For Our Family Kickstarter
I launched the collaborative storytelling experience, “For Our Family: Find your belonging,” on Kickstarter and met 125% of the campaign’s funding goal.
Background
Rise in AAPI hate has further questioned the identity and belonging of Asian American children–especially those whose parents sacrificed their livelihoods in order to raise them in western countries. Lack of empathy or survival mentality hasn’t fostered brave spaces in order to explore one’s identity. Discussing challenges that arise from that upbringing and outside perspective is uncommon. Many don’t have the tools to even broach those topics.
In 2019, I released a collaborative storytelling game on the indie platform itch.io called For My Family for print-on-demand. It was a tabletop card game that prompted players with leading questions about belonging and identity from the perspective of children of immigrants. In 2021, I had the opportunity to not only iterate, but to expand the experience to what is now For Our Family. I wanted to share my design with a larger audience to help facilitate conversations in a brave, safe space.
I knew I had something special when I received positive feedback from BIPOC gamers and non-gamers alike, and even Peter Adkinson, the co-founder of Wizards of the Coast. I wanted to make a fully realized package with evocative illustrations, empathetic gameplay, and a full physical release. As an individual without a publisher, the best way I saw I could achieve this in the short term was turning to crowdfunding on the platform Kickstarter.
Goals
My primary goal was to have this accessible experience be available in a polished, physical form. I established the budget that I needed to realistically create, produce, and distribute a physical product and an upgraded digital product. My baseline goal was $5,000, which covered art, printing, shipping, and labor.
Process
First, I found talented illustrators who were Filipinx and genderqueer who identified with the project and its message. Reaching out through recommendations, previous relationships, and DM’s I worked with four incredible artists.
Living abroad at the time, I wasn’t in a position to coordinate the logistics for bulk shipping physical copies myself, so I turned to the tabletop printing service, The Game Crafter. They had the capacity to both print and distribute all physical products themselves, which freed me up to focus on development and outreach.
Next, I reached out to podcasters and streamers to promote and demonstrate a prototype of For Our Family. Relying on previously established relationships and cold calling, I was able to appear on Asians Represent, Party of One, They’re a Super Geek, and Table Top Crowd.
I led my team of illustrators, my editor, and communications with production. With my UX and visual design experience, I crafted a compelling narrative on Kickstarter, with social media outreach, and with any additional stretch goals that were reached. I also adapted and programmed the digital version of the experience on the online tabletop platform, Roll20.
Challenges
I gave my backers a larger delivery window for the physical product because of the global shipping delays. I planned and finished the project before the summer of 2022, leaving the expectations for shipping in the hands of the Game Crafter. A couple of my artists who agreed to illustrate more pieces after the successful Kickstarter campaign were altered by the typhoon in the Philippines winter 2021. These challenges gave me the opportunity to learn how to lead a team and manage backer expectations remotely.
Outcome
The crowdfunding campaign lasted 21 days in November 2021 and exceeded the initial goal and funded at 125%. The stretch goals allowed for more artwork, expanded gameplay, and higher quality packaging. The reception of For Our Family has been overwhelmingly positive and has been able to provide an experience of empathy and safety where before was unknown.
