Today I want to talk about Kickstarter, which I don’t have a ton of (read: any) experience with, so I turned to fellow writer, artist, and friend of But I Also Have a Day Job Miranda Reeder. Under her online handle Min, Miranda runs Harlevin Games, a visual novel studio whose releases can be found on Steam and Itch.io.
What’s a visual novel, you ask? Think of it like an interactive novel that you play through like a video game, where you can choose your own path through the story. Visual novels can include images, music, and voice acting, and many allow you to customize your own characters.
Overall, they’re a cool way of taking stories to the next level in ways that traditional books and graphic novels can’t quite do, without the investment needed in a full video game experience.
Miranda and I spoke waaaaaaaaaay back in 2020 about her path to making visual novels like Arena Circus and The Pretenders Guild, but her new project is far more ambitious, involving collaborations with other artists, musicians, and voice actors. She and her collaborators at Fablesoft Studios did a Kickstarter for their dark fairy tale game Twisted several years back, but her new project, Celestial Crowns, is an even bigger step forward. (You can check out the trailer below!)
To get a quick overview of funding a game via Kickstarter, we corresponded for a quick interview about getting a project like Celestial Crowns off the ground:
But I Also Have a Day Job: Why are you doing the Kickstarter?
Miranda Reeder: I’m doing the Kickstarter to raise funds for the art and music needed. Generally I draw everything myself, but this time I wanted to focus on the script, and hiring other artists allowed me to do that while also simultaneously creating assets. I also had a very specific vision for the game that couldn’t be realized with my art alone.
BIAHADJ: What’s the most difficult thing about doing a Kickstarter?
MR: The most difficult thing is definitely the marketing. Being a solo developer, it comes down to my individual social media accounts. While I’ve done research and paid promotions, my reach is still much smaller than if I had a full team marketing along with me.
BIAHADJ: What makes Celestial Crowns unique/special?
MR: The unique thing about Celestial Crowns is the personality system. Almost all choices are tied to one of nine personality stats (confident, practical, witty, impulsive, naive, spoiled, gentle, strategic, aggressive) that correspond to the main character’s strengths, flaws, and ruling style. For each choice, there can be up to nine options. This not only allows the characters to really roleplay how they’d like, but also offers a lot of replayability to go back and see how different choices would have played out. There are also small variations based on what stats are highest, for a more immersive experience.
BIAHADJ: Anything else you want people to know?
MR: The first draft of the full script is complete, but even with all the editing I plan to do the game can’t come to life without the art. Even for those who can’t support the Kickstarter, sharing the link can help find people who might be interested.
More About BIG Projects!
Creating a visual novel requires a bigger myriad of skills, time, and effort than writing a traditional novel, since the amount of work involved is HUGE. In short, it’s often too big for just one person.
Also, just like in the real world, indie designers who make art and music for visual novels like this have bills to pay and need to be compensated for their time. That’s why projects like Celestial Crowns can be more difficult for small indie developers to fund.
As of today, Celestial Crowns has raised $7,237, or 32% (!) of its goal—more than three times what she raised with her Kickstarter for Twisted, and it’s only been open for a week (!!!).
Celestial Crowns has until the end of May to get funded, so if you’re interested in a playable visual novel, like romance and adventure, want to support a cool project, or just want to try something new, check out the Celestial Crowns Kickstarter, follow Miranda//Min/Harlevin on Twitter, Instagram, or Tumblr, the project website, or share it up!