Slashdot Mirror
"Exploding Kittens" Blows Up Kickstarter Records
The Register reports that the crowdfunded Exploding Kittens card game from Oatmeal (and Tesla museum fund-raiser) Matthew Inman, along with X-box veterans Elan Lee and Shane Small, has become the highest-grossing game project yet on Kickstarter. After an intensive fundraising campaign, the trio collected $8.78m from 219,382 backers to launch the game. This breaks the record for the largest ever Kickstarter game project, previously held by hackable Android gaming console Ouya.
According to the blurb on Exploding Kittens' (now closed) Kickstarter page, players "take turns drawing cards until someone draws an exploding kitten and loses the game."
It's truly incredible what people will spend money on. This is neither the worst nor best example, but it definitely amazes me.
I don't think innovation is the right word here. It's all about the new breed of internet celebrity. This wouldn't have had nearly the same response if Matthew Inman's name wasn't attached.
As a rationalist of some experience myself, I can readily point out that the practical act of funding this game is not irrational at all. They are not buying or funding the game itself. These people see the creators, the art, and their reputation as having the ability to create entertainment experiences that they have enjoyed immensely in the past, and thus have a good chance at doing it again here.
To respond to the parent's statement:
Only a complete idiot would fund a game this bad.
That is correct. It is also wrong. Only a complete idiot would fund such a simple, easily replicated game. These people are not funding that game, they are funding the experience they expect to get from the people making the game which have quite a pedigree in creating experiences.
In short, just because something prima facie irrational does not mean that there are not other factors that make it rational.