On Black Friday, November 25 2016, Adam Poots launched a record-breaking Kickstarter campaign. The tabletop game, Kingdom Death: Monster 1.5, raised $1 million dollars in nineteen minutes blowing Pebble Time’s forty-nine minute record out of the water.
In thirteen days, this cooperative nightmare-horror game featuring monsters and pin-up inspired art has raised an impressive $7,154,792 from 14,098 backers. With 31 days to go, this campaign is likely to break even more records before it is finished. As of now, Kingdom Death: Monster 1.5 is the second most-funded tabletop game on Kickstarter after Exploding Kittens.
Adam Poots, from Queens, NY, has created four Kickstarter projects to date. The first was in 2009, shortly after Kickstarter launched. Three of the campaigns were successful, including the first Kingdom Death campaign, which raised over $2 million dollars from more than 5,000 backers.
In his Kickstarter video, Poots admits that he was nervous launching this campaign and didn’t know if it would do as good as the last one. At the beginning, he addressed viewers in writing with dramatic music playing in the background:
“From beyond the bottom of my humble creative heart. With every fiber of my being. Thank you. Together we have created something no one else would. Together we can create more.”
His passion, gratefulness to backers, and great attention to detail are why so many backers have decided to pledge their support to this project. The campaign’s imaginative miniatures and skillful, eye-capturing artwork speak for themselves really. Backers are highly engaged in this campaign, with over 27,000 total comments posted on the game’s Kickstarter page.
Kingdom Death’s funding may have slowed down after raising over $4 million in the first twenty-four hours, but the project has still been raising hundreds of thousands of dollars per day. Kicktraq stats suggest that this project is trending towards $39 million dollars in total funding, which seems possible with the pledges coming in so far. The average pledge per backer on this project is $480! In a comment to CrowdfundingPR, Adam Poots shared that their team has five partner warehouses around the world, so they don’t see any issues fulfilling high demand for rewards.
When asked if he had tips for running a record-breaking Kickstarter campaign, Poots had a few suggestions for creators. Creators should research other campaigns in their category and have an established fan base before launching. From experience, Poots said that it’s better to collect shipping after the campaign is over because including it on Kickstarter can eat away at the funding goal. He also said that creators should spare no effort when it comes to their dreams and not be afraid to fail because they can always try again. Most off all, he said that creators need to be prepared to get tough:
“Never make excuses. A firm, concise and honest voice is always going to carry more weight than an unsure one. Before you answer a difficult question, make sure to re-read your answer over and over again. Think about how you would feel as a backer without all the knowledge you have as a creator. The ‘right’ answer is more important then re-assuring someone. Saying ‘you don’t have to pledge if you don’t want to’ is the same as losing an argument. Lose too many of those publicly and you’ve shown you have no confidence in your brand. No good!”
This campaign is yet another example of how Kickstarter’s reach and awareness of crowdfunding in general are growing. When Kickstarter launched in 2009, raising $1 million in 19 minutes on a crowdfunding campaign was unheard of. As 2017 approaches, this is a very exciting time for entrepreneurs and creatives to explore their ideas and share them with the world.
If you are thinking about launching a Kickstarter campaign but you aren’t sure if you’re ready, check out this recent CrowdCrux podcast to find out what things you should have prepared before you launch.
