OUTBUDDIES - a 16bit style metroidvania (with alpha demo!)

[Julian82]

Thanks my friend! If you break it down to the actual number of backers needed, it becomes even more obvious why one should start low. Successful campaigns should reach at least 50% their funding goal in the first week (assuming a 30 days campaign). The campaign will have standard tiers at 7 (limited early bird), 10 (early access) and 15 (collector edition) bucks. Therea are higher tiers of course, but those will likely be taken by very few as well as good friends and family members (which is btw really important!).

If I neglect family and friends and just count for the guys checking by, I´ll need about 500 backers to get my basic goal funded, which means 17 people actually buying the game each day, and thats really a lot! At Greenlight about 50% of all visitors vote "Yes" for the game, but only about 3% bookmark it as a favourite. Assuming these 3% as a conversion rate for the Kickstarter I´ll have to get about 570 people to visit the Kickstarter page each day, which is about the exposition the game had on Greenlight when it was listed on the top page of new Greenlight submissions. Now the game is on page 4 or 5 already and only has a couple of new visitors each day. These numbers clearly illustrate why even getting 5000 bucks at Kickstarter is going to be tough ride these days and if I want to get my freelancers funded I´ve to double this amount by reaching the strecht goals.

[Volnaiskra]

Also, they say that you generally need to get a product in front of someone about 5 times before they actually take out their wallet. I know this to be true from my own experience: if I see an interesting-looking game on Steam for the first time, I'm likely to think "hmm, that could be cool" and move on, or maybe wishlist it. But I'll rarely buy immediately. However If I've seen that game mentioned in a review, saw the author post on facebook, maybe saw an ad somewhere, and/or saw it on Steam on a previous visit, I'll likely pay more attention to it this time, and I might actually watch the trailer mindfully rather than half-distractedly; it'll be more likely to 'sink in' and I'll be more likely to buy it, In fact, my steam wishlist is full of games that I have no idea how they got there or even what they are! Obviously I saw it once, thought "hmm, maybe". clicked the wishlist button and moved on. I probably never saw that game come up again anywhere, and its memory eventually 'fell out of my brain'.

So, I hate to say it, but those 3% probably aren't all ready to pledge. They're clearly interested, but they may need a few subsequent exposures (eg. seeing the game mentioned somewhere else to give them a reason to revisit the kickstarter page) before they finally click over into 'wallet mode'.

[Julian82]

Yeah, you're right with this for sure. The real conversion rate of people stopping by is probably < 1%. Especially with Kickstarter campaigns there seems to be a need of building a hype train in the first week. Without it you won't get featured, you won't get coverage and you're unlikely to make it. Analysing other campaigns I've found three major factors that seem to make a huge difference: The ability to evoke an emotional connection with the product or team (very good example is battle princess madelyn, currently live), an outstanding new artstyle (like HLD) and a really new and unique mechanic (pepper grinder, currently hot on twitter). All of these factors are really difficult to achieve...

[Volnaiskra]

The ability to evoke an emotional connection with the product or team (very good example is battle princess madelyn, currently live), an outstanding new artstyle (like HLD) and a really new and unique mechanic (pepper grinder, currently hot on twitter). All of these factors are really difficult to achieve...

...and notice that none of those have anything at all to do with a game actually being any good :/

I would add a fourth: tug at nostalgia strings. Many of the big kickstarters were spiritual sequels or even flat out imitations of 80s/90s games (eg. Thimbleweed Park, Shovel Knight....Princess Madelyn, which is partially trading on being a Ghouls and Ghosts clone). Make a clone of a game from last year and you're treated like a talentless wannabe bottom-dweller. Make a clone of a game from 35 years ago and you're the next big thing

But behind that all, I think existing traction is the biggest factor. I suspect most of the big successes either had a big industry name, big current industry connections, or were excellent schmoozers who attacked the conference circuit hard.

[Julian82]

...and notice that none of those have anything at all to do with a game actually being any good :/
I would add a fourth: tug at nostalgia strings.

For sure! Nostalgia is probably one of the strongest factors of emotional connection. A gamer born in the 80s and 90s remembers the old games he or she loved, and persons these ages actually spend a lot more on games than teens. Also, to pledge on Kickstarter a credid card is needed, I don´t know how this works in other countries, but in Germany you only get one if you can provide an own regular income:P

To honestly break it down for Outbuddies, nostalgia will be the biggest plus in the campaign. For me this is perfectly fine, I honestly make this game out of nostalgia reasons. I also have a huge plus with my musician, his craft and appearance hit the project´s strings just perfectly and he has an own significant following. Outubddies mechanics are a solid craft, and I´ve a plus with the local Co-Op Option, which is really rare in the genre. Anyway, there´s nothing outstandingly new in the mechanics, but I hope this won´t be a real problem (retrogamers like me love when the mechanics feel familiar, it gives me a feeling of still being able to keep up

One of the weakest points is the graphics - not because I think they´re bad, pixel art enthusiasts really liked them so far - but cave systems are actually really difficult to promote. I also don´t have a lot of background visuals yet, which I´ll try to improve in the future. Also, I recognized how helpful it is to have at least one good wallpaper to promote a product. When I startet to make Outbuddies I wanted to skip concept art in total, as I felt it was not essential to make a game. Today I think completely different. Concept art is essential for giving characters a face, especially in pixel art games. And it´s even more important for promotion. I´ll continue investing in that.

[Volnaiskra]

For sure! Nostalgia is probably one of the strongest factors of emotional connection. A gamer born in the 80s and 90s remembers the old games he or she loved, and persons these ages actually spend a lot more on games than teens. Also, to pledge on Kickstarter a credid card is needed, I don´t know how this works in other countries, but in Germany you only get one if you can provide an own regular income:P

I think older people are also more likely to spend on something that they know is probably only coming a year or more away. But you don't technically need a credit card. At least not here in Australia. I've never had a credit card (and never will) because I hate them. But I have a debit card, which is basically a normal bankcard supplied by Mastercard. It works just like a Mastercard credit card (including online shopping, kickstarter, etc.), other than it uses 'real money' that I already have in my bank account, rather than credit. I've had one since before I was 18, so there's no big limit there.

[Julian82]

Good to know!

[Julian82]

Outbuddies is finally live on Kickstarter! I hope you check by and spread the word! Thank your very much guys! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...531/outbuddies

[Julian82]

So we´re on day three of Outbuddies´ Kickstarter now and things have been very interesting. We were very lucky and got staff-picked right from the start. The process behind this is somehow still unclear to me. I had managed to contact a Kickstarter representative in Germany and presented the campaign to him. Then I got contacted by the NY Kickstarter office with reference to my youtube video and they offered some general tips how to make a good page and stuff like this. Of course I tried to get a commitment for the staff pick, but they said it´s a decision of the editorial team. Then day one we had the blue heart, and I´m very thankful. I think a good advice in general is trying to make a local contact first (if available) and asking local industry veterans for contacts and help on that (that was the way I did it).

The first day was very good in case of extremely generous pledges and support from family and close friends, but nearly nobody else pledged. Then the pledges went silent for almost 12 hours, by this time I had done a local radio interview and one better known German youtuber had made a video of Outbuddies´first minutes (which is the tutorial, nothing too fancy to show here). Last night however the pledges from people slowly started to roll in and today we had a constant flow from the lower to the mid tiers, which was really nice and rewarding. I have not checked back with my associated freelancers though, maybe this is the result of their shootouts.

The thing that really struck me was the amount of social reconnection I got through these first days. There were friends from school and stuff like this checking back, who I had not seen for years. I´m a rather introverted person at times and I´m not very good at holding contacts, so this experience is extremely heartwarming to me. I´d say already, for this experience alone, this KS is worth it.

What´s next? It´s really too early to say where this KS will be going. There are a lot of ideas I´ll try in the next week to gain and keep momentum and I´ll keep you updated.

[arthurh]

I backed You Julian and share it on tweeter ! I love your game and you art is different and you are very creative ! so 3 things i love ! Very sorry for my poor english (french guy...) ! I wih you the best my friend !