I've got this idea

Hey guys!

So this is my first time posting here, but I’ve got this idea that I’m working on and want to get some opinions on the best way to approach it’s release.

So first off, my art is crocheting. I crochet little dudes and teach people how to make them.

Recently I’ve been making these:

I’ve been making them for about a year or so now and didn’t really know what to do with them, so I wasn’t sharing them anywhere until now.

So here’s the plan. I wanted people to croceht these but had to think of a reason why people would make them. They’re cool toys and I make them into finger puppets too, but I had an even better idea. I’m working now on a table top game for them. I’ve been calling it Stitched until I either find a better name or am able to get that trademarked (which I found out I actually might be able to do!)

The game is kind of like DnD meets chess, or like Warhammer if you’ve ever played it (but way more simple). All you need for the game are a playing card, some dice, and the character pieces. I’m crocheting them (obviously) and will offer the patterns so people can crochet them if they want, but you can also make your pieces out of whatever you want, play-doh, origami, whatever. The point is just that you have to be creative and make them yourself.

Once the patterns are finished I plan on releasing a video showing off all the different characters and species I’ve made. Just basically sharing them all for the first time online. At the end of the video I’ll explain that “I’m working on this game, but I don’t want to release it until it’s been playtested to make sure it works right. I’m playtesting it with my Patreon supporters, so if you want to try the game out and give me your opinion, check out my Patreon at patreon.com/louiesloops and support for whatever you feel is best!”

Once the game is play-tested a bunch and I know there are no bugs, I’d like to make a video and release it to whoever wants to play. At the end of the video teaching the rules I’ll add in that I’m still play-testing things like items for my Patreon supporters.

I’ll then begin doing livestreams of me playing the game with friends to try to drum up attention for it. If / when I feel it’s going well I’d like to do a crowdfunding campaign to get the game printed with cards for each of the characters and items, and dice for people to purchase. I’d do this through Patreon as well stating that “I need $5000 at least to get an order made. I’ll hit that goal eventually through Patreon, but I’m only making $X per month now. If you want to help speed that up and reserve a copy for yourself become a Patreon supporter and contribute at least $15 before I reach my goal!”

What do you think? Any suggestions on how to release it or ideas for how to get the game to more people? Should I make being a playtester a tear for my patreon supporters or just make it available to whoever supports?

Any and all opinions are welcome! And thank you so so much for taking the time to read this :slight_smile: I really appreciate it!
-Lou

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How have you built your audience so far? I’m curious about that.

I started with how to patterns and tutorials in high school, teaching people how to crochet different objects like a Batman logos. I made them into videos to go along with written patterns which made my patterns go over really well in the crocheting community and over the next 3 or 4 years I had a decent crocheting audience.

Then in / after college I got into stop motion animation using my little crocheted dudes on my YouTube channel. It was a lot of nerdy and pop culture characters. This got a bit of a following from non-crocheters.

At that point my audience was a bit split between people who knew how to crochet and people who didn’t. It seemed like my audience (and I) were pretty confused as to what the channel was about so I split it and created a company called Club Crochet where I sold my patterns, and had my channel Louie’s Loops where I just made things that happen to be crocheted. I also wrote a free how to crochet book and video series to teach the non-crocheters that wanted to learn so that I could bridge the two.

Running a business is crazy difficult though and I had to essentially put Louie’s Loops on hold while I got my footing. This idea is what I would consider my first really big project when coming back to the youtube/patreon game. I think my audience will like it even though it’s pretty strange, and honestly whatever. I know this is a project that I am more excited about than anything prior, so I just want to make it and hopefully my audience will like it and a new audience will find me as well.

Sorry for the long-winded reply!

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This is helpful. It could be that you go back to what you were doing originally to generate more interest. We find that on Patreon you really have two ways to grow patronage: grow your fanbase or convert more. It looks like in this situation you’ll have to grow that fanbase more.

There are a few gamers in the forum so you might have to touch base with them – and see if they could do some reviews or provide some feedback. Are there notable folks that you feel like should get a sneak preview that could help spread the word?

Definitely getting teasers out there and sharing your process will help. That’s going to be in other places - whether in forums for knitting and/or gamers, instagram, pinterest. I bet some other folks here will have some ideas to help you grow too. I’ll keep thinking about this as well!

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Can I just say your goblinoids are incredibly adorable :heart:

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Thanks Carla! I really appreciate the thought that you put into this. I definitely could start doing a lot more collaborations with other creators again. I’m not sure how well it would go over to ask other creators to review my game, but it’s worth a shot I suppose! The tough part is that it is a table top game, not really a video game, so it might be difficult to find good fits for this. I’ll definitely be reaching out to DnD livestreamers. I was already thinking of crocheting their in game party for a shout out or something, I’ve just been waiting for the game to be out before I started doing that, or at least releasing the initial video showing the Goblinoids first.

Are you in the SF office? I’ve been meaning schedule some time to come by and show the game off there (I’m an SF resident).

Thank you so much for your thoughts on this project again!

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:3 thank you hahaha. I’ve got some real characters too. My favorite one is Guillermo… well his real name is “Grrblgarkdd-tt”, but that’s a family name. He goes by Guillermo.

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I am in the SF office! We hope to have an SF meetup again at some point! I’ll chat with @mindy about that too.

The other thing I was going to note is that there’s a great series that @TheJinNTonic has been doing about growing your social fans. It might be worth watching some of videos. Here’s the initial thread: Offering Free LIVE Weekly Social Media Training 💗

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Aw, hiya Carla! Thanks so much! It really has been so amazing to have so many patreon creators coming in to the live trainings, and getting their feedback!

Tonight is Week 11 and I’ll sharing everything you need to know about PAID social media (aka advertisements!). The Week 10 replay (all about growing your email list) will be up until 7pm PST tonight, when I’ll be going live for this week’s training.

Thank you, I hope to see a few new creators in there this evening!
Here’s the sign up link, you’ll get the live video link in your email or via text (U.S. only)

Thanks!
Jin

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Awesome!!! Thanks! I’ll make sure to check that out tonight! @carla I’ll have to say hi if I’m ever around too. And I would love to come to another SF Meetup!!!

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