What IS Kickstarter?

If you're reading this, it's probably because you read a reference to Kickstarter, or to something being "kickstartered" or "backed". Please allow me to enlighten you as to what this is all about. I'll do this here on this separate page so that I am under no obligation to do so repeatedly in every post or article relating to Kickstarter. So this is really a win-win for both of us.

Kickstarter (www.kickstarter.com)--using a somewhat simplified and interpretive explanation--is a website that is used to get projects funded by asking people for money. These "projects" can include new gadgets, trips to far-away places, music albums, or even....board games! Many independent board game designers have found that Kickstarter is a great place to lay out plans and prototypes for a great new board game and ask for funds from the general public in order to get the game published. Huzzah!

Anybody can visit these plans and decide to support the project with a financial donation, or to smile and click away to another page. Probably Facebook, because that damn George Takei is just so fresh with how he turns a phrase.

For those who "back" the project with a financial donation, it's time to sit back and watch to see if the project raises enough funds to meet its goal. If the financial goal isn't met in the pre-established project timeframe, then everyone's money is refunded and the project does not move forward. Bummer. If the project receives enough funding to meet or exceed the goal, then, HOORAY!, you've helped make someone's dream come true, and perhaps you get something in return.

Guess what? There are sometimes even awesome bonuses called "stretch goals", which state that if the funds exceed the goal by a certain amount, then the backers may get some kind of bonus item or reward.

So the whole goal is not only to fund a project and support creativity and ingenuity, but also to tell your friends to do the same. Kickstarter, it's just plain fun.