BackerKit will be moderating a panel at GenCon 2016 with game creators who have run successful crowdfunding campaigns. If you’ve ever been curious about what it takes to run a campaign, join us! Attendance is FREE and you can sign up HERE.
In this series, we’ll be profiling some of the game makers who will be speaking on the panel. We’re thrilled to have Adam Poots joining as one of five experts on our Crowdfunding panel at GenCon 2016!
Hi! Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? Who are you and what do you do?
“I am Adam Poots, creator of Kingdom Death. I make board games and miniatures. I love to spend as much time as I can with my wife and my son and I will always have a soft spot for watching my younger brother play frustrating video games.”
With Kingdom Death: Monster, you smashed your original goal of $35k, raising over $2 million (!) – did you ever expect your project to grow to this size? Can you talk a little about what factors you think contributed to the success of your campaign?
“No. It was a very surreal experience! Well beyond my most wild expectations. I think at the time we doubled the current highest board game Kickstarter. We already had a fan base, in fact THEY are the ones that pushed me towards a Kickstarter. Zombicide was the first major runaway hit and both Zombicide and KD share a cooperative gameplay style. Even now all of the very successful board game Kickstarter campaigns are for co-op style games. It was a genre that was all but dead, watching it come back to life with so many different takes on it has been sort of amazing.”
We’ll go into more depth at the panel, but what’s one piece of advice you would give to a game creator who is thinking about crowdfunding for the first time?
“DO NOT COLLECT SHIPPING FUNDS DURING THE CAMPAIGN. CHARGE PEOPLE WHEN YOU ARE READY TO SHIP. We got destroyed by shipping fees. Not only did our content balloon into a utterly massive and heavy collection, shipping fee’s around the world went up tremendously in the 2.5 years it took to get Monster out. If it wasn’t for our strong resin sales, we wouldn’t have made it through.”
Where can people find you at GenCon?
“We are tucked away in one of the furthest corners of the hall! (By request!) We will have some new plastic releases, another addition to our, purely for fun Scifi range and some Core Games that do not have any miniatures. Booth #3003”
What are you most excited about doing/playing/seeing at GenCon this year?
“The team and I have been chatting about giving True Dungeon a go. I still am not 100% clear on what it is exactly.”
Thank you Adam for your awesome insight! Come hear Adam share more crowdfunding tips & tricks at the BackerKit-moderated panel at GenCon! Don’t miss it!
Find Adam & all things Kingdom Death: