Kleos Design Journal - 3 Biggest Successes

In my last post, I covered the 3 Biggest Lessons I learned while designing Kleos.  In this post, I’ll focus on 3 things I got right while developing Kleos.

1. Focus & Process:  Creating a game and running a Kickstarter with a demanding full-time job and other commitments is a huge challenge.  It is also a challenge that most designers and indie publishers share!  It takes an amazing amount of time and energy, consistently spent over several years to reach the finish line. Everyone needs to find their own process to keep going even when it’s difficult.
   
   It took time for me to find that process...but what I found works best over the last couple of years is keeping a list of the next 3-4 important tasks I have to do, and completing at least one each and every day.  To track this, I have a white board in my living room listing important goals & figures.  I use it to track my total # of playtests, goals, and also accomplishments.  
   
   I usually write my immediate goals for the coming days/week in the center, and keep next steps/long-term goals on the side.  When I complete all the tasks in the middle, I add a few from the sides, along with any new priorities that need to be addressed.  I would normally use Outlook Task Manager, Excel, or some other electronic option...but after a long day at work...it’s nice to take a break from electronic task management and use the white board instead.  Plus...it is so satisfying to erase a task!
   
   Each day I accomplish at least one thing on that list.  Depending on how busy I am and how complicated the tasks are, I may target and complete as many as 3-5/day, but I try not to overwhelm myself.  There are little mental tricks I play as well...if I expect to have a lot of time, generally on weekends, I’ll make each task a bit broader or more complex.  If I am having a busy week, I will keep the tasks simpler and more specific.  Consistent progress is the most important goal of this system.
   
   Over the course of a week, a month, a year, it is amazing how much you can accomplish in this way!  I recently read a book called Atomic Habits by James Clear.  I highly recommend it if you are interested in this type of approach.
   

2. Market Research & Asking for Help When Needed:  I read a lot of books, Jamey Stiegmeier’s blogs, listened to podcasts (especially BGDL by Gabe Barrett and Kickstarter Journeys by Wes Woodbury), spoke to other creators, followed many campaigns, joined the Indie Game Alliance (IGA), attended every event I was able to (Unpubs, Protospiels, etc), and networked where possible.  
   
   I didn’t only follow the big success stories.  I am always happy to teach by my own failures, and I believe you can learn the most...and avoid many pitfalls...by learning from those who have struggled or experienced failure in the past.  Failure is part of learning for all of us, and you will never be great if you aren’t willing to fail sometimes.  Seeing why other campaigns failed will help you avoid those same pitfalls.  The people I respect the most are the ones who failed, and then came back stronger to succeed on the second run.
   
   Having friends in the industry was huge.  Wes Woodbury at FunDaMental Games made recommendations for my page and gave advice that was instrumental to Kleos’ success.  Matt Holden at the Indie Game Alliance offers a free consultation with membership and had excellent feedback that drastically improved the Kickstarter page and helped to avoid a few issues.  Michael Raftopoulos at Meeple on Board (my international licensing agent) helped to create the retailer pledge and bring retailer interest from the start.  And of course, the BGDL community provided tons of feedback along the way from card designs, to design challenges, to the KS page.  
   

3. Listening to Playtesters:  This is something that I say quite proudly - the most important innovations and ‘fixes’ in Kleos did not come from me.  They came from my playtesters.  You are only one person, or even if you are a small team, one or two people cannot have the answers to every problem.  As designers, we can also become too close to the project and miss glaring opportunities for improvement that will be obvious to other designers or seasoned playtesters.
   
   As a designer, I rely heavily on my friends, family, other designers and the Kleos community for input.  This will mean putting your ego aside.  It will be difficult sometimes, but it is important if you want to be successful.  When something breaks in a playtest, ESPECIALLY if it is something I didn’t expect to break, I always ask players how they would fix it.  If possible, I might change the rules immediately based on the best new idea, continue under the original rules if it is manageable, or end the playtest if it needs a heavy rewrite.
   
   Managing successful playtests also requires strong communication skills to guide the discussion, leadthe group away from distractions, and make sure everyone has an opportunity to share.  Make sure to get the quiet ones talking!  They will spend the most time thinking about their answer, and often have incredibly valuable feedback that they might be too shy to share otherwise.  Feedback forms also work well for this purpose, and a side conversation after the playtest ends is helpful if you are hoping to expand on any feedback.  Find polite and engaging ways to prevent one person from dominating the feedback session, and have a strategy to move on if the group gets stuck on one item/piece of feedback.
   
   I still remember the name of the playtester at Metatopia who suggested splitting player turns into two separate phases - one to play cards and one to move your Minions.  It reduced down-time and analysis paralysis, made the game easier to teach, and was something I had not considered at all.  It was a Eureka moment that drastically improved the game, and we immediately switched to that playstyle for the rest of the playtest.
   
   There will be times that you are frustrated when something breaks or when playtesters are adamant that you need to change something when you don’t want to.  In these cases, swallow your pride, value their opinion even if you disagree, and wait a day. Almost always, when multiple players provide the same feedback, I realize that the players are right...but sometimes not until the next day when I have a chance to process it.  Their recommended solution isn’t always the best fix (though sometimes it is), but if enough people tell you there is a problem….then you had best consider it!
   
   Listening to your playtesters and valuing their input will help your designs evolve, make the process more fun for everyone, and also make it more likely that they will play your game again...and hopefully even support it on Kickstarter.

Hope you enjoyed this post.  Let me know all about your latest successes in the comments!

-Jim