Kickstarter Katchup - July 7th
The Fail State
There are several failures this week, although most vow to return or to continue development by finding other means of funding. That's becoming increasingly common by my reckoning. There are also more developers realising that while operating a campaign is hard work in and of itself, the amount of effort expended before even launching can be just as important. New space games make up the bulk of fresh entries and Centration is already at the top of my personal wishlist. Space Station 13 from a first-person perspective? Oh yes.
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 at the top of this article) doesn’t mean it will definitely be included. Leaving links in the comments is a good way to let other readers know about projects, but please email me if you want them considered for the list. Include the word Kickstarter in the subject line too if you care about making my life even slightly easier.
- We only include games where pledges reach developers only if the target is met.
- Projects asking for fifty billion dollars, with 45c in pledges, fall off the list eventually. It gives more space for other games.
- Projects that have reached their funding get included in the Winners list, and then aren't featured in the weeks after that, to give more attention to those that are still needing the cash. Tough if you don't like it.
- Be aware that there are several currencies in play. Always check!
- This week's Katchup was composed while listening to Steve Mason and Aidan Moffat.
The Winners
Tesla Breaks The World - M. Robert Hymer
Goal: $5,500
Now: $6,797
I hadn't set eyes on this handsome chap until last week, when its campaign had six days left on the countdown clock. Despite being yet another platform-puzzler, Hymer's invention stands out from the crowd-funding crowd by virtue of its attractive hand-painted style, randomisation and tale of Tesla vs Edison vs zombies. It's due later this year.
Goal: $15,000
Now: $22,111
Liege is a tactical roleplaying game with grids and attractive character designs. Chess is listed as an inspiration. I am extremely happy that such a thing has been funded and with three weeks of the campaign still to run, John has started thinking about stretch goals:
With the target goal met, my focus will be shifting from getting the game made, to getting it made with the best possible production values and for as wide an audience as possible. I'll be announcing some stretch goals in the next few days, with a focus on increasing the quality of the game's art and sound assets, scaling up specific scenes and locations, and porting to additional platforms. I'm still doing some research into the last point, but as soon as I can finish the proper due diligence, I'll be making an announcement.
I plan to speak to him soon to learn more. For now, here's a video.
Coin Opera 2: Fulminare's Revenge - Sidekick Books
Goal: £1,500
Now: £1,557
Days: 2
Poetry inspired by games! I may well end up doing a Wot I Read when I get my mitts on a copy of this. I spent three years studying medieval poetry at university and it'd be fun to see if I can apply any of that learning to something a litlte more up to date.
The St. Christopher's School Lockdown - Laney Berry
Goal: £9,000
Now: £9,273
One of the most intriguing projects I've spotted since taking the reigns of this column, The St Christopher's School Lockdown combines pointing, clicking and political protest. The wait for the first episode will be a long one - late in 2014 is the expected release window - but hopefully there'll be no malfunctions delaying delivery.
"...apologize for being a bit late with this, but my laptop actually overheated the very same night we reached our goal, and only seems to be back to normal this morning... I think it was as shocked as we were!"
Cripes.
The Losers
Taxi Journey - Lexis Numerique
Goal: $230,000
Now: $14,027
Cancelled rather than failed, the Gilliamesque adventure will return to Kickstarter on September 2nd. As with many projects aiming for a large budget, the work must begin before the campaign has been launched, attracting attention and ensuring that there will be eyes on the page. The team have this to say:
First of all, we want to thank you for your tremendous support over the past week. Many of you spread the word and we received almost 100 emails with proposals for help and very useful insight. We’re more than thankful for that. On the other hand, we have to acknowledge that we haven’t planned the fund raising campaign well enough. Although a real progression has been made in the past days, it is very likely that we’re not going to reach our goals.
World of Diving - Vertigo Games
Goal: $75,000
Now: $16,595
A calming co-op experience in which the object is to look at things. That sounds grand and thankfully, despite the failure of its campaign, World of Diving is still very much a thing that will happen.
...having read all of your comments and mails, the discussions on YouTube, Indiegogo and Steam we strongly feel that it would be a waste to end this adventure here: we will still make this game!
Details are at the website as is a donation button. Profit from other projects will also be funnelled into World of Diving's development.
A Vampyre Story: Year One - William Tiller
Goal: $200,000
Now: $77,413
The episodic prequel is dead but not dead. Undead. Like a vampire. I am tired and the day has been long.
...have no fear, my team and I plan to finish the game regardless of this setback, and have not ruled out doing another Kickstarter in the near future. I think we should work on our PR and marketing skills a bit more and make some good progress on the game to show people what we are capable of.
Once again, like Batman or a boyscout, a development team learns the importance of always being prepared.
Fleish & Cherry In Crazy Hotel - Red Little House Studios
Goal: €29.000
Now: €6.693
Gosh. Fleish & Cherry's old-timey cartoon adventure fell short of its goal but Red Little House are willing to wring their souls like wet cloths in order to realise their dreams.
Today ends our Indiegogo adventure with “Fleish & Cherry in Crazy Hotel”. We did not get the funding, but this doesn’t mean that our project ends here; it has just began. Now we will stop travelling in time, and move into our red little house tinted in greyscale to work hard and build, brick by brick, the Hyperion Hotel. We will invest all our time and dreams exclusively on developing the game, and squeeze our souls to do so with the quality that we want for Fleish and Cherry’s adventure.
Was the soul-squeezer one of the cenobites?
The Players
Goal: £50,000
Now: £3,256
Days: 24
There are certain combinations of game that I dream of - Dwarf Fortress with a decent UI, for instance - and a souped up Space Station 13, with a couple of graphics and a physics or two, is high on the list. Craig [space] alerted me to the existence of Centration, which could be exactly that.
Centration is a multiplayer round-based online survival sandbox horror game set in a solar system far from our own. You're a crew-member on board a state-of-the-art futuristic space station that's been established in orbit of a potentially habitable planet. Your goal is to survive. How you do this is your own choice, but generally speaking you'll be keeping the station operational, working together as a team, and sprinting through sections of the station attempting to escape [masked killers/fire/meteoroids/a very angry monkey].
The project lead is Aaron Challis who has actually worked on Space Station 13. I was amazed to find that he lives in Swindon as I presumed all Space Station 13 people lived somewhere in our planet's orbit.
Goal: $25,000
Now: $6,737
Days: 23
I'm always pleased when a space sim pops up in Kickstarter. They feel like natural fits for the site, harking back to the games of yesteryear and also harnessing our dreams of a future when such things will actually be possible. Eterium looks the part and has a demo showcasing several missions in an early build of the game, which Andrew Luby has been working on for five years in his free time. Definitely worth a look.
Lacuna Passage - Random Seed Games
Goal: $40,000
Now: $12,663
Days: 23
This one speaks for itself. I'm fairly sure that most RPS readers would like to spend some time on Mars, exploring and poking a rock with the scientific end of a scanning device.
Lacuna Passage is a story-driven exploration and survival game set on Mars, drawing inspiration from titles like Dear Esther, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and even Pokemon Snap. You play as Jessica Rainer, the only survivor of the crashed Heracles mission, investigating the disappearance of the first ever manned mission to Mars.
As well as having a 25 square mile area to explore based on satellite imagery, Lacuna Passage is also a proper survival game, in which dwindling supplies of food, water and oxygen are the ingredients for success, and exploration and observation are the necessary skills.
Goal: £50,000
Now: £2,763
Days: 23
Procedurally generate everything! That's the way the world is going. I'm going to procedurally generate my breakfast tomorrow, or maybe just empty loads of small variety pack cereals into one bowl. I'm amazed there hasn't been a procedural pirate game yet, but then I'm consistently surprised by the general lack of piracy in the games industry. Freebooter sounds fantastic - here's what Craig had to say:
Freebooter follows the Elite model of giving the player a starter ship and a world to explore, finding trade routes between the islands, dodging pirates, helping cities expand and contract via resources. Everything from islands and empires, to quests and weather will be procedurally generated.
Fantastic. It's early days and hopefully Freebooter will gather some momentum in the near future.
Dark Matter - InterWave Studios
Goal: £50,000
Now: £4,919
Days: 10
I wrote lots of words about Dark Matter earlier this week. Here are some of those words:
...as well as being more than the sum of its inspirations, it’s a proper PC game that wants to be customised and to have a mouse pointed at it. The design is handsome too, with a sci-fi aesthetic that feels lived-in and functional rather than shiny and unreal.
If you like being chased by 'orrible monsters, do look at the video below. It may appeal.
Satellite Reign - 5 Lives Studios
Goal: £350,000
Now: £190,042
Days: 21
Jim is a staunch chap but his conversation with Satellite Reign lead Mike Diskett almost brought tears to his eyes. Thankfully, the cause wasn't Diskett's complete disregard for the possibilities of his Syndicate successor and its cyberpunk city - quite the opposite in fact.
...there’s something else simultaneously tragic and beautiful going on here, which is bound up with the two empty decades since Syndicate Wars. It’s something about the dreams of what games could be. Diskett believes and lives that simulation dream. He is one of the pioneers at the heart of the idea of open worlds and living systems.
Inspirational words.
Goal: £60,000
Now: £15,833
Days: 14
It's tempting to say that pledges for the survival horror RPG have frozen. So tempting that I've just done it. I quite like the cut of its jib and the latest monster is a a disturbing fellow although it does appear to have borrowed its name from a goth band.
The Hateful - is a massive piece of fleshy conglobation of organisms: humans, dogs, rats and hell-knows-what-else that have been consumed by this giant. Some people argue that they have seen Hatefuls taller than a lamppost. However, very few who have actually seen this monster have escaped alive.
Taller or smaller than a lamppost is how I shall describe the height of all things from this day forth.
Deus Ex Machina 2 - Mel Croucher
Goal: £64,000
Now: £31,179
Days: <1
More time must have passed between Deus Ex Machina's release and its sequel's announcement than has been the case for any other game in the medium's short history. Almost thirty years! I wasn't impressed by the playable demo but I did like the music - it's never a chore to hear Ian Drury. Apparently, the PC version of the game is complete so perhaps it will appear sooner rather than later?
As we promised, the game is now completed for PC and Apple Mac, with other formats in the pipeline. And to thank each and every one of you who has pledged your support, we want to reward you right now, no matter if we fail to achieve our fundraising goal this time round.
Anyone who has pledged will receive several items as a thankyou, including three tracks by Drury.