A few of us on the Hand Cannon crew have been backing a number of different Kickstarter projects for various reasons. After some discussion, we thought it might be a worthy subject to tackle in the Kickstarter article series. This month, Autumn Stone weighs in, and next month I will provide the same. If we can kick DieselDM hard enough, perhaps we can get his input in the series as well. I hope these next few articles helps shed some light on the crowdfunding phenomenon and how it’s affecting the gaming industry.
-Gh00l
They didn’t kick me hardly at all, but here I am to chip in my thoughts about Kickstarter following on with what Autumn Stone and Ghool have said. My demographic is a bit different from AS and Ghool:
I work full-time as a developer, my wife also works full-time. My wife is not a geek, in stark contrast to myself. We also have a three-year-old and a house to maintain. I work from home and my wife, being in the healthcare industry, tends to work longer hours than myself, so I am generally responsible for picking my son up as soon as I am done work for the day. This leaves me with very little free time on a normal day. If I’m lucky I get 45-minutes to myself in the morning and occasionally an hour in the evening if I can pull myself away from family time.
I make a comfortable living as a developer and I do have some disposable income. This combined with my lack of free time should explain the amount of models I own that haven’t been assembled. The nearest FLGS is over an hour away, and since my free time comes in short bursts, that explains why I can get some painting done, but rarely get time to play games. I occasionally make a tournament, maybe once every couple of months just to get some games in, and I have friends nearby who often host some gaming at their home.
When I scan through Kickstarter I am looking for two things: games I could convince my wife to play (cooperative games or quick and easy to play games), and really nice looking models. One rule I have is that I’m not interested in any models I wouldn’t want my three-year-old to see. This generally falls into two broad categories: nude models and creepy/scary/gore-covered models. Surprisingly this has filtered out a number of games and models others have pointed me at. For the record even without a child at home I wouldn’t be interested in those kinds of models anyhow.
I tend not to do extensive research in determining the credentials of a project before I back it. I tend to go with a gut-feel of whether it seems feasible or not. This works well for a $10-50 type investment, but before I sink in a significant backing amount, then I dig in a bit to see who is behind a project.
Reaper Miniatures Bones: An Evolution Of Gaming Miniatures
This is the one that got me started in Kickstarter. I was not more than peripherally aware of KS before the massive success of Bones made the news. While the quality of these models may be derided, the quantity and value is amazing. For my interests I wanted some non-Warmachine models to paint up both for a diorama scene I have in mind to commemorate the D&D group I ran for over a year and for expanding my painting experiences. Most of the models I was interested in came with the basic pledge, but I did add-on a dragon I will need and the little carrying case as it seems like it could be useful for a number of things.
Bones delivered and I sorted through them and while I haven’t been able to paint them yet, the quality to me appears quite nice for the cost. I’m happy with this KS and it was an excellent way to get into the KS habit.
Dungeon Roll – A Dicey Dungeon Delve
Dungeon Roll represents one of those quick and easy games I was looking for. It’s a set of specialized dice, tokens and cards that come in a treasure chest-shaped box. And it is one of the most enjoyable games I’ve played in a long time. It’s so simple to learn but there is a nice amount of strategy that can be applied. This one hit a lot of stretch goals coming with extra cards (heroes you get to play), more dice, a specialized KS treasure chest and special cards to help organize the play space. I love this game so much I bought two more (post Kickstarter) and gave them as Christmas gifts. This is one my non-geek wife will willingly play and enjoys. So far this is my biggest personal surprise success from KS, as the quality and enjoyment of the game far exceeded my expectations.
Wild West Exodus – Sci-Fi Western Miniatures Game
WWX, as it’s called, is my first table top war-game aside from Warmachine. I initially got pulled in by the western feel and the excellent looking models. I also had two friends who were also backing this project, so I would have someone to play against (always important). I liked the looks of all the models except the Enlightened who fall close Cryx in the creepiness category. I knew I could spend a lot on this game, so it was time to find out if this game would ever see the light of day.
Turns out the game is being developed by a team led primarily by Romeo of Battle Foam. While he causes a love-or-hate response in most gamers, you can’t deny he has a successful business in the realm of miniatures and is familiar with the industry. At the start of the KS they already had some miniatures completed and well painted, that went a long way to assuaging any remaining discomfort.
I ended up with a high pledge level and doing some add-ons as the stretch goals kept coming in, including an additional faction: Lawmen. I had to have the Lawmen, including historical figures such as Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday. This one was delayed, including a stretch of the container sitting in Customs, which seems to be a common occurrence for Kickstarters with stuff that comes over from China.
Most of my rewards arrived just a couple of weeks ago and there’s a lot of models, a massive rulebook (most of which is fluff), templates, tokens, dice, comics, a novel, a patch and more. I’m still waiting on the special WWX BattleFoam bag which is coming in a separate shipment. This one did not disappoint. I look forward to playing it soon as I’m currently assembling and painting.
Impudent Mortal’s Tabletop Gaming Terrain Part Deux!
I’m always interested in terrain ideas, and these buildings seemed like they would fit well in Warmachine. These guys had made laser-cut MDF terrain in the past and they had samples of the new projects already made. It seemed very likely to complete. They shipped ahead of schedule if I recall correctly and the quality is very nice. One complaint would be that their 28mm terrain seems a bit small for the Warmachine models, maybe it’s a question of 28mm vs 28mm heroic scale, I don’t know, but if it were just a bit bigger it would feel better.
Wargame, Roleplaying and Model Railroad Terrain
Another stab at tabletop terrain, I got a few stands of tree that have magnetic trees that can be removed from the bases. The terrain came preprinted and it works well. Forests are something I’m still looking for a really nice solution to. This is a good attempt but it’s not the final answer. This one was delayed significantly, but did eventually deliver. It’s just a single guy making terrain and I don’t think he was prepared for the popularity of his project, but he’s done well keeping folks updated and getting shipments out.
MYTH
To say I’m excited for this one is a massive understatement. I love the art style of the models, it’s cooperative, it’s incorporated a tile-based game board with miniatures, dice, some RPG elements and a deck of cards. It’s kind of every geek game format that interests me wrapped into one crazy product. This has been delayed, again by customs, and will miss it’s target date of January. But as of the last update the first wave of core games were complete (and being help up in customs). There is an unboxing video by an outlet that received an advance copy, so we know the game exists.
This was another game so intriguing that I knew I could spend my way in pretty deep, so again, time to see if this one would make it. It’s being put out by the team at MERCS miniatures, so they know how to make a game and miniatures. They’d built sample copies of the game and been play testing it. They put out videos of the play tests. They did a lot to show that the game existed and I bought in.
There were a lot of stretch-goals and add-ons for this one including extra heroes, extra enemies, extra tiles, a slaughter field game mode where you just try to survive endless waves of bad guys and even a dragon. For add-ons they had everything from card sleeves to a BattleFoam box insert to store the models. This game promises a lot and is perhaps my most anticipated KS of all time.
Mimic Miniatures: Personalized Gaming Miniatures of YOU!
This was just a low-buy-in “Wow that would interesting” KS where I thought it would be interesting to get some 28mm scale heads that look just like me. I’d love to customize a Warmachine and WWX mini to have my face, so why not?! This hasn’t delivered yet, so time will tell if they get it all done.
Frontline Gaming & TABLEWAR™ MegaMat Gaming Mat
Followers of my articles will know I build a folding 4’x4′ gaming table with a removable grass-mat board for gaming. The thought of being able to unroll different terrain mats onto it seemed irresistible. Especially once I saw they had a space theme, perfect for X-Wing games. And a desert terrain perfect for WWX. The premise is simple enough: that material they used to make mouse pads out of, only cut into massive mats with high-quality gaming terrain printed on them. The last update included news that the 4x4s will be delayed (originally schedule for March) but I think this one will come through.
WARMACHINE: TACTICS
Tactics is a given, right? The ability to play (something akin to) Warmachine by myself, at any time, in short bursts? That’s pretty much perfect. The idea of exclusive models is just sugar on top, really. I’m not going to go in-depth on this one as most of you have probably either backed it, read about it or are sick of hearing about it by now.
I have no doubts that PP will get the physical rewards out on time. I am more skeptical about the game itself. After all, with the continuing debacle that is War Room, and the painful interface to their digital app, PP has shown they are a fish out of water when it comes to leaving the tabletop and entering the technology arena. What becomes of it all remains to be seen, but I hope they get it right this time.
Parting Thoughts
I don’t often scan through Kickstarter these days. I typically hear about an interesting project form a friend or from a website, but I do occasionally browse through the tabletop games section looking for my next monetary adventure. All my projects have delivered so far, some have been underwhelming and others have exceeded all expectation. But that’s part of the fun.
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