(Kickstarter) Zinequest is Back, Baby!

 I was pondering last night that January was a highly productive month.  Outside of running games, the blog was full of painted miniatures, writing projects, and clearing out the backlog of ideas.  I now have a reasonable to-do list for February, but even if I get those done, the big question was, what am I going to post about to fill in my usual daily posts?

Thank you, Zinequest 3!

For a third year, Kickstarter is actively promoting RPG designers who think big in their ideas, but small in their presentation.   

Directly off the Zinequest description:

Our annual Zine Quest prompt bestows creators with this valiant mission: Bring your RPG to life with maps, adventures, monsters, comics, articles, and interviews. To participate, launch a two-week project for a single-color unbound, folded, stapled, or saddle-stitched RPG zine on A5 or smaller paper. We'll start promoting projects Monday, February 1 and continue through the month.

As much as the traditional adventure gaming companies have taken advantage of the crowdfunding model (How many Kickstarter users initially came on board with one of the Reaper Bones campaigns),  this platform is perfect for the designer who doesn't need or want twenty stretch goals and coordinating a pledge manager.  Some folks just want their product in folks hands, and the extra promotion by Kickstarter is what they need to make it happen.  

The material in Zinequest ranges wildly, from traditional 5e to an RPG about family members waiting for a loved one to die.   They're deep or inane ideas, sometimes both.  And while the pdf of the project is usually some pittance like five dollars, the concept of the old-school printed zine in your hand is the way to go (usually the pdf comes with it).

I've got a deluge of snow getting dumped on us currently, but I will actively post about the Zinequest Kickstarters that pique my interest.  In reality, I've only supported three of these in the last years, but the concept is far more important to the life of the gaming community than Twilight: 2000, Reaper Bones, or Steve Jackson Games promoting Munchkin or coasters... or Munchkin coasters.

And my favorite fact, for all of us regular Kickstarter backers, these campaigns fulfill early most of the time

I've pledged on a lot of creator-driven or small press campaigns, but here are the three specific to this promotion that I've backed in years past.

Girl Underground

Twelve Hundred Words

Planet 28 

I will note that the creators of Planet 28 will be launching their fantasy skirmish rules, Brutal Quest on February 3rd.