We interrupt your regularly scheduled update on lessons learned while working at Steve Jackson Games to bring you this special call to action:
Jeremy and I are working hard to create a professionally-printed limited print run of 100 to 500 copies of a satirical dystopian board game we’ve made. The game’s name is Inevitable. To help make this happen, we created a Kickstarter project for Inevitable. This has been ludicrously, wildly successful. Our Kickstarter sponsors have blown our $3,000 goal out of the water – nearly doubling it.
This is simply awesome.
It also puts us very, very close to a secret “stretch goal” that we figured out several weeks ago as we were crunching the math…
Our current plan has us ordering a some of the components as a package from one vendor (specifically, the box, cards, and board). As you know, our initial run of the Deluxe Set is 100 units, but we get a sweet per-unit price break if we order this package in a quantity of 500 or more. This will make it cheaper for us to produce the initial run of 100 sets, and will also leave us in a really good position to produce 400 more “second-run” Deluxe Sets if (when?) the first run sells out. (We even have a lead on free storage space to hold the surplus components in the interim.)
It makes good business sense, but it means that we’re facing an initial printer bill of around $8,500. We have a few investors in line who are interested in helping us to make that goal, and we’re each prepared to pitch in as much of our own money as is necessary. So, basically, you don’t need to worry about whether the game will get made— it will. (We’re still on schedule for a summertime release.) But when we saw that our Kickstarter campaign had gotten to nearly $6,000 we began wondering whether one final push might take it all the way to $8,500, which would cover that initial printer bill in full.
If you already gave, we thank you, and we’re not asking you to contribute more. We’re already amazed and humbled by your generosity. But we’d love it if you’d simply spread the word. Let your friends know about Inevitable, and encourage them to get involved. (An easy link to share is this one: http://kck.st/cqqYv5) If we got only 33 more donors at the $75 level we’d be there. And then… then we’d start planning an awesome release party.
Our initial $3000 goal seemed hopeful, and we hit it in eight days. $6000 seemed wildly optimistic, and we’re almost there now. $8,500 seems – well, frankly, it seems impossible. But we won’t know unless we try. 22 days remain!
Sincerely,
Jonathan and Jeremy
PS: Tell us anything you might need to help spread the word. Want a snappy flyer that you can print out? Want a batch of free postcards sent to your house? Want a sneak-preview of the full rulebook? We can provide these things.
PPS: HappyCOM-9 adds “DENIZENS: MAXIMIZE YOUR COMPLIANCE BY SLAYING ALL WHO WOULD OBSTRUCT OUR GLORIOUS PROGRESS. “
— Jonathan A Leistiko :: gaming
Invisible City Productions is a collective of game designers, writers, and artists who provide this as a space for the creators of secret media to come together and touch antennae.
Oh man, I wish I’d known about this sooner. Sounds great – I wish you guys all the best. Is there a way of easily staying up-to-date with what you’re doing? Us satirical board game designers need to stick together (let’s face it, there aren’t many)
— Andrew Sheerin Jun 4, 06:39 PM #The easiest ways to keep abreast of whassup are to follow our Facebook page ( http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Inevitable/192682438697 ) or the Inevitable website itself: ( http://inevitablethegame.com/ ) – specifically the “leaks” page.
— Jonathan Jun 19, 09:33 PM #