Tag kickstarter

“A lot of luck and many contacts”: How small Swiss publisher Treecer tackled pitching Microsoft to create the Zoo Tycoon board game

Approaching large companies to use their IP in board games can be a daunting task - and they don't come much bigger than $3tn computing giant Microsoft. That didn't put off two-person Swiss board game publisher Treecer, though, whose successful pitch ended up with more than 5,000 backers committing about $600,000 to the Zoo Tycoon: The Board Game Kickstarter. Treecer co-founder Marc Dür took time out from managing the crowdfund for the game's New Shores expansion - which has raised almost $500,000 itself so far - to tell BoardGameWire how his company went about securing the licence, how their approach to crowdfunding has changed over the years, and lessons they learned from the original Zoo Tycoon campaign.

Small is beautiful: Fight in a Box’s Seppy Yoon on succeeding with small-scale crowdfunds, managing convention maths, and keeping up with the competition

Bigger money crowdfunding projects inevitably take up the lion's share of discussion in board game circles, but the vast majority of projects inevitably run on a smaller scale - and with smaller margins for error. Managing production at that scale can be a significant challenge, but is one frequently faced by first-time designers and more established board game publisher alike. Seppy Yoon from board game publishers Fight In A Box has successfully managed a string of small Kickstarter projects - and one which failed to reach its goal. Amid raising funds for the company's latest Kickstarter project, he shares his advice and insights on deciding how big your game should be, managing convention finances, and balancing creative urges with keeping a game project manageable.