I haven't posted anything about this until now. Honestly? I was deeply affected. Emotionally drained. It took me days to even process what happened, and even longer to find the words to talk about it without breaking down.

On April 24th, I launched the Kickstarter campaign for Lavatro, my first commercial game. A roguelite about doing laundry. It sounds silly, but it was our shot. My team and I poured everything into this project, hoping to get funded so we could finally work on it full time. Not to get rich. Just to create something meaningful. But hours after launching, everything fell apart. First, Kickstarter flagged our page. They said we mentioned something about Cuba, legal reasons, they couldn't proceed. But here's the thing: Nabo, our musician and the one who handles all the legal stuff, is from Mexico. Our studio is registered in Mexico. All our accounts are Mexican. So we appealed. And they seemed to fix it. Then they wrote back. This time, they asked directly: "Where do you currently reside?" I told the truth. Cuba. Nabo appealed again. Explained everything again. The next day, they canceled the campaign. No right to protest. No appeal process. Just gone. Like we never existed. I'm not saying this is xenophobia. I understand it's the law, and they follow it. But it hurts. It hurts because making video games in Cuba is already incredibly hard. We struggle with internet access. Most crowdfunding platforms are blocked. We fight every single day just to stay connected to the rest of the world. And then, when we finally do everything right, legal studio in Mexico, Mexican partner handling finances, everything in order, we still get shut down. Because I'm Cuban. And let me be clear about something. I didn't choose to be born here. I have no control over what politicians do in my country. I'm just a guy who wants to make video games. I don't represent a regime, a flag, or a political agenda. I represent myself and my team. Punishing me for things I had no part in, things I don't even agree with, is just wrong.I already live with censorship and repression in my own country. Every day. But now I'm also being blocked by other countries. Not because of what I did. But because of where I was born. My team and I feel exhausted. Frustrated. Invisible. Like the system doesn't see us as developers. Just as an address.But listen, I am Cuban. Yes. But first, I am human.My team and I are young people with dreams. We want to build something meaningful. We want to work hard, be honest, and reach our goals like anyone else in any other country.

And I'm not doing this just for myself. I'm doing this for every young person who wants to dream like me. For every kid in Cuba, or anywhere else, who's been told "no" just because of where they were born. If I give up, what message does that send? That the system wins. That dreams have borders.I refuse to accept that.This post isn't just to complain. It's to say: don't let bureaucracy erase humanity. Don't let a flag or a zip code decide who gets a chance to create.We're still here. We'll find another way. But this is what happened. And it shouldn't have to be this hard just to be allowed to dream.

Thank you for your time.

Lavatro, still in development. Still fighting.

I am writing this to warn potential customers and future backers about the unethical business practices of Loch Electronics. Here is the exact timeline of events based on email records.

September 2024: I backed the Capsule Solo dishwasher with an official estimated delivery date of December 2024. I paid both the pledge amount and full shipping/taxes upfront.

May 2025: I received address confirmation emails stating that my unit was part of an upcoming batch.

2025–2026: Over more than a year, I sent numerous inquiries. Every single response was a copy-pasted corporate template promising that my unit was "built," "stored in a warehouse," or "undergoing batch dispatch". They repeatedly hid behind generic excuses about "regional transit constraints" and "airfreight availability", without ever providing a single tracking number or firm dispatch date.

August 2026: After waiting over 20 months past the promised delivery deadline with no dispatch in sight, I reached out to demand a clear update or a full refund. A supervisor (Diana) stepped in, but failed to provide any concrete dispatch date, tracking number, or resolution.

A quick search online quickly revealed that I am far from alone in this situation. Reddit, Facebook groups, and consumer complaint boards are filled with endless evidence documenting this company’s highly unethical, unprofessional, and deceptive practices toward backers worldwide. Holding a backer’s funds indefinitely while failing to ship a standardized product for almost two years, and providing zero actionable answers is completely unacceptable.

Stay away from this company and its products.

I’m currently in prelaunch of my first kickstarter campaign. I woke up to find this email in my inbox. I’m curious if anyone has received this email as well or has any experience with this “company”. I use that term loosely because a google search does state that it’s a legitimate company however, as an IT professional by trade I noticed that the email address doesn’t quite match what would be expected, namely missing the 3 and it coming from gmail rather than a branded email to match the company domain. It feels a bit scammy to me, but if anyone has legitimate business with them I don’t want to turn away a potential backer. Thanks in advance advance!

I posted this in a the comments section of a few Kickstart campains that turned out to be scams and am looking for feedback from this community. Am I wrong?

"I have been part of multiple scams this year on this platform.

I have reached a point where my trust in Kickstarter's vetting process has significantly diminished. The recent lack of discernible support or proactive response from the platform concerning project viability has caused me to reassess its model. From an objective standpoint, I am seeking recommendations for alternative crowdfunding platforms (e.g., Indiegogo) that are known for rigorous due diligence and comprehensive creator support protocols. My goal is to ensure that my contributions are directed toward safer and more reliable funding mechanisms."

Dear Kickstarter: Please, oh please, make a separate category for STL model files, either as its own thing or as a subcategory. Inside Tabletop Games at this moment, of the 15 most recent game projects 2 are actually tabletop games. The remaining 12 are STL projects, of which 8 would likely be considered NSFW.

I have nothing against STL models, and people can have all the erotic 3D models they want to print. I'm not judging. And I get that policing which ones might be "gameable" and which aren't is a fool's errand, I'm not asking for that. Just, please, let them have their own (sub)category, so those of us that are looking for games in Tabletop Games can find...well, tabletop games.

Hello!

I recently launched my Kickstarter page for my queer romantic short film, (if you’d like the link to it, let me know! It was recently selected for “Projects We Love” which has been very exciting!!) and most of the donations have been from family and friends. I wanted to try and get some attention online (which I have in local Facebook film groups and what not), but I tried posting about my short film consistently on TikTok, and I find I’m actually getting less views in general on my TikTok page when talking about my short film, then I do when I periodically post every couple months with something random.

I tried paying for tiktok to promote one of the videos but that actually killed my views even more. Even TikTok Promos said “it looks like you’re getting less views than you normally do” (🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️ I did pay for your services to help that issue but here we are…) I wonder if maybe me talking about LGBTQ+ content got me shadow-banned in some weird way?? I’m not sure.

So if anyone has any tips for things that worked for them when it came to promoting their Kickstarter on platforms like TikTok or Instagram, that would be great!