February 2024 TTRPG Crowdfunding Retrospective

For an overview of my methodology, please refer to my original November post. The only additions this month is tracking when campaigns begin and how long they run for.

As always, the raw data are available for you to peruse at your leisure.

The big picture statistics:

• 232 campaigns
• 12 Backerkit
• 5 Crowdfundr
• 215 Kickstarter
• $3,374,090.03 raised
• $884,266.93 on Backerkit
• $20,109.28 on Crowdfundr
• $2,469,713.82 on Kickstarter
• Types of campaigns
• 16 accessories
• 47 adventures
• 5 advice
• 1 audiobook
• 1 bundle
• 4 campaign settings
• 1 fundraising campaign
• 78 supplements
• 78 systems
• 1 zine
• 108 distinct systems used (55 original)
• 54 campaigns (23.28%) used D&D 5E and raised $568,095.60 (16.84% of all money raised in February)
• 35 campaigns featured AI (15.09% of total)
• These campaigns raised $236,973.58 (7.02% of all money raised in February)
• 21 of these were D&D 5E campaigns, accounting for 38.89% of all 5E crowdfunding campaigns

Kickstarter's February

The top 5 TTRPG campaigns were:

1. Tales of the Valiant Game Master's Guide 5E by Kobold Press ($461,868 from 5711 backers)
2. Vault 5e: Crafting & Alchemy by Cubicle 7 Games ($159,284.21 from 1973 backers)
3. Tomb of a Thousand Doors: A Mausritter Megadungeon by Matthew Morris ($94,305 from 1336 backers)
4. Battle for the Realm (5e) by Midnight Tower ($86,882.76 from 1371 backers)
5. Level Up: A5E Gate Pass Gazette Annual 2023 by Morrus ($72,695.11 from 901 backers)

ZineQuest and ZineMonth always bring a mind-boggling amount of TTRPG projects to Kickstarter and 2024 was no exception. Three times as many campaigns ended in February as did in January, and that's with fewer days to actually work with. Interestingly, the average Kickstarter campaign raised about the same amount of money between the two months ($11,435.03 in January vs $11,487.04 in February) but the median amount was nearly $500 higher in January ($4,190.04 vs $3,701.65).

One effect that ZineQuest/Month may have had, though, is tamping down the higher-profile indie campaigns. As you can see, the top 5 campaigns in February are unusually D&D 5E heavy and also primarily from well-established companies in that sphere as well (Kobold Press, Cubicle 7 Game, Morrus). From completely anecdotal evidence, this is likely because larger indie creators tend to not launch campaigns during ZineQuest/Month to allow smaller creators better access to the money and energy that these events create.

Backerkit's February

The top 5 TTRPG campaigns were:

1. The Covens of Midnight - A Tarot-Based GM-less RPG by Crossed Paths Press ($425,908.06 from 4504 backers)
2. Memento Mori - A Roleplaying Game of Dreams and Corruption by Two Little Mice ($230,847.67 from 1630 backers)
3. Can You See Them? A Scenario Book for the Horror RPG. by DMDave Publishing ($105,076 from 1095 backers)
4. Punk is Dead - a Mörk Borg compatible songwriting TTRPG by Critical Kit Ltd ($91,416.03 from 1422 backers)
5. Advanced Rules by RV Games ($7,781 from 295 backers)

Unfortunately we cannot make the same comparisons between January and February for Backerkit for two reasons: 1) there were only 4 campaigns in January; and 2) one of those campaigns was MCDM RPG. As such, the 'average' campaign in January raised $1,152,213.92, while the median campaign raised $3,777.61. Compare this to the average ($73,688.91) and median ($6,662.59) campaign in February. These are just not comparable numbers.

Most notable in February's numbers, I would say, is the vast gulf between the top 4 campaigns and everything else. Covens of Midnight and Memento Mori hold the distinction of being original systems with glossy production values, while Can You See Them? and Punk is Dead are both supplements for fairly popular systems (Year Zero Engine and Mörk Borg, respectively), but all 4 are operating in (or close to) the six-figure realm. This is several orders of magnitude higher than the fifth spot game, which is also a supplement for a very popular game (Mothership). I have to wonder if this is due to Backerkit's baffling ranking system, which seems to push already successful and popular campaigns to the top of the Tabletop/Role-Playing categories (sometimes even putting already finished campaigns above ones that are still running).

Crowdfundr's February

The top (and only) 5 TTRPG campaigns were:

1. Return to Perinthos: A Memorial Book Fundraiser in the Memory of Jennell Jaquays by Violet Ballard ($11,590 from 277 backers)
2. Making a Tabletop RPG for YOUR Particular Kid by TTRPGKids ($4,340 from 153 backers)
3. ARKYVR by Alewood Games ($2,200 from 86 backers)
4. The H.O.M.E. Handbook - A Tiny Supers Expansion by Gallant Knight Games ($1,852 from 114 backers)
5. Glaive-Guisarme-Glaive: Historical-ish Wargaming by Chris Longhurst ($127.28 from 8 backers)

Crowdfundr is back babyyyyyyyy! And it even has enough successful campaigns to fill out a top 5! Unfortunately this is still a marked decrease from last year's Tabletop Nonstop event, which had 10 successful campaigns end in February. There's also a pretty steep dropoff from the top-performing campaign to the other four, and that's with the significant social media attention that Jennell Jaquays' unfortunate passing received in the broader TTRPG community. I really wish that Crowdfundr was performing better, as I have had a pretty good experience running campaigns on the platform, but I'm struggling to understand what exactly it's bringing to the table that would really entice people to choose it over Kickstarter or Backerkit.

ZineQuest/Month retrospective

In the big picture, what does the glut of TTRPG campaigns for ZineQuest/Month do for the space? Well, the main thing is the influx of creatives inspired to actually make something and crowdfund it, because the money surprisingly stays fairly consistent.

Across all platforms in January, the average campaign (excluding MCDM RPG) raised $11,079.28 and the median campaign (including MCDM RPG) raised $4,031.06. In contrast, across all platforms in February, the average campaign raised $14,543.49 and the median campaign raised $3,875.61.

Be aware that the x-axis is not spaced out proportionally

The stacked bar graph above shows that in both January and February, the vast majority of TTRPG campaigns raised $10,000 or less. Interestingly, the first four bins have an almost identical distribution of campaigns relative to the total for each month:

• January (74 campaigns)
• $0-$10,000: 56 (75.7%)
• $10,001-$20,000: 9 (12.2%)
• $20,001-$30,000: 3 (4.1%)
• $30,001-$40,000: 1 (1.4%)
• February (232 campaigns)
• $0-$10,000: 177 (76.3%)
• $10,001-$20,000: 26 (11.2%)
• $20,001-$30,000: 9 (3.9%)
• $30,001-$40,000: 4 (1.7%)

I certainly can't say anything qualitative about ZineQuest/Month, but quantitatively? It has an enormous impact on the money that enters the field, and crucially does not appreciably dilute the amount that any individual (successful) campaign sees.