CptRagebeard

I'm currently working on making a board game myself for an idea I came up with half a decade ago but really just got started putting in the work on it. I think my biggest hurdle is going to be the startup funds to pay for things like art, minis, and basic materials.

It's a strategy game where up to 8 people can play at a time. I've gotten it to the point where it's almost ready to be alpha tested.

What advice could you give to someone like me? I want to self-publish it by making my first hard copy of it and then start a campaign for it on Kickstarter. My rough estimate just for the first copy alone is ~$1,500, but I feel like that's a gross underestimate.

Best of luck with your surgery, and thanks in advance for any advice!

I've quoted a few graphic artist/designers in my area, and the quotes I got for all of the art required to make was around $500-$600 for the number of unique cards. And I'm taking up learning how to make 3D models so that I can make and print them out on my own with a 3D printer, so that's just the cost of a single hard copy with which to use for campaigning.

By "alpha testing" I mean making a shitty prototype using pieces of paper instead of minis, index cards with the card rules written on them, and crudely drawn map ideas on a dry-erase D&D map to test out the best possible map layouts with the ruleset for game balance. Once that's tested to work out the balance, I'll then go back and fix any rules that need to be changed to balance it even further.