Now that my first Kickstarter is in the books, I wanted to compare my projected timeline to the actual timeline. I hope this look behind the curtains will help other creators plan and manage their campaigns. When setting up the campaign for Square Meal, I included a timeline for the project. Many other campaigns and creators do this, and it seems to help manage expectations. For the record, I added lots of buffer time (even more than normal, since the pandemic was in early days), and therefore was able to deliver the game ahead of schedule.
Here is the graphic I posted on the project page:
As you can see, I promised to deliver the game by December 2020. As of today, I am confident that 99% of the games have reached the backers. I am tracking no outstanding packages. Promising to deliver in December didn't really have a down side. You get your game by Christmas. Also, many other Kickstarters take loads of time to deliver--I didn't hear anyone complain about the projected wait. And the upside was getting to deliver "early."
So, here is how it all really went down. Feel free to ask questions in the comments.
Square Meal Kickstarter
Timeline
circa 2008 Designed
a game called Square Off
7-4-19 Decided
to do a Kickstarter for a new version called Square Meal
7-18-19 Art
completed
9-17-19 Initial
graphic design completed
9-18-19 Ordered
first prototype from The Gamecrafter
Testing
and revisions
10-15-19 Ordered
second prototype and sent several preview copies from The Gamecrafter
10-22-19 Started
Mailchimp mailing list
Testing
and development of expansion material
11-4-19 Ordered
expansion material and color tests from The Gamecrafter
Manufacturing
and shipping quotes
12-6-19 Began
constructing Kickstarter page
Testing
and development of additional expansion material
1-7-20 First
Kickstarter launches
2-1-20 First
Kickstarter ends unsuccessfully (270 backers pledged $4528)
2-17-20 Second
Kickstarter launches
Additional
manufacturing and shipping quotes
3-12-20 Square
Meal is funded!
3-15-20 Second
Kickstarter ends successfully (489 backers pledged $8,632)
3-17-20 Setup
preorder landing page
Pandemic
lockdown in US
3-29-20 Kickstarter
funds received
4-14-20 Files
uploaded to Gameland
4-16-20 Registered
Phantasio Games LLC
5-8-20 First
payment wired to Gameland
5-27-20 Distribution
deal reached
6-3-20 Box
size increased and file resubmitted
7-1-20 Photos
of production samples sent
Additional
shipping quotes gathered
7-27-20 Overseas
shipping of distributor copies arranged with OTX
7-29-20 Final
physical production samples delivered
Payment
for distributor copies received
7-31-20 Backer
shipping info downloaded and surveys locked
8-5-20 Backer
copies supposedly sent to VFI Asia (the wrong project was sent)
Typhoon
delays boat departure and VFI operations
8-6-20 Second
payment wired to Gameland
8-8-20 Boat
leaves the port in China
8-17-20 Correct
backer copies arrive at VFI Asia
8-17-20 Shipping
payment wired to VFI
8-24-20 Cargo
reaches Los Angeles
8-27-20 Shipping
notices sent out
Australian
parcels stuck in China
9-3-20 Cargo
reaches Chicago
9-9-20 Backers
begin to receive their games
9-10-20 Cargo
not loaded correctly
9-11-20 Cargo
reaches Funagain warehouse in Indianapolis
9-13-20 Australian
packages experience significant delays
9-15-20 OTX
paid via credit card
9-17-20 Received
6 cases of Square Meal at my home
10-13-20 Australian
games finally reach Sydney and are delivered
