I've been preparing all the materials over the last 6 months for the new game, Roll Player. One of the questions I often get from playtesters or friends is "When it is going up on Kickstarter?" That was actually a tough question to answer, as there are a TON of things that all have to get done before you can press that launch button.
In the Spring, I was saying late Summer.
In the Summer, I was saying September.
In August, I was saying October.
In October, I FINALLY drew a line in the sand and said Nov. 10.
So, there is it. The official launch date.
In the Spring, I was saying late Summer.
In the Summer, I was saying September.
In August, I was saying October.
In October, I FINALLY drew a line in the sand and said Nov. 10.
So, there is it. The official launch date.
There are quite a few things to consider when picking a launch date.
1) Is the project ready?
I like to have the game as close to 100% complete as possible before going to Kickstarter. This project has a LOT of artwork, and I was happy to have John Ariosa working on the game with me. The problem was I couldn't really afford to have it ALL done at once. So, I gave John work when I had cash, and when he was available. This meant, that it took a long time to get all 53 or so illustrations done. Once they were done, my graphic design, Luis Francisco could start doing more serious passes on stuff. Locking down the Character Sheets too a long time, as they are super critical to gameplay. It's the real focus of the game. It has to be highly functional and look amazing too. Finally in September the game was close to ready, but I still needed time to get review copies in people's hands and they needed time to get their work done as well. So, I put it off until Nov.
2) Is the timing okay?
Conventional wisdom says there are more opportune times to launch KS campaigns than others. The KS creator community does a fair share of data mining to try to figure out the best time of year to launch, which days work best, etc... The data says that usually Tuesdays are the best days to launch in the mid-morning with a 30ish day window. Also, it's best to avoid other large campaigns out there since you want to minimize the competition for your customer's dollar, especially if the competition is a similar game in theme or mechanic. The easy example right now Jamey Stagmaier's juggernaut of a game on KS right now called Scythe. It looks amazing and is standing clearly in the KS backer spotlight right now. One of the advantages to waiting till Nov, is that I can avoid some of that and try to get an opportunity to be in the spotlight while my campaign is running. Another consideration is proximity to Christmas. Historically, Kickstarter campaigns have not done well if run during the busy shopping season. So, I clearly don't want to wait too long.
There always seems like there's some reason why "now" is a bad time to launch. The game looks great. There's no way to avoid all competition, as more and more KS campagins are launched every year, especially in the board gaming area.
In the end, I have to launch it when I'M ready. And I'm getting pretty close to that. I'm excited and anxious. I love this game and I think my fellow gamers will too.
Till next time.
Keith
1) Is the project ready?
I like to have the game as close to 100% complete as possible before going to Kickstarter. This project has a LOT of artwork, and I was happy to have John Ariosa working on the game with me. The problem was I couldn't really afford to have it ALL done at once. So, I gave John work when I had cash, and when he was available. This meant, that it took a long time to get all 53 or so illustrations done. Once they were done, my graphic design, Luis Francisco could start doing more serious passes on stuff. Locking down the Character Sheets too a long time, as they are super critical to gameplay. It's the real focus of the game. It has to be highly functional and look amazing too. Finally in September the game was close to ready, but I still needed time to get review copies in people's hands and they needed time to get their work done as well. So, I put it off until Nov.
2) Is the timing okay?
Conventional wisdom says there are more opportune times to launch KS campaigns than others. The KS creator community does a fair share of data mining to try to figure out the best time of year to launch, which days work best, etc... The data says that usually Tuesdays are the best days to launch in the mid-morning with a 30ish day window. Also, it's best to avoid other large campaigns out there since you want to minimize the competition for your customer's dollar, especially if the competition is a similar game in theme or mechanic. The easy example right now Jamey Stagmaier's juggernaut of a game on KS right now called Scythe. It looks amazing and is standing clearly in the KS backer spotlight right now. One of the advantages to waiting till Nov, is that I can avoid some of that and try to get an opportunity to be in the spotlight while my campaign is running. Another consideration is proximity to Christmas. Historically, Kickstarter campaigns have not done well if run during the busy shopping season. So, I clearly don't want to wait too long.
There always seems like there's some reason why "now" is a bad time to launch. The game looks great. There's no way to avoid all competition, as more and more KS campagins are launched every year, especially in the board gaming area.
In the end, I have to launch it when I'M ready. And I'm getting pretty close to that. I'm excited and anxious. I love this game and I think my fellow gamers will too.
Till next time.
Keith
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