Since providing feedback on Kickstarter campaigns is sort of my thing now, here goes:
Screenshots - First of all, the game looks great. Very polished and fleshed out, if not wholly original. You definitely need to show MORE of it, though! Only 4 screenshots, and 2 are pretty much the same thing! No way, man. Show that shit off! Get some characters and/or the player in those shots, too. Especially the one shot of the caravan, which has the UI overlay, has no player and it gives me the impression the world is going to be very empty.
More art! - If the game is about your playerâs character, show him off. Letâs see a beautiful render or hand-crafted drawing of him with that crazy arm. People love Kickstarter games because it makes them feel like theyâre part of the process. So show them your process! Throw in some concept sketches, and show how the game has evolved from nothing into what it currently is. Then talk about what else you want to add. It creates a flow and places your potential backers right in the middle of it.
What makes your game special - Being totally honest, other than the crazy arm, everything else about the story is generic and kind of, well⌠bland. Maybe thatâs not the case, but thatâs how itâs presented. âPersonal struggle. Lots of enemies! Magic⌠Save the world!â has been done a lot. From the video (I watched with sound off, since Iâm at work), it looks like your way of interfacing with the game might be kind of unique. Expand on that. If there are more interesting elements of the story, donât hold back to prevent spoiling things. You need to get people interested NOW.
Right now I feel like your game is âkinda likeâ a few other Iâm a fan of, but if I canât see whatâs special about this one, those games are probably better (AAA studios and such), so why should I spend my time and money on this one? Give people an answer to that question.
Your team - Put some pictures of your team up there with little bios for each one. People (generally) like people. Theyâre helping you make your game, so let them know who theyâre helping. Itâs a small touch, but I think it really helps push a certain type of donor to click that button instead of just adding it to their reminders and eventually forgetting about it.
Promote - Unfortunately, this should have started months before you launched your campaign. Your teamâs first tweet is from a month ago, and you have 8 followers. Facebook is a good bit better at 135, but youâre not posting nearly enough to it. And you should have been informing people about the upcoming Kickstarter a long time ago, in my opinion. The first few days are the most essential part of a campaign. When people see something is popular, it makes them want to be part of it, too. But if they see it sitting there and no oneâs paying it any attention, it suggests to them that they may not even need to bother getting involved either.
At this point, try to fix that by promoting the campaign EVERYWHERE. Any message board related to indie games you can find, contacting gaming publications (large and small, but smaller are more likely to even pay you any mind). This should be your one and only focus for the entire day today, and take up at least half your day for the next month.
Update - Keep it fresh by adding information and any status changes (âHey guys, weâre at 25% funded! Tell your friends!â) and throw more incentives in there. Your rewards are just⌠okay. If you do end up getting close to your goal, add some well-thought stretch goals to incentivize people to keep going.
Itâs going to be an uphill battle for your team, but if you push as hard as you can, you have a fighting chance!