Kickstarter Katchup - 4th August 2012
Open Sauce! Do you see?
There's an absolutely enormous winners' list this week, which is always a pleasure to see. Unless they turn out to be international money laundering thieves who release mediocre games at best. Then it will be a bit of a shame. So at what will you throw your money?
The Rules
- Featuring a game in this list doesn’t mean we endorse it. We likely haven’t played, and as such can’t say whether it will be worth your cash. That’s your call.
- Letting me know about a game (which you can do via my name above) doesn’t mean it will definitely be included.
- No shirt, no shoes, no stimulus package.
The Winners
Detective Grimoire - SFB Games & Armor Games
Wow, the fates really turned around for this one. Crawling pretty slowly toward a modest goal of $25,000, things weren't looking too promising a couple of weeks back. Last week, still $9k short of the target, they announced that a PC version was no longer a stretch goal but planned alongside a tablet release, and POW! PC people, we are best. Not only have they reached their goal, but soared past it, eventually finishing on $29,611.
Another project that was taking its sweet time to get funded, and then suddenly zooming over. There are two days left and it's already $6,822 over the $30,000 target. That means we can expect to see the elaborate 2D RPG some time late next year. I wrote more about it here.
Three days remaining, and already over its line of $15,000 by $2,699. The 2D sandbox should be allowing us to mod RPGs later this year.
Volgarr The Viking - Crazy Viking Studios
A 16-bit side-scrolling action game was clearly enough to woo people its way. Already $4k clear of its $18,000 goal, and with nearly three weeks left, this could end up making far more money that it could possibly need. Splendid stuff. Cleverly, their stretch goal is to add content without extending the length of a play, so they don't imbalance an arcade-style experience. You can read how here.
Magrunner: Dark Pulse - 3AM Games
They'll be adding the extremely expensive multiplayer mode to their first-person puzzler, with €100,000 pledged, and there are still 14 days left on the clock.
This really promising looking hybrid of Startopia and Star Trek parody has flown past its goal of $100,000. Currently on $122,446, with four days left, they've already achieved most their modest stretch goals, with just $125,000 to go, which would secure modding support for the PC version.
The Losers
As expected, Kaiju Combat hasn't made it's enormous $350,000 goal. Simon Strange was clearly relying on an affection for his Godzilla games that perhaps doesn't exist in enough volume for PC players - only 275 people pledged, albeit very generously. Making just a tenth of the target, they are planning to launch a new campaign in October, while seeking other funding sources alongside it. If you want to find out more, head along here.
The Players
Project Lodus - Leviathan Interactive
Goal: $50,000
Now: $12,480
Days: 10
A cyber-punk, co-op, action RPG, with heavy emphasis on the co-op. They seem to be putting in a lot of work for the combat, with sword fighting as the focus - even using Hollywood sword masters to make it realistic, and mo-cap work. The only concern is the lack of any in-game footage, beyond a couple of prototype animations. They're after a lower goal than you'd expect as this is about getting to a point where they can get a publisher on board.
Goal: $30,000
Now: $19,757
Days: 38
I'm surprised this hasn't been quadruple funded already. In fact, I'm surprised Quintin didn't fund it entirely himself. The Pathologic developers are turning their mad genius to a puzzle platform game, which manages to be disturbing even as a concept, let alone when you see the creepy footage. With so long left it'll definitely get there. But it'd be great to see this incredible team of genuinely visionary developers getting a ton more than they asked for.
Eternal Fate - Escalation Studios
Goal: $200,000
Now: $2,357
Days: 27
Two gaming vets, who've both worked at id, Bethesda and various other companies, have started a small indie studio intent on making an online action RPG. They describe it as a combination of Torchlight/Diablo and Call Of Duty/Battlefield. The visual style is very much influenced by a Torchlight look, with heavy emphasis on cartoon. The team looks incredibly strong, and $15 will net a copy of the almost finished game. They also tell us they're just a month and a half away from starting a closed beta, which the funding will go toward extending. If you're at Quakecon this weekend, you can find them at booth #231.
Insurgency 2 - New World Interactive
Goal: $180,000
Now: $25,993
Days: 34
Again, just another $5k or so added on in a week to the sequel to the enormously popular mod. People don't want more? I'm sure people want more.
Defense Grid 2 - Hidden Path Entertainment, AMD & Razer
Goal: $250,000
Now: $180,065
Days: 17
Correction: Despite how unclear the page is, $250,000 will, apparently eventually lead to DG2, and a pledge that contributes to that level will eventually net you the game when they make it.
Randy Pitchford, Jordan Weiseman, Richard Garfield, Al Lowe, David Perry, Ken Rolston, Jason VandeBerghe, Chris Taylor, and Dave Taylor all put their faces to supporting a sequel to Defense Grid. Except, be warned, that huge $250,000 target doesn't actually get you Defense Grid 2. That only offers an 8 level expansion for the original game. Double that and they're still only promising to make a new engine and remaster DF1 for it, along with adding a co-op multiplayer mode. At $750,000 they release a level editor, and it's not until a million dollars before they actually make a sequel. If this isn't a violation of Kickstarter rules, then it's a damned cheeky move. Don't title your project Defense Grid 2 and ask for $250,000, if that won't make it.
Goal: $540
Now: $162
Days: 10
This could be interesting. Rains has created an engine designed to look like 8-bit graphics, but in 3D. The idea being, you can walk around inside the world of classic gaming. And with that, he's creating an adventure game - although there are scant details about it. He's only looking for $540, to buy a copy of Visual Studio from eBay - this is proper indie stuff here. And a pledge of just $1 will score you a copy of the game. $25 will get you the source code and files!
Goal: $4,000
Now: $1,054
Days: 14
Two weeks left for this pretty puzzle platformer to make a small goal. Unfortunately the video is mostly about how broke the developers are, rather than actually explaining the game. But scroll very far down their front page and you'll eventually find some game footage. More importantly, however, there is a beta of the game you can download from the site.
Super Motherload - XGen Studios
Goal: $50,000
Now: $13,437
Days: 7
Tacking on a few grand in the last week, it's going to be pretty tough - but possible - for this reinvention of the Motherload license to quadruple its current donations in the next week. And the poor team had their office flooded by a leak. They should form a therapy group with The Indie Stone. Poor guys.
Jack Houston And The Necronauts - Warbird Games
Goal: $56,000
Now: $46,526
Days: 5
Ooh, this is brutal. The last two weeks have seen only $4k go into the pot for what looks a fascinating idea - a stop-motion animated adventure game. But with over $10k still needed, they're going to have to have a big final few days to avoid the Losers list. But then, in Not A Giant Coincidence News, they didn't both updating between the 22nd July and 2nd August.
Goal: $575,000
Now: $40,315
Days: 12
Despite more than doubling their pledges this week, the Punisher-fronted project to see an elaborate comic world come to life is still absolutely nowhere near its entirely unrealistic $575,000 goal. But then, there's not a glimmer of game footage, and just two updates so far. Admittedly the most recent one is to announce Ron Perlman as voice talent. But voice talent for what? I've a strong suspicion that's the question people want an answer to before they'll pledge.
Goal: $80,000
Now: $5,277
Days: 4
This attempt to create an official sequel to the 1988 arcade classic looked set at first, but interest really seems to have dried up. And that's not for want of regular updates and a decent video. But barely a sixteenth of the way there, I think we can safely assume it won't be happening.
Super Techno Kitten Adventure - 21st Street Games
Goal: $100,000
Now: $8,816
Days: 3
THIS is the reason we have the rules at the top of the page. A sequel to Techno Kitten Adventure surely cannot cost $100,000, but frankly, after the video they've made they deserve the cash without having to do anything. It seems that they have a rather big studio and no money, so this is their attempt to keep the dream alive. I'm not sure 3 days will increase their funding by a factor of 10, but let's never let the video fade from our memories.
Shadowrun Online - Cliffhanger Productions
Goal: $500,000
Now: $228,982
Days: 10
An online MMO that will apparently interweave with the table-top game is trying to see if there's another half million out there after the previous Shadowrun Kickstarter. They're still not halfway with a week and a half left, but we've seen many other projects get there from this point.
Goal: $10,000
Now: $8,341
Days: 42
Reliably adding on a grand each week, and with four thousand light years left on the project, this'll get there. It's a sequel to the million year old arcade game, made by the same guy.
Goal: $1,500
Now: $1,460
Days: 7
Oh my goodness, it just needs another forty dollars and this endless up-jumping platformer is there.
Goal: $6,000
Now: $3,184
Hours: 8
Despite another grand being pledged, it seems very unlikely this Greek third-person adventure is going to double its pledges in the next 8 hours.
Project Gianna - Black Forest Games
Goal: $150,000
Now: $34,622
Days: 27
A bunch of former Spellbound developers are looking to make a serious sequel to 1987's The Great Giana Sisters - a Super Mario knock-off that was forced from sale after Nintendo pointed out that it was basically their game. However, this remake looks nothing like Nintendo's game, with a unique (and gorgeous) look, and a world that can be "twisted" to transform it. A copy of the game in the Autumn comes with the $10 pledge. Take a look:
Kickstarter Indie Bundle - Kickstarter Indies
Goal: $45,000
Now: $2,338
Days: 25
An indie bundle in reverse. The idea here is to pledge money to help nine indies finish their games. Various pledge levels reward you with full copies of their previous games, along with all these games when they're done. $20 will net you the lot.
Shadow Remnants - Shorebound Studios
Goal: $75,000
Now: $1,757
Days: 27
A turn-based tactical RPG, looking like it was developed for Gamecube (please understand that's a good thing). You can see a ton of footage in its pledge video on the site.
Expeditions - Conquistador - Logic Artists
Goal: $70,000
Now: $1,746
Days: 39
Launching a long campaign is Danish dev Logic Artists, hoping to make a tactical RPG-cum-strategy, driven by its 16th century Spanish storyline. Here's what you want to know... Hexagons: YES. There's not nearly enough in-game footage in the pitch video, but fortunately there's a trailer below it. I'm Earth's strategy idiot, but my instincts tell me a big core of RPS readers will be into this.