Crowdfunding Genius: Why Board Games are Scoring Big Over Video Games
In today’s seemingly technology-crazed world, you might think that video games would be far more popular than board games. That’s not the case, though, on crowdfunding sites.
In fact in 2016, board games raised more than six times the amount that video games did on Kickstarter. The story is similar on other crowdfunding platforms.
Board Games Vs. Video Games
Over the course of Kickstarter’s history, the site has helped raise $196 million for tabletop game projects, 93% of which went to successful ventures that reached their fundraising targets.
Over that same time period, video games have collected $179 million on the site. 85 percent of those funds went to successful campaigns.
Over time, funding for tabletop games on the site has grown at a rapid pace and shows no signs of slowing down.
In 2016, the board and card game category on Kickstarter grew by around 20% from 2015. The amount raised rose from $84.6 million to around $101.2 million, and the number of successful campaigns grew by 23%.
Meanwhile, the video game category saw a decline in revenue of nearly 60%. Video games raised only $17.6 million in 2016, compared to $41.5 million in the previous year.
Monopoly Empire on display at the Argos Christmas Preview in London.
Reasons for the Trend
Exactly why board games and card games are so dramatically outperforming video games remains up for debate.
Perhaps, they’re just better suited to the crowdfunding format than video games are. Video games take a very long time to develop, and donors may get tired of waiting to see a return on their investment.
It’s also easier for inexperienced game designers to create a board game than a video game. There’s no coding, animation or console needed. All you need to do is design the game and pieces, and then get it manufactured or printed. This may encourage more people with tabletop game ideas to seek funding.
The fact that various video game crowd-funding campaigns have failed to deliver on their promises may also be a contributing factor. This may have caused video game fans to stay away from crowdfunding, because it appears to be a risk not worth taking.
The Appeal of Tabletop Games
Then again, perhaps people just like board games. While the target audience for video games tends to be younger, board games and card games have a much wider appeal, more easily crossing generational and gender barriers.
Tabletop games are also much cheaper than their virtual counterparts. The price of an individual game is much lower and you don’t need a console, controllers and a TV to play a card game or board game.
Indeed, board games sales have been on the rise in recent years. Over the past few years, they’ve grown by as much as 40%. Board game bars, clubs, competitions, YouTube channels, blogs and other board game-related things have also been growing in popularity.
One might even say we’re in a golden age of tabletop games. Of course, video games are still extremely popular, but board and card games have been making impressive games. This is especially true on crowdfunding platforms where low-tech games are outperforming virtual ones by wider and wider margins.
Guest Author :
Aaron Farrell loves his table top games, and as a Father, really enjoys being able to share his passion with the kids too.
