How I Became a Billionaire From a Board Game

Key Concepts

• Crowdfunding vs. Crowd-Focus: Shifting from funding-based stretch goals to community-driven challenges in Kickstarter campaigns.
• Games as Toolsets: Designing games to make players entertaining rather than being entertaining themselves.
• Creativity through Constraints: Using limitations and parameters to spark innovative ideas.
• Problem Identification vs. Problem Solving: Focusing on identifying the right problems before attempting to solve them.
• Disagreeableness as a Positive Trait: Embracing a willingness to challenge the status quo and question assumptions.
• The "What If" Question: Using hypothetical scenarios to explore possibilities and generate new ideas.
• Registered Grosser: Becoming a registered grocery store to bypass shipping restrictions.
• The Power of "No": Interpreting "no" as a signal to dig deeper and ask different questions.
• The Vending Machine Costume: Creating a low-tech, high-impact marketing stunt by disguising a team of people as a vending machine.
• The Kitty Test Pilots: A group of families who test games and provide feedback.

Exploding Kittens Origin Story and Kickstarter Success

• Motivation: The creator, Alain, left Xbox due to feeling disconnected from real-world interactions and wanting to recapture the joy of face-to-face gaming.
• Initial Goal: Aimed to raise $10,000 on Kickstarter to cover the minimum print run of 400 units.
• Collaboration with The Oatmeal: Partnered with Matthew Inman (The Oatmeal), whose single post led to hitting the $10,000 goal in 7 minutes.
• Initial Success: Raised $1 million within the first 12-24 hours and $2 million in the first 48 hours, primarily due to The Oatmeal's influence.
• Shift to Crowd-Focused Stretch Goals: Abandoned traditional funding-based stretch goals and instead focused on community engagement through creative challenges.
• Examples of Challenges: Asking backers to submit pictures of "Taco Cats" (cats named Taco Cat or cats in taco costumes), Batman in a hot tub, or 100 people dressed as cats.
• Results: Increased backers from a few thousand to 219,000, setting a Kickstarter record that remains unbroken.
• Key Quote: "What if instead of the funding we focused on the crowd."
• Data: The campaign raised almost $9 million instead of the initial $10,000 goal.

Business Philosophy and Game Design

• Games as Toolsets: Alain's philosophy is that "games should not be entertaining; games should make the people you're playing with entertaining."
• Testing Methodology: Uses a "Kitty Test Pilots" group of 400 families to test games.
• Key Question: The only question on the feedback form is, "Do you want to play again?"
• Criteria for Success: Games are only shipped if 100% of testers answer "yes" to the question.
• Rejection Criteria: Games are rejected if they try too hard to be entertaining rather than facilitating player interaction.

Marketing and Community Building

• PAX Convention Urinal Stunt: Placed kittens with bombs in convention center urinals to attract attention to their booth.
• Vending Machine Costume: Created an 8-foot tall fur-covered cat vending machine that dispensed random items, including pineapples and burritos.
• Vending Machine Logistics: The vending machine was actually a costume with a team of people manually dispensing items from behind a curtain.
• Impact: The vending machine attracted long lines, blocking other exhibitors and even extending outside the convention center.
• Registered Grosser: Became a registered grocer in multiple states to bypass restrictions on shipping produce to conventions.

Creativity and Problem Solving

• Creativity Loves Constraints: Alain emphasizes the importance of parameters and limitations in sparking innovative ideas.
• Example: NFL Board Game: Instead of simply creating a generic NFL board game, they focused on the "magical moment" of a player catching the ball against all odds.
• Catchables Game: Developed a game where players throw and catch foam figures while facing increasing challenges defined by other players.
• The "What If" Question: Alain uses "what if" questions to explore possibilities and generate new ideas.
• Example: Stagnant Shoe Company: Alain suggested printing shoes with half of a secret message, encouraging wearers to find others with the matching half.
• Key Quote: "Creativity loves constraints."

Overcoming Obstacles and the Power of "No"

• The Power of "No": Alain interprets "no" as a signal to dig deeper and ask different questions.
• COVID-19 Warehouse Shutdown: When warehouses shut down during COVID-19, Alain asked, "What are you doing with your parking lots?" and used them for repackaging games.
• Key Quote: "When you hear the word no there are two possible reactions. One is damn it. And the other is I didn't hear that properly. Let me dig deeper."
• Mr. Beast's Philosophy: Push past the initial "no" and explore alternative solutions.

Collaboration with Tim Ferriss

• Poetry for Neanderthals: Tim Ferriss was obsessed with Alain's game "Poetry for Neanderthals" and wanted to create a game at least as good.
• Process: Alain and Tim played numerous games, identified key elements, and experimented with different mechanics.
• Rock Paper Scissors Inspiration: They started with the basic concept of rock paper scissors and expanded it into a more complex, rhythm-based game.
• Blank Cards: Alain uses blank cards to quickly prototype and iterate on game ideas.

Personal Philosophy and Passion

• Games as a Dopamine Factory: Alain views game design as a source of joy and fulfillment.
• Key Quote: "Do you ever get bored of having sex?" - Alain's response to being asked if he ever gets bored of game design.
• Finding the Positive: Alain emphasizes the importance of finding the positive in potentially negative situations.
• Passion for Problem Solving: Alain enjoys the challenge of solving problems and finding creative solutions.

Conclusion

Alain's success with Exploding Kittens and other games stems from a unique blend of creativity, business acumen, and a deep understanding of human interaction. His philosophy of designing games as toolsets for player entertainment, combined with his willingness to challenge assumptions and embrace constraints, has enabled him to create viral products and build a thriving community. His story highlights the importance of focusing on the crowd, questioning the status quo, and finding joy in the process of creation.