Social Media, Podcasts, and Reviews OH MY!

Last we left off, I had a game, I have art and for the most part a manufacturer lined up, things are going smoothly. But....

You need fans to play a game and people to know about Collectors and Capers in order for a Kickstarter to be successful. 

Prior to making Collectors and Capers I had a Facebook page, a twitter account, and no idea of how to market or where to look. The first thing I decided while I was play-testing Collectors and Capers (then No Honor Among Thieves) was that I needed relative strangers to play and provide feedback on my games. Enter Playtest Northwest. Playtest Northwest is a group of game designers for game designers so that we can get our games played and to get feedback. They also helped provide access to a wide variety of events and venus including PAX, Emerald City Comic Con, Evergreen Tabletop Expo, and many more. Here I decided to try and get more exposure and for the most part it has been successful, I was able to show my game to several different people and eventually got enough positive reviews to decide that I would submit Collectors and Capers for an award. 

Prior to the submission this I had met some great people who have supported me in this endeavor (my family and loving girlfriend as a starting base) as well as several of my game playing friends from college (shout out to Xenia of MIddlebury College) as well as some podcasters, BJ Shea, and other designers (the previously mentioned Billy) and with their support I began my social media push. I cannot stress enough how helpful it is to have a network of people who support you and your idea it is overwhelming and amazing. From this network (mainly Billy again) I was able to find a solid list of reviewers and podcasters. From this list I have been trying to find a wide variety of people to review my game.

Back to the competition, I got to the semis and from their was interviewed by several podcasts and a few twitch streamers and more importantly some of them are interested in playing my game on and off their show. From this and seeing the reviews of other colleagues games and reaching out to those groups, I am still working on sending off prototypes for review so that at the start of the Kickstarter people are talking about Collectors and Capers. More to come as the presses run.