Havok & Hijinks Successful Tactics

Recently I posted my lessons learned article about the process of bringing Havok & Hijinks to market. I focused on what I felt we did wrong and the things I would never repeat. Now I want to turn around and focus on the things we did right and will absolutely do again on our next project.

With any luck you’ll also find value here and will be able to apply some of the tactics we used to your project. If you have any questions be sure to let me know. I’m glad to answer what I can.

Disclaimer:This article ONLY captures what I felt we did RIGHT. That may give the impression that I think we were amazing and can do no wrong. Obviously that isn’t true. Check out the linked “lessons learned” article for what we did wrong.

The Kickstarter Phase

I live and breathe Kickstarter. It fascinates me in ways I can’t describe. I like to back projects and I love to run them. My record to date is 3 and 0. Of the three, I would say Havok & Hijinks was the most successful as we hit nearly 300% funding with a brand nobody has ever heard of from an equally obscure publisher. This is where I was most confident in our abilities and also where I think we succeeded the most.

Things I’ll Absolutely Do Again During The Kickstarter Phase:

• Begin Media Build Up 12 Months In Advance – People will say this is overkill but I don’t think you can start your media build up too early. I’m not talking about saying “support my Kickstarter” 12 months in advance. I’m talking about a slow, subtle escalation over time. The trick is I NEVER tried to sell to our audience. I started hinting that I was working on a game KickStarter Launch (KSL) minus 14 months in advance.

  At KSL minus 12 months I started giving details and showing concept art. At KSL minus 8 months I was showing game mechanics and talking about our experiences in play testing. I never talked about selling unless someone asked… and peopled asked. They wanted to know when they could buy the game!

  As we drew closer and closer to KSL I shifted my tone just slightly. I still didn’t try to sell but I explained what Kickstarter was and how it worked. I went over how that was our method by which we’d get the game into the market. All the while I continued to share game content. People were ready to jump on that. I gave the date out and on KSL we had a grassroots crowd ready to go.

• Ensured I Would Have 100 Backers In The First Day – Kickstarter is all about appearances. Don’t let anyone tell you differently. An excellent campaign with an average game will do better than a poor campaign with the best game ever made. When I say excellent campaign I’m also not talking solely about what is on your page. I’m talking big picture. Did I advertise in advance? How did I plan for our launch to go?

  That is where I’m focusing on now. If I didn’t know how the first day was going to go I would NOT have launched. At KSL minus 15 days I went to every friend, coworker, family member, and loose associate I knew and explained that I needed their SUPPORT. I told them what I’m telling you now. I never asked for their money. I asked them to log on in the first 60 minutes and back the game for $1. Why? To increase backer count and project popularity. More importantly, if you ask someone for SUPPORT and not MONEY they’re more likely to do it. Then, when they’re there, they spend more than $1 anyway.

  I went so far with this that I produced a PDF that showed, in pictures, how to go from opening a web browser to successfully backing our Kickstarter. I also produced an excel sheet of 100 names that I could “count on” and made sure they were ready for KSL. As a result, in the first hour, we had nearly 40 backers. By the end of the day we nearly had that 100 I wanted. More importantly, those backers didn’t just spend $1. They spent a lot more. $2729 to be specific which also meant our first day funding was 27%.

  Why is that important? We set the tone for our game. That tone was “we will be successful so it is safe for you to back our game.” Day two doubled our backers and percentage. Those people weren’t on our list. We were now growing organically off the popularity we ensured on day one.

• Focus On Backers, Not Dollars – People will judge you by your first day and not solely on money. If you have 50% support and 1 backer everyone assumes something dubious occurred. I care more about backers than dollars. Chase backers, not dollars. The money will come if you do.

  The more backers you have and how often you bring them in will decide where your project appears on Kickstarter. A project with a lot of backers also gives other non-backers the confidence that there is something good here. Have you ever looked at project you weren’t sure about but saw it had 1000 backers? Did this thought cross your mind: “I don’t think I’m into this but everyone else is. Maybe I’m missing something?” I’ve had that thought! Backers motivate backers better than you or I ever could.

  As previously mentioned it is also easier to ask for support than money. Asking for money puts people on the defensive. Asking them to support your project doesn’t.

• Communicate The Right Amount – Kickstarter updates are, in my mind, just that: updates. Some projects don’t use them enough. Others use them like Tweets. I’ve felt we’ve been very successful in how often we update and the quality of those updates. There is no black and white answer to how often you should update but here is my opinion:

  During KS always update: End of days 1, 2, and 3. Any time a stretch goal is unlocked. 3, 2, and 1 days from end. Any changes to reward levels.

  During KS never update: Just to ask for more money. Just to encourage backers to tell others about the project. Unrelated items. Cross overs and/or promoting other projects. What you ate for lunch. How you’re feeling.

  After success always update: Major steps in the project. All major problems. Estimates on completion. A true status update every 2-3 weeks. When your widgets ACTUALLY arrive to you. Any change of plans. When rewards have ACTUALLY shipped. Reminding everyone to update their address.

  After success never update: When your widgets are “on the boat” (they’re never on the boat). When you’re “shipping” (if they’re not at the post office yet you aren’t shipping). Minor problems that won’t impact backers.

• Communicate With Backers – Backers are awesome people who just want to know what is up. I think we did an excellent job responding to comments and emails the whole project. We still do and we get praised for it. I avoid going silent even when the news is bad and I HAVE had to deliver bad news on every project I’ve done.

• Limit The Amount Of Pledge Levels – When it came to our KS we tried to keep the amount of truly different pledge levels to a minimum. We had a lot but most were just one flavor of a “likeness on a card” reward level. In general we had eight levels: $1 (watcher), $5 (PnP + Promo), $15 (Basic Package), $20 (Basic+), $25 (Full Ride), $45 (Full Ride + Artbook), $xx (Full Ride + Likeness), and $200 (Build Your Own Dragon). I plan to stick to that formula in the future.

The Art Phase

If you read my lessons learned article you’ll know I made a fairly large amount of mistakes in the art phase. I did get some things right and I think they may be useful to other project creators.

Things I’ll Absolutely Do Again During The Art Phase:

• Pick An Art Direction Early – If you’re going to self publish you need to pick an art direction as soon as you can and stick with it. It gives your game a unique feel. The sooner you have your direction the better so you can…

• Get Basic Mock-ups On Prototypes – I found in early play tests that our play testers, even knowing that we were in beta, still put on the feedback sheet “needs art.” It is fine to dismiss them and say “get better testers” but those testers were at an Unpub event! At the end of the day, your mock ups need basic art so the lack of it doesn’t distract testers.

• Get A Professional Rulebook Designer – I hate reading rulebooks and I’ve never designed one. I knew that was a weak spot in my plan. To compensate I got someone who knows games, rulebooks, and graphic design. Daniel Solis did everything for our rulebook other than write the rules themselves and it shows.

• Get A Professional Box Designer – As above. Our box is awesome! Tiara did exceptional work on it.

• Complete 25% Of Our Art – Art sells on Kickstarter. There just isn’t any other way to put it. Anything we had art for we sold a lot of. Things that had no art or basic art that were addons did not fair nearly as well. We were about 25% done with the art and 80% done with the graphic design prior to launch. That wasn’t bad. In the future I’d shoot for 50-60%.

• Pay By The Piece. Not By The Hour – Have your artist estimate how many hours it will take per piece. Get their hourly rate. Set that rate as the per piece rate. However, if a situation arises where the artist has to work above and beyond the estimated hours because of revisions or changes, try to be flexible with the price so as not burn your relationship with them.

• Use Cloud Storage – I realize that many projects may be comprised of just two people or so. Havok & Hijinks had a far larger one. We could not have survived without our cloud storage. It was worth every penny and made it painless for artists to get work in. Don’t try to email things back and forth! Spend the money on the storage.

The Production Phase

Production has, for the most part, gone somewhat off the rails for us. We have had a multitude of small problems. On the other side of the coin, however, we haven’t had any major issues. I’m proud of the game we produced and the response to the physical package has been outstanding.

Things I’ll Absolutely Do Again During The Production Phase:

• Decide Exactly What Quality Level I Want And Stick To It – Prior to committing to anything I went out and bought games made by various printers. I opened them, felt the cards, shuffled them, and generally just got a feel for what they were like. I also asked for paper samples from every company. Anyone unwilling to send me one was immediately cut. In the end I knew I needed 305 weight paper or more. I also wanted black core.

  A few printers told me that paper is not apples to apples and 305 weight from one may not be 305 from the other. I can’t say that isn’t true but logic tells me it isn’t. I’m glad I didn’t let anyone dazzle me. I received 305 weight black core cards and they rock!

• Print Overseas – I don’t want to but if I do another large print run I’ll do it overseas again. I did everything I could to print domestically. I really did. No matter what I couldn’t find someone who could print the game, the box, and the cards as one package deal that was cost competitive. Even shipping from China my unit cost ended up being 25% of a domestic unit.

• Use A Middleman – Technically speaking the “printer” I use isn’t a printer at all. They’re a middleman. I call them and they call a factory in china. People will warn you against it because they think this is a waste of money. It isn’t. My middleman is a domestic company. I have a contract with THEM. A legally binding and actionable contract. If the overseas plant completely screws up my order, fills it full of radioactive mice droppings, and adds in a sticker of someone’s bare hindquarters, my middleman is on the line for that. I don’t have to navigate an international lawsuit. Never underestimate the value of that.

• Print More Units Than Most Deem Necessary – There is a lot of advice out there about how many units you should produce. Solid statistics like “an independent board game will only sell 2000 units” based on fact and experience. Don’t ignore that advice completely. Do ignore it a little. You’re going to need to be prepared for .5-1% defective rate. You’ll also want to send some units to reviewers right? What about demo copies? Gifts for people who helped?

  Don’t rely on someone else to tell you what works out. Look at the costs and how much savings you get buying an extra 250 units. I bought a lot more units than others would recommend but I’m also not going to launch and walk. I’m going to put in the hard work to get them sold. My game is also at an impulse buy price point though. Consider what you order carefully.

The Fulfillment Phase

Fulfillment for us has gone very smoothly. I thought I’d just put together a few thoughts here.

Things I’ll Absolutely Do Again During The Fulfillment

• Not Use A Fulfillment Service – In life you have two major resources: time and money. Fulfillment works the same way. Spend time to do it yourself or spend money to have someone do it for you. I talked to several fulfillment companies about Havok & Hijinks. I was repeatedly told that I wouldn’t want to fill 1000 orders myself. I won’t name names but I learned two things very quickly:

  1. Fulfillment companies DO NOT USE the best postage options/rates even though they tell you they do. EVERY company was over charging for postage. I found better rates just going to my local post office. My estimates were $3.50 or so. They were coming in $1 or more higher with their “discounted bulk rate.” Additionally the fulfillment charge ranged from $3.00 to $5.00 a unit. Do that math. Base reward package: $15. Less $3 for fulfillment and less $4 for shipping. I’m now at $8 a unit and I haven’t even produced it yet.

  2. They make mistakes too and do not love your game/customers like you do. I’m proud to say we have a 1% error rate. Yes, I’m saying out of 1000 orders we messed up or missed something in about 10 (so far reported). You will find fulfillment companies commit to about the same and I’ve seen projects where they messed up far worse. They don’t care about your project. They just want to get it out the door.

• Use A Discounted Postage Service – If you self-fulfill look up discounted postage. It may not seem like much but across 1000 orders it pays for itself AND makes shipping easy. Imagine hand writing 1000 orders. That is a bad idea. Now imagine just importing those orders from Kickstarter into a CSV and pushing them into the postage software. BOOM labels everywhere. Work done!

• Don’t Question Problems. Solve Them – For my project the customer is always right. If I got an email before noon on a Monday that we missed something, something was defective, or other concerns I addressed it right then. We often had packages in the mail that day. People have rewarded that level of service with fierce loyalty. It was worth the small costs.

Final Thoughts

When we set out to run the Havok & Hijinks project we had two successful Kickstarters behind us. I had faith we could pull off another win and we did so. On the Kickstarter level I think we did far more right than we did wrong and I plan to use our strategy for future projects.

Our biggest learning areas were in art and production. Both of those were places where we didn’t have a ton of experience. Now I’ve got so many lessons under my belt I’m feeling very confident in our prospects for an expansion or for launching someone else’s game.

Always remember that your brand, image, and personal integrity are more valuable than anything else. I would gladly spend $1,000 out of my own pocket if it meant saving those three things. Money can be earned again. Repairing your customers’ faith in you is difficult. Focus on people, not money, and you’ll come out okay!