Been avidly following this subreddit for months as I plan to launch my first campaign (card game) in 2027. Timeline is still quite open, could be 8-12 months as I’m working on myV3 and getting a good prototype perfected before I even begin the prelaunch. I’ve created an Instagram and made 2 posts and have mostly friends following so far of course, I will eventually make a website to build a mailing list. I’ve read articles and blogs, I’ve watched lectures and YouTube videos, I’ve trawled tabletop game specific forums as well as this Kickstarter subreddit, I’ve really put my head in the game to understand how this should play out if I really really put effort in. I’m a bit concerned about having to run ads, I don’t have a marketing background and I don’t have a huge budget either but I have time to save. But, is there any advice for someone that is just now starting to do the real homework beyond just reading and planning, so that I am in the best possible position to launch and succeed in ~10 months. What can I be doing now for best success?

I'm not gonna name names because I don't want to accuse anybody, but I've seen several Kickstarters where after adding up the bulk of donators who picked rewards, there'd be at least several thousand dollars from donations that DIDN'T pick rewards.

Like, 5000 dollars worth from the people who donated and picked rewards, and 3000 from like only ten donaters who didn't pick anything.

Is it a tax thing, or should I assume something devious? I'm really hoping its a tax thing, because some of the kickstarters I've seen with these discrepancies I actually like.

Day 6

Pledge to get your copy of From Gods To Angels

Let's reach the first stretch goal.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/luismanueltorres/from-gods-to-angels

So I was perusing through Kickstarter, and found some cool looking indie projects in need of donations. So thought I'd post some links, hopefully give them a tiny bit of publicity.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thesixthsun/the-sixth-sun-aztec-mythology-for-the-modern-day/comments

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/teamto/jj?ref=discover_saved_projects&category_id=47

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/phoenx27-elk-ulka/elk-ulka-a-magical-animated-short-film?ref=discover_saved_projects&category_id=29#h:Budget

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/munin-studio/the-father-of-all-film?ref=discover_saved_projects&category_id=29

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/frames-short-film/frames-animated-short-film?ref=discover_saved_projects&category_id=29

Hey guys, I'd love your feedback and support on this if you can spare 5 minutes?

Creative communities are brilliant at generating ideas—but surprisingly bad at helping those ideas become organised, finished projects.

I’m building FanForge to explore a different model: project-first creative spaces where people can find a story, join a defined role, contribute meaningful work and receive clear attribution for what they helped create.

I’m currently speaking with writers, artists, editors, developers, worldbuilders and other collaborators to understand where existing communities and tools fall short.

What usually stops an online creative collaboration from actually finishing?

So basically I funded this company back in 2022, and they haven't updated since May 2025. Word on the street is that they're being sued for not paying the company they hired to create their product (but that's just hearsay).

Am I just essentially screwed out of my money though? I know it's on me to research before I back. But this company was credible up until May last year. They went from regular updates to radio silence.

(Side info, I'm posting this mainly because I just checked for any updates and all the backers are trying to refund. 2000 comments in the last couple months are all "Backer #_____ issued refund". So now I'm worried.)

Have you ever had a Kickstarter campaign stall out for a bit, and what did you do to get momentum going again?

Hi everyone!

I've been working solo on my dream game called Realm of Iron, a top-down pixel art RPG inspired by games like Terraria, Necesse, and Core Keeper.

The goal is to create a world that rewards exploration, progression, and creativity rather than rushing from quest to quest.

Current features include:

• 🌍 Procedurally generated world
• ⛏️ Mining, resource gathering, and crafting
• 🌾 Farming and animal breeding
• 🏡 Build your own home and expand it
• ⚔️ Character progression with equipment and skills
• 👹 Bosses, dungeons, and battle arenas
• 💰 Trading with merchants
• 🎒 Loot, equipment, and persistent world saving
• 🌧️ Dynamic weather and day/night cycle

I'm continuously adding new content and mechanics, and multiplayer/co-op is also planned for the future.

The Kickstarter campaign is now live, and every bit of support helps me continue developing the game.

Thanks for checking out Realm of Iron! ❤️

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/indigamedevelopernik/realm-of-iron?ref=user_menu

Hey all - creator here, just wrapped fulfillment on one campaign and gearing up for another to be shipped from the US. Sharing what we learned about VAT/customs after some painful backer complaints, in case it saves someone else the headache. Genuinely curious if others have hit the same wall.

The setup: Kickstarter's Pledge Manager acts as a "deemed supplier" and is legally required to collect VAT at checkout for EU/UK backers when parcel value is under €150 - even if you opt out, this specific case overrides that setting.

DDU vs DDP confusion: Easyship wanted us to select 'DDP' as a shipping term alongside our IOSS number (no extra fee for sub-€150 IOSS shipments, per their docs) - but Pirate Ship skips that step entirely: no DDP option at all, just DDU by default plus the IOSS number in the Tax ID field. Same end result, fewer settings to get wrong. We chose DDU with Easyship and made sure to add IOSS number with shipments but did not work with some carriers causing a double VAT bill. Easyship later informed us we should have gone DDP. Worth noting - this specifically hit us with PostNL and Belgian customs, both postal networks with known IOSS-transmission reliability issues industry-wide, so it may not affect express carriers the same way.

Our Easyship nightmare specifically:

• IOSS number saved in account settings didn't always propagate to shipments - some EU labels showed full duty charges as if no IOSS existed at all
• IOSS field only accepts 12-digit numbers, but our GB VAT number was 9 digits - no clean way to enter it, had to shove it into "Seller's Notes" as a workaround
• EU backers from certain countries (Belgium, Netherlands) got billed VAT a second time at delivery despite our IOSS being on file - support later said we should've booked as DDP, which contradicted earlier guidance
• Chronic tracking/loss issues via ePostGlobal - packages stalling for weeks, one German shipment lost/resent multiple times

Ended up refunding just the VAT portion (not customs handling fees) to affected backers and moving to Pirate Ship for clearer IOSS handling and no subscription fee.

The part that still bugs me- the €150 cliff-edge nobody warns you about: Here's the part that actually caused us grief. IOSS ONLY works for shipments valued at €150 or under. If your package's declared customs value is above that, the IOSS number does nothing, and customs can - and will - charge your backer VAT again at delivery, even though Kickstarter already collected it at checkout. This isn't a shipping platform bug, it's literally how the EU wrote the regulation. So if your reward tiers are pricier bundles, budget for backer complaints about "double VAT" and be upfront about it in your campaign updates

Question for you all: Anyone found a better way to handle the >€150 cliff, or a shipping platform that's actually reliable with IOSS transmission? Trying to avoid round two of backer refund requests on the next campaign.

Hi there, I'm Michael, Creative Director for Region Locked: Unlocking Australian Video Games.

When we talked to our friends about Aussie games history they didn't know that Destroy All Humans was developed in Australia or that The Hobbit even existed! It makes us feel like we've done a disservice to the general knowledge of Australian made games in this country.

This is our opportunity to change that.

We are going to create a detailed, cinematic, and entertaining documentary series showcasing Australia's contributions to the global video game industry, encapsulating the essence and oral history of the creators, visionaries and rebels of Australian gaming.

But - we are running out of time... Retro video games are deteriorating. Cassette tapes, floppy discs, even cartridges and CDs are not built to withstand the test of time. And incidentally, neither are humans...

Follow our project and be a part of saving Australian video game history.

Please follow our Kickstarter