I'm currently working on a prototype that I hope to expand in a full-fledged game. However, after perusing some of the projects on Kickstarter, as well as some other topics on this forum, I think it's safe to say that Kickstarter is no longer the ideal location for a small-time Indie developer to gain funding to complete their game. Kickstarter, and most the crowdfunding sources I've looked at such as Fig and Square Enix Collective, seem to be more geared toward teams with already-established communities that are looking for that final marketing push before release.

So my questions for the collective here are:

• What strategies are you using, or have you used, to build a community and garner interest for your game?
• If you're planning to use, or are using, crowdfunding, what crowfunding sources are you using? Why?
• If you've been successful in crowdfunding using a source other than Kickstarter, what was it and what tips could you provide?
• For those of you that have used both Kickstarter and another source, how different were the experiences?

I've been toying with game development for a few years now, but this is the closest I've been to releasing anything, so this process is very new to me. Even newer is the concept of branding myself, which I'm only now starting to think about, and the whole idea makes me incredibly nervous so any help is greatly appreciated.

Ryan Sutherland said:
I think it's safe to say that Kickstarter is no longer the ideal location for a small-time Indie developer to gain funding to complete their game.

It never was. Even back in 2012 when we tried a Kickstarter, we quickly learned that unless you already had a mostly-finished prototype with a ton of concept art already made, you stood virtually no chance of success. As Beosar has said, you would need a marketing budget to inform people about your project, which they can then back on Kickstarter. Besides which, if you actually asked for what you needed, rather than some smaller amount (topped up by publishers or investors), again you're unlikely to succeed.

I'm hesitant to give any specific suggestions given that I don't know your budget or your project, but funding a game is about matching a product to a potential market. What state is the product in? What is the audience? What's the revenue model?

(As an aside, I'm also fairly pessimistic about the new trend of 'building a community' before a game's release. Attention is finite, early adopters are often aggressively opinionated, and your time is better spent on development. Hoping to fund a game that way seems like a risky bet.)