The Road To Kickstarter: Essential Steps On Your First Campaign

December 15, 2015 by crew

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When Massive Awesome started development on Shattered Earth nearly a year ago, there was very little information available to us about how to get our game to market.

Massive Awesome Logo

There are myriad articles out there giving you advice on how to prepare for your campaign, how to publicise your product, and how to choose between metal, plastic or resin for your figures, but there were no resources available that put all these things together in one place.

Over the past several months we have had a crash-course in everything from VAT registration to 3D printer tolerances, and we wanted to share our insights with you as we approach the launch of Shattered Earth on Kickstarter early next year.

What Is Shattered Earth?

Massive Awesome are Simon Barlow and John Taylor, friends for over two decades and current business partners. After daydreaming about working together for a long time, we decided to take the plunge and invest our time and savings into creating our own game.

That game is Shattered Earth; a miniatures skirmish game set in a unique post-apocalyptic world filled with wondrous technology and existential horror. We’re trying to find a unique take on the post-apocalyptic format by investing a lot of time into creating a living, breathing universe, filled with interesting characters and deep backstory.

Shattered Earth (Planet)

We hope this will not only drive interesting scenario-based gameplay, but will also mature and widen over time to support multiple expansions, games and stories.

The game takes place on Earth around 70 years from now, after a decades-long series of catastrophic natural disasters has torn the continents apart and revealed a strange new energy source called Ether. Breaches between our world and the immateria – the world of dreams – have unleashed not just Ether, but the terrifying hordes of the Deathless, esoteric beings that seem to mirror humanity’s own myths and legends.

Jormungandr (Concept)

Using the strange powers of Ether, mankind has created technological wonders and explored the arcane mysteries of the past. Powerful Shapers wield Ether like magic, enacting miracles and creating a new school of science.

The four human factions – the United Nations of Mankind, the Cult of the Dragon, the Children of the One True God, and the Humanist Rebellion – each have their own competing ideologies, political aims and relationships with both traditional technology and Ether.

Lt Mitchell Ward (Concept)

A lot more info on the game, its factions and background fiction can be found on our Facebook Page.

What's The Plan?

At this point you might be asking ‘Why would I listen to two guys with no successful campaigns under their belts?’ It’s a very good question, and the simple answer is ‘because we’re doing it right now’.

Abdul Shahid

This series is not aimed at being a traditional ‘How to’ guide, but rather a way to document all the steps we’ve taken in order to turn an idea for a tabletop game into a reality. Whether this series is ultimately viewed as a list of useful advise or as a bunch of things to avoid will depend on the success – or otherwise! – of our own campaign.

The Deathless (Concept)

Either way, we'd like to do our part in beginning a much wider conversation with the community about the realities of game development. In the meantime, if you have anything particular you would like to find out about, or if you have advice to share yourselves, please post in the comment thread below – we’d love to hear from you!

By Simon Barlow & John Taylor

If you would like to write articles for Beasts Of War then please get in contact with us at [email protected] for more information!

"There are myriad articles out there giving you advice on how to prepare for your campaign [...] but there were no resources available that put all these things together in one place..."

Supported by (Turn Off)

Supported by (Turn Off)

"This series is not aimed at being a traditional ‘How to’ guide, but rather a way to document all the steps we’ve taken in order to turn an idea for a tabletop game into a reality..."

Supported by (Turn Off)

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