find out where they get their news.
  429.  
  430. #################################################
  431. #################################################
  432. #################################################
  433. #################################################
  434.  
  435. *Part 17 of 32 Releasing a Demo.*
  436.  
  437. I strongly suggest having your game in at least a playable prototype state before launching a Kickstarter campaign that backers can download. A prototype can be very rough and incomplete (Prototypes can be considered pre-alpha states). Potential backers can make a more informed decision about how much they want to support your campaign based upon their experience. You don't even need to release that prototype to the public if you can create a lot of gameplay footage for project updates to show it off. Projects that are only concept art don't do as well as they did in the early days of Kickstarter. A fantastic demo like the ones for [Shovel Knight](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/yachtclubgames/shovel-knight) and [Spintires](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/358753914/spintires-the-ultimate-off-road-challenge) really helped to impress. If you can not produce a demo yet then judge if you are truly ready to launch a Kickstarter campaign. I do not recommend trying to finish the demo during stress of the campaign.
  438.  
  439. [Extra Credits had its episode about Demos](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QM6LoaqEnY) with arguments that having a demo doesn't make sense in many scenarios as they possibly decrease sales. I still think having a demo can be important for a Kickstarter campaign as it can increase confidence in you as a game creator when you actually have something that both runs and has some gameplay. There were multiple comments on [Lilly Looking Through](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/516151670/lilly-looking-through-an-animated-adventure-game) where backers said they were convinced they wanted to pledge after trying the demo and some backed because there was already a demo for Linux from the start.
  440.  
  441. You may not have a tutorial level done, so you might have to include a text file with instruction for how to play inside the same ZIP file that the game comes in. A simple "Help" button that toggles the display of tips, like keyboard shortcuts, when clicked can be good enough. Cheatcodes can be used to spawn enemies and items which can help if there isn't a crafting system and resource harvesting fully implemented yet. The save system doesn't need to be implemented if the demo is very short.
  442.  
  443. I think that one of the biggest reasons to prepare a demo is because I see indie game impression channels on YouTube becoming more important in the near future for promoting Kickstarter campaigns. If you can get the game in at least a playable prototype state, you can benefit from [Pixel Prospector's list of YouTube channels](http://youtubers.pixelprospector.com/) that cover indie games. Getting covered by such channels can bring in a lot of backers and there are advantages such as you retaining more control if you released a demo only to select YouTube content creators instead of the general public. Recently [Etalyx](http://www.youtube.com/user/GamersDissent) has been covering a lot of Kickstarter demos so he is one of the first I suggest contacting. One of the channels with the most viewers is [TotalBiscuit](http://www.youtube.com/user/TotalHalibut/) but he is a very busy person that can get a thousand messages a day.
  444.  
  445. #################################################
  446. #################################################
  447. #################################################
  448. #################################################
  449.  
  450. *Part 18 of 32 Project Updates.*
  451.  
  452. By preparing a number of project updates ahead of time you can avoid the sleep deprivation of trying to finish them during an active campaign. Being prepared also reduces the chance of promising a specific update and then missing the promised date for posting it. A common mention in postmortems for campaigns was that the team wished they had prepared their big updates before the campaign launched. Project updates can cover a variety of material. I see updates about a world's lore do very well. It is okay to have go deep into the technical side of the game with project updates for combat mechanics and lighting simulation systems. Updates don't have to be just about the game as they can also provide information about your hobbies, your favourite games or your pets. Showing progression of the game from a rough sketch on a napkin to a prototype and then rough alpha can be interesting. One of the biggest reasons updates help draw in new backers is because making them shows you could be competent enough to be worth investing in. Just like in business markets, consumer confidence is a driving force. Projects without any updates at all can look like the creator isn't serious or has given up on the project.
  453.  
  454. A press roundup is an update linking to blogs that have covered the project. Again, I'll use [TinyKeep as an example for its press roundup](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/phidinh/tinykeep/posts/498791). Notice how brackets were used to comment on links for a more personal touch such as "(These guys interviewed us on Day 1!)". To visiting potential backers, this makes the project more impressive because the game is getting press coverage. When a game looks like it will be popular then some of the pricier rewards like design a monster become more popular. To bloggers, it encourages more blogs to cover the game because they could see some traffic to their post from the Kickstarter page which means advertising revenue for them. At the same time, you can get a feel for the public reactions to the game by reading what comments the blog posts are getting. It can also be used as a form of celebrating how well the campaign is doing.
  455.  
  456. If you make frequent updates then backers start to expect frequent updates. I often recommend making at least one update per week and when you reach milestones such as 50% funded or your first 100 backers. Even daily updates can be too tiring. Don't worry about spamming too many project updates as long as you have the content to justify them. You should also plan a pace for yourself to make updates after a successful campaign is over.
  457.  
  458. #################################################
  459. #################################################
  460. #################################################
  461. #################################################
  462.  
  463. *Part 19 of 32 Dealing With Objections.*
  464.  
  465. Expect to have to deal with some form of criticism eventually. Do not spark flame wars as the most aren't worth fighting. Do not become another [LORE](http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2012/12/17/meet-lore-the-most-entertaining-kickstarter-project-of-all-time/).
  466.  
  467. If people are objecting about the price, try to be able to justify the game's value for that price such as the length of the game's campaign or replayability. A project can also deliver value in other ways than the game itself, such as documenting its progress for other indie devs to learn from. If your game is labelled a clone of a more popular game you need to explain what is different or how you are recreating the experience and then improving upon it. If people are objecting about your goal amount being too low or too high then you need to detail your budget. If the game already looks done you need to list what needs doing.
  468.  
  469. Untrue rumours circulating should be dispelled with proof. [Rival Threads: Last Class Heroes](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kontrabida/rival-threads-last-class-heroes-the-final-push/posts/243610) had to stop misinformation spreading. [Tentacle Bento](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1189988320/tentacle-bento-by-soda-pop-miniatures) was cancelled because of rumours it involved rape.
  470.  
  471. Sometimes you do need to respond to objections. If there is a common complaint then you may have to change the game. If you shut out all feedback then you may end up making a bad game.
  472.  
  473. It can be surprising how fast the mood of backers can turn sour towards a project creator. [Spriter](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/539087245/spriter/posts/340502) upset a lot of backers with an announcement about licenses that made backers at lower tiers feel ripped off. When you have angry backers you need to try to settle the situation without angering them further. You may have to agree to backer demands. There later was a project update [clarifying the issue](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/539087245/spriter/posts/340624).
  474.  
  475. Kickstarter projects are not immune to Internet trolls. The documentary [Kickstarted](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/696739710/kickstarted-documenting-the-crowdfunding-revolutio/posts/521815) experienced three $10,000 pledges pulled. If a backer has never backed any other project before then be cautious if they back at one of the most expensive tiers.
  476.  
  477. There are people that don't like hearing about Kickstarter projects anymore. Posting about your project even to /r/IndieGaming may have it down-voted out of sight before it even had a chance. There has been talk of growing [Kickstarter fatigue](http://www.kickstartadventure.com/home/the-kickstarter-effect-or-how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-crowdfunding/) now that the novely to crowdfunding has worn off for some people. While [Gas Powered Games blamed Kickstarter fatigue](http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2013-02-12-kickstarter-fatigue-kneecapped-wildman-drive-says-taylor) for its campaign's failure, I think that fatigue is the result of projects that aren't very exciting or not well presented becoming much more common.
  478.  
  479. #################################################
  480. #################################################
  481. #################################################
  482. #################################################
  483.  
  484. *Part 20 of 32 Dealing With Going Viral.*
  485.  
  486. Going viral can make you a lot of money and create a lot more work. If your plan requires you to go viral to succeed then this guide likely wasn't for you. Remember that this could be just [15 minutes of fame](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/15_minutes_of_fame). It is sometimes an unexpected project that explodes in popularity. I was an early backer of [Sealark](http://www.kicktraq.com/projects/1338986832/sealark-an-oceanic-adventure-game/#chart-daily) and I still feel a bit surprised about how well its [2 minute video of a girl fishing](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1338986832/sealark-an-oceanic-adventure-game/) brought in backers.
  487.  
  488. Hundreds of people may message you per day. When interviewed, I a lot of successful project creators have said that one should consider Kickstarter as intense [as having another job](http://www.gamesbrief.com/2012/07/kickstarter-after-the-kick-but-before-the-start/). You can create multiple e-mail addresses to sort incoming messages. Examples are a support address for backers with problems, a media contact address and an address for people to send messages that do not require an immediate reply like fan-mail. If you are in a team I suggest training one person to be the person to go to for answers with the authority to make some decisions. Consider having team members rotating in shifts to monitor the campaign.
  489.  
  490. Instruct backers to comment on project updates rather than in the general comments section. This can help slow down the main comments section so that people can actually follow a conversation.
  491.  
  492. Relocating conversations over to a forum can keep things more manageable. You may want to offer specific backers the opportunity to become forum moderators if administrating your forum is taking a lot of time out of your day.
  493.  
  494. Your website may experience a lot of new traffic and go down if your hosting plan isn't able to hand the load. A web server can use cached static versions of pages to serve them faster and you can use web browser support for [GZIP](http://developers.google.com/speed/articles/gzip) to reduce the size of the files being transmitted. Your server can also be instructed to downgrade the appearance of your site to meet higher demand until you are left with only a small text-only page. There are many other tricks for getting the most you can out of a hosting plan, but you may still need to upgrade.
  495.  
  496. Freelance artists and programmers may ask about working for you for cheap or for revenue sharing. This has happened before. It is up to you to decide who to hire. Get agreements written down instead of just having verbal contracts.
  497.  
  498. #################################################
  499. #################################################
  500. #################################################
  501. #################################################
  502.  
  503. *Part 21 of 32 The Trough.*
  504.  
  505. The middle of a campaign often slows down for smaller campaigns. That slowdown has been nicknamed [the Trough](http://www.kickstarter.com/blog/trends-in-pricing-and-duration) and is when mismanaged projects can stall out by losing too much momentum.
  506.  
  507. Media coverage becomes even more precious. There are different pools of backers. There are the daily visitors to the site like myself, the weekly visitors, the ones that browse what's new after receiving a project update, the ones that only visit the site when they are notified about a campaign by news posts on blogs, etc. As you deplete the supply of the most regular Kickstarter users you need to shift efforts towards targeting the less frequent users of the site or even get first time backers.
  508.  
  509. To endure the Trough you also need to keep your existing backers engaged. Kickstarter itself has become another form of entertainment for people with the drama of underdog projects and news of scandals providing boosts in visitors. You can benefit if there is [a story behind the project itself](http://venturebeat.com/2012/04/18/tim-schafer-kickstarter-tip/) such as the example of the team for [Forced](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/betadwarf/forced) being crammed into one house. Project updates are one of the main ways to maintain people's interest in your project. There are many ways to engage backers such a live chats, livestreams or arranging [Team Fortress 2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Team_Fortress_2) matches.
  510.  
  511. [KickAssist](http://magicpixelgames.com/kickassist/) is no longer active at the time of this post. There also hasn't been a new [Kick-a-thon](http://www.freelancelot.com/kickathon/) since 2012.
  512.  
  513. The addition of new rewards or add-ons can help get more funds from your existing supporters. A common addition for games with online co-op is a reward tier that provides one copy to the backer and a second discounted copy that backer can gift to a friend.
  514.  
  515. When you have raised your minimum goal amount, consider creating a PayPal account for the project to collect more funds. [Jagged Alliance](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2079547763/jagged-alliance-flashback/posts/502153) is an example for how to use PayPal. You could host the PayPal page on your website even after the Kickstarter has ended so that you can still accept pre-orders of the lower tiers but with higher tiers made unavailable or prices raised. The reason to not add the PayPal link until the project is at least over 100% is that if the Kickstarter campaign doesn't reach its goal you might have to refund all those PayPal backers. That is going to be a lot of work and PayPal could still take its cut meaning you can lose money. The Amazon Credit Card system is one of Kickstarter's greatest advantages over other crowdfunding sites in that the all-or-nothing approach works.
  516.  
  517. If you were not on [Greenlight](http://store.steampowered.com/app/219820/) already, the Trough is a good time because it can bring in a middle of the campaign push. The first $100 the PayPal account collects can go towards paying for the submission fee if you weren't able to afford the fee before.
  518.  
  519. Reaching stretch goals for supporting additional platforms may bring in new backers who were waiting for their platform of choice to be supported. This has happened many times before when Linux stretch goals were reached.
  520.  
  521. Building an emotional connection between backers and the success of your project can get them to upgrade their pledges. The creator of [Dropsy](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jaytholen/dropsy-a-surreal-exploration-based-adventure-game) used his music talent to make a ["One Week Left" video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwCYJmyRFGU) that I still go back to listen to from time to time.
  522.  
  523. Please warn your existing backers first with a project update if you are considering cancelling your campaign. Allow some time to get their feedback because you may not need to cancel. This is one of the main reasons I am writing this guide because I've backed projects that had their creators give up without realizing the numbers showed they were doing far better than they thought. If you cancel before the first week is even over then it does not give bloggers much of a chance to cover you.
  524.  
  525. #################################################
  526. #################################################
  527. #################################################
  528. #################################################
  529.  
  530. *Part 22 of 32 Social Media.*
  531.  
  532. Social media is powerful. I don't think I need to go on and on about how fast Twitter or Facebook can get your game attention. Remember to use hash tags. Adding a plus symbol, +, to the end of your project's shortened URL can bring up [an analytics page](http://kck.st/11eD9Cl+). An update to Kickstarter has made the shortened URL no-longer beneath the project thumbnail image. You can still find it when you hit the Tweet button.
  533.  
  534. A project update can include a set of images for backers to use for their Kickstarter profile images. [Jack Houston and the Necronauts](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/warbirdgames/jack-houston-and-the-necronauts/posts/257096) helped popularize this and [TinyKeep](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/phidinh/tinykeep/posts/493053) also serves as a great example with its cute skeletons. See if you are getting lots of backers with the default blue squares for their profile images.
  535.  
  536. I do not recommend paying to advertise your campaign as it could be a waste of money. It has worked for board game projects to advertise on sites like [BoardGameGeek](http://boardgamegeek.com/) because of how passionate that community is.
  537.  
  538. Reddit has become very important in the Kickstarter ecosystem as Reddit can bring in a lot of backers. Each subreddit group has their own rules about what to post in the sidebar as you probably already know. There is a list of [gaming subreddits](http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/wiki/faq) where you can try to find a group that is more specialized towards the genre of subject material of your game. At least try a post to /r/kickstarter when you launch. Try to not waste space in your title. "Hey, check out my project" does not convery as much information as "I'm making a metroidvania starring a rabbit". Try to create value for others with what you post such as describing how you integrated a cool feature into your game's engine. Don't just post the equivalent of an ad and then forget about engaging the subscribers of that subreddit.
  539.  
  540. You could create a subreddit for your game. [Camelot Unchained](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/13861848/camelot-unchained) has /r/CamelotUnchained/ which still appears to be active.
  541.  
  542. The developers of [Retrovirus](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cadenzainteractive/retrovirus) tried to gain more backer [by giving away 4000 free copies](www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/ve7dj/my_indie_studio_is_giving_away_4000_free_copies/) of their previous title [Sol Survivor](http://cadenzainteractive.com/games/sol-survivor/). Sadly, their campaign ended unsuccessfully with only 1,055 backers. I think a better strategy was what [Defence Grid 2](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hiddenpath/defense-grid-2) did when it gave out keys in that someone had to, at least temporarily, had to make a pledge in order to gain access to a Steam key for the first game. The keys were also sent out without waiting for the campaign to end regardless of how good or bad it was trending.
  543.  
  544. Contests are possible, but if they do not conform with Kickstarter's guidelines against gambling you could get suspended. Fan art competitions have worked in the past. Raffles are not allowed as it would be too easy to abuse. Don't even hold a contest through other platforms at the same time the project is live. [Lilly Looking Through](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/516151670/lilly-looking-through-an-animated-adventure-game/posts/246848) had to cancel a giveaway on Google+.
  545.  
  546. #################################################
  547. #################################################
  548. #################################################
  549. #################################################
  550.  
  551. *Part 23 of 32 The Last 48 Hours.*
  552.  
  553. Here is where reaching at least one tipping point can save your campaign if it is not already fully funded. If you have enough backers then it is common to see them start rallying to promote your game through social media and other means like raising their individual pledge amounts. You start to see comments such as "If every backer raised their pledge by $2 we will be funded."
  554.  
  555. If you were able to get someone to star the project by clicking the Remind Me button earlier, they will receive an e-mail that the campaign is ending soon and they may decide the project is now worth backing.
  556.  
  557. You may end up in a situation where you should cancel the campaign even if you are over your minimum goal. If your project has clawed its way just passed its minimum goal amount thanks to one or more massive pledges in the multiple thousands of dollars, consider cancelling the project. While someone's credit card may have accepted small pledges before, if there is a problem the big pledge you were counting on may bounce. If it was a fist time backer then it could have been a troll pledge. You could still be obligated to deliver rewards even if you've lost half your funds. You can make a project update informing backers that if you do not exceed your goal by a small safety margin made up of many small pledges then you may have to cancel. [Spate](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/379113968/spate/posts/234431) has an example of how to do such a post. [Rise of the Beasts](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1658393310/rise-of-the-beasts-series-1/posts/190126) needed to cancel when the project creator found out the factory he was going to use could not produce figures in the 60mm size.
  558.  
  559. [DiveKick](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/995085580/bring-divekick-to-pc/posts/278368) was fully funded yet cancelled itself because it found a publisher. The developers [still honoured rewards](http://www.destructoid.com/new-divekick-character-inspired-by-rejected-capcom-design-253545.phtml) even though they were not obligated to. [The Missing Ink](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2082614796/the-missing-ink-a-unique-sandbox-mmorpg/posts/456865) also honoured rewards.
  560.  
  561. If all looks well then it can be time to celebrate. You can livestream yourself during the final hour. If your project is to make a sequel, you could livestream yourself playing the original game.
  562.  
  563. An example of how to make a poster image out of all your backers' avatars is the one made for [Broken Sword The Serpent's Curse](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/165500047/broken-sword-the-serpents-curse-adventure/posts/314414).
  564.  
  565. Remember that portions of the project page will go static after the deadline. Do a final spellcheck. Plan long-term hosting for your [hotlinked](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inline_linking) images. Some of the older campaigns that hotlinked images from outside of Kickstarter now have broken images.
  566.  
  567. #################################################
  568. #################################################
  569. #################################################
  570. #################################################
  571.  
  572. *Part 24 of 32 Sending Out Surveys.*
  573.  
  574. You need to carefully plan to be able to get the information you need with each backer receiving only a single survey. You have one chance to get it right the first time. You can vary the contents of the survey per each reward tier. It can be a good idea to ask for an e-mail address so that you can contact backers about rewards.
  575.  
  576. In a backers-only update you can preview a draft for your survey for backers to give feedback. You can also explain the survey in greater detail with a project update the same time the surveys get sent out. I like the idea of the last text field being a place where backers can submit kind comments such as "Your Awesome!" or addition notes like "You promised you would sign this for me". Even if a text field only applies to specific people at that tier Kickstarter will not let someone submit their survey answers with an empty field. You can instruct backers to input "na" for "not applicable" in text fields that don't apply to them.
  577.  
  578. [Detective Grimoire](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sfbgames/detective-grimoire-mystery-adventure-game-for-ios) made me realize that you can design one survey that fits all reward tiers.
  579.  
  580. In this example backers can pre-order multiple copies for different platforms and multiple t-shirts through an add-on system.
  581.  
  582. How many game keys for PC?
  583. How many game keys Mac?
  584. How many game keys for iOS?
  585. How many Large t-shirts did you pledge for?
  586. How many Medium t-shirts did you pledge for?
  587. How many Large t-shirts did you pledge for?
  588.  
  589. Kickstarter can produce a spreadsheet file with the results from the backer surveys at the end of campaign. This can help automate reward fulfilment. You can use [IF statements](http://office.microsoft.com/en-001/excel-help/if-HP005209118.aspx) to make sure each backer pledges the correct amount to cover shipping or reward add-ons and flag the ones with problems. You can also use a [SORT function](http://office.microsoft.com/en-001/excel-help/quick-start-sort-data-in-a-worksheet-HA102749289.aspx?CTT=1) to display backers by groups such as those that backed for a medium size or large size t-shirt. You can modify the spreadsheet into a checklist to make sure each backer received what they pledged for when packing envelopes. You may want to import the spreadsheet into a database format if that is more comfortable for you.
  590.  
  591. Sending the surveys out soon after the campaign is over can help with post-Kickstarter planning such as what size t-shirts to order or to start working on content like backer-created monsters. You could also wait until physical rewards are ready to go out before sending out surveys if there isn't much customization involved. This can reduce the hassle of having to update addresses for people that relocated between the end of the campaign and when you are ready to ship.
  592.  
  593. #################################################
  594. #################################################
  595. #################################################
  596. #################################################
  597.  
  598. *Part 25 of 32 Community Management.*
  599.  
  600. If communication breaks down after the campaign is over, it can really instil worry in your backers. Managing a community can be a lot of hard work and that is why many big companies hire people to do that job.
  601.  
  602. Having a development forum where you are active almost every day is a popular choice. If there is a big important thread such as having to [rename the game](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/14214732/kaiju-combat-giant-monsters-awesome-fighting-onlin/posts/526565) then link to the thread in a project update.
  603.  
  604. Each Wednesday I get to see a weekly project update from [War for the Overworld](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/subterraneangames/war-for-the-overworld) appear in my inbox. That project is one of the best examples for maintaining regular updates after the campaign closed. At the time of this post, it was already at its [31th WFTO Wednesday](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/subterraneangames/war-for-the-overworld/posts/562911) post. I suggest monthly updates so that writing updates does not take too much time away from actually working on the game. If you are a one-person studio then space then updates may need to be spaced out even further or have much less content per update.
  605.  
  606. You can also arrange in-person meetings with your backers at conventions or other public events.
  607.  
  608. [Forms in Google Docs](http://www.workhappy.net/2009/05/using-google-docs-to-make-a-survey.html) and [SurveyMonkey](http://www.surveymonkey.com/) are options for polling the opinion of backers on topics like what to name a monster. State how many days the poll will remain open for. You should leave at least 48 hours. You can also set up a poll at the beginning of a forum thread.
  609.  
  610. I've seen many backer forums be very active during and a few months after the campaign, but after awhile the smaller forums slow to a crawl in activity. A strong Off Topic section can keep members returning to the forum to check for new posts. [TinyKeep](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/phidinh/tinykeep) has a good example of how to do [a suggestions forum](http://tinykeep.com/forums/index.php?/forum/9-suggestions-and-ideas/) for game features and content.
  611.  
  612. #################################################
  613. #################################################
  614. #################################################
  615. #################################################
  616.  
  617. *Part 26 of 32 Actually Producing The Game.*
  618.  
  619. Amazon Payments will not immediately transfer funds when the deadline is over. You will have to wait a bit. Cards may be charged in batches instead of all at once. Backers who had their credit cards bounce will be given time to resolve the issue. When you do get your funds you need to responsibly use them.
  620.  
  621. Finding out your [burn rate](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burn_rate) is the task of measuring how fast you are going through your funds on daily, weekly or monthly period. You should be aware at what date in the future you expect your funds to be depleted so it does not come as a surprise. Hiring an accountant can be a good thing to include in your budget. You can try to reduce your costs to make your funding last longer. Go check out /r/frugal and its related subreddits. Budget foods can be an effective way to reduce monthly expenses.
  622.  
  623. Set realistic publicly announced and personal private milestones for your progress to be based upon. If you keep missing the dates for milestones then you may have a problem to fix. I suggest having pieces of your game's core functionality serve as the early milestones. It can be too easy to focus on asset creation for too long while the sourcecode's progress is falling behind. If you missed a deadline for sending something to backers, make a project update with an explanation instead of remaining silent. Get procrastination under control.
  624.  
  625. There are many programs available for automatically backing up data to multiple locations so a hardware failure has less chance of ruining all your progress. Actually test your backups to see if the process performed correctly rather than find out you had data corrupting. [RAID](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAID) was designed to give performance boosts and while it does provide some redundancy it is not a complete backup solution. Having [revision control](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revision_control) for your sourcecode can save a lot of time hunting for bugs caused by someone else on your team. I like to use [Gantt charts](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gantt_chart) for scheduling, but that is because I've studied project management in college.
  626.  
  627. A good piece of general advice is that an overall process is only as fast as its slowest part. If an area of development like programming is where you are progressing slowest, consider allocating more resources to speed it up rather than keep building up more backlog for it in other areas like creating more game assets that are waiting to be scripted. I've heard that it can be advantageous to have both a dedicated 3D modeller and a dedicated texture artist on a team when making a 3D game.
  628.  
  629. You can continue to raise funds through ways such as [Steam's Early Access](http://store.steampowered.com/genre/Early%20Access) or PayPal. You can anger backers that pledged extra for beta access if you charge a lower price than what they had to pay to buy into the beta. The developers of [Planetary Annihilation](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/659943965/planetary-annihilation-a-next-generation-rts) decided to keep the price [equivalent to the Kickstarter reward](http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/06/14/walletary-annihilation-planetary-annihilation-early-access/) despite the protests of people who missed the opportunity to back thier campaign. [Spate](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/379113968/spate/posts/426858) received an additional $10,000 by winning a competition.
  630.  
  631. Brace yourself against post-launch depression that many indie devs experience once the rush of success fades or sales under-perform from day one. You may need to wage another marketing campaign even larger than you did for your Kickstarter project.
  632.  
  633. #################################################
  634. #################################################
  635. #################################################
  636. #################################################
  637.  
  638. *Part 27 of 32 Physical Rewards Fulfilment.*
  639.  
  640. Larger pledge backers often went for physical rewards, I recommend fulfilling physical rewards sooner rather than later to keep those backers happy. A project update showing actual results like a pallet of art books can also boost confidence in the project.
  641.  
  642. I'll avoid doing a massive list here for each type of physical reward. Here are two points I want to mention. First, indie comic book creators on Kickstarter have been using services like [Ka-Blam](http://ka-blam.com/) to print their comics. Video game creators have also been able to use them to print an instruction booklets for the games. Second, t-shirts can be one of the easier rewards but you need to shop around and compare suppliers. Remember that the custom t-shirt shop offering the cheapest price may be compromising on the quality of the dyes or the thread-count of the blank shirts. Try to find a local printer with a good reputation.
  643.  
  644. Look into saving money by using flat-rate shipping options, bulk shipping batches destined for different countries, bubble mailers and cardboard envelopes. Packaging costs like bubble wrap should already have been accounted for in the planning phase, but are something easily overlooked. A bubble mailer can cost $4 retail, but there are wholesalers that deal with such packaging at greatly reduced prices.
  645.  
  646. Automating parts of the process can help save time. If you have an inkjet printer, you could buy printable sticker sheets as it is a faster method than writing every address by hand onto the envelopes. Some large campaigns have decided to use services like [BackerKit](http://www.backerkit.com/) to help automate the process.
  647.  
  648. When you have hundreds of parcels to send out, you can contact your post office at least a days or two in advanced so it is ready process them. There may also be the option to pay extra to have a truck from the post office or a mail courier come to your location to do a pickup instead of you making multiple trips to them. Insurance and tracking numbers are something to also consider budgeting for. [Glory To Rome](http://qz.com/94925/this-man-lost-his-house-because-his-kickstarter-was-too-successful/) was a boardgame project where a pallet was crushed because of a mistake with filling out the shipping documentation. You may need to rent a storage locker to store pallets full of reward items if you don't have an empty garage.
  649.  
  650. A few days before you are ready to mail out rewards to backers, you can make a project update reminding backers to contact you if there has been a change in their shipping addresses. You can also make an update once everything has been mailed out and a few months later you can ask if there is anyone who hasn't received their package yet.
  651.  
  652. If you want to get more advanced there is performing waiting line analysis. It is part of [Queueing theory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queueing_theory). It can be used to estimate the wait time of someone in a waiting line when there is a specific number of servers at the front of the line. The same equations can be applied to the number of people you have filling parcels with items for backers.
  653.  
  654. Producing a few extra physical copies of a reward like a t-shirt means you have replacements if a few backers don't receive their packages. When every backer has their items you can keep the left overs for yourself or give them to family and friends.
  655.  
  656. Sometimes things go wrong. Its one of the risks of accepting money for a product that isn't already in inventory. [Hexy the Hexapod Robot](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/arcbotics/hexy-the-hexapod-low-cost-six-legged-open-robot/posts/330122) had to halt production when their laser cutter was fire damaged but luckily they were able to eventually continue as the team already had arranged to lease two more laser cutters. If there is a disaster then make a project update and see where things go from there.
  657.  
  658. #################################################
  659. #################################################
  660. #################################################
  661. #################################################
  662.  
  663. *Part 28 of 32 Digital Rewards Fulfilment.*
  664.  
  665. Most of the time I receive a game key through e-mail when a game I've backed is ready.
  666.  
  667. Releases of alpha and beta builds through backers-only project updates may not be the most secure options. You could also implement a database and log-in system to keep non-backers from out, but there is a strong DRM-free movement on Kickstarter. Try getting onto a digital distribution platform like [GOG](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GOG.com), [Desura](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desura) or [Steam](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_%28software%29). The [Humble Store](http://www.penny-arcade.com/report/article/how-the-humble-store-may-challenge-steam-the-business-of-helping-indie) may be one of the best options in the future.
  668.  
  669. Research to see if the distribution platform you are considering supports gifting game keys and how much each key will cost you. Distributing game apps on Android has the problem of the lack of a proper gifting system in the [Google Play](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_play) store. If you offer an Android port as a reward you may have to take the route that the [Humble Bundle](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humble_Bundle) did of offering the APK files and [instructions for how to run them from an SD card](http://support.humblebundle.com/customer/portal/articles/341677-android-installation-instructional-video).
  670.  
  671. The app store for iOS has a proper form of gifting apps by redeeming codes. This system facilitates app developers to be able to send free copies to app review sites. The issue with rewarding backers with copies of your game on iOS is that Apple places a limit on the number of copies you can give away for free as low as 50 copies. The game [Zombie Run](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sixtostart/zombies-run-a-running-game-and-audio-adventure-for) was able to [get 3000 keys from Apple](http://www.insidemobileapps.com/2012/05/17/zombies-run-developer-reveals-how-apple-let-it-give-away-3000-free-copies-of-its-ios-game/) after contacting them.
  672.  
  673. [Cloudberry Kingdown](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1564776348/the-hardest-platformer-ever) is an example of a game funded through Kickstarter that was later picked up by publisher [Ubisoft](http://blog.ubi.com/cloudberry-kingdom-friendship-passion-blisteringly-difficult-levels/). With your Kickstarter funds you may be able to maintain more creative control of your project.
  674.  
  675. If you have to distribute the game from your own servers then be aware of bandwidth costs. Alpha builds of [Arakion](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lavidimus/chris-taylors-arakion/posts/555945) were requiring the entire game to be re-downloaded which was putting strain on the dev's server. A patching system was implemented to reduce the strain. If your game will be multiple gigabytes in size a patching system is a good idea to save on bandwidth costs.
  676.  
  677. #################################################
  678. #################################################
  679. #################################################
  680. #################################################
  681.  
  682. *Part 29 of 32 Refunding Backers.*
  683.  
  684. Legislation is still catching up on what it means when a crowdfunded campaign fails to fulfil its obligations.
  685.  
  686. Not every project that was successfully funded has been able to deliver. I was one of the backers of [Haunts](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20003916) that tried to develop with [Go](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go!_%28programming_language%29) and [Code Hero](http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/125689-Code-Hero-Website-Goes-Down-UPDATED) that appears to have been mismanaged. I also backed a ferrofluid vial project where the project creator was never heard from again, an action RPG that had a project creator lose funds to a messy divorce and deck of cards project where the creator spent the money on personal debt. A webseries project had one of its members disappear with a chunk of the money, but the rest of the team was still able to complete episodes. An interesting thing I noticed was that these projects were projects, except for one, that I had hesitated to back until near the ends of those campaigns. For the vast majority of projects I back, I do so on the first day. I've yet to accept any refunds that were offered, but I did accept some [Ouya store credit](http://kotaku.com/ouya-gives-backers-store-credit-to-make-up-for-late-con-1007535387) because even though I was at the early-bird tier I received my console very late.
  687.  
  688. PayPal is one of the easier ways to do refunds. [teamPixel](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/teampix/homeworld-touch-ios-android-and-homeworld-3-pc-mac/posts/456013) is an example of how this can be done.
  689.  
  690. Not all the money may be able to be repaid. Fees already were subtracted when your campaign was successful. More money may already have been sunk into production before you found out that you weren't going to be able to deliver. [The Doom That Came To Atlantic City](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/forkingpath/the-doom-that-came-to-atlantic-city/posts/548030) is going through that nightmare right now. Allow backers to opt-out of receiving a refund.
  691.  
  692. It is very possible that a project creator [can go bankrupt](http://venturebeat.com/2013/01/22/why-this-jilted-kickstarter-backer-decided-to-sue-why-he-was-right/) when backers decide to sue.
  693.  
  694. Try to have at least some value created for your backers. Haunts decided to [open-source itself](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2066438441/haunts-the-manse-macabre/posts/334371) so that someday it may be finished. A postmortem chronicling your failure may help other indie devs avoid the same fate.
  695.  
  696. #################################################
  697. #################################################
  698. #################################################
  699. #################################################
  700.  
  701. *Part 30 of 32 Rebooting.*
  702.  
  703. There can be second chances on Kickstarter if you decide you want to relaunch. [Auro](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dinofarmgames/auro) was one of the first games I saw succeed with a reboot. It involves coordinating backers of the previous campaign to return and back the newer version of the project as soon as it goes live. This helps give the new project a big early surge in funds that can help it in the popularity rankings. Websites that featured the first campaign may also feature its return which is why it is good to keep web browser bookmarks of the coverage you receive.
  704.  
  705. If you can raise over 15% of your goal then a reboot may be viable. The next campaign could benefit from the data collected by the first. Consider the first a trial run. Take a serious look at how viable the project is if you couldn't reach 15%.
  706.  
  707. Instead of immediately cancelling you should try to get as many backers as you can with the remaining time. The more backers you can get with the current campaign, the more should return to back the next campaign. Letting the unsuccessful campaign reach its deadline can have a few last minute backers brought in by the project's presence in the Ending Soon category. A relaunch is not really penalized by letting time run out on the first campaign. Don't expect to immediately recover the entire pledge amount for the previous campaign. Expect about half of your backers will return.
  708.  
  709. Instead of immediately relaunching you should take a break and review what needs to be improved. If your project has a fatal flaw and you do not address it then you are setting yourself up for a repeat of failure. I don't have an example of a project making it with a third attempt, although [Urisis](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1158703396/urisis-the-game-an-indie-game-project-for-the-ouya) did make it with its fifth try. Try to get feedback from your backers by asking for their opinions through a project update.
  710.  
  711. You should decide if you are going to reduce the prices of your main tier or not. I often see small projects that are priced too high and might have made it if they were $5 instead of $15. If you are a UK-based project, switching to US dollars may see the campaign perform better.
  712.  
  713. Finding ways to reduce the goal for the next campaign can also help. Reducing the scope of the game is an option. Consider breaking down your game into episodic chunks that can be made one at a time. Focusing on creating an alpha to then seek out private investors is very risky and something I caution against, but it [has been done](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/forsakenstudios/embers-of-caerus-investor-prototype). Another way is to arrange some third-party to match contributions by backers. An example is the [OUYA Free The Games Fund](http://www.ouya.tv/ouyas-1m-free-the-games-fund-game-on/).
  714.  
  715. Some people may suggest creating a new account so a failed campaign is not visible on your account profile. I've seen this happen. I do not recommend this as there could be backlash if the previous campaign is uncovered. The creator of [Dropsy](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jaytholen/dropsy-a-surreal-exploration-based-adventure-game) remained honest about his previous Kickstarter projects instead of hiding them. Another practice I disapprove of is project creators tearing down the pitch video and every part of the project page they can before cancelling the project. They may be trying to avoid embarrassment for a failed campaign, but it only draws more attention and does not eliminate the caches of the older versions of the page.
  716.  
  717. You can put a banner on your thumbnail image announcing that you plan to return.
  718.  
  719. #################################################
  720. #################################################
  721. #################################################
  722. #################################################
  723.  
  724. *Part 31 of 32 Returning to Kickstarter Again.*
  725.  
  726. After a successful project you may decide to return to Kickstarter multiple times. I see this more with project creators like [Level 99 Games](http://www.kickstarter.com/profile/level99games) in the [Tabletop](http://www.kickstarter.com/discover/categories/tabletop games) category. I used to be more involved in that category until video game projects began consuming too much time. Returning project creators that delivered on their promises, like the team behind [Guns of Icarus](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/musegames/guns-of-icarus-onlineadventure-mode) or [Black Forest Games](http://www.kickstarter.com/profile/project-giana), can benefit from increased backer confidence.
  727.  
  728. If your first project didn't succeed then you could come back with a different game. The team behind [Empire Eden](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1248339394/empire-eden) came back with [Combat Cats](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1248339394/combat-cats).
  729.  
  730. You could find a game bundle to participate in with other indie devs like the bundle for [LA Game Space](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lagamespace/la-game-space-a-place-for-re-imagining-video-games). [Kickstarter Indie Bundle](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pinkerator/kickstarter-indie-bundle) is another example of a bundle but it did not succeed. I hoped that these bundles would become more common, but I haven't seen one since [Sportsfriends](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gutefabrik/sportsfriends-featuring-johann-sebastian-joust).
  731.  
  732. #################################################
  733. #################################################
  734. #################################################
  735. #################################################
  736.  
  737. *Part 32 of 32 Afterword.*
  738.  
  739. I am working on more detailed version of this guide that actually goes into details about working on the game itself. I also intend it to be for people new to indie game development so it might talk about reasons to pick Unity over coding an engine from scratch. Writing a guide with advice for backers is another thing on my to-do list. Right now I'm focusing on a few projects preparing to launch for September. I really want to see [Dropsy](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jaytholen/dropsy-a-surreal-exploration-based-adventure-game) get funded with another Kickstarter attempt.
  740.  
  741. An unsuccessful 2012 Kickstarter campaign called [Toxologic](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1838352735/toxologic) felt like it had a lot of potential, so I am considering asking the developers to try a return. If you have any thoughts on the game you can comment below.
  742.  
  743. It is late so I'll be going to sleep after finishing this post. I'm already getting private messages so if you message me I'll respond when I get through the backlog to you. I don't browse Reddit every day, so [messaging me on Kickstarter](http://www.kickstarter.com/profile/iankragh) is one of the fastest ways to get my attention. I can also be found on the [Construct 2 forums](http://www.scirra.com/users/lobstersundew).
  744.  
  745. Thank you for reading this and I hope it helps your projects.
  746.  
  747. #################################################
  748. #############Posted August 11 2013###############
  749. ################Took 7hrs to post em all#########
  750. #################################################
Add Comment
Please, Sign In to add comment
Public Pastes
We use cookies for various purposes including analytics. By continuing to use Pastebin, you agree to our use of cookies as described in the Cookies Policy.  OK, I Understand
Not a member of Pastebin yet?
Sign Up, it unlocks many cool features!