Crowdfunding Your Board Game: The Pros and Cons

You’ve designed a board game. And it’s good. Really good. You’ve tested it with loads of friends, family & strangers, making tweaks along the way. And now you’re pretty sure it’s ready to share with the wider world.But you’re not really sure what to do next. You’re new to all this.
But someone makes all these games right? Each of the hundreds of games released each year has a designer. Why shouldn’t your game join the fray?
Kickstarter or Publisher? That’s the question.

[@Matthew-fb8fp]

Thanks for this video - seeing another comment from you about how many games you’re working on is making me reconsider self-publishing my game. I’ve enjoyed the creative freedom of seeing my vision come to life, but am less sure about whether I want to deal with the logistics of a small business, even if I outsource some of the work. Want to get back to designing!

[@AdaminWales]

Yes, that’s the big decision really - which bit of the process you want to focus on. Good luck.

[@zachphelps-roper6114]

I really appreciate this video. Thank you for sharing this, kind sir!

[@ludwigmises]

I couldn’t imagine trying to run a Kickstarter campaign. The logistical challenges would stress me out so much it would suck all the joy out of game design. I’m with you: better to take a small cut and leave the other headaches to the experts.

[@AdaminWales]

Agreed, though there’s a (tiny) bit of me that wants to prove to myself that I could do it…

[@tomcooper2862]

great video with sound advise as always. thank you.

[@AdaminWales]

Thanks for watching. Glad it was helpful.

[@lethallaitue]

Thank you for your video. I love those tiny moments when you're openhearted about your job and your experiences. Very precious.

[@AdaminWales]

Thanks! Much appreciated :)

[@kiffscholl]

The only thing I didn't love about this video is that I didn't find it a month ago. Super helpful, thanks!

[@AdaminWales]

Blame KZbin! :D Glad you found it eventually.

[@unicomp5705]

Good advice. Self publishing gives you total control over your idea and it is the best choice if can do it. Mike in LA, Calif

[@zackhjorth487]

You used to be an actor? I think this merits a video...

[@AdaminWales]

Oh I don’t think so! 😂 I had a short-lived theatre career which ended a decade ago. I might make a video at some point looking at game design and comparing it to other careers though - especially how to fit it in alongside another job.

[@zackhjorth487]

@@AdaminWales Ah, that explains why you knew what a Tableau is 😄. I would definitely like to to know how to fit game design in around work, that is a personal struggle of mine

[@ambierona]

Great video and list of pros and cons. I haven't designed a game, but self-publishing a book through Kickstarter was/is a lot of work and I don't know if I want to do a Kickstarter again if I do another one!

[@AdaminWales]

Yes, I think some people do underestimate the work involved!

[@LoreboundC]

Adam This is a really good video, after watching this and looking at these comments it looks more appealing for me to Self-Publish. Simply because I want more varied experience and control over the graphic design. Who knows that might change as I go deeper into this process.

[@AdaminWales]

Thanks Austin. I think self-publishing is definitely the right choice for a lot of people.

[@dghughes]

Great video as always.

[@AdaminWales]

Thanks Dan - and looking forward to following your Kickstarter journey with Mixtape :)

[@dghughes]

@@AdaminWales Thanks. It's starting to feel like I may be a designer after all.

[@AdaminWales]

@@dghughes Hopefully a good feeling! :)

[@Razorgirl]

@@AdaminWales … and great audio. 🙃👍

[@AdaminWales]

@@Razorgirl Great! I’m still trying new stuff out. I felt like this one was “clipping” more at higher volumes than the previous video (Top 10 of 2022) - but the earlier video seemed spot on. So I need to work out what changed. It’s definitely all about the settings and the mic placement.

[@Razorgirl]

I would love to see a vid about the games you designed, and what the publishers did that you were delightfully surprised by, and/or were disappointed in. And what you could have done to avoid that disappointment.

[@AdaminWales]

I think that’s a good idea for a video - thanks. The tricky bit is being tactful enough to ensure I don’t damage any relationships with publishers that I might work with again.

[@Razorgirl]

I think it’d be Ok if you focused on you rather them. What direction you thought things would go in The direction they when that way instead (and that’s OK because they would’ve had their reasons). But in hindsight, this is what you could’ve done to get more feedback on why, or “If I had my time over again, this is what I would’ve done differently.” And of course, “this is where I was expecting things to go, but they went this way instead and that was soooo much better”. Make it about you rather than them. 🙃💙👍

[@MMmk1]

Are you sure the audio wasn't better back then? :P

[@AdaminWales]

Still working on it… ;) It seemed really good for the Top 10 of the Year video - then I tried to do the same thing and got loads of background crackling!!! I think I’ll get there, just need to keep experimenting.

[@etienned.840]

I wish I could have made it to Essen this year, must be a blast, but there's a new human in my house, that sucks your free time like a black hole...

[@AdaminWales]

Essen Spiel is an amazing experience. Like you, I missed it this year though (and the year before). I really hope I can go in 2023. I can certainly imagine that it’s harder than ever to find the time with a little one to look after.

[@dahanster5578]

Quality over quantity

[@FrazNinja]

adam, are you on tiktok? there's such a lovely board game design community on there but not enough of us are from the u.k.!! :)

[@AdaminWales]

No, I dabbled with Instagram - and made a number of reels - last year. But I just don’t really have the time to invest in a second channel like Instagram or TikTok. KZbin takes a massive chunk of time out of every week for me.

[@FrazNinja]

@@AdaminWales fair enough! :)

[@joostheger3923]

Hi Adam! Why have you worked with so many different publishers? Is this on purpose?

[@AdaminWales]

Partially deliberate & partially necessity! I have worked with Brain Games and Happy Puzzle Company on a number of occasions - but my prototypes don’t always fit their brand, or they just don’t fancy making them! So I always cast my net wider. That’s the necessity part, and the reality of being a freelancer. But there are also publishers I want to work with for my own personal satisfaction - I love their games & I want to be part of that family. If you’ve watched my channel, you’ll have an idea of who those companies are! I’m very open about which publishers I admire and whose games I collect. I’m proud to have a game in Helvetiq’s range for example. But I’d love to have a game published by Zoch, or Drei Magier Spiele, or Gamewright, or Amigo… and so many others. There isn’t much money in board game design - unless you have a huge amount of time and focus to put into it (and a lot of luck). So the satisfaction for me comes from achieving diverse goals along the way: win an award; achieve better sales than I’ve achieved before; a collaboration with a respected designer; a game my friends and family love; a game from a publisher I adore; a game with illustrations by an artist I admire etc.

[@joostheger3923]

@@AdaminWales :-) Thank you. Its great to see with what passion you may fulfill your calling. I just have to much responsibilities in live and cannot afford to become a fulltime designer. So I decided to take it slow, and make the design-process more as a hobby. Maybe some day...

[@TheMeanConservative]

why can't you use kickstarter and a publisher?

[@AdaminWales]

Publishers can produce a game by whatever route they prefer - many do use Kickstarter. But it you pass a game onto a publisher and they use Kickstarter, you have still licensed it to them with all the same pros and cons. Alternatively, you could run a Kickstarter / self publish, THEN try to license to a publisher for future print runs. There are plenty of examples of this happening. But I think it’s risky to count on this approach because publishers might be reluctant to take on your game if it’s already been revealed to the world, impacting on their ability to market it in the way that they’d prefer. Either route is possible though.

[@TheMeanConservative]

@@AdaminWales that makes sense, thanks!

[@foyoGames]

How many games are u working on now?

[@AdaminWales]

I have 6 which are pretty much ready to pitch, though I probably won’t get a proper chance until October 2023 (Essen Spiel) And another 2 which have been on hold for a while, but I need to revisit because they were close to being ready. I have many, many more prototypes on hold - at various stages of development. And 2 games licensed to publishers, waiting to be released.

[@foyoGames]

@@AdaminWales That's a nice bunch! A whole year, dang. So us Americans have a leg up, being that we have so many Conventions?

[@AdaminWales]

@@foyoGames I guess so. I could visit Nuremburg Toy Fair in late January - lots of pitching opportunity there. And UK Games Expo in the Spring offers up some opportunities too. The Cannes convention in France is very good too I’m told. I just really enjoy Essen, so tend to save stuff up for that one!

[@foyoGames]

@@AdaminWales Gotcha, many oppurtunities across the pond too I see. Now Australia I hear, not too many Cons ...poor Aussies.

[@EnglishDreadnought]

Hi Adam. Are there any opportunities for pitching to publishers online? I live in South Africa and there are zero opportunities for meeting publishers in person at conventions out here. I would need to fly to another continent to do that! I am busy designing a couple of games which I intend to attempt to publish but I had no idea that pitching to publishers at conventions was the primary method of pitching.