‘Suspicious Developments’ remains my favourite name for a games studio*, but ‘Sokpop’ might be my favourite name for a video games collective. That’s because a) it captures some of the playfulness that they bring to their work, and b) it’s fun to say. Sokpop!

I can look forward to exclaiming it more often, because Sokpop Collective have announced that they’ll be releasing a new game every 2 weeks using crowdfuning from their recently launched Patreon. You might know them for sci-fi city stroller Bernband, pleasant meadow puzzler Lisa, multiplayer park mess-about sim Digital Bird Playrground, or any of their many, many other games. Click on through for details about that Patreon, as well as the bigger projects they’ve got planned for this year.

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David Sirlin, the designer known for games including Chess 2 and the tweaking of Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, is ramping up development on his new fighting game. With Fantasy Strike [official site] he’s trying to cut away the cruft of fighting games, removing the complicated chains of commands to execute moves, so players can focus on being the best at biffing faces. He’s had the game on his mind for ooh a good six or so years but is now ready enough to start drumming up more interest. Sirlin Games are crowdfunding it, offering instant access to dev builds. Here, check out this recent trailer’s pre-alpha action: Read the rest of this entry »

Dwarf Fortress [official site] has been donation funded since 2007 and according to its monthly status updates regularly pulls in more than $3000 each month. It costs a lot of money to develop and distribute the beguiling dwarven strategy game, however, and perhaps you’ve been one of the people wanting a new way to toss optional dollars in its direction. In which case, good news: Bay 12 have set up a Patreon for the game.

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