Battle For Souls Unboxing

Battle For Souls Kickstarter Pledge Distribution

For this quick post I just wanted to share some data with you from my last project, Battle For Souls, which is about to start manufacture VERY soon (whew!). 

Namely, where do pledges come from? 

Now of course, every project is different and there are MANY variables that impact where your pledges will come from. But hopefully the numbers from my last project can give you a decent starting point:

The first pie chart above shows the breakdown of pledges that include me having to physically ship a game. As you can see 27% of the shipments will be international. The second chart shows what countries make up that 27%. 

And if you want some more granularity, the following countries make up the "Other" category in this 27% piece of the pie:

Mexico
Romania
Uruguay
Switzerland
Czech Republic
Portugal
Austria
Russia
Greece
Luxembourg
Italy
Poland
Estonia

When I include pledges that did NOT include a copy of the game, the international percentage jumps to 30%. This is mainly due to having a $10 pledge level for a Print and Play version of the game. This is a cost effective way for international supporters to get your game for a very reasonable price. This was a popular option for my international backers. But remember, you will have costs in laying out the PNP files, unless you're a graphic designer.

So as you can see, Kickstarter truly is a global phenomenon. And I have noticed a significant uptick in the percentage of international backers from project to project. From my limited point of view, it looks like international support for game projects is growing.

You need to keep this in mind when planning your shipping charges. International shipping can be, well, for lack of a better word, ridiculous.

The second chart shows where I need to ship international packages. As you can see, Australia and Canada are the largest chunks of the international pie. It also just so happens, for the size of the final product, shipping to Australia is very expensive ($35.25 USPS First Class) and shipping to Canada is less so ($24.55 First Class).

Now, if your game can fit into a USPS Small Flat Rate Priority box (8-5/8" x 5-3/8" x 1-5/8") you can save money and have a faster delivery. Larger than this and the shipping cost increases dramatically.

You can calculate the costs by country on the USPS site: http://ircalc.usps.com/Default.aspx?country=10054

I can't say this enough, "you need to make your best estimate on how much shipping will cost you!" (DON'T FORGET TO INCLUDE PACKING MATERIALS AND LABOR) Make sure you do the estimate BEFORE you price your pledge levels. 

It's my philosophy that international backers should get the same deal (or close to the same deal) that US backer get with shipping included. 

I hope this data can help prevent you from flubbing your shipping costs. It can be an expensive mistake to make.

Robert

Battle For Souls: Epic Soul Cards

Here they are, our Epic Souls!

The Battle For Souls Rulebook

The Battle For Souls Rulebook is ready for print!

Check out the PDF. Luis did a great job!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/s3xzw4em6nvebsv/BFS_Rules.pdf

Battle For Souls Box Art

Top

Back

My Personalized Soul Card

New Card Art

New Reference Cards

New Asmodeus Card

New Soul Card Back

Battle For Souls is Funded

Thanks to 639 people who have pledged to Battle For Souls we have raise $37.59k to manufacture the game.

We are currently working on finishing up all of the art and graphic design and preparing files for print.

Our goal is to have all the files ready for the printer by the end of March.

From there, manufacturing will take 30 to 45 days, and shipping them back to the states will take another 30.

After we receive them stateside all Kickstarter copies will be shipped and Battle For Souls will be available for retail purchase shortly thereafter.

Soul Cards

Here are all 21 non-epic soul cards that will come in Battle For Souls.

The 7 Archangels

All 7 of the finalized Archangel cards. Which one is your favorite?

New $30k Stretch Goal Promo Cards

The Serious Set

The Comedic Set

Kickstarter Link: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/478379924/battle-for-souls

Battle For Souls Gameplay Overview

Battle For Souls Rules - Final Draft

Below is a link to the Battle For Souls final draft ruleset.
It is currently in good hands with our editors Todd & Corrie Walden.

The rules will most likely go through three iterations of editing, then they will be be joined with layout and graphic design for what we will know will be an excellent rulebook!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/f4liprdodnja3hf/Battle_For_Souls_Rules.pdf

Is this card offensive?

I was shocked that BGG rejected this card image that I uploaded to the Battle For Souls page today.

The only explanation was that it is "10% offensive". My only thought is that it must have been a mistake. I submitted it again.

Personalized Soul Card

During the Battle For Souls Kickstarter campaign, we will be offering a personalized soul card reward at certain levels. You'll be able to send us your photo and we'll put it on a card. This way, you'll be able to fight for your own soul!

We will also have 7 slots available for those who which to include their card in every copy of the game manufactured!

You pick the title of the card, (i.e.: The Graphic Designer, The Coder, The Doctor, The Student, The Joker, The Genius, The Slacker, The Gamer, The Dunce), anything you like!
Or use your real name.

You may also tell us what heavenly virtue and mortal weakness we should apply to your card!

This will certainly be fun to see!

What would your heavenly virtue and mortal weakness be?

Updated Battle For Souls Box Design

Updated the box a bit to include the new Battle For Souls font that we licensed.