A Maltese board game has raised more than €318,000 in just four weeks on crowdfunding website Kickstarter, and its developers believe the door is now open for other local creative projects to follow the same path.
“Even our very best case estimates, at every stage, were nowhere close to what we got. Just a week ago, we were thinking if we hit €150,000 that it would be a miracle,” said Posthuman game designer Gordon Calleja.
“The pre-sales model is a great way of connecting creatives with their audience. This shows that audiences are ready to fork out money to help out creatives they admire.” Posthuman, by local developers Mighty Box Games and Denver-based publisher Mr B Games, is set in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by mutant humans called ‘the Evolved’, with players cast as survivors making their way to a rumoured fortress.
By the close of the game’s funding campaign – which had an initial target of just $25,000 – two weeks ago, some 5,500 people from all over the world had paid $52 each to receive a copy of the game, with some pledging as much as $900 to make the game a reality.
Prof. Calleja, who is also the head of the Institute of Digital Games at the University of Malta, attributes Posthuman’s success to a meticulously planned campaign strategy, including a game trailer and key reviews from influential game critics.
“It also helped that I had a very clear idea of what I wanted design-wise. Early theorists said narrative and games aren’t compatible, but what I think people are missing is that rules can generate narrative.
We were thinking if we hit €150,000 that it would be a miracle
“Every rule, every card generates an image in your mind that’s part of your ongoing story.
“The game doesn’t tell a specific story, it’s all left in the hands of the player.”
The Kickstarter process was also different to the traditional production model in that suggestions and requests from backers have been incorporated into the final product, Prof. Calleja explained.
“People have spotted things we left out or that we could hone further. It’s a valuable feedback mechanism, but it also gives you a sense of duty to your customer because you know them individually,” he said.
“It also emphasises that borders are not important. We need not just to think about it conceptually, but in practice.”
Posthuman is now entering its final stage of production, with a release date of October 2015.
A few thousand more copies will be made available to distributors around the world, with talks also under way for translated versions in French and German.