Category: Podcast

Episode #71: Saving a Failing Kickstarter Campaign

Podcast/Audio: http://traffic.libsyn.com/theforbiddenlimb/BGBP071.mp3

Today we talk about how to figure out why your Kickstarter campaign is failing and how to fix it.

Brian’s magic recipe for a successful campaign:

  1. A page that converts visitors into backers
  2. Get backers to your page

Converting: The video, explaining the hook, providing the content people really want to see

Getting Visitors: Social media ads, building your crowd before launch, connecting with influencers, creating awareness during the campaign

Gen Con Designer Events and Metatopia with Double Exposure’s Vincent Salzillo

Brian had the pleasure of interviewing Vincent Salzillo, President of Double Exposure, Inc. His company organizes Gen Con events such as First Exposure Playtest Hall and the new First Encounter Designer Showcase (publisher speed dating) events. They also organize conventions such as DEXCON, DREAMATION, and METATOPIA. Plus they run the Envoy programs. It’s a lot! This is what we cover in 30 minutes:

  • METATOPIA – A convention for game designers.
  • First Exposure Playtest Hall – A Gen Con event for playtesting your game.
  • First Encounter Designer Showcase – A Gen Con event where you pitch your game to publishers, in a format similar to “publisher speed dating”.

Resources

 

 

Getting More Prototype Plays

Podcast Link: http://traffic.libsyn.com/theforbiddenlimb/BGBP069.mp3

Today we talk about ways to get people to play your ugly prototype! Some topics:

  • Imaginary friends
  • Design partners or other trusted designers
  • Protospiel/Unpub
  • Designer groups
  • General playtesting groups
  • Fostering an inviting community
  • Print-and-plays
  • Conventions at a free table
  • Conventions as an event
  • Other convention options
  • Digital simulations
  • Paid playtesting

Resources

 

Are Pledge Managers Worth It?

Today’s episode covers an important behind-the-scenes part of being a Kickstarter creator. We dig into how CrowdOx works and use it as a vehicle to discuss some topics on how a pledge manager can and should be used on a campaign.

http://traffic.libsyn.com/theforbiddenlimb/BGBP068.mp3

Topics:

  • Paypal processors and freezes
  • How is CrowdOx different than competitors
  • Charging shipping through PM
  • Selling old catalog of games
  • Tip jars
  • Customer data and security breeches

 

References:

The Roll [sic] of Randomness

Today we talk about how randomness affects our enjoyment of games. It’s slanted towards game design, but also has some crunchy publisher/indie creator perspectives as well. Topics:

  • Low-randomness games
  • High-randomness games
  • Is randomness in games good or bad?
  • How does it affect your target audience?
  • Harnessing the power of randomness

Audio/Podcast:

The Golden Age of Tabletop Gaming Panel from Wondercon 2018

This is the Golden Age of Tabletop Gaming Panel from Wondercon 2018 organized by High Voltage. It covers industry trends, game design basics, and how to find events and gamers in your area. The panelists are:

  • Will Pasquin (Gaming Guru, High Voltage)
  • Becca Scott (Host, Geek & Sundry’s Game The Game)
  • Ross Thompson (Games Marketing & Events Manager, IDW Games)
  • John D Clair (Game Designer, Mystic Vale, Edge of Darkness)
  • Brian Henk (President, Overworld Games)
  • Peter Vaughan (Director of Development at Breaking Games)

10 Questions to Ask Yourself When Designing a Game

Here is our podcast episode on the 10 questions you should ask yourself while designing a game:

If you’d rather not listen to it and you just want to ask yourself some thought-provoking questions about your game, here is the list!

  1. Which feeling(s) am I trying to deliver?
  2. Why would someone play or buy this game instead of others? What’s the hook?
  3. Which core element will keep people engaged in my game?
  4. Which decisions am I giving players that will keep people playing?
  5. Which types of players am I targeting for my game? And what is the weight and play time will it have?
  6. How many high-level strategies can you win with?
  7. What is the single core mechanic in my game? (everything else you can cut, if needed)
  8. How much downtime do players have?
  9. How do players interact with one another and does it fit with the theme?
  10. What is confusing players when they play?
  11. What player counts can this support? Can you expand that count?
  12. What will the MSRP be?
  13. Do players feel like they are in the universe/theme?
  14. Where will people be playing this game?
  15. What is my exit strategy for this game? Kickstarter? The Game Crafter? Selling direct? Pitch to a publisher?
  16. Can I make changes to the game to tailor it to the publisher I think would want to publish it?
  17. Is this game too similar to an existing game?

 

Trapped in a Room with Juliana Patel and Ariel Rubin

Richard interviews Juliana Patel and Ariel Rubin who created the extremely successful Escape Room in a Box: The Werewolf Experiment that is now being published by Mattel. He learns all their secrets from their 2,000+ backer debut campaign! Some specific topics:

  • Partnering with Mattel
  • Escape room game opportunities
  • Replaying escape room games
  • Playtesting an escape room game
  • Creating the puzzles
  • Lessons learned from the Kickstarter campaign
  • Finding your audience

Audio/Podcast Version: http://traffic.libsyn.com/theforbiddenlimb/BGBP064.mp3

 

References

How to Navigate Multiple Offers

This episode provides some guidelines for the situation where multiple publishers want to sign your game and how you handle it, both from the designer and publisher perspective. Specifically, we cover:

  • submitting your game to multiple publishers at the same time
  • handshake deals
  • bringing copies to a convention
  • bigger publishers vs. smaller publishers
  • asking for exclusivity
  • doing your publisher homework
  • changes to contracts
  • should I have a lawyer look over my contract?

Audio/Podcast: http://traffic.libsyn.com/theforbiddenlimb/BGBP063.mp3

Total Recall Post Mortem

We talk generally about publishing licensed games and specifically about the unsuccessful Total Recall Kickstarter campaign.

  • Why didn’t it fund?
  • What did you do differently?
  • Likeness rights 101
  • Timing releases in a line of games
  • Hidden costs of doing a licensed game
  • Liability insurance
  • The costs of agreeing to release dates
  • Should you create a licensed game?
  • Publishing outside of Kickstarter

Podcast Audio: http://traffic.libsyn.com/theforbiddenlimb/BGBP062.mp3

References

Total Recall Kickstarter Campaign – https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/overworldgames/total-recall-the-official-tabletop-game