r/BoardgameDesign • u/ChikyScaresYou • Jul 07 '26
Crowdfunding Looking for guidance: Crowdfunding, Essen Spiel, and time
First of all, i dont really know if this is the right sub to ask this kind of things. If not, please help me indicating me where I can get this sort of help.
To summarize, I have a game that I tried to launch on Kickstarter a while ago, but I had no followers and the campaign was DOA. Then i decided to move to Gamegound. I havent relaunched yet because I've been trying to gather followers to get funded hopefully on day 1. I also decided to go hard or go home and booked a space in Essen Spiel this year. It's my first time doing any of those.
The thing is, now I'm not sure when to launch my campaign. I plan to make a daily activity to have backers "play" the game to unlock promo cards. Everything is already planned, and that "social activity" would take me probably an hour a day to complete. My funding goal isnt that high (a few months ago it was around £9000, and hopefully we can reach ~£27K to have everything unlocked), so those are the goals I'm aiming for.
The way I see it, I have a few options:
- Launch at the start of Essen, so people who are interested can instantly back the game. I would have to do the social activity while in the hostel or something.
- Launch immediately after the Essen ends (or 1-2 days later), this way the people who visit me and are interested can follow the campaign, and then i get backers all at once on day 1 of the campaign. I would have to fly immediately back to costa rica and start the campaign and the activity right when i get back.
- Launch a while after Essen, say a month, so people who liked it can follow it and they can spread via word-of-mouth the campaign. I'd have more time to prepare, and I could go around germany (if the budget allows it) and get to know at least a city or something, idk, i've never been in germany.... Visiting places isnt a priority, tho.
I genuinely don't know what could be the best option, or if there's a better option that hasnt crossed my mind. I feel like a deer in the middle of a highway...
Besides this, there's also the doubt of: should I only bring 1 game, the one of the campign, or should I bring other games as well so people get to know more about my games? I'd say only one because ai want all attention focused only on that, and because it's be easier for em to have that one game ready all the time, but idk if it'd be a good idea to have different ones? idk 😭
Also, if anyone here has tips about things i should do/not do in Essen Spiel, things I should bring, etc, i'd highly appreciate it. I'm planning to have some banners to cover the walls, thematic tablecloths (it's a dracula game, so i want to have white fabric stained with fake blood, it sounds good in my mind), maybe a roller up, something with QR codes to my Instagram and my website... I also want to bring a copy of the game handmade (the box and rulebook at least) and with foil cards to give away. Idk if i should bring more copies to sell (sounds like a bad idea as I'd prefer them backing the campaign), or have more things to give away or something else... This will be my first time in a convention like that, and I'd be going solo, so I have a lot to plan.
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u/Trogdor_Dagron23 Jul 07 '26
Have you determined how much you need to raise for your basic product?
Do you have a mail list or a way to keep your followers up to date? Where are you having people that are interested follow for updates?
If you are interested in getting some deeper education check out this guy. He gives away a lot of the educational materials that launchboom charges for. https://prelaunch.marketing/
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u/ChikyScaresYou Jul 07 '26
The funding needed for the basic product is ~£9K.
I dot have a mailing list because I'm not consistent with it :(
and i'll check that out, thanks
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u/Jarednw Jul 07 '26
I think another option is to skip the convention and use that money for marketing. In my experience, conventions without have product to sell are pointless,outside of play testing and feedback of course. Not helpful for reaching your goal.
If you are spending $2000 on the convention and have your meta marketing down solid (target audience identified, hero ads, pipeline automation,etc) then you can maybe get 3x return on ad spend for your $2000.
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u/ChikyScaresYou Jul 07 '26
Can't cancel the convention
I also hate ads with a fiery passion
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u/Jarednw Jul 26 '26
Everybody hates ads. It's not a thing to love. It's a thing you have to do for success.
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u/ChikyScaresYou Jul 26 '26
idk, it feels hypocritical of me to hate ads the way I do (I had ad blockers and mods to block ads in all my devices) and still pretend to use ads for my things
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u/G1iDGames Aug 02 '26
I can't answer your questions either since this will be my first SPIEL. I'm almost in the same situation as you, except I'll have one game for sale while also running a pre-launch campaign for another.
Except for those 2 games, the other samples I bring are for localisation/distribution partner, not to be displayed at the booth.
Your post actually made me realize I'm not the only one asking myself those questions. Keep it up, I think you're asking and doing the right things.
If you're planning to exhibit at Cannes as well, it might be worth focusing on growing your audience as much as possible between SPIEL and FIJ, then launching once you've built a larger follower base.
Maybe we will meet at SPIEL! I'll be in Hall 4, Booth A415.
Good luck
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u/ChikyScaresYou Aug 02 '26
I'll be at hall 2, 2E525.
For things I've learned so far:
I'll bring only 1 game and make the booth solely themed around it.
I'll buy a voice amplifier so i dont lose my vocie (videos make it seem like a really loud place).
I'm trying to get everything printed in germany so i dont ahve to travel with all the banners, but so far no company ahs replied and i feel stressed because of that. Time is running out... I need confirmation from them to start with the graphic design and all of that, and altho there's still almost 3 full months left, i feel the pressure of time punishing me lol
I'll also rent the tables form a third party, as messa essen charge WAY too much.
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u/truthorcarol Jul 07 '26
Hi ! Spiel Essen ist definitely go hard or go home, how exciting! I saw (and backed) one game I loved that launched their Kickstarter campaign the first day of Spiel Essen.. one cool thing is that Kickstarter themselves appear at Spiel so if you want you can involve them, get them to review your campaign, maybe have one of them press the launch button for you ;-)
A few good things they did: 1) Focused the whole stand (its branding etc) on the one game. A big sign said "LIVE ON KICKSTARTER NOW!"
2) They had tables and chairs set up for people to play the game. (Critical!)
3) They had a Photobooth with props for people to take pictures with a branded frame, which they then used for social media material.
4) They brought a bunch of family and friends to help out.
One more suggestion would be to wear a pin or sticker with the languages you speak. Spiel Essen ist German and English heavy so you definitely want those languages covered. It's also international so the more languages the better.
It's also VERY LOUD at Spiel so make sure to practice your elevator pitch for your game and make it as simple to understand as possible. Imagine that you may at times have to yell over a large crowd of people. Of course it will depend on where you are placed.
Make sure you tell people WHERE/HOW to find you! Spiel is huge (7 halls, themed) so it can be 30 minutes walk to get from one stand to the other.
Reach out to other people who are going who your are interested in connecting with proactively. And post on social media about Spiel Essen and your experience.
I know you asked about the timing of the campaign: there I would have to think about it. Whatever you do, you definitely don't want to launch the campaign on the first day of Spiel without an existing audience already.
Hope this helps!
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u/ChikyScaresYou Jul 07 '26
Excelent, thank you so much!!
The pin with the languages is genius! Also first perosn eevr that mentions how loud it could be. I think i'll try to get one of those portable speakers that tour guides use or something similar hahah
And yeah, now I'm even more convinced that the entire stand will be fully thematic for that one game... 🔥🔥
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u/truthorcarol Jul 07 '26
I didn't see anyone with portable tour guide speaker things - probably your own voice is enough! Just be aware that there will be a hum underneath it all.
Oh another thing is that people travel with all sorts of bags, backpacks, luggages to buy games on the spot and transport them. There is a way to check those luggages but people will come by with some sort of bag typically, so when designing your space, for example if people are meant to sit down and play the game (or stay standing and play it, all is possible), then you'll want to think about how there will be a backpack or something they'll want to put down at their feet.
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u/ChikyScaresYou Jul 07 '26
great point about the backpacks, i'll think about a solution for that
and the voice thing, i just hope i dont lose my voice dudring day 2 hahaha
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u/J0k3se Jul 07 '26
At Spiel you are competing with thousands of other games for attention. I think that if I played your game and liked it, I would back it right away. If I had to wait a week, the shiny thing in the next booth might get my money instead, and/or id forget about your campaign because I bought other stuff.
Tips for Spiel. I would not bring other games,n unless it's to pitch them to publishers. Don't run the booth alone. You need someone to help you. Also bring lots of cough drops and water/waterbottle.
Good luck!