Several dozen people showed up at IADT (International Academy of Design & Technology) Chicago last Thursday for the “Kickstarting Your Dream Game” panel. Hosted by IGDA Chicago, the event brought together several of Chicago’s game developers to share and discuss the challenges, successes, and failures they faced in trying to fund their games through Kickstarter.
Panelists included Michael Mendheim (Mutant League Football), Dan Nikolaides (Project AWAKENED), Peter Sheff (Tetrapulse), Eric Shofe (The Curse of Shadow House), Craig Stern (Telepath Tactics), and Ryan Wiemyer (Organ Trail, Max Gentlemen). The editor-in-chief and co-founder of Chicago’s Sugar Gamers, Rebecca Rothschild, moderated the panel, asking several insightful questions that helped move the discussion along.
From left to right: Rebecca Rothschild, Eric Shofe, Peter Sheff, Craig Stern, Ryan Wiemyer, Dan Nikolaides, and Michael Mendheim.
From indie to large budget, industry newcomers to seasoned veterans, the panelists’ diverse backgrounds and experiences kept things engaging throughout the event. Of the numerous excellent advice given, it was unanimously agreed upon that a lot of planning and preparation is needed before starting a Kickstarter project, as it is a tremendous undertaking akin to a full-time job. Sacrifices are inevitable, but regardless of the hardships that may occur, perhaps the most important thing to remember is to be yourself.