Introspective Rambling to a Backer’s Question
I think most would agree I’m pretty transparent and open. I’ve learned so much from others sharing their ideas with me and consider them as collaborators in many endeavors.
Kickstarter backers have pushed this way beyond anything I could have imagined and it’s wonderful. =)
Backers are far more than just some dollar amount – they’re the ones that decide if something is worthwhile. Without that support, a Kickstarter’s project is probably crap. o_O
This morning I read a nice message from the Mint Tin Mini Apocalypse Kickstarter and it made me focus on what’s next.
What follows is exchange between two Davids with some additions in my response:
Greetings David,
If I’ve done the math right MTMA exceeded MTP/MTA by about 400% in both number of backers and funds raised. Given the loyal following you are building it is not outside the realm of possibility that your next project would maintain that trend. That’s 12,820 backers (I would consider that the bare minimum number of games), and $234k-ish (assuming similar reward costs).
Given those numbers a couple of questions have come to mind.
- have you given any thought as to how you will mitigate those numbers, i.e. by having a bunch of staggered reward levels?
- will the delivery schedule have time built in to ensure you don’t end up divorced?
:o ;)
David
Looking forward to the next installment.
Hi David! That would be a great problem to have! So let’s take a look at it.
The next game would have to be as well received, or better, to surpass this one in my opinion.
Mint Tin Mini Apocalypse hits several notes just right. It’s very simple and doesn’t pretend to be anything more than it is. The secret of why it’s fun to play is the nature of a pair of d6s.
I wish I could claim I was clever but a pair of dice is a lot more than game components used as a randomizing mechanic. That’s why 1,985 books (Amazon) are written about Craps. (wiki)
I take some credit for wrapping the theme around it but can’t take credit for being original in that theme! I tried to stay true to monster, sci-fi, and apocalypse memes.
The biggest thing I can claim is getting the logistics of the game components to a point that they fit in a really small tin! =)
I think those are some of the factors that made this one successful.
To repeat that success is quite intimidating to me – the bar has been set high – that bar was set by your support for this Kickstarter.
I’d love the next game to be 4 times bigger but I don’t think it will be.
We would need reviewers like Rahdo and Tom Vasel to make that happen (and they would need to be stellar reviews). Since we are independent publishers and don’t sell through game stores, that may be a factor as far as their reviews go.
We’d love to sell through game stores and do sell in our FLGS – DiversionsPG – but since we source in the US, our game costs are higher than offshore manufactures and that doesn’t allow for enough profit margin for normal distribution channels.
The reviewers who have been gracious to donate their time, skill, and talent to our games tend to be independents like us – I am humbled by their work and value their time (so much so it moves me to tears to think about how wonderful they are – I’m hugely sentimental). =)
But . . . if the next Kickstarter did go bananas, we’d probably do something similar to the Mint Tin Mini Apocalypse Kickstarter – add a later reward delivery just like you mentioned (not more than three dates though).
AND . . . we’d hire some local folks to help make the rewards.
BUT . . . the bigger challenge isn’t the labor.
It’s the supply chain.
We bought out all inventory from Chessex twice during this campaign for the colors we used. That was stressful.
We could reduce that by not specifying colors in the final games, although that would open this up to backers wanting specific colors and that wouldn’t work for efficient shipping (because that makes the inventory issue a problem again).
Another factor that would likely keep the next Kickstarter from being bigger is the nature of its game.
Right now I’m all hyped up about Mint Tin Quest which is a solo game. That’s a smaller niche than a 2 player game.
It would also be in a normal-sized tin. While that’s still novel, we’ve done that with Mint Tin Pirates and Mint Tin Aliens.
Having Mint Tin Mini Apocalypse fit into a mini-sized tin added novelty and was a part of its success, albeit game play is the single most important factor, the diminutive size did raise its visibility and create online buzz.
Saying all of that, Mint Tin Quest could fizzle out.
At such an early stage in design, it’s easy to be excited about it but it has to end up being fun to play.
Mint Tin Villagers is much farther along than Mint Tin Quest. It has some final artwork and all the components are figured out. The label’s even done and there’s already a Kickstarter project page for it.
It was supposed to launch with Mint Tin Mini Apocalypse as a 2 game Kickstarter (like our first), but the last minute or two of game play is flat. I haven’t given up on it but there came a point where it was preventing Mint Tin Mini Apocalypse from going forward.
Dang David, this sparked a lot of introspection and I think I’m going to turn this into a blog post!
Thank you for asking and getting me thinking about it more concretely.
Thank you for the tremendous support and for being a true collaborator – you made this Kickstarter a reality and have shaped the next one more than you know!
Happy holidays David and happy gaming!
David
from Update#2:
Mint Tin Mini Apocalypse manhole cover question
An excellent question was posed on BoardGameGeek regarding the manhole expansion and it’s one I’ve had on Twitter as well.
the rules go out of the way to state you cannot save a 7. So if you need a 7 to throw the manhole cover to open the FoS, you need to roll a 7 at the exact same instant your opponent rolls a 7 to close the FoS?
this seems to either be useless or could lead to a lot of bickering over how long you wait to roll again.
It would make more sense that whoever controls the cover should be able to throw it to open the FoS at anytime to prolong the game, but all other action need a 7.
I like that “bickering” was mentioned. That’s to be expected with the apocalypse . . . but here’s an easy way to clarify almost anything about Mint Tin Mini Apocalypse.
First (me and my tangents), I would recommend that most people play Mint Tin Mini Apocalypse a few times without using the Manhole Expansion.
Kate also had a hard time understanding the manhole cover but if I can explain it well enough, it should be an ah ha moment for anyone having similar issues.
The game is meant to embrace all the memes and cliches of apocalypses and ALSO reflect what could happen in real life under the conditions set in Mint Tin Mini Apocalypse.
Imagine you are in a small downtown or even a strip mall setting. There’s a school with an old fallout shelter or maybe a bank with a vault nearby.
There’s a crashed Red Cross truck just a few hundred feet away that boxes of food rations spilled out (that’s what the boxes are in my head). Or there could be a convenience store nearby. It could be a corner shop or a grocery store – some place with bottled water and twinkies (okay, you can be healthier and grab energy bars).
Then something happens, it could be an EMP, some military test, inter-dimensional warp, or who knows what – but a monster can be seen over the tree tops – holy crap!
You don’t get knocked out but your friends or family do.
With rolled 7s representing things going your way, here’s how to frame questions you may have about the rules:
What would you do in real life?
If you get knocked down and no one else from your side is up, you’d have to get up before you could help someone else (like using smelling salts or a slap in the face). If only one person is up, could they get into the fallout shelter?
Yes they could, but who would help others get up?
That’s why the rules say “You need 1 standing meep to help your meeps or knock down others.”
That makes your standing meep the hero of your group and that means you! You are the standing meep helping your confused and panicked friends – you are the one with the cool head that can get save them –
be the hero you were born to be! =)
Okay, let’s get the manhole cover into the mix and back to that BGG question. So you get shut out of the FoS – bah, that sucks, but it’s not over yet.
It’s only over when the monster’s die is on 1 and someone rolls snake eyes and no one’s willing to sacrifice themselves.
The basic game rules are really not changed with the Manhole Expansion – only the part about the FoS being closed ending the game.
That ends the basic game because it’s assumed that the monster will eventually get to 1, snake eyes will be rolled, and everyone outside will be eaten.
Adding the Manhole Expansion to your game means that you can now play until that very end.
But you know what they say about assuming things . . .
So, what would you do as a hero once the FoS was closed and you had a way to open it and save your friends?
You’d do your best to open it of course! *cue heroic music*
The person who closed the FoS has a lot of incentive to roll as fast as they can and get the monster to a 1 and roll snake eyes. They want to ensure their win.
You, as the person shut out, need to claim the manhole cover (if you don’t have it yet) and then throw it with your adrenaline supercharged hero self to reopen the FoS (rolling 7s are still needed – you’ve got to able to get the manhole cover and then be able to throw it accurately).
Even if the monster gets to 1 and your opponent rolls snake eyes, normal rules still apply.
You can sacrifice one of your meeps to stop that snake eyes.
Both of you keep rolling. You want to toss them out and save your team. If you sacrificed one meep, you can still win.
And now your opponent also has reason to sacrifice one of their own. They can still win with 4 in.
In fact, you could keep sacrificing and kicking them out to keep them under 4 meeps in FoS and eventually cause both of you to lose.
Why would you do that?
It’s the apocalypse and people get bitter and do weird things under stress!
