{"id":31579,"date":"2024-04-30T08:43:47","date_gmt":"2024-04-30T08:43:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/herotime1.com\/?p=31579"},"modified":"2025-10-06T08:33:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-06T08:33:11","slug":"kickstarter-vs-gamefound-for-board-game-crowdfunding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/herotime1.com\/academy\/marketing\/kickstarter-vs-gamefound-for-board-game-crowdfunding\/","title":{"rendered":"Kickstarter vs. Gamefound for Board Game Crowdfunding"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
Crowdfunding has revolutionized how creators bring their projects to life, especially in the board and card gaming industry.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Using a crowdfunding platform lets you gather funds directly from your future customers, helping you to speed up development of your game and bring to life projects that wouldn\u2019t be viable with a more traditional financing and publishing approach.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As well as letting you raise funds, crowdfunding platforms make it easy to gauge interest in your game before it goes live, giving you an idea of what type of audience you can expect to build.<\/span><\/p>\n Kickstarter and Gamefound are two of the biggest crowdfunding sites available today. Both have large audiences and a rich variety of features for you to make use of to raise funds and develop awareness about your game. But which is the best for your specific game, and why?<\/span><\/p>\n Below, we\u2019ve covered the histories, structures and attributes of both platforms, from when each arrived to the different funding models, fee structures and features offered by each platform for game creators.<\/span><\/p>\n We\u2019ve also shared some tips and tricks to help you get the best results from your crowdfunding campaign, regardless of which platform you choose to list your project on.<\/span><\/p>\n If you don\u2019t have the time to read a long, detailed post, here are the main takeaways to keep in mind when comparing these platforms:<\/span><\/p>\n Need help with crowdfunding for your board game and card game? As a top-rated board game manufacturer, we can help you make your game at a lower cost and reach the largest possible audience via Kickstarter or Gamefound, helping you achieve a more successful launch.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Contact us online and we\u2019ll talk to you about the entire process and connect you with our Hero Time Professional Network to make sure your game is a success.<\/span><\/p>\n Kickstarter is the largest crowdfunding network for games, including tabletop games. Founded in 2009, it quickly became synonymous with crowdfunding, to the point that \u201cKickstarting\u201d is to games and indie projects almost like what \u201cGoogling\u201d is for search.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The platform’s primary mission is to help bring creative projects to life. It covers a vast array of categories from arts and technology to, notably, tabletop games, which have become one of its most popular and successful categories.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Kickstarter operates on an all-or-nothing funding model, which means that projects must reach their financial goals within a set time frame to receive any money.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n This model encourages game creators to set realistic goals and actively promote their projects while giving backers confidence that their funds will only be used when a project has sufficient support to actually achieve its objectives.<\/span><\/p>\n Gamefound\u2019s story is a little different. Originally, Gamefound started out as a pledge manager for Kickstarter projects in 2018. This experience provided the company with deep insights into the unique needs of both tabletop game creators and the backers that support them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Recognizing an opportunity to serve the gaming community more, Gamefound transitioned to full-fledged crowdfunding in 2020.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Unlike Kickstarter, which offers funding for lots of different product types, Gamefound focuses solely on game development and funding. Its audience is more specialized and, as a platform, it\u2019s built more with the specific needs of game creators in mind.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Kickstarter\u2019s audience is huge and global, with <\/span>more than 23 million backers worldwide<\/span><\/a> as of April 2024. Not all of this audience is on Kickstarter solely for games, but many are, with card games and board games consistently ranking among the top Kickstarter projects.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n This means that Kickstarter has a large audience within its huge audience of backers who are specifically interested in games. Many of these backers also support multiple projects — based on Kickstarter\u2019s 2024 data, about 35% of users are repeat backers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Gamefound is newer and has a much smaller user base than Kickstarter. According to <\/span>this blog post from early 2024<\/span><\/a>, Gamefound passed one million users at some point in 2023, meaning its overall audience is less than five percent of Kickstarter\u2019s.<\/span><\/p>\n However, instead of a general audience with a broad range of interests, Gamefound\u2019s audience is solely made up of tabletop gaming enthusiasts.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Kickstarter and Gamefound both charge a 5% fee for successful projects. Kickstarter does not charge any fees for projects that aren\u2019t successful (meaning they fail to reach their fundraising target). Similarly, Gamefound\u2019s 5% fee only applies to successful projects.<\/span><\/p>\n\n
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<\/span><\/li>\nPlatform Overview: Kickstarter vs. Gamefound<\/span><\/h2>\n
Kickstarter History and Overview<\/span><\/h3>\n
Gamefound History and Overview<\/span><\/h3>\n
Audience and Reach<\/span><\/h2>\n
Kickstarter Audience and Reach<\/span><\/h3>\n
Gamefound Audience and Reach<\/span><\/h3>\n
Fees<\/span><\/h2>\n