Studio Showdown: build a game studio, ship a hit, beat your friends.

We are targeting a Kickstarter launch in the fourth quarter of 2026. Follow the Kickstarter page and Kickstarter notifies you at launch. Join the waitlist and we email you the day before.

Progress updates and the launch date before anyone else. Reserve with a $1 deposit and you also lock in one of 500 offers for 25% off the Shark Whisperer tier: base game, expansion, and poster.

It holds one of the 500 spots in your name and counts toward your pledge. Cancel before production and it is refunded in full.

The 25% off is delivered via a secret link, which is only made available to $1 reservation backers. The 25% off is only available to the (pre-VIP discounted) support tiers of $75 and $99. It is not available to the $49 tier. We give backers a 48-hour window within which to use the 25% off private link and lock in the early VIP backer price.

There are only 500. Sign up for the waitlist and reserve for $1.

[TEAM: platform and window. For example: The deposit is paid on a secure checkout page. You can refund it yourself any time before we lock production in (month).]

The Shark Whisperer tier is $99 to backers on Kickstarter.

If the campaign does not reach its funding target, the deposits are refunded to their original forms of payment, minus any service fees.

We can ship anywhere in the world. Shipping costs are assessed case by case, backer by backer. We estimate shipping costs to be approximately $20, payable by backers on Kickstarter at the time of their pledge.

Estimated delivery is summer 2027 (by August 2027), though we will make every effort possible to deliver early.

There will be a late pledge, without the VIP early-bird discounts, available after the official Kickstarter campaign ends. With the commercial success of the game, we expect Studio Showdown to reach both big-box retailers like Amazon and Target, and other online destinations.

Studio Showdown was made by key developers and publishers behind AAA and indie titles like Mass Effect, FIFA FC, RuneScape, Monopoly Go, and Dragon Age, who know what it's like to make and publish a commercial breakout hit.

Executive Producer Michael Chang was on the production and publishing teams (at EA) of a Mass Effect mobile game and FIFA Ultimate Team FC, and (at Jagex) of RuneScape.

Demystified Studios is an indie board and digital game developer and publisher, founded in 2021 by veterans of AAA games like Star Wars Galaxy and FIFA FC, and also indie games like RuneScape and CrowFall. Its founders also created interactive game development and entrepreneurship content under the brand Video Game Careers Demystified (VGCD) Academy.

Two to four players, fifteen to forty-five minutes. An investor scores each pitch: another player or the AI judge. Ages thirteen and up.

No. The artwork, from the box art, the CEO and Location art, the Market cards, the Genre cards, and the Sabotage cards, and even the digital scoresheet (Cashflow Statement and Pitch Template), is all 100% human-made, using a combination of digital creation and rendering tools (like Adobe Creative Suite and Canva) and manual illustrations.

The Shark Whisperer tier is $99 on Kickstarter. It includes the base Studio Showdown game (with 222 cards in the box: a CEO/Studio Locations deck with locations ranging from NYC and San Francisco to Berlin and Quebec City, through Manila and Kuala Lumpur; a Genre deck, from Sandbox and Horror to Sports, Action, and Adventure; and a Gameplay Features deck, from PvP Competition, Recoil, and Non-Linear Story to Parkour Movement, Character Customization, and Broadcast Commentary). The expansion content (in both the $75 and $99 tiers) adds the ALT-CEO/Locations Expansion Pack, which adds world locations like Dubai, San Salvador, London, and Tokyo. And at the $99 tier, each supporter gets a beautiful laminated Key Characters Art poster, digitally signed by the entire game studio team!

The Grand Pitch is judged by another player. In a 3- to 4-player mode, we ask one player (player 3 of 3 or 4 of 4) to become the designated Investor-Judge. This player (similar to a Dungeon Master in D&D) judges each competitor's pitch, based on the merits of the game ideated and pitched, both in terms of the powerful emotional pull of the game's back/meta story and the quantitative investment-worthiness based on revenue potential and ROI.

Short. In round one you take a single action, such as swapping a feature card or using your CEO's ability, then pay your burn. In round two you draw a Sabotage card, play it right away, and pay your burn. In round three you flip three market cards, roll dice for every genre match, add up your sales, then pitch. About a minute per turn, a few minutes for the pitch.

Yes, the game can be played without the roleplay and pitch round. In that case, the winner is whoever gets the highest cash balance after the competitive strategic min-max and the twisted, fast-paced sabotage rounds, when each player gets to upend and turn the gameplay upside down to their competitive advantage.

Yes, we will have a digital rulebook.

The ALT-CEO/Locations Expansion Pack adds world locations like Dubai, San Salvador, London, and Tokyo. It is included in the $75 and $99 tiers.

Studio Showdown is a fast-paced Card-based Tabletop Game which combines D&D-style roleplaying, strategic resource management of Rich Dad, and competitive pitching of Shark Tank.

Studio Showdown is coming to Kickstarter before the end of 2026. Join the waitlist or follow the Kickstarter page to get the date.

Studio Showdown will first be available on Kickstarter at three backer support levels: $49, $75, and $99.

Studio Showdown starts when each player chooses to roleplay as the CEO of their own indie video game studio, choosing between archetypes like Seasoned Tech founders and Finance Gurus from global studio locations ranging from New York and San Francisco to Berlin, Manila, and Kuala Lumpur. Then comes the random drawing of Gameplay Features (e.g. Character Customization, Real-Time Commentary, and PvP Competition). Based on the Gameplay Feature cards drawn, they choose two Genres (Action, Sandbox, Horror, Sports, Adventure) which best represent their competitive competency (horror dev, or sports game experts). Then the fun begins, which lets each player strategically min-max (with random and blind draws) and sabotage friends and family alike with curveballs like Key Dev Departures, Geopolitical Instability, and CEO Scandals. Then there is one final round of high-stakes storytelling and pitching, to convince the investor-judge that they have the best, most epic, investment-worthy hit video game! See the full walkthrough above.

Yes. Ages thirteen and up, and the pitch round rewards storytelling as much as strategy. Playtesters report fourteen-year-olds beating the adults. It also doubles as a hands-on lesson in cash flow and pitching, which is why VGCD Academy uses it.

Imagine if Game Dev Tycoon, Rich Dad's Cashflow, and Shark Tank had a hyperactive-ADHD baby. That is Studio Showdown.