They can’t all be Broken Age.

In their latest comic, Dorkly offers up a look at the dark side of Kickstarter, the side where thousands of dollars get pumped into a project with absolutely zero chance of ever actually making it out of alpha. Presenting “How to Run a Successful Videogame Kickstarter.”

If you’re the type to follow the rising (and falling) fortunes of the many, many gaming Kickstarters out there, you know that every once in a while, a successfully-funded project will fail to materialize. Dorkly hone in on the many reasons why that can happen – from inexperienced project leads to unrealistic (read: insane) goals which cause the whole thing to fail under the weight of expectations and a general lack of knowledge about how games are made.

Of course, this isn’t confined to games – they’re just the ones that tend to get some of the most enthusiastic backing. Hell, even I’ve supported comic and film projects that seemed attractive on paper – everyone involved was wildly talented, and the goals seemed ambitious but doable. But months and months later, I and hundreds or even thousands of other backers were still left waiting for something from the project to appear.

But it’s not all terrible: be a little skeptical and vigilant when you support someone’s Kickstarter campaign. Ask questions. If the answers don’t satisfy you, follow up, and if it still seems a little sketchy, go with your gut. And remember, however the campaign turns out, it’s not a preorder.

[via Kotaku]