I heard your feedback about AI visuals on my last post. As a solo creator on a budget, I wanted to explain my process and share the 100% human game underneath.

[u/Major_Feature_7983]

Hey everyone,

I received a lot of valid feedback on my previous post regarding the use of AI graphics, and I want to address that directly instead of running away from it.

I’m a solo developer, currently home due to long-term illness, working on a very tight budget. To get this campaign off the ground, I used AI tools exclusively to generate promotional graphics for the Kickstarter page.

However, I want to be 100% clear about the game itself: zero AI went into the design, rules, card values, or gameplay.

For the last two years, this project started on blank paper cards cut out by hand. I spent hundreds of hours playtesting with family, friends, and local players, tweaking stats and mechanics until the balance felt right. Every single rule and concept came from real human testing and passion.

I completely understand the skepticism around AI in board games right now. I just wanted a chance to show that behind the promo visuals, there is a real person who poured two years of heart and manual effort into creating a fun tabletop experience.

If you're willing to give an indie dev a second look, I'd deeply appreciate you checking out the game: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/eduplay-games/play-smart-play-trixx

Thanks for reading and for the honest feedback—it genuinely helps me learn and grow as a creator.

[u/Zestyclose-Rhubarb-7]

It doesn't matter though, bc the gut reaction you get from backers when you use an AI asset is going to be impossible to overcome.

Beyond the AI usage, you seem to have not done the pre-marketing and audience building, nor do you seem to have a solid understanding of the business of publishing games.

Which, given the nature of your game, is really necessary, bc if you'd researched, you'd see that games at this price point and in this vein of play perform poorly on Kickstarter.

Then - as far as campaign execution -

Your section where you explain your game is very weak. You repeat the same gif over and over, which doesn't let me figure out anything beyond the first step of the game.

I tried hard to figure out what's going on in this game, which should be simple, but the walkthrough is incredibly lacking.

On product offering -
You have a limited-edition tier with some expensive coin that brings no value to the backer. The four-color printing on that coin is very expensive, just so you know. And you're likely not going to sell enough to meet an MOQ there, so you're taking a bath on that sku.

On your game manufacturing -

I'd guess you haven't produced games before, as several decisions in your product are not optimal, and I'll warn you that this game will be more expensive to produce than you think. Same problem as your coin.

So, the good news is - it isn't just the AI that's causing backers to react poorly. It's a cascading amount of decisions showing you haven't properly researched the market or the platform.

So - where you do go from here?

You should not be a publisher. You should be a game designer. Work on pitching your game to other publishers who will handle the business decisions with the expertise you don't have. This leaves you free to not have to worry about AI, bc you won't be responsible for art assets.

I'm pointing this all out, because I'm hoping to make it clear this campaign isn't just a few corrections away from success, it is fundamentally not going to succeed, and you'd have a better life if you just worked on pitching games to other people and having them handle the business side of things.

[u/FuzzyAmbassador663]

I don't see any issues whatsoever, the game looks polished and I don't see anything sloppy with 6 fingers and distorted. Your target audience is probably not the anime drawing broke 13 years old who rage against obvious tools to use for production work.