We have all learnt that crowd funding is the most unique and simple way to get backers for one’s idea (however insane it may be) and Kickstarter is an entrepreneurs’ paradise if he/she really knows how to get the backer’s attention.
Well, one such entrepreneur happens to be Shane Small, creative director, formerly of Xbox, Gogokiddo and WizKids – who is also one of the three founders of Exploding Kittens – if you are still wondering what’s all the fuss about ‘Exploding Kittens’, then just to get you upto speed, it is a highly strategic kitty-powered version of Russian Roulette. Players take turns drawing cards until someone draws an exploding kitten and loses the game. The deck is made up of cards that let you avoid exploding by peeking at cards before you draw, forcing your opponent to draw multiple cards, or shuffling the deck. The game gets more and more intense with each card you draw because fewer cards left in the deck means a greater chance of drawing the kitten and exploding in a fiery ball of feline hyperbole.
What makes this game so special you ask? Well, for starters the crowd funding campaign, which kicked-off on 20 January, reached its goal of $10,000 in mere 20 minutes and received one million dollars of backing in just seven hours.
It’s only been under a week now since the campaign started and it has already received over 97,500 backers and nearly $3.85 million pledged (at the time of filing). The campaign already boasts of being the #1 most funded card games ever. The current record for the most funded campaign is held by Coolest Cooler, which had $13.3 million pledged for it. So, if Exploding Kittens could raise over $1 million on the first day, what will the remaining 29 bring?
So one must imagine what the key ingredients are for an ‘explosive’ Kickstarter Campaign.
The trio have put up this note on what are their risks and challenges:
“Production of the game is simple: it’s just a card game, so other than building the box it’s a relatively straightforward product to make. The biggest challenge for us would actually be if you blow us out of the water. We’re already working with our pals at Cards Against Humanity (an earlier successful Kickstarter campaign) to make sure that no matter how many people pledge, everyone gets their Exploding Kittens quickly after the campaign ends. None of us want this to be a campaign where you spend the next two years getting fifty emails about production updates and delays. If you back this project, we want to be sure you can start blowing up your friends as soon as possible. This is why (for now) we’re not offering t-shirts or other complicated reward tiers that would make the distribution process take a lot longer. We’re keeping it as simple as possible: support our project and in return we’ll send you the playable game.”
These guys really go by the saying: “Put your money where your mouth is” and that’s also one of the key ingredients for being part of such a successful campaign.