Tag Archives: Card Games

Cards

Moving Forward With The Card Game

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I am ramping up to do the Kickstarter for my card game in May, 2021. The plan is for fulfillment by November, 2021. (I don’t want it interfering with my busy time of year at the day job.)

Plans were in place to do it in 2020, but 2020 threw the world a curveball, and then I had a diagnosis of prostate cancer. Cancer is an attention whore, so all my plans unraveled.

I had that sucker cut out, and so far the first blood test is clear, my next one is in a month, another in June, and the final in September. If they’re all clear, I’m done, no radiation or chemo needed.

My artist is working on the new art. The base deck will be the original public domain art that others have seen at the various conventions I’ve demoed and play tested it.

The rules are down to one US Letter size page.

I printed a test deck last spring, and had the icons way too small. So I’ll be correcting that.

My plan is to have a sample deck ready for those who indicated they’d plug the KS when the time comes. I want you to have time to play it before you plug it.

The public domain art version will be on DriveThruCards [Affiliate Link]. The commissioned art will be Kickstarter backers only – unless a stretch goal is met. (I reserve the right to use the art I purchased full rights to for other projects.)

If you want an email when the KS launches, join the KS announcement only mailing list here: https://followmeanddie.com/sign-up-for-kickstarter-updates/

Help

I put out a request on Twitter and other social media for information on Backerkit or similar service.

Cards

Prepping A Card Game To Order Sample Deck

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For the past couple of weeks I have been working on building the deck for my card game to order play test deck number four.

I have icons that a play tester from Gary Con 11 made for me that I wanted added to the cards to see how they look. I also wanted to add new text to some cards to clarify how they work or to give them additional functions that are still within the card’s scope.

Now that I’ve finally built the 4th play test deck of my card game and ordered it from both GameCrafter and DriveThru Cards [Affiliate Link], I wanted to share some of what I’ve learned. I tried doing that via live streaming on Twitch the other night, but I made some minor missteps and it was not as helpful as I intended. I will be making a YouTube video showing all these steps once I get the time to do that. In the meantime, here is a blog post with a companion podcast episode going over my experience and take-aways.

NOTE: I will be sharing a sample Affinity Publisher template on DriveThru RPG [Affiliate Link] for those wanting to create their own card decks and games. I’ll include a PDF with some of my processes.

Ordering The Decks

I’ve used GameCrafter for all the prior play test decks. It is easy to use, you just upload images in either PNG or JPEG format. First you upload the back. If all cards have the same back, then there is only one image needed. If there are multiple backs, then you need to follow the naming convention they suggest for your files so it all makes sense once it is uploaded. Then you upload the images for the fronts. Finally, you specify the number of cards if any should be multiples.

There is a proofing option that requires you to verify each card. Then you finalize the deck and can order it.

GameCrafter also has templates for the card boxes and recommends a size of box based on the number of cards in your deck. I have not built a box, since I’m still play testing. So that will be a topic for another day.

DriveThru Cards [Affiliate Link] has a similar process of uploading the image for the back(s) and then the fronts. Their naming convention to handle multiple backs is to have a back for each card with back001 to go with front001, etc. While I have multiple backs for my cards that have rules and other explanatory information, I did not do multiple backs for either order to keep it simple.

DriveThru Cards [Affiliate Link] suggested I buy their large deck box [ Affiliate Link ] that is a flat $1.00. I have one that I use for the 3rd playtest deck from GameCrafter, and I ordered one with the 4th playtest deck I ordered from DriveThru Cards. I like this box, my deck just fits. It is 130 cards and the box is rated for 120 cards. I like this because it means I don’t need to design a box. While DriveThru Cards does print tuck boxes, they are limited to 120 cards. While 130 cards will work in their large plastic deck box, I’m not certain it would fit in the 120 tuck box.

DriveThru Cards has a getting started page [Affiliate Link] that explains what they can do. NOTE: They only offer a PDF of the rules books and don’t offer that as a print option. They suggest putting the rules on a card, such as the front & back.

The big difference with DriveThru Cards [Affiliate Link] is that once you have all the images validated, the site builds a PDF of your deck in the form it needs to be if you build and upload a PDF according to the specs. Based on how long it took to create the PDF and have it available so I could order it, it may be faster to build the PDF and upload it. NOTE: With the PDF upload, it works the same way as uploading a PDF for a PDF only or POD product. My upload failed, and I’m not sure why. I’ll have to do some checking to figure it out.

I ran into issues with my first attempt to build a PDF to upload into DriveThru Cards [Affiliate Link] . It was through my ignorance of the process and I will be making a template and a YouTube video to explain what I’ve learned and what works for me.

The biggest differences between GameCrafter and DriveThru Cards [Affiliate Link] the image sizes are identical 825 pixels x 1125 pixels, but GameCrafter wants the images in RGB and DriveThruCards wants images in CMYK. GameCrafters estimated 3-1/2 weeks for production, but DriveThru Cards is a flat 2 weeks. GameCrafter has an option to expedite production, which is basically doubles the cost. DriveThru Cards does not have that option. Shipping options vary a bit, but one tier up from the cheapest shipping option is about the same. GameCrafter does not appear to have a limit on deck size. DriveThru Cards has a maximum deck size of 130 cards. GameCrafter is more expensive for a single deck and one has to sell a lot to get the deck cost down to the cost it takes me to get a deck to review.

Both have a volume discount. For DriveThru Cards all decks have to be shipped to a single destination.

The only thing I don’t know is quality differences. I might get the DriveThru Cards deck prior to GaryCon. I know that GameCrafters has a good quality card. If DriveThru Cards are a good quality I will use them to fulfill my Kickstarter. DriveThru Cards should have printers in other countries like they do for DriveThru RPG [Affiliate Link], so it should make shipping affordable and save on that headache. NOTE: Someone, not staff, answered my query on the DriveThruDiscord that cards are currently only printed in the U.S. I’m waiting for a link to a page that says this explicitly, as it’s not in the FAQ and so far I haven’t found it. I’ll post a link to that if such exists. That’s a major bummer, as I was hoping it would solve that issue.

I Found It (Not The Answer I Wanted)

Q: Who prints my cards?

We have partnered with On Demand Technologies, Inc. (ODT), an industry leader in digital printing and a premier print-on-demand company. When customers order print titles on our site, we transmit the order electronically to ODT’s print facility in Kansas City, where the order is printed, packed, and shipped.

https://onebookshelfpublisherservice.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/227867647-Card-Printing-The-Basics

I grew up near Kansas City, Missouri, so I googled and ODT is based in Shawnee, Kansas. That’s southeast of Kansas City. One major problem that I thought I had solved. This answer really ought to be on the FAQ page on DriveThruCards and NOT on a separate OBS (OneBookShelf page).

My Experience So Far

The biggest things I’ve learned is that one should plan out some things for their deck that one may not think about – I know I didn’t – before diving in and making a deck for Print On Demand (POD).

My Hard Won Checklist

  • Figure out how many unique card faces you need.
  • Figure out how many backs you need.
    • For example, a rules card with the rules on both sides to avoid micro print.
  • Determine the card order in the (freshly) printed deck.
    • For example a standard poker deck is Ace, the number cards in ascending order, jack, queen, king for each of the four suits in suit order: spades, diamonds, clubs, hearts. The Ace of Spades it the first card.
  • Make a list of all of this stuff in a spreadsheet with a column to track the BACK, Count, and FACE of each card.
    • This is useful in verifying that you have the correct number of each card. My first attempt to order the 3rd play test deck from GameCrafters was short, because I put in the wrong count for several cards and had to order another deck with the right count.
  • If your game involves text on the cards, have a spreadsheet or worksheet in a common spreadsheet with the name of each card and the text on each card.
  • Use a graphics program like Gimp (free) to prepare images. If using Public Domain art, clean it up and get it in the right ratio of dimensions. If buying art, have the artist(s) create it in the right ratios to fit. The final “safe” space is 2.5″ x 3.5″ 2.5 / 3.5 = so the width should be 71.429% of the height so that it will scale properly.
    • While the card template calls for 2.75″ x 3.75″ 1/8″ (0.125″) is the bleed. Another 1/8″ (0.125″) on all sides are the margins.
    • All critical text and images have to be inside the margins
    • Trimming 1/8″ on all sides reduces the card by 1/4″ to 2.5″ x 3.75″.
    • If using free art, be sure to lock the aspect ratio to avoid skewing the image, unless that’s what you want.
    • Put a border around it that covers the bleed and the margin so you know how much space you have.
    • I used Gimp to make the images for the front & backs of cards in my third play test deck.
  • Use Inkscape (free) to make vector graphics for icons you may use on your cards, like spades, diamonds, clubs, & hearts, and the Numbers. Save them in SVG format so that they are legible when resizing.
  • Use Affinity Publisher (c. $50.00) to make the deck. This allows you to make a master page with the card layout you need. You can use one for the most common back and use it as the master page for all the odd pages. Duplicate the master page for the backs before you add the image for the backs to it. This assumes you have created two pages for each card, the odd number page is the back and the even numbered are the front. Plan the layout on each master page where any icons will go, where numbers, text and other elements will go. Set the Font for the document.
    • I found if you don’t create a page for all the cards in the deck first, it is a pain to add them in later.
    • Understand how the layers and other features work to get the main image to the back and the text and icons over the image. There are lots of video tutorials on the Affinity site.
  • Use the list of the card order to put the art and assets on each card.
  • Copy & paste the text for each card from the spreadsheet. Set the spreadsheet to use the desired font for the cards and it will save any possible fiddling with fonts in Affinity Publisher.
  • Once each card has a back (odd pages) and a front (even pages) save it as a PDF with the specs from DriveThru Cards [Affiliate Link] . Review the PDF vs. the spreadsheet with the order and count of each card.
    • What I like most about Affinity Publisher is that one simple change on the master page updates all the pages based on that master page.

ORGANIZE!

  • Have art assets in one folder. You might have subfolders for different categories to minimize traversing the directory structure. For example, one director for icons & another for face images.
  • Have a consistent naming convention for each file so you know what it is from the file name, or change the display of the file to medium or large so you can make out the image.
  • Have all art for faces in the proper size ratio to avoid fiddling with it in Affinity Publisher when placing it.
    • Figure out your layout in Affinity Publisher for things that are common to all cards, groups of cards, or unique cards.
    • Save your Affinity file as an Affinity Template.
    • Save your file often.
    • Export to PDF often to check how it looks.
    • Get someone else to look at it and catch the simple things you missed, like leaving off a number or a typo. Copy & pasting from a spellchecked and proofread spreadsheet helps avoid this. Always copy paste, don’t re-type. [I hate having to re-type something that I know exists in electronic format. copy & paste avoids so many errors. Paste it into Notepad or other plain test editor removes fancy formatting to get the raw text so you don’t have to fight with formatting it.]
    • Order a preview and go over it with a fine toothed comb to spot any layout or other issues. Get others to review it too.
    • Take your time and know that EVERY SINGLE STEP of getting to the point of clicking confirm on the purchase of a deck will take longer than you think.
  • Don’t be afraid to start from scratch with a new layout if you are having speed issues or other problems. Sometimes starting over is the quickest and easiest way forward. That is what I have found. I get faster every time I start a new file in Affinity Publisher from scratch.

What I did for the current play test decks I ordered.

What I don’t yet know:

  • I don’t know if the speed issues I found in my first file from which I created all the images used to order the test decks will be resolved by full layout in a new file. However, I suspect that it will.
  • That is something I plan to do AFTER I determine if the PDF I made in the format DriveThru Cards [Affiliate Link] wants will upload without issues. If it does, I will definitely be working on a new Affinity Publisher file with all the layout.
RPGs

IP, The OGL, & Game Publishing

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PREFACE

IANAL – I Am NOT A Lawyer. This means do your own research and consult your own attorney(s). This is my notes on the topic that I thought others would find helpful. I welcome constructive criticism. That is, if you tell me I am wrong, please give a source citation, with a link to this information. NOTE: I am a citizen and resident of the USA, so the following primarily concerns U.S. Law. Those in other countries will need to research the rules for your country.

I had to do research for releasing my own PDFs on DriveThruRPG [Affiliate Link] and for figuring out what I needed to do for eventually publishing my card game. (You can sign up for the Kickstarter announcement email list here. It will only alert to the Kickstarter launch.)

RECOMMENDATIONS

I suggest you check out the following two resources:

Matt Finch’s YT Playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLptTCxApuRIgObYc2zwMqwLa5WNFJl224

Frylocks Copyright of Statblocks Series:
Part 1: Copyrightability of #RPG Stat Blocks #DnD #copyright #iplaw
https://gsllc.wordpress.com/2019/08/12/part1statblocks/

Part 2: Copyrightability of #RPG Abilities and Spells #DnD #copyright #iplaw
https://gsllc.wordpress.com/2019/08/19/part2abilitiesspells/

Part 3: The Damage Done by the Otherwise Ineffectual Open Gaming License #DnD #copyright #iplaw #ogl
https://gsllc.wordpress.com/2019/08/26/part3ogl/

Part 3.5: A Mild Retraction That Makes Matters Worse for #WotC #DnD #copyright #iplaw #ogl
https://gsllc.wordpress.com/2019/08/28/part35retraction/

Part 4: FAQ/FRI #DnD #copyright #iplaw #ogl
https://gsllc.wordpress.com/2019/09/02/part-4-faq-fri-dnd-copyright-iplaw-ogl/

3 parts of IP (Intellectual Property)

It is very important to understand the differences between these three things as they are often confused, especially when they are all discussed in the same article.

  • Patent
  • Trademark
  • Copyright

PATENT:

Expires in 14 years for a design patent and 20 years for a utility patent . Can only be renewed by an act of Congress in the U.S. Apply for them here. There is a fee that varies on the exact type of patent.

Game mechanics are extremely hard to Patent.

WOTC had a patent on “Tapping A Card” for Magic The Gathering, which is now expired.

A patent application is very complex. I would not attempt one without a lawyer.

TRADEMARK:

In addition to Federal trademarks, which you can apply for here, each of the 50 states have their own trademark laws. There is a fee to register and depending on specifics Federal Trademarks are renewed every 5 or 10 years. A defacto trademark exists without registering it, but someone else can then register for a trademark and most likely own the trademark. Thus a registered trademark (R) or ® offers more protection than an unregistered trademark ™. This is so complex, you definitely want a lawyer’s help.

An example of trademarks are company names and names of products. For example, Wizards of the Coast (WOTC) and Dungeons & Dragons. Variations of the names may also be copyrighted, such as WOTC and D&D.

If a trademark is not renewed, then others may claim it. For example, WOTC let the trademark for TSR lapse. TSR was the company that released the original D&D and variants prior to being acquired by WOTC. Since the trademark to the name of the historic company was not renewed, a new company registered that trademark, so there is a living company, TSR, that published the former Gygax Magazine, has a podcast network, and a blog. [I write for Multiverse.world.]

Game trademarks have expired and been claimed by others. For example, Top Secret. The new TSR has a new version of Top Secret by the original author, Merle Rasmussen. NOTE: that while the trademark allows use of the name of the original game, the copyright for Top Secret‘s original rules is still held by WOTC.

In the case of some games, WOTC let the trademark lapse and allowed the original authors to reclaim their rights to the copyright. Examples are Metamorphosis Alpha [Affiliate Link], which is why Jim Ward can have multiple companies with various Kickstarters, and why the format of the original rules with the name of Jim’s company is available on DTRPG.

Rick Krebs, the original author of Gangbusters recovered his rights to the name, but WOTC must retain rights to the copyright of the original rules, or Mr. Krebs did not re-release them. Mark Hunt acquired the trademark to Gangbusters [Affiliate Link] and a license from Rick Krebs to re-do Gangbusters.

COPYRIGHT:

The words one publishes, such as books. It is a limited monopoly to exploit all the rights to an individual work. Current copyright law does not require official registration for a copyright to be in effect. As long as one adds (c) or © and the year, in the U.S. it is copyrighted. NOTE: Registering a copyright has a small fee and gives the owner more easily defensible rights. I have not yet registered a copyright, but as I understand it, the process is easy enough that most are able to do it without a lawyer. Obviously, if you can’t make sense of the forms, hire an attorney.

PUBLIC DOMAIN:

When a copyright expires the work enters the Public Domain. This means that anyone can publish the work and charge for it, or even modify it enough to make a new work that can then be copyrighted. NOTE: This does NOT extend to TRADEMARKS. That is, a book in the public domain published by a company that still exists means you can’t publish under the name of that company without violation their trademark.

An author may wave all their rights and release a work directly to the public domain. If this is done, there is nothing the original author can do to enforce what others do with it.

Currently, in the U.S., any work published in 1923 or earlier is definitely in the Public Domain. Every January 1st, increment the year by 1. So on January 1, 2020, all works published in 1924 are add to the list of works definitely in the public domain.

Any work not renewed after 1923 and before 1963 is in the public domain, but one must verify that it was not renewed. It is easy to verify if a work was renewed, but proving the negative is difficult. The New York Public Library has a project to digitize all the volumes from the Library of Congress, which is in charge of copyrights. It is only up to 1952, so the last 10 years of the period are not yet digitized. Works after published on or after January 1, 1978 no longer have to renew and are good for 75 years. Books already renewed before that date will expire 75 years after original publication.

Images of all the copyright renewals from the Library of Congress for each year through the 1970s are available on The Internet Archive here -> Catalog of Copyright Entries.

Once you verify a work is in the Public Domain, you are free to use it. NOTE: Works out of copyright in the U.S. may still be under copyright in other countries, so it may not have blanket worldwide public domain. So it is important to do your research.

Fair Use:

Fair use is part of U.S. copyright law that allows users to use limited parts of copyrighted works without seeking permission.

Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 17 U.S.C. § 106 and 17 U.S.C. § 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include:[6]

  1. the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
  2. the nature of the copyrighted work;
  3. the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
  4. the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use#U.S._fair_use_factors

Licensing:

Copyright is a blanket, all rights reserved. A short list of some of those rights are: use, re-use, copying, movie rights, book rights, re-print rights, etc. Each of those rights can be licensed for a term or sold outright. For example, some authors sell the movie rights outright if they don’t think a movie will ever be made. Others, like the Tolkien estate license for a limited term the movie rights and rake in the big bucks.

Licensing in the form of the OGL from WOTC and other similar licenses from other publishers were influenced by the GPL (GNU Public License) from the FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) movement. Version 1 of the GPL was released in 1989.

The OGL was released in 2000 as a way to allow and encourage third party publishers to create content for D&D 3e. Matt Finch used it to help develop OSRIC as a clone of AD&D [Affiliate Link] since one can’t mention the name of the game it clones, etc. Matt Finch also used the OGL to develop Swords & Wizardry [Affiliate Link] in all it’s flavors. The official OGL in RTF format is here.

NOTE: D&D 4e is NOT under the OGL, but D&D 5e is.

The Open Gaming Foundation is a non-profit that provides information and links to various open source game licenses. They have a page with the OGL.

In 2001, the Creative Commons License, also inspired by the GPL, was released. The CCL website explains the different forms of the Creative Commons and what rights a creator is retaining while allowing some form of copying. Some forms of this license allows non-commercial copying, i.e. for personal use, and even sharing with attribution. Other forms allow commercial use.

I have not done an analysis, so I am not sure if any of the Creative Commons licenses could be used with the OGL. The OGL probably prohibits it. In general, one license should be more than enough in my opinion. NOTE: One can use artwork in an OGL work where the artwork is under a Creative Commons license. I have done this with multiple PDFs.

A license is only needed if you want to give up some of your universal rights under copyright, while retaining a degree of control. As always, if you are not clear on how to apply a license to your work before publishing, consult an attorney. It’s easier to get it right the first time, because if you do it wrong, you may not have a second chance.

OGL

I recommend you refer to the links in the PREFACE above and watch Matt Finch’s You Tube playlist about the OGL and read Frylock’s blog posts about the OGL and copyrights in relation to games.

It is critical to copy the OGL EXACTLY and indicate the information you are NOT releasing to the OGL to preserve your rights. This is critical for text, art, and other ideas. It is easy to accidentally give away rights you want to retain. Once released under the OGL you can’t take it back. I think you can revise and re-release your own work without the OGL, but anything already released is fair game for any other publisher to use.

The OGL is basically a promise by WOTC not to sue over the parts of a game that fall outside of copyright. You can make a clone of D&D without the OGL, since game mechanic can’t be copyrighted. As long as you avoid trademarked terms and use your own words for explaining the rules, you can do it. Just don’t mention D&D. I will remind you, IANAL and do your own research before jumping in.

ART & ARTISTS

It’s unfortunate that I need to say this, but credit your art/artist and pay for art. Unless it is art in the public domain or released under a license that permits commercial use without attribution, you must give attribution. I suggest always giving attribution to CYA.

Don’t offer to pay an artist with exposure. That’s not how it works. Exposure is a bonus of a product well done and advertised well.

Don’t try to get art with payment after the Kickstarter or sales roll in. If you can’t afford to pay in full and the artist won’t work on a part now, part later arrangement, either wait until you have the money, or find another solution. There are plenty of public domain art resources online. Pixabay and Unsplash are two great examples of free art, mostly photos released in the Public Domain. The background image I found on Pixabay.

If you use art without permission, you are not a nice person. The artist has copyright to their art just like you will have copyright to your words. Don’t expect things to go well if you treat an artist other than you expect your copyrighted work to be treated.

FORMING A COMPANY

Related to IP and doing the work of creating games, is forming a company. For example, an LLC is one of the simplest and it separates one’s personal property from that of the business and affords legal protections. If one is sued personally, the assets of the business are unaffected. I used the online resource Legal Zoom to form my LLC, as I anticipated launching my card game much sooner. It involves getting a Federal TaxID Number or FEIN, and registering as a business with the state. In some states, one also has to license a business with their municipality.

The Tax ID number will expire according to IRS rules if it is not used on a Federal Tax return 5 years in a row.

The state registration requires annual renewal with a small fee in most if not all states. Sales tax withholding and reporting will be required if you handle sales directly, such as using a sales portal on your own website. Sales through a third party site, like DriveThru RPG collect the sales tax and pay you a royalty, so your only concern is if the royalty is within the parameters requiring you to report it on your tax return.

Municipalities with a business license ordinance are renewed annually for a small fee. If no business is conducted on premises, you may not need a business license. Check with your municipality.

See a tax preparer or tax attorney if you don’t want to figure out preparing business taxes. They are basically self employment taxes. You pay both the employee and employer share of Social Security and Medicare, and then the Federal, State (if any), and local (if any) income taxes. Withholding should be sent in quarterly, or you can send it in as a lump sum when you file your taxes. Plan on setting aside 30% as a general rule of thumb. NOTE: Qualified business expenses reduce the tax burden. Most tax programs, I prefer Tax Act, can easily handle the Schedule C and other forms that may be needed for filing self-employment taxes. I recommend Tax Act over any other company like H&R Block or Intuit/Quicken’s program. It is cheaper and personal experience makes me avoid the other two.

I had a job 20+ years ago that was considered self-employed, so I figured this out in the days before tax programs were as ubiquitous as today. I prefer a program as I can pull in the information from last year that didn’t change and just enter the information off my W-4 and any 1099s I get.

CONCLUSION

I have covered a lot of material above. My intent it to clarify things. These are complex topics due to the nature of laws and their minutia.

As long as you know the difference between a patent, a trademark, and a copyright and when you need each one, you should be good. In general, 99.99% of game developers won’t ever need a patent. Unless you have an idea that will be as big as Magic The Gathering with new ideas for game mechanics, you won’t need one.

For trademarks, you might not need one for your company, but you may want one for your game’s name since you can’t copyright a name. You don’t need a formally registered copyright if you use the copyright symbol and the year of publication.

The big thing to remember is that you can’t copyright the mechanics of a game, only the words used to explain it. this means that anyone can copy any game if they use their own name for the game and unique terms and their own words to express the rules.

Licenses are something you need to understand, since if you use something that falls under a license, you need to adhere to the terms of that license yourself.

Art is at the very heart of RPGs and other games. Artists deserve a fair deal. I only mention it as it is an integral part of RPGs and too many artists get too many amateurs asking for free art, or art with no upfront payment, or exposure. That’s not the way a serious publisher, whether an amateur or a multi-person company does business.

One does not need to form a formal company to do self-publishing of games, but if you expect or hope to make enough money that you want to protect the business from any issues in your personal life, it is well worth it to form an LLC.

As with each of these items, if you can’t make sense of it, please contact an attorney. I am not an attorney, so don’t trust anything I have said. Check the links I have and do your own research.

Cards

Artist For the Card Game

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Follow Me, And Die! Is happy to announce Lindsay Poulos as the artist doing the art for the card game so often mentioned here.

I met Lindsay at Marmalade Dog in March, where I interviewed her for my podcast and commissioned a picture for my granddaughter, as I discussed in this post.

Once the art is complete at some point in 2020, the Kickstarter will be launched. The anticipated launch date will be sometime between March and June.

Where To Find Lindsay

You can find Lindsay and examples of here art at the following sites:

Lindsay is a trained artist who wants to make that her main means of support instead of needing a full time job. She lives in Grand Rapids, MI.

She interned with Comfort and Adam, and has done art for a board game. Lindsay is an avid gamer of all kinds of games both tabletop and computer/console. She likes RPGs but doesn’t have a local group.

Playtesting Update

While Lindsay is busy at work with the art, I and another helper will be running as many playtests as possible to refine the information on the cards and in the rules. Basically, we are working to revise the deck to ensure it is easy to play your first game. Playtest deck 3.0 was ordered a few days ago and will arrive any day. I will proof it for errors then order a second deck for the other helper.

When Do We Find Out The Name Of The Game

Once we are sure the layout and verbiage on the cards are clear and no major changes are needed, you can expect another announcement. This is projected to be sometime this summer.

I Have A YouTube Channel, Blog, Etc. Can I get a review copy?

The plan is to resolve all the card and rule issues and a review deck will be created. Some of my friends have offered to do a review, and I will be approaching others. Should you wish to do a review, please direct message Follow Me, And Die! at any of the sites at Where To Find Me.

FAQ

A list of Frequently Asked Questions is available here.

Kickstarter Launch Announcement Email List

To get an email when the Kickstarter launches, you can sign up for the email list here. It will only be used to announce the Kickstarter.

Thanks!

I want to thank everyone who has playtested and made suggestions for the game! Every interaction has shown that this game has promise and is fun. All of the support and encouragement from everyone is greatly appreciated!

Cards

Target Date & Seeking Artists for Card Game Kickstarter

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Over on Twitter I launched my public quest for an artist for my card game for a Kickstarter launch in the first quarter of 2020. You can listen to the companion podcast episode here.

I then reposted the link to that Twitter thread across my social media. You can read the entire thread below this article.

I find that I prefer interacting on Twitter, mostly because I have a growing following on Twitter that is approaching 900, and I expect to be over 1,000 by the end of April. I curate a positive atmosphere and mute and block nonsense and those who spread it. I prefer to talk about games and fun and be supportive of the fun and efforts of others.

There have been several re-shares on Twitter, but my first response was on MeWe.

I want to give it some time before I narrow down to an artist or artists. A cool idea is to have multiple artists so I can have multiple versions of the deck, with a newer artist for the base funding level, and more well known artists at higher funding levels. This is only at the idea stage, and the realities of time and base funding available pre-Kickstarter.

Target Date

The first quarter of 2020 means that I want to launch sometime between January 1 and March 31, 2020. Since January is the bulk of my busy time at work, I will probably avoid January. It all depends on how well things come together and how well a hopeful new hire is at dealing with the chaos of our busy time of year. One of my colleagues resigned and their last day is this coming Friday. Hopefully we get a new person hired that is a former user, so we only have to teach them the support tech stuff. That’s a wrench I wasn’t anticipating and has thrown off my pacing on some of my blogging, podcasting, and publishing efforts.

Planning & Research

For my first Kickstarter, I am focused on doing all I can to maximize success. I am fully aware that any major misstep or miscalculation on my part will have a major impact on whether I can hope to have future Kickstarters. I have ideas for more things to Kickstart, including more card games, board games, and RPG supplements.

I have backed 69 projects and have learned what I like and don’t like about how a Kickstarter is handled. I want to emulate Kevin Crawford [Affiliate Link] of Stars Without Number [Affiliate Link] and other successful Kickstarters. I want to plan adequately and have the work done ahead of time so that I am merely waiting for the funding to arrive so I can pull the trigger on initiating production, etc. Kevin has graciously shared his checklist and method and the spreadsheet he uses to track art from artists. I plan to put all of that to use.

I have studied the top ten card game Kickstarters as of a year ago to see what pledge levels they used, how many, and which ones yielded the best results. I have sought advice from others who have ran successful Kickstarters, and read all I can find online.

My plan is to have all the work completed that is needed to begin production. I hope that the amount I have set aside to buy art is enough to have the art done and ready to go. The Kickstarter will pay for production, editing of the rules, layout of the rules and the cards to be print ready, and bonuses for the artists. Plus any other costs I identify. Shipping will be a separate charge that is applied once the cards are ready to ship.

Stretch goals will be directly related to fulfilling a production of a card game. If you want T-Shirts, you can get them from my Teespring store. If it isn’t part of the end result of holding a card game in your hand that you can play, then it will not be a stretch goal.

It should be clear that I plan to avoid all the things I know have sunk or greatly delayed Kickstarters full of promise.

If things don’t come together for a first quarter launch, I will only launch in a later quarter if my time line allows for completed production and delivery by November. My busy time at the day job starts in November and runs into and even through February. I don’t want the headache of dealing with work and trying to juggle a Kickstarter. Of course, if I hit a million dollars, I can quit my job and put all my focus on games. I’m not yet sure how much it would have to be for me to quit the day job, but that’s my dream to make my next job more about fun and doing things I love.

Play Testing

Between now and launch of the Kickstarter I will be tweaking the cards for the third iteration of the test deck and play testing as often and as much as possible. My plan is to have this iteration of the deck in my hands before the end of April, by mid-April if possible. I’ll then set up play tests at nearby game stores and take it with me to conventions. Ideally, I’ll have more than one deck and have multiple groups playing on their own without my having to explain it. After I used my new short rules at Gary Con XI, I learned that I have the rules pretty tight, I just need to re-arrange the order of explaining a couple things. Players picked up the game with minimal questions from those rules.

Suggestions

I am always open to suggestions from those who have been there, done that. Anything to help me avoid faux pas is welcome.

To all who have played my card game and made suggestions, I have noted all of them, and applied them where they make sense. My game is the better for it, and I thank you for freely offering those suggestions.

To all who have offered help with things, I will be contacting you soon to discuss the things you offered your assistance.

Some suggested that one of the cards for which I did the art, that it should stay in the game. Others suggested I should have a stretch goal of a Larry Art Version. My concern about that is it might hurt things, but I might consider it. What do you think?

Thanks!

I want to thank all the play testers at all the cons and other locations I’ve played my card game. In some ways, I still can’t believe I made a game that works, AND that people actually like! Also thanks for keeping certain details under wraps to help build suspense.

Many thanks to all those who are interested and shared on social media all my mysterious postings about it.

Local Artist

The picture used in the blog header is from artist Lindsay Poulos from Grand Rapids, whom I interviewed on Episode 86 of my podcast. She is under consideration for doing one version of the art for the card game. You can see her share of the picture on Instagram. Lindsay has experience doing art for board games.

My granddaughter is obsessed with Elsa & Frozen and I commissioned an ink drawing of Nikola with Elsa taking a selfie. Lindsay colored it to give it that last bit of punch. Nikola loves it.

And Now for Something Completely Different

I launched my newest PDF for March, No Really, It’s Me.

This is the first adventure of my monthly PDFs published on DriveThruRPG.

The player characters are doppelgangers who have replaced an adventuring party and must go back to town and convince other adventurers not to return to the dungeon.

Are you looking for a quick scenario idea that you can easily craft to your own style?

Check out my first adventure PDF which is a quick overview of an outline for one of my four hour convention games.

If this does well, I will eventually add all of my existing convention scenarios to my growing list of PDFs.

Twitter Thread Below

I have the entire thread below after the link to the thread on Twitter.

My plan is to Kickstart my card game in 1st QTR of 2019, so I need to work on arranging the art now. I’m interested in artists who are obviously good and experience with card art is a plus. If interested please add a comment with a link to your portfolio, and your rates. 1/n

It is a fantasy theme. I’ll discuss details of number of pieces, payment terms, etc. via Direct Message/email. References for timely delivery is crucial. My plan is to have art and details of production ready so can deliver by Nov. 1st. My preference is for a single artist. 2/n

This is so it all looks like it goes together.

Also needs to be digital so ready to layout the card it goes with. Please ask questions for clarity and cure my ignorance if needed. I want to do this right, since a flop will ruin chances of future Kickstarters. I have ideas for more, so there is a chance of future work. 4/n

You can do original in physical media and scan, whatever your best workflow. NOTE: I set aside part of my annual bonus so payment is available before the Kickstarter. I want to be fair and exposure is a bonus, not payment. 5/n

If you are within a couple hours of Kalamazoo, MI I would like to meet to show the game. Otherwise we can do an online meeting. I work a 9 to 5 job in Eastern time zone, so meetings around that. 6/n

There will be an NDA until the KS is about to launch. You’ll be free to say you’re working on an upcoming KS for my card game, but no details. I think those are the pertinent details. I look forward to having to make a tough choice between multiple artists. 7/n

RPGs

My Awesome Gary Con X!

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I had a packed Gary Con schedule compared to the prior two years. This was the first time I ran games. I ran 3 four hour games, and played in 4 games. Three were four hours and one 5+hours. Next year, I think I will run three games, but I won’t pack my schedule. I need more sleep.

THURSDAY

Gangbusters – Stop The Flow
Two Kolchaks

Two of the three games I ran were Thursday. I started with Gang Busters. I had 8 pre-gens using the templates from +Mark Hunt’s version of Gangbusters. I proofread his current state of the rules from the fall, so I used his version with my edits. The pre-gens made character creation fast. Mark was going to play in my game, as I told him that I would run so he could play. Unfortunately, his dad went in the hospital and he couldn’t make it. I had no reception with my chrome book in the part of the hotel they  had us. Mark had hoped to do a Google Hangout for a Q&A after the game.

I never saw so many players botch a roll and then make the luck roll I gave them. At least, make the luck roll when it counted. Most lucks were under 30. I had 3 or 4 players in a row make their luck roll. The players were all law enforcement. One played a state trooper and played it so well, the others asked if he was a real officer, and he laughed as he was not in law enforcement. The characters found the source of the secret shipments of alcohol. I can’t give it away, or I can’t run that scenario. No characters died, but a couple got shot up really bad. One caught himself on fire, and another kept falling in the water. It was awesome how they played smart and rolled well, and foiled the bad guys. They got done an hour early.

Stars Without Number

In the afternoon, I ran Stars Without Number. I used the revised edition rules for the Kickstarter that delivered in January. I had never played it, so running was the first time I played it. I built 8 pre-gens. The first pre-gen took a long time as I was figuring out all the bits to do it, even with the spread on character generation. I did that to help me grasp all the pieces. I then used the quick character generation and did most of the rest in the time it took to do the first. The character sheet is a form-fillable PDF, so I have those NPCs for future use.

7 people signed up. It was fun to finally play in a game with +Forrest Aguire. All of the players made a lot of awesome rolls for skill checks. My usual poor rolls for the NPCs made things really easy for them. They also made smart decisions, and had a plan of action that was direct and simple and their good rolls compensated for how daring it was. Skilled players making smart choices, they also finished about 45 minutes early. One guy who made the most great rolls on skill checks saw me the next day and said that he didn’t make any rolls at his next game.

FRIDAY

Against the Dwarfs
Against the Dwarfs

I had three games Friday. The first was AD&D in the morning. It was Against the Dwarfs by Bryan Skowera. This was the third of a series mirroring the Against the Giants modules. I played in the second one last year and had a blast. We made some poor tactical decisions early in the session and managed to luck into a plan that let us beat the bad guy.  I was able to play the Kobold cleric that I played last year, which was a lot of fun.

Friday afternoon, I played DCC with Brendan LaSalle. It was a hilarious scenario. We sang the songs of Electric Potato.

DCC with Brendan LaSalle
DCC with Brendan LaSalle
Lego Dice Tower by the Daughter of one of the players Friday night.
Lego Dice Tower by the Daughter of one of the players Friday night.

Friday night I was supposed to play in +Joseph Bloch’s game in his  AD&D Castle of the Mad Archmage setting. Unfortunately, Joe never showed. One of the people at the table found out he had told the con staff, but they never told us. I saw him the next day and totally understand why he did. For the con, I bought a rolling catalog case with a telescoping handle, so I could carry all of my stuff around the con and just pull it. I ended the con with no back or shoulder pain. It is a wise investment I will use at every con. Because I that, I had my Gamma World 1e book and my scenario that I would run the next day, so I offered to run it for the table. Two left for other things, and someone else joined in when they were walking by. It was a lot of fun for those who hadn’t played since back in the day, and those who had never played. It is very similar to Metamorphosis Alpha, so I kept asking what Radiation Resistance they had, instead of Constitution. They had fun, and I would end up playing other things with two of them later.

SATURDAY

Gamma World
Gamma World

Saturday morning I ran Gamma World and all 8 showed up and I squeezed in two others, for ten total. I only had 8 pre-gens, so we had them quickly roll up characters for the two. I am glad I did that, they all had fun and it worked out to be a jam-packed and fun scenario. I used the additional secret papers with some background for the 8 pregens. I did not use those the night before as a secret, but told those players what the secrets were. Several of the players latched onto the information on their info paper. All I asked was that they not reveal it right away, which worked out great.

Player of the Character Tree made a sketch.
Player of the Character Tree made a sketch.

In less than 30 minutes they went to the weird hermit on the edge of town to get help with something. He figured out their issue was a dead battery, but he had no way to charge it. Then the gorilla with an electric shock attack like an electric eel said, “I’ll charge it!” I said, “That’s a great idea! How much damage does it do?” “Uh, 4d4.” “Great, roll 4d4!” I picked up 8d6 and rolled those once he gave me his total. “OK, the hermit falls over dead and you all take 15 points of damage!” I started laughing because the hermit had information for them. I was already short on sleep, which makes me either cranky or slap happy. I was so tickled, I laughed so hard I had tears. I’ve never had my players bring me to tears before. They eventually got on the right track and found what they were looking for and we ran out the clock on the session. They all had an excellent time.

The GM in Tears from Laughing at what the players just did.
The GM in Tears from Laughing at what the players just did.

After a long break in the afternoon, I had AD&D with +Michael Shorten. I should have taken a nap, but I play tested my card game. I ran out of steam and had to back out early. One of the players in the cancelled AD&D game who played in my Gamma World scenario the night before is an architect and offered to be out mapper. he did a rough sketch map, and you could tell he is used to working from verbal descriptions and his map was clear and easy to follow. He mapped at a scale we could place our minis. That was a really cool thing. He also lives in Grand Rapids, so we’ll probably game together occasionally.

AD&D with Michael Shorten – AKA Chgowiz
Full scale mapping by a real life architect.

SUNDAY

Sunday morning, it was up bright an early to finally get to play Top Secret with Merle Rasmussen. It was the new Top Secret from the Kickstarter. It will finally ship from the US and European TSR warehouses this week or next. I liked how he randomized the map by each player building one section. It was serendipitous how my map worked to make an easy ending to a nearly out of control scenario, and we managed to get done early. I really like the simplicity of how the map works and how it randomizes the scenario.

That was a good thing, as I met Tom Wham going one way as I came down stairs, and he was not in a rush,  so I finally got my copy of Awful Green Things from Outer Space signed. I forgot to bring it to Gary Con 8, last year at Gary Con 9, it was always raining and since I wasn’t in the venue’s hotel, I didn’t want it getting wet. I also had him sign my Gamma World 1e, which he edited.

Top Secret: New World Order with Merle Rasmussen.
Player built map. Gets players involved and randomizes the scenario.

PLAYTESTING

First Gary Con X play test of the card game with the roommates. Dave Weeks & RJ Thompson of Gamers & Grognards.

I had a long break and ran several play tests of my card game. I had a total of 12 play tests at Gary Con X with 31 play testers from Wednesday through Sunday. Some played more than once. My game was a big hit with all who played it, and one person asked the name of it, and that was enough to hook them to want to play it. Nearly all asked, “So when’s the Kickstarter?” without prompting. My response was either, “yeah, so when IS the Kickstarter?” or “Ummm, when I announce it?” It was awesome to have the rough edges worked out on the third play test, and very little changed after that. It is a much smoother and faster playing game than what I wrote about in the first two play tests before Gary Con here.

Paul reads my blog. We played in Laura Rose Williams DCC game at the Contessa Track at UCon in November. He play tested my game.
2nd Gary Con X play test. Paul, Clay Williams, and Laura Rose Williams (AKA “Meat Dwarf”). It was nice to get a woman’s perspective on my game. She liked it!
Clay is a bit of an artist and sketched some trucker he saw somewhere.
It looks like a police artist sketch of a serial killer. I think Clay was getting ready to run a horror game….

I have lots of offers to help with various aspects of card design, art, card production, etc. One person told me he had an idea that might not require Kickstarter. Two recognizable companies said they could help me with one or more aspects related to Kickstarter/fulfillment.

Nate of WASD20
The Initiative Coffee Co.
Ruty Rutenberg took a lot of notes about my game.
Jayson Elliot of the new TSR and Peter of Mythwits.

I find the whole thing hilarious as I don’t play many card games anymore since I don’t have a regular group that plays card games. I have a catchy title, an interesting premise, and rules that make it quick to catch on. I was saying, “I’m not a card game guy.” but not that I have a card game I realized that I am so I started saying, “I am a card game guy.”

I finally played the game today with my oldest son, and he gave me more suggestions about where to take it once it hits critical mass. He also is really good at card tricks, and made a joke with two of the cards and made it look like he turned it into another card. Now THAT will be in an announcement/Kickstarter video.

There is nothing to announce yet, as I have someone doing some sort of statistical analysis, and he had some other ideas, so I am waiting on that. One cool thing a play tester said, “I like the simplicity of the game with simple rules to learn in 5 min. at a noisy bar at Gary Con.” Sunday, I was really tired, and I was making lots of mistakes in play. the rules are so simple that players can correct an exhausted creator of the game on his errors. Out of 15 games that have been played, I have played them all and managed to win 5 of them. I am usually spending so much time helping run the game that I am mostly reliant on getting good cards. However, it is so cool that people like my game and want to play it, that I’m OK with never winning a game. I’m usually very competitive in such games, but I find I’m much more relaxed about my own game. It is because I’ve already won the grand prize of the multiverse by making a game that works and people want to play. “I made a thing and people think it’s fun and want to play it!”

IF I do a Kickstarter, I will be very careful, and stretch goals will only be card game related, like better paper, better finish, etc. I will have all the work done on typing up the rules, lining up card printers, etc. I know it will be a success as one established RPG You Tuber played it and said he’d mention it when it was time for the announcement of something. I’m not mentioning the name of the game, or anything specific until I work out a few more things. I think I also need to consult a lawyer, among other things. Patreon is in my future. I know have all kinds of ideas for card games, along with my ideas for RPG supplements, and YouTube videos. I now have a new focus to make game stuff that I never really had before. That too, will not be overnight.

All I’ve managed to do today is type up my play test notes, write a big thank you to all the EXCLUSIVE Gary Con X play testers on social media, and watch a little TV so my brain can decompress. I also managed to crank out this article, as I know work will be crazy tomorrow.

If you plan to go to Marmalade Dog, March to , 2018, I will be there running one session of Metamorphosis Alpha, and one of AD&D, and I will have my prototype card game. Be one of the EXCLUSIVE Marmalade Dog play testers and get mentioned in the credits as a play tester.

IRCA

IRCA – Larry Hamilton (me), Nate Vanderzee, and Zachary Ruhnke (he went to high school with Alex Gygax) Bill Allen and the Initiative Coffee Co. crew were not around when the rest of us were. It was great to meet face to face.

WASD20

Nate Vanderzee of WASD20 was hoping to interview Satine Phoenix. I helped introduce them and watched him do a great interview. Satine is so fun. She teased us with her excitement of something big she can’t talk about. Man, am I curious.  Nate lives in Grand Rapids, so maybe we can get a chance to game together. It was really cool that he played my game and liked it!

Getting ready to interview Satine Phoenix

Getting ready to interview Satine PhoenixYou can see the interview here.

Cards

Play Testing Commences

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Today was an awesome day of gaming!

I usually either play or run on Roll20 noon to 4. The GM for today had to call off due to illness.

I wasn’t worried. I had an offer to play test my new card game idea at the FLGS, Fanfare. A new game I wrote about a couple weeks ago. I just got the play test deck I ordered yesterday.

It is a game that I thought would work for 2-6 players. I two person game is obviously different with the card flow, etc. It took about 90 minutes with figuring out a couple workarounds for things that were unclear in the initial rules.

I ended up with valuable feedback, and a real basis to evaluate my game idea. It amazed me that the game played almost exactly the way I imagined it. I can see the play of this game in my mind’s eye. I very rarely have such clarity with an idea, and even more rarely manage to execute it in the real world. Talk about happy. Thanks to Joel, Playtester #1!

Running Metamorphosis Alpha

MA-Red Shirt Metamorphosis At One Well Brewery
MA-Red Shirt Metamorphosis At One Well Brewery

Since my chance to play on Roll20 got cancelled, my first play tester’s friends were free after 5:00 PM, so I went to a game friendly brewpub, One Well Brewing. I ran my Metamorphosis Alpha [Affiliate Link] scenario, Red Shirt Metamorphosis, that I have ran online a couple times, and at UCon a couple years ago. I’ll next run it at Marmalade Dog at the end of March. Four players new to Metamorphosis Alpha [Affiliate Link] and several new to old style play or seeking old school simplicity.

They were not used to player knowledge and common sense questions being the way to approach the situation. I gave them “hot stove moments” where they had missed obvious questions to ask. There were too used to GMs spoon feeding them everything. Once they realized the initial conditions I set was not 100% of the available environment, they got into it. They “beat” the scenario by achieving the goal of a four hour convention setting in 3 hours. They had more gear in spite of having worse rolls to set the initial conditions of the scenario. We exchanged contact information and will work on setting up a game.

Play Test Number 2

Play Test #2
Play Test #2

After the game, I mentioned my card game and they were eager to try it. So I had 4 players, and Joel, play tester number 1, was one of them. With me, we had 5 players. This made the game take about 45 minutes and we did a lot of talking and figuring out a few of the situations that arose to either adjudicate, or consider a rules revision.

Once again, I did not win, but I didn’t care. People were playing my game! Not only that, they liked it! Each of them said if this was a Kickstarter, they would back it! I suspected it was good enough for Kickstarter. By that I mean, a solid idea that can have the rough edges worked out through more play testing. If I do my job right and iron out all the details, a Kickstarter to fund art should easily fund, and could do better than I expect.

More valuable feedback was given. The two best, or my favorite comments:

From Jake from the second play test game, when I asked what he liked the best about it. “Playability – You can pick it up and be playing quickly.”

Joel, the most experienced player next to me, after two games said, “The light learning curve.”

Jake was really excited, and knows a lot of student artists who might be interested in doing art for the cards. I’m glad to consider new artists, if their art style is what I’m looking for. If my efforts can get them exposure and regular work, even better.

I’m bringing my play test deck to Gary Con, and if you’re around when I’m not running or playing, we can definitely play. I’ll be there sometime Wednesday, which reminds me I need to figure out travel plans with my roommate for the weekend. We have yet to set a time to leave.

This is so cool!

Cards

Card Game Idea Strikes

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Last year at Gary Con IX, I had an idea for a couple of card games. I’m not a big card game player, mostly because I don’t have a regular in-person gaming group. I have some rough outlines for those, but I need to polish them a lot so they are coherent and explainable to another person. Towards the end of this post, I mentioned I had a card game idea.

Creative lightning strikes come unexpected and this happened to me last night. A much simpler variation of one of the ideas from the last Gary Con came to me. It was one of those, clear and almost fully formed ideas.

I hurriedly typed up the basics that came to mind. This morning, I was filled with the ideas to round out the game, and typed out most of the rest of the rules. I think it’s a playable game, and there are some twists and turns in it so it will be different each time.

My level of excitement and inspiration may not translate to others, but I think I can polish what I have for clarity, and mock up a deck in time to take it to Gary Con X. There are so many creative gamers there, and the low-key atmosphere is a great place to hone game ideas. If my game has merit, it will be evident from how others receive it. A good elevator pitch will help.

I ordered 500 blank playing cards from Amazon [Affiliate Link ]last year, and started trying to mock up my original idea, but it bogged down. Scribbling out the card faces and leaving the backs blank will work for a rough play test, but it would be cool to have a mockup with a printed back and public domain art to take with me. I am very torn right now.

I REALLY want to work on this NOW, but I still have game prep to go for some of my games I’m running at Gary Con. This sort of thing happens to me all the time. I am in the groove with something, and some new idea/thing comes to my attention, and I have to be all about that new thing. I may not be overly ambitious/optimistic about this, and I might actually be able to do a decent job for a professionally printed play test deck in time to have it for Gary Con. The voice saying, “Do Eeet!” is very loud at the moment. It’s almost as loud as it was last night. I’d hoped typing this up to share my excitement, while I alternated with tweaking my rough rules, would dampen that desire. I’m sure it would cost a lot to rush a print job, but part of me doesn’t care.

If I totally suck at manipulating art to make a single card image, that would greatly reduce my enthusiasm. I’m going to have to try to make some cards, and if I’m lousy at it, then I can set this aside. However, I know there are tools that make it fairly easy (I’ve done a lot of research.), and I printed a deck I bought online that I had to manipulate to work with the printer I chose. So I may have something worthy of a rough deck that looks decent by this evening.

Cards

Planning for a Kickstarter

6 Comments

I shared a couple of days ago that while at Gary Con IX, I woke up with an idea for a card game that could be good enough to Kickstart. On the drive home, I had an idea for another card game that I think is also good enough to Kickstart. The second one is simpler, and thus I think a better option for a first Kickstarter.

I’ve made a checklist and a price list to determine break even points, i.e the minimum amount for a Kickstarter. I don’t have all the numbers, but it shows how little one actually makes unless the thing goes viral. One should do this for the love of creating and playing games, and not count on it for a living.

I’m interested on feedback on this list. I don’t have all the answers for some points, but I want to make sure that I avoid pitfalls. I have a few specific questions at the end under Input.

Preparation Checklist

Independent of the financial considerations, there are a lot of things to keep in mind.

  • Design, write, & play test the game.
    • Get input from trusted friends who have lots of ideas about such things.
    • Test what pens/inks/pencils will write on blank cards before making first play test deck.
  • Copyright for parts that can be copyrighted.
  • Trademark for the name of the game.
  • LLC or similar for a company to separate my personal assets from it, just in case.
  • NDA to share ideas with others, just in case.
  • Custom URL & Website for game.
  • Use DriveThru Cards for fulfillment, as they can print on demand and do individual shipping.
    • For the Kickstarter itself, can do a bulk order delivered to my home and I do the shipping, within the U.S.
  • Rules – They will need to be polished enough that your play testers understand. You also have to be flexible to revise and change through the course of play testing.
    • Final rules will need to be proofread and edited for a polished presentation free of errors.
  • Cards – For POD a PDF of the cards fronts & backs are needed. If you don’t have the skill to make such a PDF, you will either have to learn it or hire it done.
  • Video – A video showing what it is with an example of play.
    • High quality video is downgraded if placed in the spot Kickstarter gives you. Some place the video below that, linked from YouTube. They put a graphic in the spot Kickstarter offers for a video.
  • Engagement – You will have to engage with backers during the entire run of the Kickstarter and push it on social media. If you don’t work it until the end of the run, it may not fund, or you will miss out on actually making money.
  • Delivery timeline. It must be realistic and have padding for unexpected delays. Make sure that you can deliver no later than that date.
  • Communicate with backers all the way through final fulfillment.
  • People are suspiscious of those who launch a Kickstarter and have never backed any.
    • You should back a few Kickstarters and see how they handle things, so you can see what you liked and didn’t about being on the backer side of things. This will be a good experience so you can avoid customer service pitfalls.
  • Don’t run it too close to the end of the year, that you can’t spend money towards fulfillment, this will reduce the amount of taxes. My model with the $1,000 level shows the effects of waiting until the following year to pay expenses.
  • Minimize changes from Kickstarter coments.
  • Minimize or avoid stretch goals, and only use stretch goals that add value. Such as tuck boxes for card games, or GM screens for TTRPGs.

Cost Checklist

At some point, you will have to spend money, and will need to have very close estimates on costs so that your Kickstarter goal garners enough money to fulfill without finances being an issue. I don’t plan to spend much money on this until I have a play tested game that has the kinks worked out. If it isn’t a fun game and consulting with friends and play testing doesn’t change that, then I know not to sink a lot of time and money into it.

  • If you can afford it, pay all the upfront costs before the Kickstarter so that it is ready to fulfill as soon as the funds are released.
    • Work that Kickstarter every day that it runs to get the word out.
    • Leading up to the Kickstarter let people know you are working on something to help build interest before launch.
      • The quicker a Kickstarter hits the funding level for its goal, the more likely it is to go above and beyond and lead to making decent money.
  • Make backers pay for shipping separately, so none of it comes out of the Kickstarter. That is a cost that can change unexpectedly and is one of the biggest reasons for failed and late Kickstarters. Second only to those that did not start any work until funding. Always do as much work as possible BEFORE launch.
  • $15 for box of 500 blank playing cards from Amazon.
  • $15-$20 for a domain name.
    • If you don’t know how to do your own website, you will need to factor in costs and add it to the Kickstarter.
    • If you do this all yourself, keep track of the hours to determine your final hourly rate.
  • Assume a bare bones $1,000 Kickstarter & pre-existing art and no other costs.
    • Taxes would be about 28.75%, based on being a self-employed effort, instead of the tax benefits of an LLC or similar.
      • NOTE: Research how much the taxes are for this model.
    • Kickstarter & Stripe fees would be 38.75%
    • Total taxes and fees would be $380.50, leaving $619.50 to cover expenses.
  • Low volume & High volume runs. Assume maximum deck size of 120 cards.
    • The only way to decrease cost per card is to shop around for other fulfillment options. Most likely, these will require more effort to handle shipping, etc. So you will need to keep that in mind. How much work do you want to do to complete fulfillment to all backers?
    • Low Volume is less than 5,000 cards at $0.085 each, or $10.20 for a 120 card deck. Plus $1.00 for a plastic deck box. This is $11.20 per deck.
      • 50 decks would cost $560.00. (However, this would be enough cards for high volume printing, is delivered to same address.)
      • The $619.50 left after taxes and fees is further reduced by the $560 for the decks, leaving a net profit of $59.50.
    • High Volume is 5,000 cards or more at $0.06 each, or $7.20 per 120 card deck. Plus $1.00 for a plastic deck box. This is $8.20 per deck.
      • 50 decks would cost $410.00
      • You can only take advantage of this cost if all the decks are shipped to the same location. Add shipping to this location, how much?
      • The $410.00 left after taxes and fees is further reduced by the $560 for the decks, leaving a net profit of $209.50.
      • If shipped to your location, and you do all the hours of work involved, and your hourly rate will soon be negative.
  • If you pay $1,000 for art, you will need to plan for more than $2,000 for the goal, or you will be in the red, due to taxes & fees.
    • The only way to avoid paying for art is to use public domain art, or do it yourself.
    • NOTE: How much for art for 50 cards, for example. Most of the rest would have the same image on them?
      • This requires contacting multiple artists, seeing samples of their work, and working out rights to use their are, or purchasing copyright from them.
      • Assume that they will not do the work until you have the money.
  • If you pay $1,000 for lawyers, you need to plan for more than $3,000 for the goal. Always remember taxes & fees.
    • Depending on where you live, this rate could be high, or way low.
    • You will want to shop around for the best rate.
    • Do research on what you want the lawyers to do for you and gather all the information in an organized fashion, so that they can just do the part of making the legal jargon valid.
  • If you pay $1,000 for editing and layout, then you need to plan for over $4,000 for the goal. Again, there are still taxes & fees.
    • Again, most work will not get done without you having the money.
  • There may be other things you discover as you go that will drastically affect your estimates of costs if you find them AFTER you launch the Kickstarter.
    • Contact others who have run Kickstarters similar to the one you have in mind to make sure you didn’t forget anything.
  • Keep track of all the hours spent at each step from the initial idea to the fulfillment of the Kickstarter and use that to determine your hourly rate of pay base on how much money is left.
    • As should be evident, it is very difficult to get rich or make a lot of money with Kickstarters if you are honest.
    • Enough people in the realm of game related Kickstarters have been burned, and there are those like +Erik Tenkar, of Tenkar’s Tavern, who will point out the flaws in your Kickstarter and steer people away from you.
      • It should be nearly impossible to run a dishonest game related Kickstarter and run off with the money.
  • Backerkit or other site that is used for fulfilling Kickstarters. What is the cost and other requirements for using it?

Input

Did I leave anything out? Do you have experience with game related, and specifically card game Kickstarters? I’m definitely interested in having gaps in my knowledge and experience pointed out.

If you have experience with fulfilling a card game Kickstarter with OBS, or a different vendor, I’d like to hear your take on them.

If you are an artist who has worked on art for card games, or would like to do so, please contact me. I will be contacting some artists to see who is in my price range over the next few weeks. If I can, I’d like to get everything done before

My Plans

For one of my card game ideas, I already have art for the back of the cards. I need to factor in what I paid for that art as part of my profit calculation. I can do simple art or just text for the game mechanics. If I do that, I could make that a version 1, and a second Kickstarter if it takes off for better art. I think a single Kickstarter for the best product and presentation possible is the way to go.

One of my ideas could be expanded to a board game, but I want to keep it simple. I suppose both could be done as board games, but there is less involved with a single deck card game.

I already have 500 blank playing cards that arrived yesterday, and I figured out that sharpie ink dries the fastest to avoid smudges. I built my prototype deck on one game, and am just waiting to play test it with the family. I need 46 to 50 images for cards depending on what we come up with in play testing.

So far, counting this blog article, I have between 5 and 6 hours invested, plus about $20 in materials, and I haven’t yet play tested the game. That puts my mythical $200 in profit down to less than $40/hour. Every additional hour between now and fulfillment further reduces the hourly equivalent, if the game plays as well as I hope, and there is a Kickstarter….. I make about $25 to $28 an hour in my day job, depending on the size of my annual bonus.  Unless I come out of a Kickstarter meeting or exceeding that range, I know I can’t quit my day job anytime soon.

Some of the above time and expenses can be halved, if I end up Kickstarting two card games. As with anything else, doing something the first time helps me see all the things I didn’t know to expect, so any subsequent Kickstarter will be the better for it.

Open Box 500 Blank Cards
Open Box 500 Blank Cards

Ink Test No. 1
Ink Test No. 1

Ink Test No. 2
Ink Test No. 2

Conclusion

There is a lot more planning and preparation for even the simplest of Kickstarters, than most seem to realize. Even if you net several thousand dollars after final fulfillment, how many hours are in that? What is your final hourly rate? Unless one has an idea that goes viral, you probably won’t make more than minimum wage when you divide your net profits by the hours put in. If more than one person is involved in the Kickstarter, it is further divided by each person’s share in the partnership, or whatever it is.

Lazy people looking to get rich quick are in for disappointment. A lot of work and organization is required. If you don’t have organizational skills, you will have a lot to overcome to be successful.

Treat backers like customers, just like any other business. You must be kind, courteous, and responsive. Be proactive an identify problems before they happen.

If you do have a successful small Kickstarter that is fulfilled via OBS (One Bookshelf), then you have the potential for a small automated recurring income over time.

You can also get at cost print runs to take with you to conventions, or see if your local FLGS is interested in carrying them, or let you put up a flyer.

If you have a successful first Kickstarter, you are more likely to have success with following efforts.