Over three years ago, while I was still in college, I embarked on a creative journey to design a roguelike board game. Initially, it was just a fun project meant for my friends, but to my surprise, it garnered interest from a wider audience. This unexpected enthusiasm led me to enlist the help of my close friend, Brad, to further develop the game.
After a couple of years of hard work, we finally released the game and managed to sell a few hundred copies. However, like many projects, the initial excitement began to fade, and we gradually moved on. If this story sounds familiar, it’s because I’m referring to the Keep roguelike board game, which I discussed in a previous video earlier this year.
Initially, the video I created about the Keep was intended as a farewell to the game. At that time, sales had dwindled, and interest seemed to wane. I wanted to share the story of the Keep because I was proud of it, thinking that if anyone wanted to buy the remaining copies, that would be the end of it.
However, I was in for a surprise! Within just three hours of the video going live, we sold out all the remaining copies. People were reaching out, eager to know where they could purchase the game. This overwhelming response prompted us to create a petition to gauge interest for a potential Kickstarter campaign.
To our amazement, the video gained significant traction and became one of the most popular on my channel. This was the turning point that convinced us to revive the Keep and launch it on Kickstarter.
The Keep is a roguelike board game where players build the map each turn. The objective is to find a key before the dynamics shift and players turn against each other. Once the key is found, the race is on to reach the gate. What makes the game exciting is that no two games are ever the same.
When we finally launched the Kickstarter, the response was phenomenal. We reached our funding goal within 24 hours and eventually raised $36,000. This success allowed us to enhance the game with custom dice and new Keep links.
However, the journey wasn’t without its challenges. One significant hurdle was fulfillment. Initially, we assumed our printers could handle shipping, but international shipping costs were exorbitant. To address this, we decided to manage the shipping ourselves, which was a lot of work but reduced costs significantly.
We dedicated an entire room to Kickstarter materials and spent a long day packaging and mailing over 600 packages. It was a surreal experience, and I even got a tour of the post office!
One key takeaway from this experience is the complexity of fulfillment in crowdfunding campaigns. Shipping can be more expensive and complicated than anticipated, so it’s crucial to plan accordingly if you’re considering a Kickstarter.
If you missed the Kickstarter but still want the game, we’re working on making it available. We’ve created a print-and-play version available on our HIO page. While we’d love to produce more physical copies, our current printer is unreliable and costly. If you know of any reliable printing services, please let us know!
We’re also exploring the possibility of releasing the Keep on Tabletop Simulator. We’ve been in contact with them, and they showed interest, but we haven’t heard back recently. We’re starting another petition to bring the Keep to Tabletop Simulator as official DLC. If you’re interested, please sign the petition linked below.
The future of the Keep looks promising, thanks to your support. We have six expansion ideas, including new Keep links and booster packs. We might even host tournaments with prizes!
Thank you all for making the Keep possible. Your support means the world to me. Have you played the Keep? What are your thoughts? Would you like to see it return? Let me know in the comments below. I love reading and responding to your comments.
A special thanks to my Patreon supporters who make these videos possible. I appreciate each and every one of you!
That’s all for today. Have a wonderful week, and I’ll see you next time for another game development adventure!
As a creative exercise, design a simple board game concept. Focus on creating unique mechanics or themes that set your game apart. Consider how you would market it to a wider audience, similar to the Keep’s journey from a personal project to a commercial product.
Research a successful Kickstarter campaign, preferably in the board game category. Identify key strategies they used to engage backers and achieve their funding goals. Compare these strategies to those used in the Keep’s Kickstarter campaign.
Discuss the potential challenges of crowdfunding, particularly in terms of fulfillment and shipping. Reflect on how the Keep team managed these challenges and propose alternative solutions or improvements.
Develop a short marketing video for a board game concept. Use the Keep’s video as inspiration, focusing on storytelling and engaging the audience. Consider how you would handle unexpected interest and manage inventory.
Join a workshop or seminar on game development. Use this opportunity to learn about the technical and creative aspects of game design, similar to the process the Keep team underwent. Share your insights and how they could apply to future projects.
Here’s a sanitized version of the provided YouTube transcript:
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Today’s episode is brought to you by Squarespace. Over three years ago, I created a roguelike board game while I was in college. At first, it was just a fun project for my friends, but I was surprised to see that people were interested in this game. That’s when I recruited one of my close friends, Brad, to help with the project.
It took us a couple of years to develop, but when we released it, we ended up selling a couple hundred copies. Unfortunately, like most things, the initial hype started to die out, and eventually, we drifted away from the project. If this story sounds familiar, that’s because I’m talking about the Keep roguelike board game, and I did a whole video on it earlier this year.
So, why am I doing another video on it now? I wanted to talk about everything that’s happened since that video, and believe me, there’s a lot. I also want to discuss the future of the Keep for those who are still interested.
I mentioned that I created a video talking about the Keep and its story. The funny thing about that video is that it was supposed to be a farewell to the game. At that point, no one was really buying copies or interested in it, so I thought I would tell the story because I’m proud of this game. I figured if people wanted to buy copies, that was fine, but after that, the Keep would be done.
Boy, was I wrong! Within the first three hours of the video being live, we sold the rest of the Keep copies. I was shocked! People were sending me messages asking where they could buy the game, and I had no idea what to do. So, we made a petition. My thought was that it would help us gauge how many people were interested in buying the game so we could do a Kickstarter in a week or two.
I don’t know if it was the petition or just the video itself, but the video blew up and became one of my most popular videos on this channel. That’s when I knew we needed to revive the Keep, and this time, we would put it on Kickstarter.
If you don’t know what the Keep is, it’s a roguelike board game where you build out the map each turn. Your goal is to search for a key before everyone turns on each other. After finding the key, the goal is to get to the gate as fast as possible. One thing I love about it is that no two games are quite the same.
Now that you know a bit about the game and the setup for the Kickstarter, you’re probably wondering how it all turned out. Once we finally released the Kickstarter, we were funded within 24 hours! Not only that, but we ended up raising a total of $36,000, which allowed us to add custom dice and new Keep links to the game.
However, I want to share one of the mistakes I made during this Kickstarter so you can avoid it in the future. But before we do that, a word from today’s sponsor, Squarespace. Creating your own website or online store can be a huge hassle, but using Squarespace makes it so much easier. You can connect your social profiles, making it fantastic for promoting your new product or game. Check out squarespace.com for a free trial, and when you’re ready to launch, go to squarespace.com/goodguess to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.
One of the biggest issues we faced was figuring out fulfillment. If you’ve ever done shipping, you know it can be a challenge. Initially, we thought our printers could handle all the fulfillment for us, but when it came to shipping internationally, they wanted to charge $65 per game, which was unreasonable. We realized we needed to offer options for our overseas supporters, so when the Kickstarter launched, we received a lot of complaints about shipping costs.
Instead, we found that if we shipped the copies ourselves, we could cut the price in half, which was much better, but it meant a lot of extra work for us. One of my priorities is that you all can enjoy the game, so we decided to handle the shipping ourselves.
We filled an entire room with Kickstarter materials, and mailing out over 600 packages was quite the experience! We spent a long day packaging games and loading them up for the post office. It was a surreal experience, and I even got a tour of the post office!
What I’m trying to say is that when you do a Kickstarter, you often don’t realize how much work is involved. Shipping can be more expensive and complicated than you think. If you’re planning your own Kickstarter, keep these things in mind.
If you haven’t received your copy of the Keep yet and didn’t fill out the survey on Kickstarter, please make sure to do that so we can send you your copy.
So, what’s next for the Keep? If you missed the Kickstarter and still want the game, we’re doing everything we can to make it available. We created a print-and-play version that you can buy on our HIO page. We would love to release more physical copies, but our printer is unreliable and expensive. If you know anyone who can print well, let me know!
We also want to release the Keep through Tabletop Simulator. We’ve been in contact with them, and they expressed interest in working with us, but we haven’t heard back in a while. So, we’re starting another petition to get the Keep on Tabletop Simulator. If you’d like to see it as official DLC, please sign the change.org petition in the description below.
The Keep has a bright future because of all of you and your support. I have six expansion ideas already, including new Keep links and booster packs. Maybe we can even host tournaments with prizes!
Thank you all for making the Keep possible. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be able to make this video today. Have you played the Keep? What are your thoughts on it? Would you like to see it come back? Let me know in the comments below. I love reading your comments and reply to every single one of them.
A huge shoutout to my Patreon supporters who make these videos possible. I appreciate you all so much!
That’s it for me today. I hope you have a wonderful rest of your week, and I’ll see you next time for another game dev adventure!
[Music]
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This version maintains the essence of the original transcript while removing any informal language and ensuring clarity.
Entrepreneurship – The process of designing, launching, and running a new business, typically a startup company offering a product, process, or service. – Many university students are drawn to entrepreneurship because it allows them to turn their innovative ideas into viable businesses.
Crowdfunding – The practice of funding a project or venture by raising small amounts of money from a large number of people, typically via the Internet. – The students used crowdfunding to gather the necessary funds to launch their eco-friendly product line.
Fulfillment – The process of completing a customer’s order, including packaging and shipping the product. – Efficient fulfillment is crucial for startups to maintain customer satisfaction and build a loyal customer base.
Shipping – The process of transporting goods from one location to another, often a key consideration in e-commerce businesses. – The team had to carefully plan their shipping strategy to ensure timely delivery of their DIY kits to customers worldwide.
Kickstarter – A popular crowdfunding platform that helps entrepreneurs raise money for creative projects by offering rewards to backers. – The university’s innovation club successfully launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund their new educational board game.
Board Game – A tabletop game that involves counters or pieces moved or placed on a pre-marked surface or “board,” according to a set of rules. – Designing a board game as a class project helped students learn about product development and marketing strategies.
Project – A planned set of interrelated tasks to be executed over a fixed period and within certain cost and other limitations. – The entrepreneurship course required students to develop a project that addressed a real-world problem using innovative solutions.
Development – The process of creating or improving a product or service, often involving research, design, and testing. – The development phase of their app was challenging, but it taught the students valuable lessons in teamwork and problem-solving.
Creativity – The use of imagination or original ideas to create something; inventiveness. – Creativity is essential in entrepreneurship, as it drives the innovation needed to differentiate a startup in a competitive market.
Students – Individuals enrolled in an educational institution to gain knowledge and skills. – University students often engage in entrepreneurial activities to apply their academic learning to real-world challenges.
