Incredible Dream, one of the few board game startups to attract millions in venture capital dollars, has scrapped its new Kickstarter project just a day after launch, despite reaching almost 90% of its target amount.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Boundless Stride: Into the Denlands picked up support from almost 240 backers following its launch on November 29, quickly raising more than $17,800 of its $20,000 goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But that wasn’t enough to save the project from being pulled a day later, with the company saying in a Kickstarter update that they were “unlikely to hit our goals for the project”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Incredible Dream\u2019s first game, Kinfire Chronicles: Night\u2019s Fall, raised more than $300,000 on Kickstarter from over 2,400 backers in September last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The update blamed poor timing of the campaign around Black Friday as one of the reasons for the failure, but did not elaborate on the others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It added, “While this isn’t the outcome we hoped for, we see it as an important step in our journey. Crowdfunding is a great means for us to test ideas before making bigger commitments to manufacture and ship. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We are heading back to the drawing board to re-envision Boundless Stride, and your input will be invaluable in this process.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Several backers commented that high shipping prices had been a potential sticking point. Incredible Dream estimated a cost of $20 to send the $49 base pledge to most US backers, rising to between $24 and $60 for European delivery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Los Angeles-based business scored $2m in seed funding two years ago led by investment giant General Catalyst, a venture capital firm which has raised more than $20bn of capital since it was founded in the year 2000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Venture capital investors pool money from institutions such as pension funds and insurance companies, as well as from ultra-rich individuals and families, to invest in startups at the earliest stage, in the hope their investment will soar by several multiples as the company grows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Both Boundless Stride and Kinfire Chronicles are adventure-themed co-op titles, co-designed by ex-Fantasy Flight Games designer Kevin Wilson, who previously created Descent: Journeys in the Dark and was the co-designer of Arkham Horror and Sid Meier\u2019s Civilization: The Board Game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wilson is Game Design Director at the company, while other hires include The Witcher 3 lead quest designer Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz, who has since moved to Riot Games, and actress, gamer and creator of The Guild web series Felicia Day, who acts as an advisor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The other co-designers of both Kinfire and Boundless Stride include Runebound co-creator Darrel Hardy and Descent: Legends of the Dark and Journeys in Middle-earth co-designer Brandon Perdue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Earlier this year Incredible Dream hired Kovray influencer Ilya Ushakov<\/a> as social media and community manager.<\/p>\n\n\n\n