Top 10 Kickstarter Red Flags with

[@GameBrigade]

Thank you Alex for inviting me to your channel and an opportunity to share some thoughts on Kickstarters.

[@BoardGameCo]

Absolutely!

[@MarkThould]

As mainly a solo boardgamer a big red flag is the game being promoted as 1- 4 players but the solo mode isn't available yet. Personally I don't particularly care how it plays at multi player count - I have to know how it plays solo!

[@EarthenGames]

I don’t think you guys realize how helpful your videos are for small/ solo game designers. It’s a great framework to understand what consumers are truly looking for with a quality end product, and so many of these nuances you guys mentioned might seem obvious but are forgotten about so often. Thank you BGC and GameBrigade!

[@JohnnyMcNabb63]

Too many expansions.. it makes me think the core game is either missing replay value or missing needed gameplay. It also increases the price which causes it to go above my budget. Also it’s hard for me to want an expansion if I’ve never played the core. Also I hate FOMO.

[@TheCentorus]

My biggest problem with too many expansions is that they arent play tested at all. Best example: Black rose wars. Like 10 stretchgoal Expansions and the cards vary extremely in strength. They only wanted to sell you this game on the many different cards included and most of them are completely unbalanced.

[@ScytheNoire]

Great list. Here's some of mine, which crossover: 1) No third party content/prototype 2) No rulebook 3) Focusing on miniatures/artwork/renders over gameplay 4) Track record, backing and/or making campaigns 5) Too many unfulfilled campaigns 6) Unrealistic funding goals 7) Poor communication 8) Hostility towards backers 9) Too much content (seriously, wait until you release a game and get feedback before doing expansions) 10) No production timeline plan (I want to see your Gantt Chart)

[@Hasmanian]

Minis. If the campaign is focused on how many minis it includes or how good they look painted over how the game plays, it's a big red flag for me. They add to the price and the shipping and the delays but they seldom add to the fun. That's not to say I've never backed a game with minis or that some publishers can't pull off a mini heavy campaign, but a campaign that's focused on the minis is a big warning sign in my eyes.

[@BoardGameCo]

Minis at the exclusion of the rest I agree.

[@SKGuna_writer]

An excellent list from both of you! Thank you for your insights. One red flag of mine, which can be a little tough to weed out, is disingenuous campaigns, i.e., campaigns that give you the overt sense that a game is at 95% ready to go into production but is actually the complete opposite of being only 5% ready for production by the end of the campaign period. I shall not name publishers, but I'm sure many people in the board game crowdfunding community can guess which companies I speak of.

[@dilandoalbatou7522]

Very good list to check on before backing. 🙂 My only additional reason would be: What’s the unique selling point of the game? There are thousands of games each year on crowdfunding and retail. And if I don’t get an idea why this game is worth my attention, then I pass on it. I don’t need another worker placement game or the 100th dungeon crawler just with slightly different art. There should be something special.

[@philthephreak]

Thanks guys, totally agree with these lists and you gave me a few new ones to thinking about. Always looking for more reasons not to back which, let me tell you, are desperately needed in our current environment!

[@ghyslainabel]

When I started backing games in 2017, I liked the idea of exclusive content. A couple of years later, I saw games in store, did some research on them, only to find they exclusive crowd funding content. That meant that I could not play the full game. Now, while I will still back games with exclusive content, I much prefer when the exclusive rewards are alternate arts or deluxe tokens or miniatures, something that does not affect gameplay.

[@BoardGameCo]

I totally get that, exclusive content is a double-edged sword, it gives people a reason to back, but then makes others feel left out.

[@theotakotour]

I feel so seen when you guys talked about how the art of the game matters a lot. That is one of the first things I look for if I'm interested in backing a game. I need great art and table presence. THANK YOU!

[@ylein6508]

Biggest red flag for me is the creator keeps giving excuses for not progressing with the project. Staff issues, no time due to family issues, part time, but then amazingly have time to go for charity fairs and think about doing another game while not completing the current game. Thank God I pledged only $1

[@BoardGameCo]

Sure, but that's post campaign.

[@ylein6508]

@BoardGameCo yes unfortunately quite a few projects were very responsive during campaign but changed 360 degrees after. I am just thankful for $1 pledges

[@kombainasable]

regarding VAT, if it's not mentioned, it's included in the price or they would have problems. they still have to do import taxes, and import VAT and such, they cannot really hide from it (anymore). that case is defined in EU and as far as I am aware any VAT law. it IS a red flag if you are an american, who do not like an idea paying the same amount as everyone else, but for most campaigns US are the minority backers compared to normal VAT practice.

[@chrisfenn5801]

I have to say, the best communication and roll out I've seen has been from Devil Pigs with Heroes of Normandie. Very impressed with their communication and time lines for shipping. They did have a negative turn on them, that has been unfortunate for deliveries in the US.

[@MerrillWhiteKalEl]

Great list! All people that back games need to watch this.

[@BoardGameCo]

Thanks!

[@RBrooksC]

I have to say, after watching this, I feel rather lucky. The four games I have backed on KS have been from first time publishers and, at this point, I have received two of the four. I backed Scarface 1920, Distilled, Deliverance, and Bantam West. It looks like the two I don't have yet will be in my hands in three to four months.

[@markpalardy6336]

Great video guys. Alex, you are excellent at these collaborative videos. I already follow Room & Board and Shelf Clutter thanks to you. Now, I'll have to check out Game Brigade. Thanks!

[@GameBrigade]

Welcome to the community :)

[@BoardGameCo]

Glad you enjoyed!

[@lukewillardson]

A lot of really good points. A lot of the crowdfunding games I backed last year came from reviews from content creators that I watch, which helped in my decision to back. Also I’m on big graphic design/art being well done, professional and polished. If a game looks great, has a great theme, and is usually well liked or talked about by others, that’ll help my decision.

[@nighthunterz00z45]

So cool to see Bryan on some of my other favorite channels!! So Awesome guys!

[@GameBrigade]

Hey buddy 😀

[@JoYavin]

Endless unlockable goals based on backer requests that can't possibly be pretested and will unbalance the game.

[@NickBeenackers]

I never look at a crowdfunding video, because I feel like it never tells me anything ussefull. I always just look for pictures on the page and see if it is appealing in any way through that

[@salsatheone]

Funny how the trading card game is the first thing and coincidence or not... There's a little monster CCG on Kickstarter RIGHT NOW, lol.

[@karkamaal]

Totally agree in the Art requirement, but then there are games like Terraforming Mars, where art is beyond ugly and they are great games

[@BoardGameCo]

100%

[@CheddahSlammer]

This is great, love Game Brigade and Board Game Co. Now we just need you two and King Of Average.

[@BoardGameCo]

I respect a lot of the positives of KOA but I also disagree on certain fundamentals that make any future collabs unlikely.

[@thecuriousboardgamer]

I think there are many more crowdfunding game publishers who are one bad campaign from collapse than people suspect. So one thing I look for that I didn't before is signs that the publisher is kicking the can down the road by using one campaign to fund the final leg of previous campaign(s). The reason this is risky to me is that I have to predict if their *next* campaign is likely to be successful in order to determine if the one I'm looking at is worth backing. Example: I wouldn't be surprised if Tiles of the Arabian Nights and Copan ($300k each), then they would have delivered Rallyman Dirt.

[@Dragonnox]

I read the first part of your comment and thought "yeah just like Holy Grail Games!", then clicked "See More" to discover you'd used that exact example!

[@utahman06]

One of the biggest red flags for me is coded language from the content creator reviewers that show the game might not be good. What do I mean by this? These are a business relationship and content creators (not named King of Average who sometimes might be too honest) almost never will come out and say “I just don’t like this”, so instead they’ll say: “this is the best game [publisher] has ever made!” “I’m sure anyone who loves [IP] would love this!” “If they do what they’ve promised, this will be great!” “This is definitely immersive!” - total lack of commentary on the game itself being good - “wow this GAME is addicting/fun/amazing/pushing my top 100/will replace [similar game] in my collection!”

[@Lindraden]

For me the communication is a huge one. I can think of one publisher that's now on the red flag list as their current 3 have infrequent updates which are basically copy and paste. On top of that one of them is already available at retail while backers haven't even got it yet.

[@DJ-mz7td]

Which game?

[@Lindraden]

@@DJ-mz7td Astro Knights and the other 2 from them that's also fulfilling. The Quality of the updates are just not good. Other publishers share updates for most of the countries. Even though it's not the country I'm in it's still nice to see them. Shows that they care about the backers across the world not just group them in as US, Canada and the rest of the world...

[@EfrainRiveraJunior]

Bryan's #9 is my #1. *Dan and Connie, *Cough! *Chai, *Cough!

[@ylein6508]

Yeah backers were already scolding them for chai but I stupidly got enticed into chai tea for 2..

[@cassiesimpson7754]

Yep, never supporting those guys again

[@EfrainRiveraJunior]

@@ylein6508 - Same here. I backed Tea for 2, even though I heard about Chai.

[@RidiculeTheBoardGamer]

Great video, it make me a more aware backer by watching this. Thank you both 👍

[@mattfikes9680]

With Tiny Ninjas Tournament canceling their campaign for the 2nd time, this time well over the target goal, I have to wonder if that's a red flag, whether about misleading funding targets or something else

[@Freddy_da_fox]

Awesome video, awesome guest!

[@GameBrigade]

Thank you 😃

[@davidmirman6929]

Cool to see you guys together and a good topic for a video.

[@BoardGameCo]

Thanks!

[@raortiz73]

That fastest speaker paired with the slowest. What a juxtaposition. Lol. Great video.

[@BoardGameCo]

lol

[@successfulgeek]

So cool to see Alex hosting one of my favorite creators on his channel!

[@BoardGameCo]

:)

[@carrickrichards2457]

There are some crowdfund projects where the 'Core' game costs more (some more than double) than the exact same game, retailed at the same time. eg. It's a Wonderful Kingdom (Laboitdejeu) or small differences eg. Stroganov (Game Brewer). Of course tax and shipping has been crazy.

[@CH-fp6gj]

The Cyclades new edition art is apparently being done by the original game’s artist. Maybe they will update it, people have been vocal about it

[@utahman06]

I love Game Brigade. Thanks for bringing him in.

[@BoardGameCo]

He's greater :)

[@GameBrigade]

Thank you Utahman

[@larrye]

I just thought of one that correlates to what you said previewers. If a campaign has too many third-party reviews or certain reviewers that I don't trust to give honest opinions, that is a red flag. There are also content creators that have been very toxic in the board game community. I steer clear of any project that supports them and gives them money.

[@Jamehz]

Expansions announced/included before the base game is even released in full. Expansions not only add to a game, they often fix flaws revealed by a few months of player feedback. How do they know that an expansion they've planned out will actually improve the game? Gamer feedback matters. It's almost like a video game's DLC included on the original game disc - can be seen as a money grab when some of this content should have been included in the first place.

[@gradybolte8077]

Loved this video and really appreciated both of your perspectives on this topic. I love the collaborations you do with other content creators as it helps me get exposed to more awesome people in this hobby! I'll definitely be checking out Bryan's channel. Alex, this is somewhat related. to your #9: do you have any thoughts on the current state of the Legend Academy campaign/El Dorado Games in general? I'm very excited for it, and I know you really enjoyed it in your review. I kind of forgot about it for a while, and just looked it up to see the state of the project. I am pretty surprised to see how many people are unhappy with El Dorado Games. I know you don't like stirring up/contributing to drama, but I am curious of your opinion. If El Dorado were to launch a new campaign today would they be a publisher you are wary of based on your #9 criteria or do you think they have enough going for them that wouldn't cause concern for you? This is assuming this hypothetical game looked great of course.

[@GameBrigade]

Thank you for checking out the channel!

[@UKDagnar]

Bryan's number 10 is tenuously related to why I sold Dark Tower, an amazing game but one day that tower is going to stop working and I'd rather move it on (for a considerable profit) whilst it's still a hot game than keep it and eventually have to put it in the bin.

[@GameBrigade]

smart move imo. Enjoy the game now and get a great return while it still has that value.

[@JJ_TheGreat]

Excellent video! Need more collaboration videos with Bryan! 😀

[@BoardGameCo]

He's great :)

[@LootShaman]

Sending ❤️ the game will not be the same without you guys.

[@BoardGameCo]

Wait, who's going away!

[@LootShaman]

@@BoardGameCo ohhh no. Sorry for the bad wordings. Second language right. So I should have wrote : the game could not be the same without you guys. Can't wait for you to taste what I've been cooking. Still in the oven...Get hype. ;)

[@jasons.9389]

I never comment on these videos, but this one was great. Thank you!!!

[@BoardGameCo]

Glad you enjoyed it :)

[@xxSydneyFox]

I always come to you to get an idea if i should back a game!

[@nighthunterz00z45]

You heard it from Alex first!! The Cartels like Board Game kickstarters. 😅

[@ScytheNoire]

Only a few publishers can take an okay game and make it great. Roxley and Restoration are two of those.

[@BoardGameCo]

Agreed they have the potential for it

[@Twineandribbon]

Yay! Great cross over!

[@JasonBrown-us9yv]

My biggest one is no game play content

[@BoardGameCo]

Totally respect that

[@jeffharned3905]

Awesome video!! Hope it makes an impact that makes great games

[@BoardGameCo]

That would be great :)

[@RocketMagnetUK]

Excessive expansion content. Excessive FOMO content. Apparently unrealistic low cost Vs content/shipping. If it looks to good a deal it probably is and you'll either end up paying more later or the project could fold.

[@alisonwyllie6229]

My must have on a campaign os a playrhrough video. Whether by the creators or 3rd party. I need to see the game in action so I can judge for myself if it will suit me. Sure I take reviewers opinions onboard, but trust myself to tell if its for me or not.

[@charlesbarthel4329]

Number 2 is definitely a big one for me. The campaign page is obviously designed to highlight just the good. I want to hear the good and the bad (plus the what others might not like section you put in). If I find no reviews or gameplay at the bottom of the page I assume the gameplay is bad to the point that even positive leaning content creators can't make it look good, or your project is still in such an early form that it shouldn't be at kickstarting phase yet.

[@utahman06]

The latest Tainted Grail is an amazing example of this. Somewhere (FAQ?) they flat out say “if you hated the last Tainted Grail for X, Y, or Z reasons, we’d recommend skipping this one”

[@matthendrickson5992]

IP games make me pause to be sure im buying a good game rather than an overlay and or minis that i like. Great job guys 🐺

[@TheDukeOfFall]

Great video!

[@chrisedwards6573]

Biggest red flag: If it seems like content creators are being paid to influence me to back it. If your game needs to pay someone to tell me it's good, it's probably not that good and certainly not worth my money.

[@GameBrigade]

interesting take. I like having a 3rd party give me their impression on a game, but I can agree that you need to understand that there is a relationship of some sort with the reviewers and the publishers.

[@JM32JM32]

That's... Nearly all Kickstarter games, so this seems like general curmudgeon-ism

[@BoardGameCo]

That's such a wrong take on so many levels. Your implication, is that anyone who ever advertises, is promoting a bad product. Every single thing you love and think well of has had someone try to advertise it, your statement is factually untrue even by your own standards.

[@JM32JM32]

Chris, show me a board game you love and I'm pretty sure I can find somewhere where it was advertised for money. Content creators if anything have more skin in the game to do work on games that pass a certain bar of quality than the Fiverr equivalent of Don Draper that one might otherwise hire

[@chrisedwards6573]

@@BoardGameCo to me that makes you not a third party, just the marketing arm pretending to be a third party. Though I should say as long as the relationship is understood I think it's okay. I'm looking to understand the bias; do they actually like it, or are they just being paid to tell me they do?

[@ketami2]

I think I have about 10 more games that I'm gonna be getting through crowdfunding, and then I think I'm gonna stick with only retail. It just makes more sense, unless it's my favorite game of all time getting a deluxe reprint by a company I know is legit. I blame the witcher old world for getting me to pull the trigger on crowdfunding....😅

[@caseymckay5660]

If the game is nothing more than "this game with a different coat of paint". I don't want to back an area control game (which is a favorite mechanism of mine) if it doesn't give me at least some difference between it and every other area control game.

[@JJ_TheGreat]

So true. I personally thought that The Curse of Candelabria is different - because of the theme. I just wish I knew more about the game itself. I didn't see too many content creators talking about it.

[@pogdog69]

Great to have Brian on he is so great!

[@GameBrigade]

Thank you Evan😊

[@andrewclifton1233]

App integration inherently puts a lifespan on your board game. This could be mitigated if developers allow for the community to maintain it when it isn't financially viable for the original team. This rarely happens though

[@caseymckay5660]

Speaking of Hel and Mythic Games as a whole.. how do you guys feel about the long delays with Monsterpocalypse and Hel: The Last Saga?

[@GameBrigade]

I think Mythic has shifted a lot on what Hel is and the game we were sold originally will probably be very different than where it is now. But I really don't know because they haven't really shared much of their development stage. I trust they are working through it and I hope that mythic is doing the proper testing to make the game complete.

[@speedandstyletony]

I avoided backing Mosterpocalypse because of Mythic's bad rep of long delays, and that was way before their complete crash.

[@cassiesimpson7754]

I backed Hel too. I just hope it shows up eventually, it was expensive

[@Tharukan]

@Bryan With Cyclades, I would not classify it as bad art at all. Does not mean you have to like it, but I think you just don't love the less serious style of art and the motive, the design of the hydra. But it is "objectively" competently made in terms of craftsmanship. I'm pretty sure what Alex was talking about was bad art in terms of craftsmanship, like wrong perspective, proportions (not exaggerated, like the hydra, but wrong as in going for realism but failing), bad coverage etc., and not "art you think looks silly because of the motive".

[@terry3733H]

Upcoming games that blast multiple ads online gives me impression they HAVE $ to produce the game... they're not small publishers with new ideas who need KS support... giving $ interest-free for 1.5yrs to a publisher: either products are worth the support / wait / deluxe version otherwise it's just $ grab hype 😑

[@maxf.7262]

ty for this video!

[@BoardGameCo]

Absolutely :)

[@CheddahSlammer]

Kind of disagree with Alex's Number 5, The Giff's for me don't really pull me in. Ive had several campaigns were they just give the basics of the game in Giff's or on the campaign page, but we you get the game it works completely different of those. At a certain point I skip over all that and go straight for looking for a rule book. Stellaris Infinite Legacy is good example of this, game had basic info on how it played on the campaign page, but if you go in the rulebook the game played entirely differently

[@joshmouland1116]

Based on this show I'd be keen to know what Alex's best underrated games are (ie difference between Alex's ranking and bgg ranking)

[@BoardGameCo]

I did a full video on this! Google BoardGameCo underrated games :)

[@bearhustler]

I do sort of agree about art, I think bad art is almost unforgivable but then some incredible games have truly *terrible* art.

[@BoardGameCo]

Yep :)

[@cfosburg]

12:45 #9 (Alex)- Does Lazy Squire Games fit this category 🤨

[@BoardGameCo]

They have Wild Assent delivered correct? That said, Lazy Squire is definitely a company I would think staying away from is safer....meaning on a scale where 10 is the safest and 1 is the riskiest....Lazy Squire might be a 6 or 7...I love their game....but their track record so far isn't the best. More delays than failure but still.

[@cfosburg]

@@BoardGameCo Agreed - but I’m fully confident they will deliver…eventually 😏. YOU finally pushed me over the edge to back Wild Assent…so it’s your fault if I don’t like it 😆

[@icebergzero]

Does it say Mythic Games in "Created by" box

[@ericmanrique772]

I believe that a game that relies on an app exclusively, is not reliable. I purchased many apps that did not follow OS revision updates and i ended up loosing them because they where no longuer fonctional…. If a game like the Nee Descent in to the dark, that is only app driven and does not seem to have the means to play without the app. What garanties are there the the app will be updated for the next several years and how many years will they do so?

[@xxSydneyFox]

This was the reason I got rid of mansions of madness. Although a very popular game from a solid publisher, in the back of my mind I always kept wondering how can I play it if the app doesn't get updated in the future. You just never know!

[@jparish1987]

Midgard was a 6.6 then they did Blood Rage.

[@jeffharned3905]

App that works with apples and not android

[@BoardGameCo]

Interesting segmentation :)

[@EfrainRiveraJunior]

I don't respect or use BGG's ratings to influence my decisions in any way or form.

[@andrewclifton1233]

I agree. BGG's ratings are a popularity contest now. There is sometimes correlation between popularity and my enjoyment, but I rely on video play throughs and digital implementations to evaluate games.

[@LordCyler]

Have to disagree that a blank slate is more likely to be funded or well recieved than a reprint of a 6.7. There are 6.7ish rated games in my top 10. Not only that, the sheer failure rate and number of bad games FAR outpace mid-tier games. By a large amount. Further, a 6.7 could have easily been that way due to bad production, bad art, but great bones. Some people can't get past cheap tokens. These games can easily justify a reprint, whereas a 9 out of 10 likely wouldn't have these sort of issues to justify a face lift reprint.

[@calevenice]

#1: It's produced by CMON 😂

[@BoardGameCo]

I mean...some of my favorite games are done by CMON...that's nearly an instaback for me.

[@realarete9544]

Has the Letters CMON before it? Lmao ... great video guys.

[@paulb2474]

Honestly Im surprised you guys didn't mention, multiple campaigns undelivered. Thats a huge red flag for me now. Thanks blacklist and Mythic, lol.

[@walkingtheland1]

For me, I won't back even with only one unfulfilled campaign (with the exceptions of CMON and Awaken Realms).

[@paulb2474]

@@walkingtheland1 Yes It took me losing a lot of money with Mythic to learn that lesson.

[@JJ_TheGreat]

9:34 Maybe they think they can improve the game?!

[@marcoross3040]

Hel I am suffering it so much still.

[@bryanwinston8820]

Hmmmm, I'd start with if the campaign has no real pictures of the game/components. I'm never backing one of those.

[@dcrbdh]

Bad art - Trinity of Reign from last year. RE: Cyclades Legendary edition not bad art. Maybe not to your taste, but not bad art.

[@BoardGameCo]

Agreed completely...although it's also still inherently subjective :)

[@nirszi]

Every company did app based for the first time at some point in their history. Same with first time creators. Red flag? Maybe. Do your research.

[@wdvorak]

Bad Art ... obvious photoshop stock images, at low quality, poorly cropped, with disjunct between images. My Red Flag ... unrealistic expectation of delivery. Now 3 years after covid hit, publishers should know that their big box production that is still in development is not going to fulfill in 8 months. Lining up a ship out of wherever is going to take 4 months. Your not the only people in the queue -- your printing job is X in line and that won't happen for another 4 months, depending on how all of the printing checks need to happen before full print. And, there's assembly, and packing, and getting the product to the ship, and lining up distribution, etc. etc. etc. (And your game still needs to be play-tested? Get real!)

[@BoardGameCo]

Agreed on unrealistic expecations for sure.

[@Ahatch0788]

All Play remakes mediocre games and make them relevant, so 10 not a redflag for me

[@stickandmud]

Number 1 red flag for me: Bad art

[@harmarize]

I find #3 for alex a bit ironic considering he works for awaken relams with their fake funding goals, but they know they gonna get a mil for it so eh.

[@GameBrigade]

in Alex's defense, he works for Game Found, which isnt the same as working for the publisher Awaken Realms. They might be under the same ownership, but two different companies.

[@BoardGameCo]

Firstly, would you rather I say what I believe or not? Meaning some people get flack for not ever wanting to engage in disagreement with the companies they work for...but it sounds like you're giving me flack for the reverse? Secondly, it's really immaterial since it's a completely different situation. My concern is when a company doesn't hae enough funding to make the game...that's never remotely the situation for Awaken Realms. And thirdly, as Brian said...I don't work for Awaken Realms :)

[@harmarize]

@@BoardGameCo Sorry I realized it didnt come off the way I intended, I did not mean to offend, I justr thought it was kinda funny. I know it isnt you making the decisions

[@nerdsomnia]

Subjectively think is objectively bad is a non sentence. You just think it's bad art. I think you can honestly acknowledge that it's a subjective opinion, but is okay to think that a Kickstarter's art seem to be commissioned to a 13-year old on deviantart.

[@Kelfecil]

"First time creators". You clearly do not fully grasp the idea of Kickstarter if you really put that there as a "red flag". While I agree with some new creators not having the confidence to make certain things happen, communicate or do certain things the way a more experienced creator would, crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter are literally there for creators to be able to present ideas that they want to see if the world would be willing to help them fund and later create. If you are going to make a video about "red flags" then I would be very careful not to make such mistakes because that is a terrible case of misinformation and a lot of people who are not very aware of how crowdfunding works (and maybe have never even backed something before) will be very afraid to support new creators for example just because of what you said. There are a few other things there that clearly show that you are looking at this whole thing from a very biased perspective that is not very helpful for people that do not know what crowdfunding is. I would go as far as to say that this is a bad influence even for people that have some experience with backing projects. EDIT: Watched those parts again to make sure I got the message right and I can indeed say that they really are comments from customers that have a very privileged perspective on the matter of Crowdfunding. App Integration: Seeing that a game requires an app is not a red flag. It's a red flag when there is no proof that the app works while the campaign is running. I completely agree that a lot of creators do not know or even understand the development and maintenance costs for an app but if there is already an app that is working just fine, then I don't see how that is a red flag. Creators with 0 Campaigns Backed: Just like my comment about first time creators, this could really go very far. Maybe someone has a separate account for backing projects because they don't want to share what they back on their main account. Maybe the first time creator never had the money to back other projects. You saying what you said basically means that a creator should back 50 projects for 1$ just for the sake of having a good "history" on their KS account, which is just ridiculous. Missing Estimated Timeline: This is yet another thing that shows that you clearly have no idea what goes behind the creation of certain Kickstarter campaigns. Missing the "estimated" timeline in many cases for a lot of companies is usually something that is not even their fault. Kickstarter is not a store but a platform where you are giving the promise to backers who believed in your project enough to help you fund it. That promise comes in the forms of goods that are delivered in return for a certain pledge. As long as there is good enough communication, even if there are missed "timelines", then it shouldn't be a "red flag". If there are missed timelines over 10 projects that a creator has ran, then yes, it is for a sure a red flag because that creator/company clearly keeps miscalculating the timeline (which, even then, it is in my opinion not that big of a deal as long as there is constant communication about the situation). No 3rd Party Content: I have backed quite a few Kickstarter games that had 3rd party content without ever even touching those. I prefer to read the rulebook and go with the information provided on there. There are a lot of people like myself who do not care about reviews from people on the internet. At the same time, there are also a lot of people that care about reviews but might not care about what specific 3rd party content creators have to say. On top of that, a creator might not have the money or the ability (maybe because they live far away from most creators) to send their game to people that will make content with it because most KZbin content creators that you say "oh, we know this person and I would love to see them review it" cost far too much at the moment. KZbin content creators are by far the highest marketing expense for most KS projects at this point in time (not just in board games). On top of that, maybe the creator just does not care as much about sending their game to be reviewed by random people who are not "professionally" involved with them and would rather wait for reviews to come in later. The fact that a creator did not send their game off to BoardGameCo or Quackalope or, or, or, or does not mean that the creator has low confidence in their game. This is a red flag for you maybe because you got used to the idea and the marketing of 3rd party content creators pushing games for you to buy. Not everyone supports Kickstarter and crowdfunding projects this way.

[@ejim941099]

Great…now I gotta flag gamebrigade.

[@BoardGameCo]

Flag?