Game Designer Workshop Episode 13: Red Markets Kickstarter Post-mortem

rm-bondsThe Red Markets Kickstarter is over but the work isn’t over yet! Caleb and I discuss how the campaign went and what we learned. Like any campaign, there were some surprises along the way. Find out what they were and what’s next for Red Markets. Thanks again for your support!

Song: Above all by HOME

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11 Comments

  1. it didn’t succeed the way it did because of generosity! it succeeded because of the extraordinary diligence and openness of your vision! it succeeded because it’s a game of its time, telling a narrative that rings all too true to way too many people! it succeeded because it’s inspiring, ambitious and exceedingly competent!

    I’m sure Caleb’s tired of his fans embarrassing him by talking about how uplifting our being small parts in this process and watching it succeed have been, but in a time when the world seems to be getting worse and worse for average people, Red Markets is the one-two punch of a sweeping criticism of the poverty cycle that’s always at best too close AND an opportunity for us to feel like we’re actually helping to make something worthwhile happen when that so often seems so hard [both the helping and happening parts]. it’s the Sanders campaign of game design, I guess, but with a better outcome and a higher average donor (what does it mean that I gave Caleb twice as much as I gave Bernie…?)

    to undercut the sincerity of this comment, I leave you with the worst sarcastic Hallmark Kickstarter jokes I can come up with, in a front flap/inside format:

    I hear you met a lot of stretch goals! /I just can’t wait to Chao-SEE ‘EM!

    I wish I remembered when your Kickstarter’s ending…/But my raccoon is reloading his rocket launcher.

    [Valentine’s-themed] I’m in the mood for some handling./You cover shipping.

  2. I love knowing how this stuff works.

  3. Hey Caleb, I think that I was one of the “This has no value to me” commenters. The PDF’s didn’t have a value to me not because I wouldn’t enjoy and read them, but because of my circumstances where I probably won’t be in a place to enjoy them a year and some change from now the circumstances of which goes beyond the scope of this post.

    I was chiefly interested in an all digital package which was mentioned and the jump from $25 to $60 just to get the audiobook which I wanted was pretty heartbreaking because I didn’t really want books or dice or stuff as I live a fairly spartan life and want as little stuff as possible. An extra $35 was just too much for to pay for one audiobook.

    That said I’m glad the funding worked so well for you.

  4. Again, congrats on a successful campaign. It was amazing to see something like this go so far. Hope to see you at Gencon!

  5. Congratulations on the successful campaign (can’t wait for dat sweet hardcover book)! And thank you for the behind-the-scenes look at the Kickstarter/printing logistics; it is definitely helping me plan my future Kickstarter project, and it certainly gels with some lessons we learned from the D6xD6 Kickstarter to make future ones better/more manageable.

  6. To be one hundred percent honest, I would not have backed if the all digital tier wasn’t there. I don’t play IRL and so getting the books while I have a dozen D&D and VtM books from my misguided youth collecting dust in a corner would not have been a smart idea.

    Grats on the 600%, Caleb. Running out of stretch goals must have felt exhilarating.

    Also, does anyone have a link to the podcast where they jump on Caleb for his imagined republican-ness? That sounds like a hilarious listen but I could not find it on the reddit page.

  7. I have no idea what I’m gonna do with my physical copy! maybe donate it to a local gaming store to sell? I’m a PDF boy. I just wanted it all to happen!

  8. I’m going to put mine on my shelf next to No Security, then patiently wait for Caleb to become an RPG mega-star and then sell them for vast amounts of money….It’s my Aaron grade retirement plan.

  9. Caleb, you’re my hero. You’ll be in the author’s credits of the RPG book I’ll never write because I lack even a 10th of your gumption. Kudos good sir, kudos.

  10. Dear Mr. Stokes, I must disagree strongly sir.

    You missed a stellar opportunity for cross promoting with alligator skin wallets.

    Observe:

    [Rod Sterling voice]: In a world, where doomed and dammed Delta Green agents descend towards their destiny…there is a man…a man who sells roadkill alligator jerky…peddling his wares year after year from gun show to gun show…never aging…never changing.

    Now. Imagine a world where the Fall happens. Zombies are no match for gun show enthusiasts. And still this man appears…peddling his wares from Enclave to Enclave…selling the same biting jerky…and now…something different.

    Something fashionable. Something necessary.

    The new Red Markets Official Alligator Skin Wallet.

    Yours for the pittance of $1,000,000 for this exclusive, product. Experience the Fall yourself when your credit card gets charged for this purchase.

  11. Just great to hear this series all the way through plus a successful kickstarter. Great job so far to Caleb Stokes & all the rest working on Red Markets as it looks like it will turn out to be a great game!

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