Crowdsourced Gaming Project Megathread (Kickstarter, IndieGoGo, etc.)

Triggered has just posted the following teaser video, including a tiny bit of gameplay footage—at the moment it seems to be a side-scrolling Metroidvania.

Additionally, perks have been posted, along with what seems to be a greater selection of donation tiers, from $1 to $2000 (Canadian Dollars, I think that is). The perks themselves include a variety of rewards, such as various levels of inclusion in the game (easter egg, face on a villager, even an actual side-quest), an artbook or the game itself.

As to the campaign, it's gained a little money, but looks as though it could really use a boost in the remaining fifteen days of the campaign.

edited 25th May '14 4:02:59 PM by ArsThaumaturgis

Reposting Shiness because even though it looks like it's going to get funded, it could use help with its stretch goals with over one week remaining.

Control VR- The Future of Virtual Reality, Animation & more.

VR Iron Man gloves are thing now. I approve.

Homemake, a game with a strange inverted city/planet setting where you apparently switch minds between several different bodies.

Broeder: The Secrets of Ohr, a JRPG thing where you play as a bounty hunter in a steampunk setting.

Twin Souls, a dark third-person stealth game about an undead warrior with the power to control shadows.

Sunset, a first-person thriller set in a luxurious penthouse apartment against the backdrop of violent revolution in a fictional South American metropolis.

edited 17th Jun '14 10:03:13 PM by Ekuran

Catlateral Damage looks oddly theraupeutic.

Get ready for combat devolved with Wild Warfare, an FPS inspired by old-school shooters in which you play as animal mercenaries that blast each other with weapons and use dangerous vehicles! Sounds cool, right?

Playable alpha included!

edited 24th Jun '14 2:50:23 PM by SonicWind

We are the dwarves

Well... That sure is interesting. At least the world building ._.; So basically if the universe was instead of space just big ass rock and planets are hollow spaces in the rock

...Thats kinda like reverse universe now that I think of it .-. I mean planets are big rocks floating in space, but in this case they are holes in big rock

Funding for Triggered is over, and alas it managed to gather only about fourteen percent of the donation target, I believe. On the positive side, the project creator has expressed intent to continue on with development. He also recently posted (on the same page linked-to above, just below the latest update at time of writing) a video showing the game's puzzle editor, and a download link for that same editor. (Fair warning: I haven't tried the download myself, and so am not in a position to verify its safety.)

I had hoped that this game would gather more interest, but I'm glad that it does seem to be going ahead: it looks interesting, and I like the stated goal of conveying the experience of mental illness (trauma triggers in particular, if I have it correct).

edited 25th Jun '14 6:23:12 PM by ArsThaumaturgis

Timespinner is a 2D Metroidvania adventure similar to the SNES and PS 1 days of old, while taking inspiration from Star Ocean, Castlevania, and Mega Man X.

It follows the story of Lunais, a blue-haired young woman with powerful abilities. Driven by rage at the deaths of her family and destruction of her village at the hands of the empire of Lachiem, she goes on a vengeful journey, using the pieces of the eponymous artifact to travel through and manipulate time in order to wipe out every single one of them.

edited 26th Jun '14 12:33:26 AM by SonicWind

Huh, a S.T.A.L.K.E.R. spiritual successor

Actually, it looks as though that one may not be as honest as one might like, making claims that people from Vostok Games (which was apparently founded by STALKER developers) are disputing—see this article on Eurogamer.

edited 26th Jun '14 8:26:41 AM by ArsThaumaturgis

Two projects that I discovered tonight:

For My Brother: "A story of becoming a monster to protect someone you love."

Based on what I've seen on the page, this seems to be a platform game that centres around the main character—the sister of the eponymous brother—taking on monstrous traits in order to traverse the world and combat its monsters; losing her humanity in order to save her brother.

I find the concept rather interesting, and the artwork is unusual and attractive to my eye (the latter is apparently inspired by the Insular style).

With the "Kickstarter Scam" thread in mind, towards the bottom of the page there is a simple layout of the intended use for the money raised.

~

The Pit and the Pendulum: "Adventure game based on the classic works of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Pit and the Pendulum". "

As the above quote indicates, this is, well, an adventure game inspired by the Edgar Allen Poe story "The Pit and the Pendulum", with a first half similar to the original story and a second half continuing the plot.

The artwork posted thus far looks rather impressive, and—while admitting that I'm not greatly familiar with Poe's work beyond Popcultural Osmosis (I think that I've read one or two of his stories)—quite fitting to the dark, macabre, slightly grotesque tone that I associate with Poe.

edited 26th Jun '14 6:17:49 PM by ArsThaumaturgis

^^Hmm, I see. Ah well, we are the dwarves looks interesting still.

Also Insomnia looks interesting. Pity I suck in marketing speeches since most of stuff I post don't seem to get interest around here xD

edited 30th Jun '14 4:43:05 AM by SpookyMask

Some guy on Reddit is trying out a 'crowdfunded freeware' business model. The games themselves aren't of much interest to me since I'm a PC gamer, but anyone who plays on mobile devices or is interested in alternatives to IP-based business models should at least read that post.

So, huh, Deer God. Thats interesting

I remember coming upon that project recently on Kickstarter; it looks somewhat interesting, and rather lovely.

(Having looked at the page and watched the project video, I don't see how it intends to "challenge one's religion". Which religion does it challenge? All religions? Religion in general? What challenge does it show? o_0

I presume for now that it's some element of the story or mechanics that's not yet revealed.)

That is interesting; funnily enough, I just a few days ago suggested a "patronage" model to someone on another forum who was unhappy with the price of indie games and who indicated a desire to be treated—if I recall correctly—as an audience rather than a customer.

It's a model that I could see working, I do believe. I suspect that it would call for good, transparent communication between artist and patrons, as well as care on the former's part in how they take on and respond to feedback from the latter. There's also the potential problem for new developers of gaining interest and trust without an extant portfolio.

All that said, I feel that it's not likely a good fit for all developers, of course, but I could see it working out for at least some, I think.

edited 4th Jul '14 8:24:02 AM by ArsThaumaturgis

Two-for-one special.

Hive Jump is a sci-fi action platformer set in the 24th century in which you play as JUMPERS, whose job is to wipe out a hostile alien race that does not want to share the galaxy with humans. As such, you must travel from place to place, shooting down any aliens you come across. But don't let them destroy your transponder backpack; if that happens, there's no coming back. This is the game's second appearance on Kickstarter; funding was canceled for the first campaign.

Cavern Kings is another action platformer. Travel through endless levels, killing everything you find with a variety of weapons and getting your hands on every powerup you can— they stack infinitely. But be careful— as you go deeper, things get tougher, and once they've killed you, it's all over. Demo available for download.

edited 8th Aug '14 5:27:04 PM by SonicWind

Turnover - Survival Stealth PC Game

Culina: Hands in the Kitchen - Visual Novel/ Restaurant Sim

Braven Arts - A 2D turn-based fantasy RPG

Pumpkin Online - A Farming/Dating Sim MMORPG

Fritz: A Video Game About World War One

The Clans: Saga of The Twins - A comedic RPG

This looks pretty cool.

Hmm...Sounds cool, but definitely needs more illustrations.

I'm tempted to back this just to get the personalized illustration of your character, but I'm not really sure how ridiculous the setting is, or if it would fit. ^* Specifically, I'm thinking of asking for a cuttlefish with a big fancy mustache and a ten-gallon hat who's dual-wielding pistols. ORIGINAL CHARACTER DO NOT STEAL

edited 29th Aug '14 5:54:29 PM by CassidyTheDevil

Does that belong in this thread? It looks like a tabletop game rather than a computer game, but maybe I'm missing something.

Yeah, it's a tabletop game. Sorry, didn't notice that I should put them in a separate place, they're both kinds of games that I kind of group together in my head.

Well, to be fair, the title doesn't say it has to be a video game. It just says "crowdsourced gaming", that could extend to tabletop games as well.

But it's in the Video Games subforum, and we do have a Tabletop Games subforum.