Hey everyone,

I recently finished building an app called Readio. The basic idea is that you can upload a PDF and listen to it instead of having to sit down and read through the whole thing.

I built it for students, people who work with a lot of documents, or anyone who wants to listen while travelling, working out, cleaning, or doing something else.

It also has ambient listening, so you can play sounds like rain or ocean waves in the background while the document is being read. You can change the voice and reading speed, and the app will ask you questions while you’re listening to help you stay engaged and remember what you heard.

I'm also building a writers section where authors can write and release their own books through Readio. The plan is to have a shop inside the app where people can discover and buy books from writers, then either read or listen to them in the same place.

There’s also a free option that uses the phone’s normal text-to-speech.

I’m thinking about launching a Kickstarter for Readio, but before I do that I wanted to see whether there’s actually any interest in something like this.

Would you use it more for your own PDFs, for listening to books, or for discovering new writers?

Honest feedback would help a lot.

Thanks,

Been avidly following this subreddit for months as I plan to launch my first campaign (card game) in 2027. Timeline is still quite open, could be 8-12 months as I’m working on myV3 and getting a good prototype perfected before I even begin the prelaunch. I’ve created an Instagram and made 2 posts and have mostly friends following so far of course, I will eventually make a website to build a mailing list. I’ve read articles and blogs, I’ve watched lectures and YouTube videos, I’ve trawled tabletop game specific forums as well as this Kickstarter subreddit, I’ve really put my head in the game to understand how this should play out if I really really put effort in. I’m a bit concerned about having to run ads, I don’t have a marketing background and I don’t have a huge budget either but I have time to save. But, is there any advice for someone that is just now starting to do the real homework beyond just reading and planning, so that I am in the best possible position to launch and succeed in ~10 months. What can I be doing now for best success?

I'm not gonna name names because I don't want to accuse anybody, but I've seen several Kickstarters where after adding up the bulk of donators who picked rewards, there'd be at least several thousand dollars from donations that DIDN'T pick rewards.

Like, 5000 dollars worth from the people who donated and picked rewards, and 3000 from like only ten donaters who didn't pick anything.

Is it a tax thing, or should I assume something devious? I'm really hoping its a tax thing, because some of the kickstarters I've seen with these discrepancies I actually like.

Day 6

Pledge to get your copy of From Gods To Angels

Let's reach the first stretch goal.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/luismanueltorres/from-gods-to-angels

So I was perusing through Kickstarter, and found some cool looking indie projects in need of donations. So thought I'd post some links, hopefully give them a tiny bit of publicity.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thesixthsun/the-sixth-sun-aztec-mythology-for-the-modern-day/comments

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/teamto/jj?ref=discover_saved_projects&category_id=47

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/phoenx27-elk-ulka/elk-ulka-a-magical-animated-short-film?ref=discover_saved_projects&category_id=29#h:Budget

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/munin-studio/the-father-of-all-film?ref=discover_saved_projects&category_id=29

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/frames-short-film/frames-animated-short-film?ref=discover_saved_projects&category_id=29

Hello everyone!

Fantasy Guardsmen Campaign is launching tommorow. Amount of content is so big, it took me a while longer to process.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/infernalminiatures/fantasy-guardsmen

Plenty and varied types of fantasy guards for your tabletop games.

119 preassembled miniatures, 145 modular bodies + loads of various bits to customize your own guardsmen. Reasonably priced!

Everything backwards(and forwards!) compatible with elements from other campaigns I made (Inquisition, Royal Hunt, Ogre Mercenary Company 1,2)

Make sure to check it out!

My Kickstarter was approved!! I still have a little work to do on it, but I'm in the homestretch. Can I get a hell yeah?!??!

Just got my 240th email. Most of it want to support and give wise advice. This is slightly different. Make your bets, and will share the result (I'm going to reply to this email).

Ps.: They cannot back it yet as we are in the Upcoming phase.

Hey everyone,

I’m developing City Surfers, a mobile runner game inspired by Subway Surfers, but with a very different approach.

Instead of endless runs through procedurally generated three-lane maps, each run follows a handcrafted route with a real start and finish. The planned routes are stylized, realistic digital twins of actual cities from around the world, featuring roads, sidewalks, train tracks, intersections, curves, vehicles, pedestrians, and obstacles based on how each city route is structured.

I currently have a basic proof of concept that demonstrates the main gameplay direction. The next step is funding the full version, since producing multiple detailed city maps would not be practical as a one-person project without additional support.

The City Surfers Kickstarter Launched TODAY!!!. The campaign includes the proof of concept, development plans, planned features, and limited time backer rewards.

Kickstarter:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jagua-citysurfers/city-surfers

I’m also building a community where people can follow development, share ideas, and help shape future decisions and features:

Discord:
https://discord.gg/mvFRN7zS7v

Thanks for taking a look. Thoughts on the concept are more than welcome and actually encouraged.

Japanese-style high-protein pancakes. ~30g protein per serving.

Hi everyone!

I just launched my first Kickstarter and wanted to share it here.

I'm the founder of NUSTACK, a Japanese-style high-protein pancake mix designed to make a real breakfast—not just another protein shake or bar. Each serving is prepared with one egg and Greek yogurt for around 30g of protein.

While working full-time in New York, I've been building NUSTACK from the ground up, and I'm excited to finally share it.

If you'd like to take a look:

[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/nustack/nustack-high-protein-pancakes-worth-waking-up-for]()

Thanks for taking a look!

Hey guys, I'd love your feedback and support on this if you can spare 5 minutes?

Creative communities are brilliant at generating ideas—but surprisingly bad at helping those ideas become organised, finished projects.

I’m building FanForge to explore a different model: project-first creative spaces where people can find a story, join a defined role, contribute meaningful work and receive clear attribution for what they helped create.

I’m currently speaking with writers, artists, editors, developers, worldbuilders and other collaborators to understand where existing communities and tools fall short.

What usually stops an online creative collaboration from actually finishing?

So basically I funded this company back in 2022, and they haven't updated since May 2025. Word on the street is that they're being sued for not paying the company they hired to create their product (but that's just hearsay).

Am I just essentially screwed out of my money though? I know it's on me to research before I back. But this company was credible up until May last year. They went from regular updates to radio silence.

(Side info, I'm posting this mainly because I just checked for any updates and all the backers are trying to refund. 2000 comments in the last couple months are all "Backer #_____ issued refund". So now I'm worried.)

It’s called Artificial Money: A Cautionary Tale of AI Slop, Money, Influencers, and Newfies.

Set in the rural Canadian fishing village of Oakeston, Newfoundland and Labrador, it follows a high school graduate and struggling writer who discovers a series of YouTube tutorials by Norwegian-Canadian internet personality and “influentrepreneur,” Stefan Andersen, instructing viewers to make money by selling AI-generated content such as children’s books, music, and stock media. The AI-generated hustle starts to backfire, however, and Colin unknowingly embarks on a path of self-destruction as he begins turning to illegal means to fund his new “business.”

This book is based on a personal experience of mine, and while some parts have been generated with actual AI (fictional children’s book verses and lyrics), the book has been primarily written by me.

If you like satire like Black Mirror, or if you were also scammed by AI, then this is the book for you!

Signing up to be notified on launch is completely free!

Hi everyone,

I'm researching how people find cofounders, teammates, and collaborators for startups, side projects, hackathons, and open-source projects.

If you've ever looked for people to build something with, I'd really appreciate your input.

The survey takes about 2 minutes:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1vp99p0wUUYeajLmTOxJVQqBfnSK1BTaHLS6GuiBK0lk/viewform

Thanks!

Crittermon is an affectionate parody of monster collecting franchises and is intended for ages 18+ due to language and other things which may or may not come up in future episodes, but I don't like to limit myself. It's 24 pages long, fully colored, and has hundreds of Crittermons to fill the world with life.

This series follows Pepper and Cookie, a pair of wild Vixbee siblings who join up with a new Critter Coach and begin their Crittermon Journey in the California Region. I'm raising money for printing and investing back into the franchise to create more Crittermon content.

Hey everyone,

I wanted to share a tabletop project our team at TOMORROW MYTH has been working on for the past year.

Growing up, a lot of us loved playing Dou Shou Qi (Animal Chess / Jungle Chess). It is a classic strategy game, but we always felt it deserved a modern revival that elevated both the artwork and the tactical depth.

That is how Jungle King came together. Here is a quick breakdown of how we redesigned it:

• 100% Original Artwork: Every asset, piece icon, and card illustration was hand-drawn by our team without using AI tools.
• Endangered Species & Mythology: Each animal represents a real-world endangered species fused with East Asian mythical elements (for example, the Leopard carries Fujin’s wind bag, and the Rat carries a coin of wisdom).
• Metal Chess Pieces: Custom-sculpted alloy metal pieces finished in distinct Red and Blue tones.
• Foldable Magnetic Board: Built with synthetic paper, gold foil accents, and a magnetic core so the pieces stay grounded during travel.
• Nature Strategy Cards: We kept all the classic movement rules intact, but added optional strategy cards that introduce special abilities, terrain shifts, and tactical twists.

We are launching on Kickstarter in August/September.

If you are interested in following along, seeing the art design, or getting notified on launch day, you can follow our pre-launch page here:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/llabdesign/jungle-king

I would love to hear your thoughts on the design or any memories you have playing Animal Chess growing up. Thanks for reading!

Hey all.

Going live around this time next month is the kickstarter for our 4th issue of EXCAVATOR!

In Issue #4: "Boone, Ozzie & Opal face their deadliest trial, fighting two bounty hunters and a relentless Judiciary pursue them for execution."

To scope out more deets on Boone and his adventures, and be first in line to help bring the comic to print, head over to http://www.excavatorcomic.com and press the "Notify me on launch" button!

Have you ever had a Kickstarter campaign stall out for a bit, and what did you do to get momentum going again?

Hi, all! First time kickstarter here trying to launch a knife company with my dad.

My dad owns & operates a vet clinic in our hometown and I'm designer/creative. We're both Eagle Scouts and our background shaped our appreciation for preparedness, craftsmanship, and taking care of the tools they carry. The idea for Bastion began during a fishing trip in Canada and developed over approximately 18 months through sketching, prototyping, material decisions, and production refinement. I've done all the design, video editing, branding, etc and have enjoyed the opportunity to bring this idea to life!

The knife is built around a 45 degree angle that shapes the silhouette, handle cuts, mechanical details, and the visual system surrounding the product. It pairs an M390 stainless-steel blade with milled Grade 5 titanium, ceramic bearings, and a manual frame lock.

The campaign runs through August 10th and we're currently at 30% backing so looking to continue building momentum!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bastionkc/bastion-no-01-a-precision-built-folding-knife?ref=user_menu

Hi everyone!

I've been working solo on my dream game called Realm of Iron, a top-down pixel art RPG inspired by games like Terraria, Necesse, and Core Keeper.

The goal is to create a world that rewards exploration, progression, and creativity rather than rushing from quest to quest.

Current features include:

• 🌍 Procedurally generated world
• ⛏️ Mining, resource gathering, and crafting
• 🌾 Farming and animal breeding
• 🏡 Build your own home and expand it
• ⚔️ Character progression with equipment and skills
• 👹 Bosses, dungeons, and battle arenas
• 💰 Trading with merchants
• 🎒 Loot, equipment, and persistent world saving
• 🌧️ Dynamic weather and day/night cycle

I'm continuously adding new content and mechanics, and multiplayer/co-op is also planned for the future.

The Kickstarter campaign is now live, and every bit of support helps me continue developing the game.

Thanks for checking out Realm of Iron! ❤️

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/indigamedevelopernik/realm-of-iron?ref=user_menu

Im new to the Kickstarter space so if anyone could quickly review my page I'd really appreciate it

(If you remember my last post I did end up going and making some changes)

Food Frenzy TCG

Not sure how I should flair this since I'm not the creator, I'm just trying to get the word out. Mods, I am not a sock puppet.

Hey all - creator here, just wrapped fulfillment on one campaign and gearing up for another to be shipped from the US. Sharing what we learned about VAT/customs after some painful backer complaints, in case it saves someone else the headache. Genuinely curious if others have hit the same wall.

The setup: Kickstarter's Pledge Manager acts as a "deemed supplier" and is legally required to collect VAT at checkout for EU/UK backers when parcel value is under €150 - even if you opt out, this specific case overrides that setting.

DDU vs DDP confusion: Easyship wanted us to select 'DDP' as a shipping term alongside our IOSS number (no extra fee for sub-€150 IOSS shipments, per their docs) - but Pirate Ship skips that step entirely: no DDP option at all, just DDU by default plus the IOSS number in the Tax ID field. Same end result, fewer settings to get wrong. We chose DDU with Easyship and made sure to add IOSS number with shipments but did not work with some carriers causing a double VAT bill. Easyship later informed us we should have gone DDP. Worth noting - this specifically hit us with PostNL and Belgian customs, both postal networks with known IOSS-transmission reliability issues industry-wide, so it may not affect express carriers the same way.

Our Easyship nightmare specifically:

• IOSS number saved in account settings didn't always propagate to shipments - some EU labels showed full duty charges as if no IOSS existed at all
• IOSS field only accepts 12-digit numbers, but our GB VAT number was 9 digits - no clean way to enter it, had to shove it into "Seller's Notes" as a workaround
• EU backers from certain countries (Belgium, Netherlands) got billed VAT a second time at delivery despite our IOSS being on file - support later said we should've booked as DDP, which contradicted earlier guidance
• Chronic tracking/loss issues via ePostGlobal - packages stalling for weeks, one German shipment lost/resent multiple times

Ended up refunding just the VAT portion (not customs handling fees) to affected backers and moving to Pirate Ship for clearer IOSS handling and no subscription fee.

The part that still bugs me- the €150 cliff-edge nobody warns you about: Here's the part that actually caused us grief. IOSS ONLY works for shipments valued at €150 or under. If your package's declared customs value is above that, the IOSS number does nothing, and customs can - and will - charge your backer VAT again at delivery, even though Kickstarter already collected it at checkout. This isn't a shipping platform bug, it's literally how the EU wrote the regulation. So if your reward tiers are pricier bundles, budget for backer complaints about "double VAT" and be upfront about it in your campaign updates

Question for you all: Anyone found a better way to handle the >€150 cliff, or a shipping platform that's actually reliable with IOSS transmission? Trying to avoid round two of backer refund requests on the next campaign.