Indie Games Get the Spotlight During Zine Month

Discovery has always been a problem when it comes to almost any game that isn’t published by either Paizo or Wizards of the Coast. That being said, both Kickstarter and CrowdFunder are using their platforms specifically for Zine Month. Kickstarter is doing Zine Quest again (the initiative that started it all) and CrowdFundr is supporting Tabletop Nonstop, both focused on small RPG zines and games. There are some games crowdfunding on itch.io, which offers less customization and even less opportunities for discovery, but keeps everything in one place. Indiegogo is another option for crowdfunding, but there’s not a lot on there at the moment and the discovery options are extremely poor—and the sorting options are skewed towards popularity rather than any other metric.

Honestly, and it pains me to say this, a lot of folks are on Twitter promoting their work. It’s a great place to find and follow creators, not just during Zine Month, but throughout the year. Many designers and indie outfits use ZiMo as a barometer for their future slate of projects, not just the project that they are immediately funding. There’s a feeling of camaraderie online, and often one designer will hype up other projects, lending their support to multiple games either through promotion or acting as a “guest writer” for other games. You can also look on the Zine Month site for a self-submitted list of crowdfunding projects.