Kickstarter recently revealed two notable improvements to their platform, one small and one big. I’ll discuss them in detail below. FAQ If you’ve ever run or participated in a Kickstarter campaign, you know that the same questions tend to get asked over and over in the comments, even after they’ve been answered many times. Part […]
In this series, I highlight some of the interesting choices made by recent crowdfunders regarding their project’s reward levels, stretch goals, and overall campaign design (the projects themselves, not the content or product). This isn’t an endorsement or promotion. Tasty Minstrel Games Equity Crowdfunding: TMG recently became the first board game company (as far as I know) to […]
During my Kickstarter campaign for Euphoria, I made a calculated decision to add a new reward level that included extra dice and blank-faced recruit cards. 1794 backers ended up pledging to that reward. This wasn’t an impulse decision. Rather, it was informed by backers every step of the way, and I let backers know the varies factors […]
Never did I think box sizes would be the focus of my career. But this is the life of a game publisher! Here are some of the questions I’m asked most frequently, along with the factors I consider when deciding box size and a proposed solution for a frequent request about Scythe. Will the Expansion […]
I start every work day in a suboptimal and damaging way. Before I continue, take a second to think about how you begin your work day. What’s the first work-related thing you do each day? If you’re like me, the first thing you do every day is check your e-mail. If you’re even more similar […]
Up until recently, I didn’t believe in magic bullets and shortcuts for Kickstarter success. The vast majority of successful projects are successful because the creator put in a lot of hard work and made a lot of smart decisions. But a few weeks ago, I read a comment on a Facebook group about Kickstarter that […]
I’ve watched about 10 seasons of the competitive cooking show, Top Chef, but it wasn’t until the recent finale that I learned the true secret to success on the show. The finale branched over two episodes. In part 1, the contestants were required to cook over an open flame. Worried that her fish would stick […]
Do you intend to vote in the next election? As mentioned in this article, a study was conducted in which researchers called people and asked if they were planning to vote in an upcoming election. Everyone said yes. The researchers later looked at how many of those people actually voted (compared to a control group […]
This morning I received my company’s annual statement from our accountant. I knew from my monthly bookkeeping that Stonemaier Games had a good year, but the final result was even better than I thought. Making a profit isn’t what drives me to design and publish games; rather, it’s what sustains my goal to bring joy to tabletops […]
The age-old question lives on: Will your crowdfunding campaign–and your business–be more successful if you offer early bird rewards and backer-only exclusives? In the past I’ve talked about these topics both from an idealogical perspective: Is it right to treat some backers better than others? Is it right to exclude people instead of seeking ways […]
