EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Almirante is a strategic board game for 2-6 players. It was developed in Portugal and already successfully introduced in the Portuguese market.

The aim of this project was to bring Almirante to the German speaking market and to produce a German version of the interactive board game. To reach this goal a crowdfunding campaign at Startnext was started.

The boardgame

In the board game Almirante the goal is to dominate the center of the seas for a certain number of turns. To reach this goal, the players have to think strategically and negotiate with their opponents. Although only one player can win, a certain degree of cooperation is necessary when one player is thriving for victory and dominating the center. Furthermore, every player can choose from a set of special God cards which can change the complete game setting if used at the right moment.

The unique feature of the game is the gaming mechanism which assures that the rules are easy understandable but at the same time that there are endless strategic options, making it a long lasting gaming experience. As there is no luck involved in the gameplay and the gaming mechanisms are easy to learn, the core target group of the “occasional board game player” was identified.

The Vision

The vision of the project was to produce a German version of Almirante. In order to achieve the necessary funding to realize this idea, the team decided to design a crowdfunding campaign at the largest German based crowdfunding website, Startnext.

For the crowdfunding campaign to be successful, appealing and up to date content as well as a catchy crowdfunding video had to be produced. Furthermore, the usage of a large variety of different offline and online marketing and media channels was crucial for reaching a broad mass of potential customers and board game enthusiasts.

To realize this project, the team decided to use a three step project plan. In a first step the conceptualization and planning of the whole project was carried out. In the second step the video content was produced and offline and online marketing channels were established. The third and most crucial step then consisted of the execution of the campaign itself.

The Campaign

The main phase of the project, the crowdfunding campaign on Startnext, was initiated once all necessary content had been created and the project was greenlit by Startnext.

As identified during the conceptualization stage, the team focused on four main drivers of campaign success

• Creating an engaging campaign video & product visuals

• Sustaining a strong and engaging social media presence

• Leveraging the substantial initial network of supporters

• Building a sound PR and Media strategy to ensure public exposure outside of the initial network of supporters

Focusing on these four building blocks enabled the team to generate 15 percent of the 9.000 Euro funding target within the first few days of the campaign. Currently, the campaign has already achieved 50 percent of its funding goal and generated support of more than 4.800 Euros. Once finished successfully the next steps will be production of ~500 Almirante copies and sales through offline retailing before Christmas.

Cooperation Partner

• Jogos Almirante, Lda.
  Lissbon, Portugal

Contact Person

• Harald Gesierich
  gesierich.harald@gmail.com
  www.facebook.com/spielalmirante

Student team

• Harald Gesierich
  Andreas Steinbichl
  Carola Seyr
  Tobias Friesenbichler

Project-Manager

• Rudolf Dömötör
  Beate Edl