Is Kickstarter Ruining Board Games?
BoardGameCo
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Kickstarter, and crowdfunding in general, has been a source of many good things, but also bad as well. For 10 years now it’s grown from a small subset to a massive part of our hobby, in a way that is impressive and scary at the same time….because it’s size, and impact on the hobby are great….unless it’s ruining board games.
TimeStamps:
0:00:00 – Introduction
0:00:28 – Choose Wisely
Yes, It’s Ruining Board Games –
No It’s Great For Board Games –
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20.03.2022
I looked at the run time of this video and almost passed it off as click bait before I remembered that that's not your thing. Kudos for the "interactive" format.
Kickstarter IS ruining my storage shelves, I ran out of space before I got Ankh and just got Massive Darkness 2 in!
Really awesome format to split the vids with an intro like that. It's like BoardGameCo the Choose Your Own Adventure!
Yes it is, doing the “all in” pledges to milk more money! I wouldn say kickstarter is actually ruining BG, bigger companies which DONT need crowfoundings are, CMON in talking about you…
The thing that will actually kill many board game companies is inflation. Disposable income is set to shrink at least 50% over the next decade adjusted for inflation. We are likely to see a situation where dollar-wise the hobby board games are still expanding, but unit-wise is shrinking. This won't stop people from playing games, there are so many board games already in collections that the hobby will carry on, but many of the publishers will not make it. When it comes to Kickstarter, many small publishers will discover that the unexpected increases in manufacturing costs between launching the Kickstarter and completing the fulfillment will more than eat up their small margins.
Alex not sure if your were going for a Shorts format for viral views, but if so you have to be in vertical format. If it's for engagement, watch time and click through then awesome idea 😆
This past year should be a wake up call bc of how expensive board gaming has become vs how affordable gaming consoles have remained. You can get into 4K, 120fps gaming with a very nice controller for $500-600. Sure you still have to buy games, but you can get subscription service with access more games than you could ever play, and AAA titles are still $60-70; the board-game equivalent (e.g. Cmon) can easily be 10x that now. Not to mention video games keep raising the bar for how much content they provide at what has essentially been an industry-wide fixed price for 3 decades; it's not uncommon for video games to have 50-150 hours without even having to do additional run-throughs. KS and GF campaigns keep charging more for things that were once standard expectations to be included in the box. The overall value of most tabletop games has diminished to the point where it's almost a joke
Or should the question be … are big board game companies ruining Kickstarter?? I tried to launch a game and failed terribly because I didn't have the money to continually pay for ad promotion. It is near impossible to receive organic growth on KS now. The only way to success is to pay for it, ads on FB, Instagram, video content creators, etc. KS won't promote you because it is in their best interest to promote only the campaigns which will give them the biggest commission.
So, no longer can a great idea or a great page get you your funding, you have to buy it, which kinda defeats the object of crowd funding … maybe I need to crowdfund to get the funds I need to … crowdfund?!
Very clever !
KS is definitely good for board games IMO, but not for my wallet
So funny the interactive video i love it!
Crowdfunding is still rather niche to board game fanatics. Unfortunately, there are too many fanatics who think they need EVERYTHING. These fanatics don't just spend loads of money on Kickstarter, but on games in general. They're the ones who complain about a game shown in a video that isn't currently available. I guess they must have what they see! Aaaah! Collectors of games they'll barely ever play, owners of multiple Kallax shelves, and probably all cards sleeved to boot. Many could stand to learn that just because you like the look of something, it doesn't mean you need to own it. I like the look of Hamlet (on KS right now), but I'm not backing it because I already have games I still want to play more often first. In 2 to 3 years I won't ever remember Hamlet, just like many other games that appear and then disappear. $0.02
Very nice and interactively done! I liked both 5 reasons monologues. Really enjoyed this.
🐐🥁👍
KS was interesting – but I think more and more gamers have too many bloated unplayed deluxe editions gathering dust on their shelves and don’t want more of them. With the rising cost of VAT (EU) and shipping, I need to be really sure a game will be worth it. Am only backing second printings of games at this point that have received great reviews and new, deluxe editions of certain Classics.
It used to be exciting to take a FOMO-powered gamble on a KS, but the price is now too high for gambles like those.
Mind bloooooowwwwwwwwwwnnnnnnnnnnnn
I like this choose your own adventure style video.
One thing not mentioned, but I think is a bad thing for our hobby, is the tendency for people to be stridently pro or con crowdfunding. I imagine it's not dissimilar to the faux 'war' over euro vs. ameri games decades ago.
I have games from both retail (mostly) and crowdfunding that I very much enjoy, and strikingly I have plenty that I bought at retail, yet originated through crowdfunding e.g West Kingdom series, Lifeform, Xia, This War of Mine, Maquis etc.
I'm happy I can enjoy both avenues, and would miss either if that route to market were taken away. Even if I didn't though, I really could not see myself ever berating others for buying from the one that I didn't use. It's that that disappoints me in a vocal minority of gamers (and I fear they are encouraged in that view by some high profile UK based youtubers).
Kickstarter is to board games what self publishing is to books. The industry used to have a ton of gatekeepers that made it extremely difficult to get a product to market outside of their channels. The ability to bypass these now is a double edged sword. It does allow hidden gems to get out there that may not have otherwise, but those gatekeepers did serve as a filter that kept a certain floor of quality.
But aren't those pre-recorded videos?
Thought this was a mistaken upload from the video length at first 😂
Wer're in the Golden Age of board games. Kickstarter is certainly helping!
I had many games that I had not played at any point prior to doing KS.
I got about a fifth of the pledges because of the price hikes and enough DX versions for each genre.
For myself, I've learned that some things can be replaced by buying novels or renting movies.
I think the expansion will be the main focus for KS from now on.
Entering the Choose Your Own Adventure / Dragon's Lair esque space on YouTube!? 😜
But if people who think KS is great for boardgames go to the video that confirms their biases and vice versa… shouldn't the recommendation be the opposite so they can check the counter-arguments instead?
The good KS has done for me: get me games that are impossible to find otherwise, I get deluxe versions, I can get games tailored to my likes.
The bad KS has done for me: I've spent more money on board games in the past year and a half than any other hobby and that includes Magic and Yugioh. KS also easily feeds into addiction so I need to be wary of falling down that hole. I also talk about board games all the time which I don't think is a bad thing but my friends might 😅
Yes and no there is definitely a middle. But now that Tabletop Sim version come out during kickstarter it makes it easier. Print at home kickstarters have becoming my new favorite. By the way I know you, like most reviewers, you seem to love long heavy games, but can we see a top 5 or 10 games to take to a brewery. This is becoming extremely popular in my area. Thanks. Your channel rocks!
yes
Hmmm… 🤔 A very intriguing question. I think its a mild but firm no AND a cautious yes.
Mild no because, well HECK, just look at some of the incredible games that its brought us since it's inception. Some that i argue might never have been possible without kickstarter and honestly I feel in many ways that those games have literally changed the face of board gaming.
My cautious yes comes at the cost of excess, over saturation, and exclusivity. I think what can start as a few well meaning game enhancement add-ons can quickly balloon into a lot of cost prohibited expansions and extras. Which sort of runs into my feelings of exclusivity. Anyone that might want to get into a game later my find aftermarket prices ridiculously overpriced. And let's be honest the over saturation of games is becoming a bit much. Surely we've all seen some of the bottom tier stuff that we've had to sift through to find some hidden gem games that deserve backing. All this can really put a bad taste in your mouth and in my experience makes me wary of even browsing kickstarter games at times.
Love this
Very clever idea l and makes the point of confirmation bias better than a single video ever could have. Tell us what we want to hear! 😂
Pick your own adventure, the video version. "Turn to page 10!"
Love the "choose your own video"!
BTW: Yes, look at the movie industry and PC Games industry. They have no more innovation, just sequels and franchises. Many movies seem to be driven by focus groups and producers that want a safe return on their money. As for the computer/console games it isn't any better.
A light euro game with worker placement, deck building area control game with a dash of engine building will probably never see the light of day without Kickstarter.
This is ridiculous, Alex. Good interactive format for this video, wow!
I loooked at both video but clicked on the one against my view first and i think people did the same (looking at numbers)
One of the pro is for me an against. Cutting up a game is the game complete or not?
When the retail version is substantially lesser than the KS, it just really sucks. Give a discount and some 'modifiers' or cosmetic upgrades as stretch goals, but don't lock major gameplay variants or expansions to KS. Happened for me most recently with Project L.
Oh hey, Choose Your Own Adventurer: BGC Edition 🙂
I'd say kickstarter, and gamefound, serve a role in allowing games that wouldn't be made to exist.
How many kickstarter games wouldn't have been made without that support of a guaranteed number of sales before needing to commit to manufacturing.
There are many larger firms who draw the attention and bury some smaller creators who can't afford ads but as a rule a great game will get backed.
Basically it has allowed niche products that aren't cheap to produce to be sold on a global platform with vastly reduced risks, how could that not be a benifit to the industry.
As always, a fantastic and balanced perspective, and I couldn't disagree with anything you said. Kickstarter is a mixed bag…absolutely, my favorite games come from Kickstarter, but my shelves are also filled with the expansions that my FOMO compelled me to get, most of which I'll probably never tap. At least they make me happy just being there, I suppose.
Me: I hate massive amounts of KS exclusives
Also me: Backs CMON games
Reflecting on my KS experiences since 2013, I'm not sure issue can be adequately reduce to such a simple question.
KS presents both pros and cons for the consumer-backer as an interface to purchase-pledge an increasing number of games. I think KS has failed to innovate recently regarding its services, which is part of the reason why alternatives have gained growing market share (i.e. Gamefound). KS still has a long way's to go to adequately vet its creators, and most potential backers are not equipped to perform proper due diligence be3fore they back a project.
I do believe that KS has enabled the exploitation mechanisms used by a lot of publishers (*cough, CMON, cough*), and subsequently allowed a shift from the "support the creator's dream" philosophy to a more obvious-if-carefully-worded pre-order system. Many small, independent publishers have been pushed aside by larger, commercially-oriented companies on the platform that offered them a way to connect to needed capital, but KS is first and foremost a business that will absolutely get it's 10%.
Verdict: neutral effect on board games.
What a fun idea for an interactive video! I agree with BOTH videos, though, lol! In the two videos you perfectly outlined my own love/ hate relationship with Kickstarter =)
It’s good that games are being created regardless of the sales platform. I would just caution people that are new into the hobby, don’t fall for the fomo and be aware that almost every game on Kickstarter will be much cheaper to purchase once it hits retail.
I also think it's a little bit of both. It's great that you can get some games which wouldn't even exist because publishers would be too afraid to publish and take that risk. On the other hand we have some cash grabs which ride on IP, FOMO or even scams (or half scams – campaigns that are years late and are using new campaigns to finish funding old stuff).
So it's not really KS making or breaking games – it's people :P.
WTF is this? Youtube going Chose your own advanture? 🙂
Brilliant! 😆
Hey Alex, sorry I couldn't find another place to message you, but I thought this was an applicable spot. Did you back Machina Arcana 3E? Have you been aware of the simmering furor of various backers, specifically from the UK, concerning fulfillment? There have been setbacks at nearly every stage of the production, shipping, and fulfillment process, though most, if not all, of them haven't been at the fault of Adreama Games. Now during fulfillment, as some backers share the arrival of their pledges, some backers have gotten quite angry towards Adreama about the lack of shipping notifications. Isn't this Bridge Fulfillment's issue, not Adreama's?! I haven't gotten a notification yet either, but I know it's not Juraj's fault ffs. In his update this morning (3/15) I got a real sense of sadness and defeat with it all. I thought you might have good input on this. Maybe consider putting out a video explaining the process and who's responsible for what part of the process? Cheers.
Edit: In addition to the above, backers are also angry about the game currently being available from retailers before backers have received their pledges, despite that Juraj has said that the containers allocated for retailers did not encounter the same delays that the containers for the backers encountered (i.e. being left at the port in China, shipping company providing wrong ship info). It's just frustrating seeing all of the undue ire directed at someone who's been as open about things as he has been.
Funny cute format and cute way of getting lots of extra views lol… "No really, click over here" 🙂
Omg this is great! Choose your own path board game videos <3 thx