Despite the title of this post, I’m not referring to a variant of a popular world domination board-game but rather the inherent risk of backing a project.

If I’ve learned one thing about backing Kickstarters the people who get them started are often very creative individuals who have some need to have their dream realised and shared with the global community.

This creative spark is something to be nurtured and through the medium of crowdfunding we can all play our part in making this shared dream come true.  Sometimes the dream can go sour and the backing that we pledge to the project is lost and reputations can be shattered by the fallout of a project that fails to deliver.  I won’t provide a list of those that have failed as I don’t think it is my place to do so, you can quickly get an idea by searching for “failed Kickstarters” .

Some people think that Kickstarter is a great virtual store front for pre-ordering games which it isn’t and this also causes complaints when even though a project has funded nothing comes of it.  It’s more like a casino in the fact that it’s a risk you’re taking but one that can pay dividends.

I always back a project knowing that I could lose my stake and so never back more than I can afford to lose.  I’m also guilty of forgetting I have backed something and a few months down the line I get a discount code or a link for me to obtain my product; this to me is a little gift to myself and is a wonderful surprise when it happens.

Currently only two projects I backed have been unsuccessful and I’m very proud of that fact.  One project I pulled out of did succeed but has been mired in controversy since the creator just gave up and vanished taking the money with him.

So I wish you all well in backing projects, just don’t risk more than you can afford and treat each one as an investment.