Second times the charm, at least for the board game Amerika. A few months ago, Historical Board Games launch a Kickstarter campaign for its new board game Amerika. While a large number of people backed the project, it fell considerably short of its goal and funding was unsuccessful.
Strengthened by the support of those initial backers, HBG relaunched its campaign with a few changes to its focus. Rather than the typical “fund the game then introduce stretch goals” style that many projects fall on, HSB went a different direction and implemented stretch goals right off the bat. Many of these stretch goals fell below the over campaign’s goal. This was an interesting strategy that really paid off.
For example, the main goal of the campaign was to raise $27,250. But they had stretch goals for as little as $10,000. It was a bold strategy, but it was one that worked out. The campaign eventually ended with $47,936 raised. This was nearly $15,000 more than the first campaign sought.
This type of strategy seems to be something that would be more geared toward an IndieGogo campaign using flexible funding. However, it does make some sense. It provides a smaller goal that fans and backers can work toward that in the end helps reach the primary goal. It also allows the campaign creator the ability to highlight key features that might get lost in the overall pitch.
I don’t know if I would recommend that all campaigns do this. I have certainly expressed that stretch goals may be more trouble than they are worth. This strategy certainly worked for HBG, but even normal stretch goals have caused headaches for other campaigns. Having below the goal stretch goals could exacerbate that problem if not designed carefully. So I would recommend extreme caution and careful planning before attempting this.
Either way, we are really excited for HBG and look forward to seeing Amerika completed and in the hands of backers. These guys certainly seem to know what they are doing.
