我们曾在过去的一篇文章中提到，独立游戏开发者在资金问题上的艰难处境有目共睹，但Kickstarter、8-bit Funding等大众融资渠道的出现，为几乎两手空空的小型初创企业和年轻游戏设计者打开了一扇大门。这种大众融资渠道既为独立开发者解决了项目开发成本 的问题，又为他们提供了免费进行市场调查、创建粉丝社群的平台，有助于他们探测项目的市场需求，而且几乎不会让他们遭受任何损失。

Bravado Waffle Studios就通过Kickstarter网站为其首款游戏《RoboArena》筹措到了项目开发资金，以下是他们为各位希望获得大众融资的开发者的一些建议：

Kickstarter

1.项目视频介绍是必需装备：提供一个高质量的视频内容，可以极大增加融资的成功机率。俗话说，有图有真相，所以提供视频无疑是最有说服力的宣传。

2.出色的项目说明：你的项目说明越是完善，大众就越有可能关注这个项目。你的吆喝调门越高，就越有可能说服他们资助这个项目。总之你的推广工作越到位，就越有可能获得更高的媒体曝光率，并成为Kickstarter首页推荐项目。

3.要善于讲述精彩的故事：Kickstarter的大众投资者往往更愿意支持那些令人印象深刻、搞笑的项目经理人，所以你必须做足说好故事的工作，想法逗乐大众，让他们爱屋及乌，因为你的独特之处而支持你的项目。

4.设定合理的融资目标：在Kickstarter网站上，开发者只有成功筹得资金或是颗粒无收这两种结果，所以必须设定一个现实的目标。没有人希望自己看到的只是一张画饼，所以必须保证项目信息的公开透明，向支持者阐明他们的资金将如何帮助实现你的目标。

5.通过奖励手段，吸引不同群体成为你的潜在支持者：人人都喜欢因自己的出力而得到不错的奖品和回报，所以项目经理人得想好哪些支持者会捐1美元，哪些人的资助额可能高达1000美元，并从他们的角度来考虑如何吸引大众支持这个项目，这样就会增加他们投资的可能性。总之，这种融资活动就是你和大众交换价值的一种过程，找到可行的奖励方法，会让你更有胜算。

6.借鉴他人成功经验，汲取其失败教训：这一点是老生常谈，但项目经理人还是不可忽视它的作用，要善于从其他成功融资项目中找到自己可采纳的策略，并从中发现哪些方法行不通，避免自己也走上同样的岔道。同时要注意不要只将目光局限于游戏融资项目，应该兼顾其他领域的项目经验，看看他们的经理人如何宣传推广，如何奖励支持者，这些经验可以让你受益无穷。

7.定期汇报项目进展并答谢支持者：Kickstarter可以让项目形成一个粉丝和支持者社群，所以项目经理人得时常与这些人群互动，答谢他们的支持，成为他们的新朋友，让他们感觉是一个团体中的一员。即便最后你并没有获得融资，你也已经由此创建一个与粉丝对话的沟通机制，这对你后来的市场营销活动大有帮助。

8.找到目标支持者并向他们推广项目：在Kickstarter上能否获得的成功，往往取决于项目经理人的推广活动规模。所以必须通过多种途径找到自己的粉丝群体和目标市场，让他们了解项目情况。通常情况下，你也可以在一般支持者的范围之外寻找资助来源，通过本地报纸、博客和其他平台引进更多支持者。

9.时常与支持者社群互动：Kickstarter是一个友好型的社区，如果你时常活跃于各个社群，那么他们也终会给予积极的响应和回报。

10.不惧失败，重新再来：Kickstarter只是许多个大众融资平台之一，假如你首次出师未捷，那就重新调整策略再多尝试几次。但要记住将原来融资项目的链接引到新的页面，因为原来的融资项目如果过期了，你就不可再编辑该页面。 （本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，转载请注明来源：游戏邦）

10 Tips For Raising Funds With Kickstarter For Indie Game Developers

Starting out as an indie game developer is hard! Ridiculously hard! But it doesn’t have to be. Web 2.0 has brought us many new ways to waste… I mean spend our time: Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Reddit… However, this newly interconnected and social internet has also opened up new and exciting avenues for small startup developers and young game designers! I’m talking about Crowd Funding!

The crowd funding revolution has begun, as a recent Gamasutra feature has pointed out. We believe that places like Kickstarter are going to become hugely popular and important for startup game developers in the very near future, if it isn’t already! They provide a way for fans to give back and support your development, they provide free market research, free community building, and getting funding through them is infinitely easier than seeking out venture capital and traditional investors. It’s a very exciting platform to test out because there is literally nothing to loose and everything to gain!

Here at Bravado Waffle Studios, we are turning to Kickstarter to raise needed development funds for our debut game RoboArena inspired by classic games like RoboRally, X-Com, and RoboSport. You can learn more about the project and help support it here: RoboArena Kickstarter Campaign

Here’s a list of the top 10 tips we’ve gathered from researching and interviewing successful Kickstarter campaign managers:

1. A video is a MUST- Having a good quality video increases your chances to succeed massively. A picture is worth a thousand words, so show your fans what you’ve got!

2. Polish your presentation- The more polished your presentation is, the more likely people will watch the entire thing. The more honed your pitch, is the more likely they will be moved to donate. The more momentum you can build this way, the better of a chance you will have at getting media coverage and featured on the front page of Kickstarter!

3. Tell a story- Kickstarters often donate to the person just as much as the project, so be likable, be funny, be memorable, and tell them your story. People love to laugh, so make them laugh, make them like you as much as you make them like your project!

4. Set reasonable funding goals- Kickstarter is all or nothing, so be reasonable in what you need! Nobody likes to feel like they are being scammed, so be transparent as well, and tell your supporters exactly how their funds will help your project.

5. Make your rewards and pledge tiers appeal to your potential supporters- Everybody likes swag and cool rewards for their support, so think about who will be supporting you  from the $1 tier to the $1000 tier. Think about what you can give each to entice them to pledge by putting yourself in their shoes, this will enhance the likelihood that they will donate to the cause. It is all about exchanging value with your audience, find ways to do this and you will succeed!

6. Study successful AND unsuccessful campaigns- This should go without saying. Study up, see what works and what doesn’t for your particular field. Find things you like in successful campaigns and adapt them to your own, and see what didn’t work at all and avoid it like the plague. Don’t just stick to the gaming campaigns either, look around at other successful campaigns and see how they promoted, pitched, and rewarded their supporters. You will learn a lot!

7. Use your Updates to personally thank your pledgers- Kickstarter is all about building a community of fans and supporters, so talk with them! Thank them! Be their new best friend and make them feel a part of something bigger! This way, even if you don’t get funded, you will have established a dialog with your fan base and that is some of the most valuable marketing you can do!

8. Find your fans and get the campaign in front of them- Right now success on Kickstarter is often determined by how much outreach the campaign managers do. So find your fans, find your market, and get your story in front of them in any way possible. Often you may need to look outside your normal audience to find funding as well, think about ways you can get your story out there and in local newspapers, on blogs, and other places to draw in more supporters.

9. Give and you shalt receive- The Kickstarter community is a friendly bunch, so be active in the community and they will return the favor.

10. If at first you don’t succeed… try try again- Kickstarter is only one of many crowd funding platforms, if you fail at first, hone your pitch and try again! Be sure to include a link to your new campaign before your Kickstarter campaign runs out since after that, you can no longer edit the home page.

There’s many more tips out there for running a crowd funding campaign, but these top 10 should get you thinking in the right direction. We guarantee that no matter what, it will be an incredibly exciting and very educational experience! I know it has been for us!（source:gamasutra）