This was a big year for games on Kickstarter!
I’ve been blown away by how crowdfunding has disrupted the gaming industry. In the last few years, $938 million has been pledged to gaming projects.
That’s crazy! What’s more, tabletop games are growing in popularity.
According to Polygon, in 2017, board games received $137 million compared to $101 million in 2016.
This goes to show that tabletop games are seeing significant growth on Kickstarter, but that video games are actually starting to stagnate.
They brought in about the same amount of pledges in 2017 as they did in 2016, about $17 million.
The gaming category is complex. There are so many different types of games including:
Within this broad category, tabletop games are seeing a huge rise in crowdfunding. It’s become normal to fund multiple tabletop games on Kickstarter across a series of projects.
For example, in episode #225 of my podcast, I talked with Philip Reed, the CEO of Steve Jackson games. Their company has launched 16+ crowdfunding projects. The company has also put out the Munchkin board game.
Along with Munchkin-related projects, the team has also created other tabletop games like Ogre Designer’s Edition, which raised $900,000+ and Conspiracy Theory.
They’ve been able to use crowdfunding to connect with their audience, test the waters for new creations, and of course, raise funds for game production.
On episode #197 of my podcast, I spoke with Sandy Peterson, a crowdfunding veteran who has created more than 20 Kickstarter projects.
He has raised money successfully multiple times, including with his big project for Cthulhu Wars which raised $1.4 million.
Peterson Games is another great example of a company that is absolutely killing it when it comes to crowdfunding tabletops.Their project, Planet Apocalypse, raised more than $500,000 on Kickstarter.
They’ve been able to harness the power of the crowd to fuel new game expansions and titles. This has brought them closer with their community, made new game launches more exciting, and brought in revenue for the company.
Lastly, as a final example, in episode #183 of my podcast, I spoke with Bruno Sautter, the co-founder of the massively successful tabletop game, “The 7th Continent.”
His expansion project raised $7 million on Kickstarter and is the third most funded project at the time of writing, right behind Exploding Kittens and Kingdom Death.
These kinds of eyeball-catching numbers are causing more and more tabletop game creators to consider launching a crowdfunding campaign.
According to ICO Partners, at the midway point for 2018, tabletop games raised $80 million at the six month mark. Since the second half of the year is usually a bit weaker for tabletops, this indicates we’re gonna be seeing roughly between $140 – $160 million in funding for the year.
Thomas BIDAUX, the CEO of ICO Partners, writes, “The bubble is not bursting. If anything, there are signs of reaching a stable critical mass for tabletop projects.”
Table Top Games in 2018
We saw a ton of great titles launch this year. Rather than go through all of them, I want to highlight five that stand out to me.
For creators out there, I would use this as a source of inspiration. For others in the industry, these are REAL numbers that indicate tabletop crowdfunding must be taken seriously.
1. Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon
Funding goal: ~$50k
Amount funded: $2,088,047 (so far)
Backers: 19,370 (so far)
Adventure, survival co-op Board Game set in unique grim world inspired by Arthurian Legends. Unforgettable experience for 1-4 players
2. Deep Madness
Funding goal: $50,000
Amount funded: $839,911
Backers: 7,768
A cooperative game of sci-fi survival horror for 1-6 players, inspired by Lovecraft’s work and featuring amazingly detailed miniatures.
3. Unstable Unicorns: Control & Chaos
Funding goal: $50,000
Amount funded: $2,069,100
Backers: 22,860
This is a new version of the game which was originally launched on Kickstarter. Make new friends. Destroy them. Unicorns forever.
4. Street Fighter: The Miniatures Game
Funding goal: $400,000
Amount funded: $2,052,791
Backers: 9,800
Street Fighter®™: The Miniatures Game is an exciting new high quality pre-painted miniatures game!
5. Batman™: Gotham City Chronicles
Funding goal: $500,000 goal
Amount funded: $4,403,197
Backers: 19,303
Fight for Gotham City as the heroes or work alone as the villain in a miniatures boardgame for 2 to 4 players exclusive to Kickstarter.
I think that we’re going to see a lot new great tabletops launched this upcoming year. I hope that some of these stats and projects will serve as inspiration for you if you’re thinking of launching your own.
I put out a podcast every single week going through crowdfunding tips, along with my YouTube channel. I also have a great book called the Kickstarter Launch Formula. I hope that these resources prove to be helpful for you!
