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[Angle]

So alright, my family needs money. I have a game I've been working on, and I'm thinking of running a kickstarter for it, so I can keep my family afloat. It's called The Temple of the Elements, you can find it here. Do you guys think this would work, and would be worthwhile?

[nenjin]

Kinda...maybe...

You'd need to be upfront about what you're doing. This is charity, with a video game as the enticement. People usually back video games to make the game bigger and better.....not to support the family of the developer. You need to be crystal clear on your Kickstarter page what the money is for, and I don't even know if it violates the ToS of Kickstarter or not. If your game is already finished and you're not planning on using any of the Kickstarter money on improving it....that could be a hard sell.

[Angle]

The game isn't finished, and I need the money to finish it. Some of it will even be spent on resources for the game.

 I will be upfront that most of the money will be spent to support my family, though - I was planning on doing that anyway. And I already opened a support ticket with kickstarter to ask if this is acceptable.

[penguinofhonor]

.

[nenjin]

This isn't any worse than a guy making a Kickstarter game while he's supporting his wife and kids.

I'd argue it is. (Well, not worse, but distinct.) Me supporting my grandmother I don't live with via the proceeds of a video game Kickstarter would seem weird. It's not uncommon for Kickstarters to effectively pay a developer a living wage, and therefore support their family. It's kind of a different story when you're supporting not-your-immediate family with the same.

Again, if you say this is a charitable cause, more power to you, do as you will. But if that's not made clear, I wouldn't blame any backer for saying "I backed to support the game, not your family."

On the other hand, if you're a minor still living with your immediate family and they've fallen on hard times, that's the kind of story that can get people to open their wallets. Especially if there's a cool game attached to it.

[Angle]

This is my parents, my grandmother, and my sister, specifically, and I do live with them at the moment. I'm not a minor though.

[nenjin]

Well, I'd just remind that Kickstarter is intended to provide money to projects so the project itself can succeed. It's becoming a trend to Kickstart things that don't actually need money, because who doesn't want free money? Those tend to be red flags to me. GoFundMe might be more appropriate for what you ultimately want the money for.

[My Name is Immaterial]

Have you considered Patreon?

[Angle]

Yup. My parents have said they don't want the money, so I'm just gonna see about raising it for mysef, so I can basically do what toady does. My current plan is to get the project to where I have a decent demo, run a kickstarter so I can eat while I finish the thing, and then set up a patreon so I can continue to work on it and any other projects I might have i mind.

[Meph]

Yup. My parents have said they don't want the money, so I'm just gonna see about raising it for mysef, so I can basically do what toady does. My current plan is to get the project to where I have a decent demo, run a kickstarter so I can eat while I finish the thing, and then set up a patreon so I can continue to work on it and any other projects I might have i mind.

I dont think mixing kickstarter and patreon together would work well. They pretty much exclude each other.

[Angle]

Hmm, good to know. I'll stick to patreon, then.