CROWDFUNDED GAMES

These games used to be included in the self-made games list but, at the time of writing (2025), crowdfunding can (even should) be considered a distinct kind of marketing strategy, and therefore I have created this list. 

I admit I am quite disappointed with what crowdfunding is turning into. While, when it appeared in the early/mid 2010s, crowdfunding looked like a good way to help game creators and therefore foster innovation by reducing the upfront costs involved in developing a board game, the present situation is that crowdfunding platforms are flooded with promises of expensive, undertested games that you cannot know when (or if) you are going to receive and how much they will end up costing. The final game price will inevitably be increased by shipping costs  -to be calculated later- , tariffs -in most cases not even mentioned, but which you will often have to pay-, and expansions and components that are added later on, increasing the game cost but seldom its playability. (This phenomenon is known as "deluxification": adding deluxe miniatures, playmats, inserts, or whatever you might think of, not really needed to play the game, but as a collector's bait that most backers will likely end up buying).

However, while I can live with (or without) these expansions and deluxe components, what I find hard to swallow is when the game rules keep changing during, and even after, the crowdfunding campaign. I mean, crowdfunded games often suffer from poor rules, and they tend to be seriously undertested. Well, if that is the best the game creator can do, in most cases I can accept it. But when this distribution system allows, even encourages, game creators to launch projects in which they don't even believe enough to let the rules as they are, I cannot help but lose faith. These game creators are not only telling me that they have not tested the game, but also that they don't care since they are not risking their money but mine. And that is going too far.

I am not saying that I will completely stop backing crowdfunded games. However, in most cases, I will wait until the game is published. Then, if the creator/editor still offers a way to buy the game with all the components -or at least the necessary ones- at a decent -or at least definite- price, I may consider the possibility of buying it.

By the way, the games included in this list were mostly created BEFORE crowdfunding turned into what I just described, and you should not make hasty assumptions about them. There are some pretty decent games in this list. Check the games' descriptions and consider each game for what it is.

 

 

 

CULTURE IDEAS	TOTUM REVOLUTUM THUMBNAILS	NAMES ALPHABETICAL	CATEGORIES LISTS	WHAT'S NEW BLOG