Hello Kossacks, it has been a while. I needed a way to stay sane living in the state of Rick Scott, and everything came together for me to build the project I have always dreamed about. I need your help.
My wife and I created a card game about six years ago. We love playing cards with each other, with family, with friends, and with our students. Cards demand community, unlike computers. Playing cards at a table connects people together.
We have always wanted to maintain control over our game so we could instill this sense of community and make sure the message was never lost. This summer we discovered Kickstarter.
We created a Kickstarter project page for our game, and we would deeply appreciate any support you could give us there.
Follow me over the break for the whole story.
Six years ago, in addition to teaching at a public high school alternative program for "at risk" kids, I was playing cards on the Pro Circuit of Vs. System. It was a game like Magic the Gathering with Marvel, DC, and Hellboy characters. It was amazing fun, I got a three-year writing gig out of it, and we got to travel to comic book conventions and play cards. But.
The game was a heavy math intensive decision making nightmare if you just wanted to kick back and sling cardboard with the wife or the buddies. It was not good for kids, at all. We needed a game that captured the thrill of the trading card game strategies that made us laugh.
Whenever we want something that doesn't exist already, we make it ourselves.
That, in a nutshell, is the bedrock of my classroom. Create as much as you consume. I tell my students simply, and immediately, on the first day of school: "Everything you buy was designed by a person. You are a person. Design your own version of the things you like. Do it as often as you can."
We designed a card game, since that is our favorite form of entertainment. Now we need your help to publish it.
If you don't know about Kickstarter, here is an excerpt from our project. You are basically pre-ordering the game:
Here is how Kickstarter works. Along the right side of this page are different money levels you can pledge. You can become an Ocho Founding Member with special privileges for only one dollar, or you can go all the way and have the World Championship trophy named after you. Whatever amount you pledge, you will get the package you picked if we reach our goal. Simply click one of those green buttons on the right side to show your support for our project. If this is your first time donating on Kickstarter it only takes a minute to register. All payments are safe and secure through Amazon. You can pledge whatever exact amount you want, we will contact you as soon as the project is over to get your shirt choices and sizes.
You will not actually be charged unless we reach our goal. If we make our goal, you will be charged when the clock strikes zero on the fundraising window.
The money will allow us to print the first edition of Ocho cards and shirts, pay for postage to ship them all over the globe, establish the World Championships, support our friends in the sketch card artist community, and benefit the Greynolds Park Elementary PTA. The game is ready to print. Now we need your help to get it out to the world. If by some miracle we exceed our goal, we will update with special unlocked bonus rewards and additonal amazing talent. Right now we are starting with 12 Ocho Guest Artists. Let me introduce you to them, and showcase their exceptional work.
Kickstarter is amazing, to me. I expect that some Kossacks may have strong opinions about it, and I welcome all discussions about crowdsourcing in general and Kickstarter in specific. That is part of why I need your help.
Talk to me, please. Tell me what you think of our game. Tell me what you think of Kickstarter and crowdsourcing. Please, most of all, tell me what kinds of things you create.
Thank you,
Rian Fike