Have you ever backed a Kickstarter and how did it do?

• OUYA - Wish I didn't. What a turd.
• Dear Mr. Watterson - Documentary about the Calvin and Hobbes creator and the impact the comic had on people. And how it suddenly just stopped one day.
• Pillars of Entirety - Ended up going for the physical and digital copy package. Have yet to play it.
• Divinity Original Sin - Still have yet to finish this, but I enjoyed what I played thus far.

I also backed something that didn't fund, Bad Planet. It fell way short. Like $500,000 short.

The only one I've backed was Broken Age.

I backed the Outerlands documentary series by the Area 5 guys. I expect that they'll start putting out episodes shortly.

I've only backed Broken Age, I feel like the documentary is so good that it has made my money worth it, but there's no way I'm ever going to back anything ever again.

No, while I don't find anything wrong with funding something before it actually exists, I have decided long ago that that is not for me.

Shadowrun Returns - Amazing. Backed at the 60 dollar level and got Dragonfall and Dragonfall Director's Cut for free.

Shadowrun Hong Kong - Not out but I have faith that they'll put out a quality product like Returns.

Fishbone - a little do hickey that makes attaching things easier. Pretty nifty but don't use it very often.

Cryamore - Taken a long time to get out but still getting regular updates. Still hopefull

Shadowgate Remaster - Came out. Haven't played it but seems promising still.

So far 100% success with Cryamore the holdout. But with regular updates I don't feel I'm losing money even if it doesn't.

• Shadowrun Returns - Loved it probably my favorite of the bunch so far, though I haven't spent much time with PoE yet.
• Wasteland 2 - Really enjoyed this one still making my way through it.
• Pillars of Eternity - I'm still learning the little nuances but the more I play it the more excited I get about the game if that makes any sense.
• Castle Story - The game is still in development but it's fun to mess around with every now and then, but I probably wouldn't fund it if I had the chance to knowing what I know now.

I am really disappointed that I didn't donate to Divinity Original Sin and Numenra: Torment though.

I did for Reading Rainbow - because I'm a sucker for LeVar Burton crying tears of joy.

Also, Anamanaguchi because good music is good music.

I have only donated to 2 kickstarters. Bones 1 and Bones 2 by Reaper Miniatures. That was becauae they were an already established company wanting to do something new (in this case plastic minis instead of metal). They already knew about distribution and the actual challenges they would face. The only issue I had is that I don't use them enough.

I won't donate money for games or to people just starting out or trying to break into the scene. Sure that might be going against what kick starter is trying to do but oh well, its my money I want to spend it wisely.

If I were to ever donate to a kick starter it would have to have a working demo. I want more then just talking heads or gameplay footage if I were to back them. I need to know tart they are capable of even putting some of the ideas they have had into something that can be experienced. They can talk and promise all they want but they won't get a dollar out of me.

I backed Hat in Time, both seasons of Krosmaster arena, Night in the Woods, Cosmic Star Heroine, Chasm, and Armikrog.

All of them are doing A-OK.

Yes, still waiting on Amplitude, not worried.

Neverending Nightmares and Amplitude; the first i'll admit a bit out of sympathy after hearing matt gilgenbach's story though it looked quite intriguing as i enjoy psychological horror, and the second also a bit out of sympathy and just cause i loved john t drake and co so much. I really should just sit down and bang neverending nightmares out (in a dark room at night).

A big Mega Drive book that's incredible, took a little longer than they said it would, but it's a really high quality book. I also backed Shovel Knight. If I'd have known that we would have had to wait six (ish) months after the US to get the game in Europe I would have most definitely not backed it.

I backed Band Saga and This is the Police, which are in development.

I also backed The Stomping Land, and that was a disaster.

I backed :

*Shadowrun Hong Kong, same devs that did shadowrun returns and shadowrun dragonfall so I have confidence that they will delivered that they promise.

*Faeria-Strategy card game, It's playable in the webbrowser but they are trying to make a client for it at the moment.

*War for the Overworld, a Dungeon keeper(in the playstyle) game that just came out on steam.

So I have not fallen in some failure.......yet.

Amplitude, still in development, probably will be satisfied with it as a game. The specific tier I pledged for involved helping curate the song selection in the actual game and as far as I can tell that either isn't happening or hasn't started yet.

Armikrog, another game that's still in development. I hope it's good but I'm not 100% confident in it right now based on what I've seen. They're constantly updating though, so at least they're on top of their stuff.

Dude Bro Party Massacre III, a movie by the 5 second film people. It's a slasher parody and I hate slashers but after so many hours of free entertainment I didn't feel guilty pledging to them at all

And the last thing I donated to was an album by one of my favorite bands that came out, albeit after a long time. They also wrote me a personal song that was super dumb but it was worth it just for getting a DVD of their entire discography.

• Stowaway: Horror game on a boat. Did poorly, Kickstarter cancelled before ending.
• Blackwake: Rad looking multiplayer pirate shooter on two boats. Made a fair amount, but failed, will try again later.
• NightCry: Horror game by people who worked on Clock Tower, The Grudge, Silent Hill, Castlevania, etc. Passed, making 300k.

• Broken Age purely for the documentary.
• Broken Sword
• Dreamfall

Broken Age

Pillars of Eternity

Shadowrun Returns

Shadowgate

Grim Dawn

We Didn't Playtest This At All: Legacies

Torment: Tides of Numenera

Unsung Story

Mighty #9

Wasteland 2

Chester

Massive Challice

Stasis

Bolded games are those which have released and I have received.

I've only backed a handful of tabletop board games. I'm in a gaming group so we all back different things so that there's a good variety. I may start looking at other types of games too.

Star Citizen

Pure Pwnage movie($50): Filming is done and its currently in post production. So I'm pretty happy

Star Citizen ($45): still being made, I have fun with Arena Commander.

I've backed around 15 or something Kickstarters. Maybe more. They've all delivered on making something except one, but even that one still continues to update and show progress so... who knows. It might come out. I don't really care if it does and I don't think it will be good when it does.

I've never been stupid about the projects I back on Kickstarter, and I don't have the expectation that what I'm backing is even good. I'm backing the idea and attempt more than anything. It's a gamble I'm fine making every time (except Rifftrax which never has a down side to backing).

Was the one Star Citizen..

I haven't backed anything or bought any early access games. I'm not really interested in paying for games that might never be good.

The first game I ever backed was Broken Age, I was a slacker backer on that one, and most recently I backed Shadowrun: Hong Kong.

I backed Omori, it isn't out yet.

@boxxybae: No, it was Spaceventure.

Flint and Tinder underwear, smashing success.

Flint and Tinder 10 Year Sweatshirt, smashing success.

Pillars of Eternity, smashing success

Massive Chalice, seems pretty cool

Veronica Mars movie, $1 for email updates and so I could say I helped even though they were way past the funding goal at that point.

Reading Rainbow, nostalgia, guilt, concern about child reading rates, and my wish for more resources for my nieces and nephews, I feel good about it.

Star Citizen, god knows, somewhere between illuminati and eldritch horror.

I've backed 3 games so far.

Amplitude - John Drake singing Barkerville might have sold me on this more than it should have. Plus I like this type of music game too.

Shantae: Half Genie Hero - I like the Shantae games and Way Forward usually makes good games.

Mighty Number 9 - I've enjoyed playing Mega Man games so this seemed like it was worth backing.

All of these Kickstarters were from notable game developers so I'm sure they'll at least put something out even if it doesn't live up to expectations.

Castle story - looks fun will play it when its done

Planetary Annihilation - still never played it Oh well

I backed Pillars of Eternity and, have no regrets. It is a great game.

I never have and I hopefully never will.

I backed Max Temkin's zine. Got the first issue a week ago. Loved it.

Broken Age - I was happy with the first part, hopefully the second part will be good.

Massive Challice - I have no interest in the game, I just wanted to support Brad Muir.

Drake Tracker - Eh, it was 5$

Dreamfall Chapters - Happy so far.

Tex Murphy Tesla Effect - I really enjoyed it.

Webhook - Just wanted to support Dave.

Armikrog - I loved The Neverhood when I was a kid so I had to support this. Seems like they're moving forward.

Asylum - I liked Scratches so I wanted to support their new game. They're sending out updates pretty often and it looks good so far.

Amplitude - Drake getting pies in the face was worth 10$

Just Broken Age

Broken Age, Pillars of Eternity, and Drift Stage. I just have to find the time to play the first 2 and the third is looking excellent so far (the soundtrack is phenomenal).

I have not yet, but there have been some that I came close to. Like Clannad, Shroud of the Avatar, and Massively Overpowered. I really wish I'd backed Clannad and Massively OP, the one is a classic visual novel that I'd pirated before to play the fan translation of, and the other is the reincarnation of pretty much the only site I've gone to for MMO news for some time.

Sedition Wars: Got a ton of miniatures. No interest in the game and once I saw the miniatures, had no interest in them. Too many super tiny parts for models without that much detail.

Defense Grid 2: Loved the first one. Loved the second.

Reaper Bones: Tons and tons of miniatures. Happy to see $2 miniatures for table top gaming that can withstand the torture of people using them who have never invested the time into painting minis.

Ouya: I told a coworker who WTF'ed me that at the very least, I could use it as a Plex box/SNES emulator. It doesn't even do that well.

Project Eternity: Very much enjoy it. So much that on top of my GOG copy, I bought another copy on Steam.

Through the Breach: Malifaux the RPG: Super late. Horrible communication. Books and minis were nice, though I had no real interest in the game itself.

Tides of Numenera: We'll see! Waiting and excited for it.

Zombicide Season 2: It's an ok game. A lot of fun with house rules, though.

Divinity Original Sin: A lot of fun. I ended up buying more copies for friends so we could coop.

Myth: Wonderful miniatures. The game however... not so good. Fortunately, the rules creator for Descent redid the rules and the game plays much nicer now.

Massive Chalice: I forgot I even backed this. We'll see.

Warmachine Tactics: Too bad. They dropped the ball on this one. The minis though were nice, and having limited edition minis means someone will buy them for more than I paid for them.

Neverending nightmares: No interest in the game, but I thought the concept was cool and wanted to give the developer some cash.

Reaper Bones 2: I knew from Bones I what I was getting and they were offering more. Hell yeah.

Darkest Dungeon: Loved the look of the art. Now, love the game.

Zombicide Season 3: Really just a preorder with bonuses.

And a bunch of other stuff that's really far off. I'm not buying anything. I'm helping someone make stuff I think will be cool, and if it comes out and is great? Awesome. Otherwise, it's not a big deal.

• Shovel Knight, game looked great but I have yet to play it. My hype for it died along the way.
• Project No.9, that game looks terrible and I wish I hadn't.

I've backed the well known games that have all done really well (Broken Age, Pillars, Banner Saga, Wasteland 2, etc.), that stupid John Drake Tracker which was a massive success, artisanal marshmallows which were pretty good but I just don't like marshmallows enough to become a convert, that Veronica Mars movie for a dollar to break the number of backers record which I hear has turned out really well, and one absolute stinker.

Some colour/heat changing workout shirt was funded years ago and totally divebombed since. All their backers are furious/disgusted/etc. I am one of the many who never got one.

Backed halo 1 & 2 For the original Xbox and Mass effect for the 360, both turned out great

Broken Age - Love part one and looking forward to part 2

FTL - Was amazing

Planetary Annihilation - Didn't really like what I played of it at first. It eventually grew on me though. It's really fun.

@subliminalkitteh: What's the story on A Hat in Time? For a while I was avidly following it because one of the developers was on a forum I frequented. Then it seemed to drop off the planet. I'm still interested in it, but am always surprised when I remember it exists.

I back a lot of Kickstarters with like a dollar or two just to show support. The ones I've back to actually get stuff were:

• Neverending Nightmares for the digital copy. Turned out alright. I did the Finnish translation for it eventually too.
• Satellite Reign for the digital copy. Currently in early access. I'm waiting for the final release. Early word is fairly positive which doesn't surprise me, the team having a big Syndicate-pedigree and then making a new Syndicate should turn out fine.
• Two artist residencies in Finland of some random visual artists for post cards. Were cool cards.
• 8-Bit playing cards for two decks. Are alright. Wish the art was a bit more referential. It's cool but also a bit random. "Oh here's an 8-bit tree!"
• Matt Bors's comic book collecting his political cartoons along with essays. Was very happy with it. Funny, insightful. Stuff to look back on in a decade.
• Pillars of Eternity for a digital copy. Haven't played much yet but the little I have played has been splendid.
• A bootleg-ass MGS-shirt from Fangamer. I really like it actually.
• Defense Grid 2 for a digital copy, plus the previous game and a bevvy of expansions and digital goodies. If I liked these games more this would be the best 20 bucks I ever spent.
• Grim Dawn for a digital copy. Technically still in early access but in the sense that they're now mostly just adding acts. A true follow-up to Titan Quest. Too bad it just helped me solidify the fact that this genre is dead to me.
• Shadowrun Returns for a digital copy. A really fun neo-noir adventure with light combat elements. Loved it.
• Wasteland 2 for a physical big box and a digital copy. The box came in way later than the game was released which was a bit lame, but the game itself is absolute solid gold and the proper follow-up to Fallout 2 I've been waiting for for so many years.

So yeah, in short, I guess I haven't really been burnt by Kickstarter at all yet.

The only game I've backed was Amplitude, which I was pretty confident in since the first was so great and I didn't/don't have any qualms regarding Harmonix's ability to deliver on projects. It also helped that I was an "early backer" so I got the game for $15 instead of $20. The other thing I've backed was on "Pozible", not Kickstarter, and that was for a new sleepmakeswaves album which came out a few months later. I pledged $25, which got me the CD with shipping included, as well as the digital version Day 1. In that case the price seemed pretty fair to me, and I really wanted them to get to make another album but it was questionable whether or not they'd actually hit their goal at the time.

At this point I'd be much more likely to back an album again than a game. I'm still excited for Amplitude and everything, that hasn't soured me on backing projects in any way, but games are usually still 1-2 years off when they get funded, and it's really common for them to get delayed from their initially estimated release date. It's also just a matter of scale: an album is probably going to ask for around $25,000 in funding, vs. the hundreds of thousands it takes to make a game. Being on the smaller side of that scale, I feel like my backing has more of an impact on whether the projects makes it or not, as it's a real possibility the project could fall a few hundred dollars short of its goal. When it's something on the level of an Amplitude Kickstarter for $750,000, they're either going to be drastically short of the goal or significantly surpass it.

The last thing is just that most devs using Kickstarter don't really make it that enticing to pledge for their game in the low tiers. Generally the lowest tier where you get the final product just costs what they're going to charge for it once it's done anyways, and they don't give you any bonus stuff at all. Considering I don't really pre-order games normally, pre-ordering one two years in advance, at full price, and without any extras seems pointless. I'd be much more interested if there was something extra included, like Broken Age's documentary covering their development process. Obviously I understand that it's difficult to pull that sort of stuff off without being cost prohibitive, but that doesn't change the reality of the situation for me as a consumer.

Games:

Broken Age (Technically, was a slacker backer): I'll likely play the full game once the second part comes out.

Hyper Light Drifter: Can't wait for this one.

Mighty No. 9: Same as Hyper Light Drifter

Neverending Nightmares: Mainly out of sympathy for the creator. I actually was going to play it as well until I saw the trailer for the game and saw that one scene where you're pulling a vein out of someone's wrist, that was a little much for me.

Other Stuff:

Paul and Storm's Ball Pit: Got it signed with a few other neat little bonuses. Had a few snags here and there, but eventually got pretty much everything and have no complaints.

Max Temkin's Werewolf: This one took a while to get out. I didn't have a problem with the kickstarter itself, but I had some issues with how people seemed like they were entitled to new updates and acted like real jerks while waiting for new updates.

Devin Townsend's "Casualties of Cool" project: While not a Kickstarter project (it was a similar thing on a site called Pledge Music, basically Kickstarter for music projects) The project itself was already complete, the money basically went towards helping Devin fund his Z2 project. Got the deluxe 2-disc version of the album pretty fast (and signed by Devin and Che Aimee Dorval) and helped Devin with a passion project, was a win-win in my book. Both Casualties of Cool and both parts of Z2 were some of my favorite albums last year.

Overall, no real problems outside of a few delays here and there, which should be expected and I can wait a while longer so the games/products get the time they need to hopefully be great.

I've backed these:

Pathologic Remake: Still in development, but they put out updates regularly enough, and I trust the studio.

Darkest Dungeon: Took a complete risk on this one and it's working out so far. I'm waiting to play the final version, but from the little I've played of the Early Access version, it's exactly what I wanted.

Cthulhu Wars: This one's a board game, and an expensive one to boot ($200 for the base game). Thankfully I got in at a much lower price. I have played a whole bunch since my copy arrived, and it was easily worth it. It rapidly became a favourite amongst my friends, and I'm going to be buying an expansion so we get 5 players in there.

So far everything has worked out perfectly, so I'm pretty positive about kickstarter overall.

Many of them are not finished yet or I'm not sure when they'll ever finish.

• Exploding Kittens: Just started.
• Slap .45: Also just started.
• Mirum Mirum Strangers: My coworker does theater productions on the side. This is his most recent production and it's coming along well.
• Amplitude: Dunno what's going on here.
• A History of the Great Empires of Eve Online: Seems like its coming along nicely, getting towards the end.
• Mirum Mirum Donut Holes (Delivered): Coworkers production. I liked it.
• Hyper Light Drifter: I honestly wasn't going to back this but I mostly did it just to get the soundtrack.
• Might No. 9: Seems like it is almost done or something.
• Legend of Iya: I dunno where this is at, the guy came out with a different game for "in the meantime". Probably shouldn't have backed but there was a demo and it seemed kinda neat. Scoops played it on a thing at some point.
• LIONESS: I'm pretty sure this is dead. There's some rumblings of people seeing the guy at PAXes but there hasn't been any news or updates.
• Sui Generis: Seems okay and recently got greenlighted. It's probably not going to be good but I was curious if they'd do something cool with their tech.
• Magnet Comic (Delivered): I pretty much never used this, came out way too late. I was at the back of the shipping list. Shouldn't have backed.
• Professor Pugnacious (Delivered): It's an alright game, probably the most satisfied I've been with a backing that was a game.
• Second Quest: I think this is coming out soonish? I'm not sure how much I care about it anymore.
• iMpulse Game Controller and Key Finder (Delivered): Cheap and shitty. Used it a couple times. Don't like it at all.

I'm basically done with most kickstarters these days unless I have pure confidence in the thing I'm backing. A lot of these came from within a few months of each other, then as they started coming in I realized it's just a waste of money most of the time.