it sounds like from the 2nd link that the creator was changing what the rewards were (not adding new ones, changing existing ones, and had some gaps in his communication (like he stepped away for a while), and couldn't answer some questions about the game (like the size of the minis).
this caused backers to back out, which caused a rush. it probably didn't help that they declared their reasons online, so it incited others to also back out.
I would posit that you'd want to start a Kickstarter after having everything all planned, the product design, rewards, etc. It looks like kickstarters add rewards in an ad-hoc fashion, but I would bet that this is a marketing ploy to induce excitement as the number gets higher. I would expect that the creator has these worked out in advance, so he's not unprepared for the higher levels of rewards.
Or at least anybody who doesn't plan it that way, is adding risk to their project.
I would think, the time to launch a kickstarter is when your planning is all done, and now you need money to go into production and execute on the plan.