Ratatan Development Log #8 Kickstarter Begins
In the previous article, I talked about how we first introduced Ratatan to the world at BitSummit.
Then, the day we had been working toward finally arrived.
The launch of our Kickstarter campaign.
It was the moment we would present everything we had built over the previous three years to players around the world for the very first time.
Over the next thirty days, the Ratatan project would truly begin its journey.
The Kickstarter Page
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ratata-arts/ratatan/description
Our Kickstarter page was much more than a simple game description.
It brought together everything we had built up to that point.
The gameplay concept.
The visual concept.
The UX Video.
It became the place where we introduced Ratatan to players around the world.
Throughout the process, we received tremendous support and guidance from DANGEN Entertainment.
For that reason, rather than explaining Kickstarter best practices, I'd like to focus on the thinking behind how we designed our page.
What We Wanted Players to Feel First
The single most important element on the page was our characters.
Ratatan features a large amount of hand-drawn 2D animation.
Because of that, we wanted players to experience the characters in motion rather than through still images alone.
Of course, explaining the gameplay was important.
But even more importantly, we wanted people to think:
"Who are these characters?"
"Their movement looks incredibly satisfying."
Creating that first emotional reaction was our highest priority.
Don't Hold Anything Back
Looking back today, I think Ratatan's Kickstarter page contained far more information than many other projects.
Part of that was simply because we had already created a significant amount of artwork and assets.
But more importantly, we believed in one principle:
Show as much as possible, as early as possible.
Game development doesn't end when you finish building the game.
You need to let players see it early, gather reactions, and continue refining it.
That philosophy remained unchanged throughout our Kickstarter campaign.
A Page That Changed Every Day
There was another idea we considered equally important.
We wanted to give people a reason to come back every day.
Kickstarter campaigns last only about thirty days.
We viewed those thirty days as a live event.
The funding total would grow.
Stretch goals would unlock.
The page itself would evolve.
We wanted backers to experience the campaign together with us and feel that they were part of its progress.
The Kickstarter Launch Video
At the same time the Kickstarter campaign went live, we released this video.
To be honest, I'm still not sure whether this video was really necessary.
Our backers may have wondered the same thing.
Still, there was one reason we wanted to make it.
Game developers often come across as serious—sometimes even a little intimidating.
We wanted people to get a glimpse of who we were as individuals.
Just enough to make us feel a little more approachable.
Memories from the Shoot
The video was filmed in Osaka with the support of DANGEN Entertainment.
If I remember correctly, it was the day before our BitSummit presentation.
There was even a proper script prepared for us.
Although, to be fair, I hardly had any lines.
What I remember most wasn't the filming itself.
It was how much fun we genuinely had.
The tongue game featured in the video turned out to be surprisingly entertaining.
Four middle-aged developers were laughing like children while filming it.
And then there was the milk toast at the end.
Completely unexpectedly, it became a running joke within our community.
Before long, the milk emoji had become something people used whenever there was something worth celebrating.
We never imagined that would happen during filming.
Trying Things You Don't Fully Understand
This video also reflects one of my personal principles.
Whenever I'm making an important decision, I often ask myself:
"What if I try something I don't fully understand?"
If something immediately makes perfect sense to me, it's probably an extension of my own experience and assumptions.
But occasionally, the ideas that make me think,
"Why would anyone do this?"
or
"Is this really necessary?"
turn out to have value precisely because they're outside my own perspective.
That's why I believe it's worth trying them.
This video was one of those experiments.
Kickstarter Begins
Finally, launch day arrived.
Everything we had built over the previous three years had led to this moment.
The gameplay concept.
The visual concept.
The UX Video.
BitSummit.
Everything had been preparing us for this day.
The moment the campaign went live, it was no longer entirely in our hands.
How would players around the world respond?
Filled with both excitement and anxiety, we watched the Kickstarter page and refreshed the dashboard over and over again.
From that point forward, the numbers would tell the story.
Next Time
In the next article, we'll look back at those thirty days using Kickstarter's own dashboard and Kicktraq.
How did support from around the world unfold?
How did the numbers change each day?
And what was it really like to experience a Kickstarter campaign for the very first time?