Launching a board game on Kickstarter can be one of the most exciting and nerve-wracking experiences for any game designer. You’ve spent months, maybe even years, developing your game, playtesting, refining, and dreaming about sharing it with the world.
But when it comes time to actually launch your campaign to the public, the unfortunate truth is that many creators see their campaigns struggle or even fail entirely.
The harsh reality of crowdfunding is that most campaigns don’t reach their targets. Making this unpleasant reality even worse is the fact that most failed campaigns don’t even come close to reaching their goals.
According to data published by Statista, the overwhelming majority of unsuccessful Kickstarters generate less than 20% of their funding goals. In other words, these projects don’t even raise enough to be close to viable for manufacturing and distribution.
As a game creator, this can feel really worrying. No one wants to invest the huge amounts of time required for a crowdfunding campaign only to have it fall short of their goals.
However, there is good news in what seems like a tough situation. While success on Kickstarter or Gamefound definitely isn’t guaranteed, there are clear patterns that separate the campaigns that succeed from those that don’t.
We’ve identified these signs and patterns in some of the many successful game crowdfunding campaigns we’ve assisted with as a board game manufacturer.
It’s also true that the earlier you start preparing, the more of these patterns you can put to work for your game to increase your odds of success with crowdfunding. Most Kickstarter mistakes are very avoidable, and planning ahead is by far the best way to avoid them successfully.
Below, we’ll take a look at the key reasons why board game crowdfunding campaigns fail, as well as what you can do differently to increase your game’s chances of being a crowdfunding success story.
The goal is to help you avoid putting in effort without rewards. Success with crowdfunding is very, very possible — we’ve seen it first hand — and if you can approach your campaign with realistic expectations and a solid plan, you have a high chance of getting it.
Let’s get started by looking at why some crowdfunding campaigns fail and what it can teach us about the process.
Why Do Board Game Crowdfunding Campaigns Fail?
Jamey from Stonemaier Games published a great list in 2021 outlining the major reasons why Kickstarter campaigns fail. His insights are very accurate, and we recommend going over this list before you launch to understand what often contributes to a failed campaign.
The key reasons are:
- People don’t want your product (e.g. lack of interest in your specific game)
- Your price is too high
- Your art and graphic design aren’t impactful
- The game isn’t properly marketed (this is a big one we see very often)
- Lack of trust in your product and/or team
- Lack of community before and during your campaign
- Bad timing (sometimes due to unfortunate luck) or a rushed campaign
- People don’t understand what your game is about or how it works
- No feeling of urgency to motivate people to back your game
- Lacking compassion and inclusion (e.g. alienating your audience)
We recommend going over this post and making a list of these common sources of failure as a way to audit your campaign for potential issues. Criticizing your own product is harsh, and you probably won’t feel good during the process, especially if you notice flaws in your approach.
However, this is a very powerful way to spot red flags early in the process of preparing for your campaign, and the insights you notice can be very, very valuable for helping you improve and increase your chances of success.
Remember that succeeding with crowdfunding is 50% doing things right, and another 50% not doing things wrong. If you spot something wrong early, you can fix it easier before you invest more of your time and energy into your campaign.
How to Avoid a Failed Kickstarter Campaign
Validate Your Game Before You Launch
When you launch your campaign on Kickstarter, your goal is to create an emotional connection with your backers. This is what builds trust and inspires people to back your game. Your game is not yet available and people are taking a risk by supporting you, so you need to build a strong connection to motivate them to feel confident taking this risk.
One of the harshest truths in crowdfunding is that a great-looking campaign can fall flat if your game idea itself doesn’t resonate with your target audience of backers. This is why it’s so important to validate your game with honest feedback before you ever start working on your campaign page or marketing.
This feedback can come through blind playtesting, pitching your game at conventions or local meetups, and observing how players respond when you’re not there to explain the game to them.
While feedback from your friends can also be very valuable, remember that they are already emotionally attached to you and don’t necessarily reflect what the public, who don’t yet know you, are going to think and feel about your game.
You can also test demand by offering a free print-and-play version of your game, or a Tabletop Simulator demo, then tracking how many people download it or play it.
If the response to your game is lukewarm, it may be a sign that your game needs some further development before it’s ready to show to the public.
Validating early can save you enormous amounts of time, money, and heartache later on. The difference between a successful game and an average one is huge, so investing time here to truly validate your game concept and refine it into something people respond to strongly is very much worth it.
Build Your Audience Months Before You Launch Your Campaign
One of the most common myths about Kickstarter is that the platform itself will bring you enough backers for your project to succeed. Not reliably true! While Kickstarter can expose your project to new audiences and help you get in front of backers, the reality is that successful campaigns bring their own supporters to Kickstarter.
Audience building is a key pre-launch step that needs to start months before your campaign goes live. You can start by collecting emails from interested players using landing pages or lead magnets, e.g. as a free print-and-play version, exclusive artwork, or behind-the-scenes content that’s related to your game.
The goal is to build and nurture a community of people who are already excited about your game and emotionally invested in its success by the time you launch. This audience will become your early backers and your biggest supporters, and the momentum these people create will drive the Kickstarter algorithm to show your game to as many people as possible.
The first 48 hours are very important for Kickstarter, as early success drives the algorithm and can signal to Kickstarter your campaign has potential, creating a feedback loop that gives you more and more visibility.
Create a Compelling Story & Hook for Your Game
A Kickstarter page is your opportunity to tell a story that excites and connects with your backers emotionally. Your campaign page needs to clearly answer three key questions:
- Why should I back this game?
- Why should I do it now?
- Why should I trust you to deliver?
Use engaging visuals, storytelling, and personal touches to show why your game is special and what inspired you to create it. This is where identifying your target audience ahead of time is so valuable. If you know what your audience loves, you can tailor your page to connect with them.
The most effective way to connect with your target audience is to apply Aristotle’s classic ethos (credibility), pathos (emotion), and logos (logic) model to your campaign. Successful campaigns touch on all of these elements:
- Ethos (credibility). Why should people trust you? Share your experience, your team’s background, and your commitment to delivering a great game. This is where feedback from playtesters, testimonials and info on your manufacturing and fulfillment process is valuable for building trust.
- Pathos (emotion). Share the personal story behind your game! Tell people what made you want to make it, why it’s meaningful for you, and how players will feel when they’re playing it. This is where visuals and storytelling become part of making a connection.
- Logic (logic). You need to present a clear logical case for playing your game, such as its mechanics, stretch goals, value for money and information about your campaign, its structure and pricing.
In our experience, game creators often worry excessively about the logical side of this process at the expense of credibility and emotion. Remember that people are only interested in hearing the logical case for your game if they trust you and feel like it’s a good match for them.
Features and gameplay mechanics matter, but building trust and an emotional connection need to come first for your audience to care about these features of your game.
Get a Manufacturing Quote Before Your Game Goes Live
You will eventually need to make your game. Don’t leave it to the last minute. Too many creators launch their campaign without a clear, confirmed manufacturing quote. This is risky because assumptions about production costs often turn out to be wrong, sometimes by a lot.
Costs like materials, components, packaging, assembly, shipping, and now tariffs can change very rapidly, and underestimating them can cause serious issues later, even if your campaign successfully funds.
We always recommend creators get a formal manufacturing quote early, before you finalize your campaign page or set your funding goal. This gives you clarity on your real costs and lets you confidently explain your production plan to backers, building trust and credibility to help you with your campaign.
A detailed quote also helps you avoid setting your funding goal too low, which is a common mistake that can lead to underfunding and lots of stress once your campaign is over.
Set a Realistic Funding Goal
Your funding goal is not just a financial target, it’s also a psychological benchmark for backers that can shape your campaign.
If your goal is set too high, it may discourage people from backing, as they feel your project is unlikely to succeed. If it’s too low, you risk being underfunded even if the campaign technically reaches its goal, which makes it difficult to deliver on your promises to backers.
If you need help setting a realistic funding goal, you can contact us and we’ll assist you with this by providing manufacturing, fulfillment and other pricing for your game.
Be Transparent With Backers About Timeline and Costs
Backers understand that crowdfunding is not the same as pre-ordering a game via a store, and they are usually flexible if you are transparent with them, but can be unforgiving if you fail to explain things clearly.
From day one, clearly explain your production timeline, shipping expectations, and any known risks. It’s always better to underpromise and overdeliver than to make overly optimistic projections that you later have to take back.
If you experience delays (and most creators do at some point), communicate as openly and proactively as you can. Backers are much more forgiving of delays if they feel like they are respected, heard, and kept in the loop.
In general, just be honest and forthcoming with your backers and information. Put yourself in their shoes and you’ll make good decisions that help your campaign succeed and keep your backers happy.
Advertise Strategically & Advertise More as Your Campaign Reaches its End
Many creators focus heavily on advertising at the start of their campaign, but actually, the final 48 to 72 hours are some of the most powerful moments for driving pledges.
This is when the sense of urgency peaks. Backers who were previously undecided or waiting on the sidelines are often pushed to act before your campaign closes. Advertising can often make the biggest difference here.
If your campaign is nearing or just past its goal, you can use paid ads to convert people with a “wait and see” mindset into backers who might otherwise miss the opportunity to take part in your campaign.
Platforms like Facebook Ads, BoardGameGeek ads, and Reddit Ads can all be effective, as long as you target them carefully to the audiences who love your type of game.
Useful resources for advertising:
Some Final Thoughts on Avoiding Crowdfunding Failure
The failure rate for board game crowdfunding campaigns can seem intimidating. No one wants to imagine being part of the majority of games that don’t make it. However, the good news is that most of the common pitfalls involved with crowdfunding are preventable with the right planning and preparation.
At Hero Time, we believe that great games deserve to reach their audience, and we’re here to support you as a creator not just with manufacturing, but also with practical help and advice so you can succeed before you enter production.
By validating your game early, building an engaged audience, crafting a story that connects with your customers emotionally and logically, setting realistic goals, and planning your campaign in advance, you can improve your chances of running a successful crowdfunding campaign.
If you’re preparing your campaign and would like advice on manufacturing costs, timelines, or production planning, reach out to us.
We’re happy to help you with information about the manufacturing and fulfillment process for your game, as well as share resources to help you raise the funds you need to get started.
