Crowdfunding Corner – April 2015
Bob’s April update to the Crowdfunding Corner. See the latest campaigns and review the table of all "classic" adventure games that have used Kickstarter and Indiegogo along with their status.
Greetings and welcome to the world of crowdfunding.
If you are new to crowdfunding and aren’t entirely sure of what I’m talking about, then scroll to the bottom of this page where you’ll find an explanation of this new and exciting phenomenon.
The table below lists all of the “classic” adventure games I have identified at Kickstarter and Indiegogo along with their status. If you should find any that I missed, or find an adventure game at another crowdfunding site, please send me the info so I can include it (bobw at justadventure dot com).
Note, this table only contains those campaigns that have succeeded or are still active. But just because the funding drive falls short doesn’t mean that the project is dead. Many times the project will either try again (HM Spiffing) or just go it alone with a smaller goal (making just Chapter 1 rather than the whole game, as 7th Guest III did).
Also note that while I believe that I have completed the table for Kickstarter games, there is still much history to backfill for Indiegogo.
If you would like to see us follow other types of games such as FPS or RPG, you’re more than welcome to assemble additional tables for them. Just send the completed tables to me at bobw at justadventure dot com and I’ll make sure they are included. Oh, and thank you for volunteering :-).
New for April 2015
First, a moment of silence for those campaigns that did not make it. They’ve been removed from the table.
And now, here are the latest campaigns, many of which are still active…
- Shadow of Nebula – “Point’n click adventure game set in a science fiction world mixed with cyberpunk, spaceships, a lot of puzzles and a deep storyline.” It looks like they put a lot of thought into the story. This kind of attention to the basics is what makes great games. Keep an eye on this one.“
- Ferrum’s Secrets – “This appears to be the popular point-and-click adventure with hidden object scenes (HOPA) genre which is filling our smart phones. But this one is available for PC. The Indiegogo campaign is to improve quality.“
- Spectrum: An Elegy for Piano – “A beautifully artistic puzzle-adventure game based on the concept of Synesthesia.” Synesthesia is what happens when your senses swap places – you might hear motion, see sound or taste colors. In this case, our hero sees music as an aura of color. The world has become grey and he is determined to bring the color back.”
- Crisis Crunch – “Crisis Crunch is a cartoon style adventure where a bunch of workers are trying to sabotage their company, an underworld enterprise of evil. They have been cheated to sign a contract (that they didn’t even read) for a job in hell, losing their souls in the process. They can´t go back to the mortal realm if they don’t destroy their contracts, so together, they plan to bring down the corporation to reach its president: Lucas Feri, the current owner of their souls.”
- Dectective Di: The Silk Rose Murders – “A beautifully pixelated point-and-click thriller set in ancient China where you play as the legendary detective Di Renjie.” This historical figure from the Tang dynasty has become popular with TV shows and movies. Now he gets to appear in his own classic point-and-click adventure complete with 8-bit style graphics.”
- Project Scissors: NightCry – “A brand new horror game from Hifumi Kono, the creator of the Clock Tower game series, and Takashi Shimizu, the director of The Grudge.” While the environment and people are 3-D rendered, the demon and horror scenes are anime which draws a nice contrast between the earthly and the hellacious. This looks to be a fine example of Japanese horror.”
Key to the Table
BP | Game | Venue | Developer | Started | Ended | Completed | Available |
Kickstarter | Bisonia | 03/21/15 | 04/20/15 | 02/28/16 | |||
“Point’n click adventure game set in a science fiction world mixed with cyberpunk, spaceships, a lot of puzzles and a deep storyline.”“ | |||||||
Indiegogo | 03/17/15 | 04/26/15 | 06/30/15 | ||||
“Ferrum’s secrets is a point-and-click adventure game with hidden objects scenes. It’s a casual game, so you can rest from blood spilling.”“ | |||||||
Spectrum: An Elegy for Piano | Kickstarter | 03/13/15 | 04/12/15 | 12/31/15 | |||
“A beautifully artistic puzzle-adventure game based on the concept of Synesthesia.”“ | |||||||
Indiegogo | 02/27/15 | 04/13/15 | 12/31/15 | ||||
“Satire,criticism and laughs. Combine all this in an atypical adventure and you get Crisis Crunch.”“ | |||||||
Kickstarter | Nupixo Games | 02/25/15 | 03/27/15 | 04/30/16 | |||
“A beautifully pixelated point-and-click thriller set in ancient China where you play as the legendary detective Di Renjie.”“ | |||||||
Indiegogo | Tomasz Ostafin | 01/19/15 | 02/20/15 | 10/31/15 | |||
“Papetura is an adventure point & click puzzle game, set in a world made entirely of paper.”“ | |||||||
Kickstarter | Playism Games | 01/24/15 | 02/23/15 | 12/31/15 | |||
“A brand new horror game from Hifumi Kono, the creator of the Clock Tower game series, and Takashi Shimizu, the director of The Grudge.”“ | |||||||
Goetia | Kickstarter | 01/19/15 | 02/20/15 | 10/31/15 | |||
“Goetia is a point & click mystery adventure. Guide Abigail, a ghostly young girl, in her quest to discover why she’s back from the dead“ | |||||||
Abyss | Kickstarter | Tobias Blixt | 01/12/15 | 03/31/15 | 12/31/15 | ||
“Abyss is an old school adventure game created in Unreal Engine 4 for PC.“ | |||||||
Skullz 2 | Indiegogo | Feliks Balzer | 12/28/14 | 02/01/15 | 03/31/15 | ||
“Skullz is a single player adventure game, unfolding a strange story starring a cast of six characters over four chapters with about a dozen screens each. It’s made in flash, playable for free, right in your browser.” “Skullz 2 is gonna continue the story of the first game while providing a back story for many of the established characters. There will be a new world to discover, with all-new backgrounds, a new soundtrack, branching paths, new and old characters to meet and interact with and, of course, lots and lost of paradoxes. Basically, Skullz 2 will be like it’s predecessor, except bigger, better, cooler, sweeter, doper, sicker and just all-around mind-blowing.” | |||||||
Investigator | Andrey Puzanov | 12/12/14 | 02/10/15 | ||||
“Investigator-is a firstperson horror adventure game. This world is available for investigation only!” | |||||||
Medieval Madness Sale | Oded Sharon | 12/11/14 | 12/16/14 | 12/21/14 | |||
“Let’s see if we can make a point and click adventure game in a week using only Unity store assets.” | |||||||
Scraps | Fredrik Strom | 12/02/14 | 01/01/15 | 12/31/16 | |||
“The puzzle adventure game about a dog and his life. For Windows, Mac and Linux.” | |||||||
Dog Business | Kyle Marcarello | 12/02/14 | 01/29/15 | 03/31/15 | |||
“Help Futureman™ the dog rebuild personal assets and become financially liquid in a trippy 16-bit point-and-click adventure/horror title” | |||||||
Johnny Rocketfingers 3 Article | Ryan Khatam | 11/20/14 | 01/19/15 | 03/31/16 | |||
“Tarantino-esque Adventure Game on Steroids Inspired by LucasArts, Gritty Action Movies and 1940’s Animation” | |||||||
Ron Gilbert & Gary Winnick | 11/19/14 | 12/18/14 | 06/31/16 | ||||
“It’s like opening a dusty old desk drawer and finding an undiscovered LucasArts adventure game you’ve never played before.” | |||||||
Ryan Green & Josh Larson | 11/12/14 | 12/12/14 | 10/31/15 | ||||
“A videogame developer’s love letter to his son; an adventure game to inspire us to love each other; a voice for those fighting cancer.” | |||||||
Kevin and the Infamous Machine | 11/12/14 | 12/12/14 | 09/30/15 | ||||
“Race through time to inspire humanity’s greatest achievements in a classic point-and-click adventure!” | |||||||
Mariusz Szypura | 11/04/14 | 12/28/14 | 01/31/15 | ||||
HM Spiffing | 10/16/14 | 11/21/14 | 09/30/15 | ||||
“Her Majesty, the Queen of England, kindly seeks one’s assistance in this intergalactic point and click adventure game.” | |||||||
10/08/14 | 11/07/14 | 05/31/15 | |||||
“What if all those monster stories you heard as a kid were real, but we got them all wrong…” | |||||||
Outpost 13 | 10/04/14 | 11/03/14 | 03/31/15 | ||||
“Outpost 13 is a point and click adventure strategy game where you, a monster, must escape an icy planet. A tribute to science fiction.” | |||||||
09/06/14 | 10/06/14 | 07/31/15 | |||||
“An adventure game set in post apocalyptic Eastern Europe with an ugly mutant protagonist, and an evil sloth antagonist.” | |||||||
desolate | InkBit | 08/31/14 | 09/30/14 | 07/31/15 | |||
“A hand-painted 2D puzzle adventure game influenced by my experiences, emotions, and my acceptance of self growing up.” | |||||||
Kreative Spill A/S | 08/21/14 | 09/20/14 | 12/31/14 | ||||
“A classic style, hand-drawn adventure game, where the roaring 20s and Scandinavian mythology collide!” | |||||||
Kona | 08/07/14 | 09/06/14 | 04/30/15 | ||||
“Explore, investigate and survive in this VR-powered interactive tale, which takes place in the 1970’s wild and cold Northern Quebec.” | |||||||
Duke Grabowski: Mighty Swashbuckler | Venture Moon Industries | 08/07/14 | 10/06/14 | 12/31/15 | |||
“A comic adventure game about the biggest, roughest pirate in the Azurbbean and his struggle to become a noble swashbuckler.” | |||||||
08/05/14 | 09/05/14 | 02/28/15 | |||||
“The story of Kirm, a boy from the Makoa Tribe and his path to become a legend. A classic graphic adventure with new game mechanics.” | |||||||
Ape Law | 08/05/14 | 09/20/14 | 06/30/15 | ||||
“Albino Lullaby is a first-person horror adventure game set in a dark and fun subterranean world. Clinging to the precipices of underground cliffs, the highly interactive environment twists and contorts around you in real time as you explore and puzzle your way through its equally twisted narrative. The atmospheric powers of Unreal Engine 4 transport the player into a world that etches it’s way deep into the player’s imagination through its impressionist art style. Designed from the ground up for compatibility with the Oculus Rift, Albino Lullaby aims to transport players to a new plane of perception and immersion.” | |||||||
08/01/14 | 08/09/14 | 04/30/16 | |||||
“Become a Reggae legend in a 2D point and click adventure game that takes place in 1970’s Jamaica.” | |||||||
Unnecessary Sentience | 08/01/14 | 08/31/14 | 07/31/15 | ||||
“A short point-and-click adventure game by artist, animator and producer of prohibitively experimental electronic music, Joe Richardson.” | |||||||
07/22/14 | 08/21/14 | 12/31/16 | |||||
“This coming-of-age narrative follows Jenny LeClue, a young detective, living in the idyllic college town of Arthurton. Jenny takes on the case of her life when her mother is accused of murdering the beloved Dean Strausberry. She soon discovers that nothing is what it seems…” | |||||||
07/11/14 | 08/10/14 | 06/30/15 | |||||
“Epanalepsis is a narrative-driven point and click adventure game that takes place in the 1990s, 2010s, and 2030s. The game play is not centered on puzzles, but instead on fully exploring three intertwined narratives about life and technology.” | |||||||
07/09/14 | 08/08/14 | 10/31/14 | |||||
“In Subject 13, you’ll play Franklin Fargo, a quiet physics professor. Franklin has led a lonely and bitter existence ever since his fiancée Sophie died. She was killed in a holdup in which he was supposed to be the victim. One morning, he wakes up in the middle of an underground scientific facility that has been abandoned. His only link with the outside world is a voice that calls him “Subject 13″. His goal: Escape from the place he’s trapped in, and learn more about why he’s been imprisoned.” | |||||||
Nick Pittom | 07/08/14 | 07/28/14 | 01/31/15 | ||||
“I AM MAKING THE GREATEST VR ADVENTURE OF ALL TIME. Also, I want to go to Oculus Connect! Help ME to help YOU! Also: PIE!” | |||||||
Lyle Cox | 05/30/14 | 07/01/14 | 03/31/15 | ||||
“Rely on one another as you take in the beautiful forest in this couch co-op adventure puzzle game.” | |||||||
Amund Farifteh | 05/07/14 | 06/06/14 | 08/31/14 | ||||
“This is a point and click puzzle game about Keith the lonely wizard, his grave robbing adventures and his zombie cyborg friends!” | |||||||
05/06/14 | 06/05/14 | 02/28/15 | |||||
“25 August 2185. “Prometheus has just arrived at his father’s base to begin his intensive training for a deep space mission. In a few years, he will have to guide the spaceship “Origin” toward an energy source located in the Eagle Nebula. But many things will happen to him before take off…” | |||||||
04/10/14 | 05/10/14 | 07/31/14 | |||||
“The world’s first fully immersive Cyberpunk adventure made exclusively for the Oculus Rift Virtual Reality System.” | |||||||
Sam Farmer | 04/10/14 | 05/09/14 | 05/31/15 | ||||
“A sci-fi noir adventure game in which you investigate your own murder.” | |||||||
Fictorirama Studios | 03/12/14 | 04/12/14 | 12/31/14 | ||||
“Old-school 2D graphic adventure game featuring space-time distortions, a dystopian atmosphere… and a dark, bloodstained plot.” | |||||||
Amazu Media | 02/21/14 | 03/23/14 | 12/31/14 | ||||
“A environmental adventure game about hope in the mysterious hand-drawn Shrug world. Ambient story, magic and animated music puzzles.” | |||||||
Julian Churchill | 02/11/14 | 03/13/14 | 07/31/14 | ||||
“Tiny Text Adventure 2 – a sequel to a popular Android Interactive Fiction game with a fun, absorbing story and a no typing interface.” | |||||||
02/11/14 | 03/23/14 | 01/31/15 | |||||
“The next installment in the acclaimed BoUT-series will be unleashed beginning of 2015 and it will be filled to the brim with puzzles, eccentric characters and the trademark BoUT-humor. But we want to do more; more epic, more shiny, more community involvement, more… of everything!” | |||||||
02/07/14 | 03/09/14 | 08/31/14 | |||||
“Adrift is a first person blackout adventure game. The player is given no context or instruction and is forced to be driven by curiosity.” | |||||||
Tim Follin | 01/03/14 | 01/17/14 | 04/30/14 | ||||
“Contradiction is an adventure game that uses 100% live-action video and a unique design to give you the freedom to move around at will, investigate locations, collect evidence and make notes. But the heart of the game is interviewing characters, asking them questions and spotting the lies they tell.” | |||||||
11/20/13 | 12/22/13 | 10/14/14 | |||||
“Welcome to the Drake Institute for the Mentally Ill. Your diagnosis is terminal.” | |||||||
Kristian Fosh | 11/18/13 | 12/15/13 | 07/31/14 | ||||
“A point and click adventure set in Ancient Greece? You’d FETA believe it! It’s Jason and The Argonauts meets Captain Kirk!” | |||||||
ROM: Read Only Memories | 11/13/13 | 12/13/13 | 09/30/14 | ||||
“Cyberpunk adventure game for the Mac, PC, Ouya, iOS and Android set in Neo-SF, 2064 starring awesome queer-friendly characters. Not that there’s anything wrong with that…” | |||||||
11/04/13 | 12/07/13 | 03/31/15 | |||||
“Stasis is a 2D isometric, point-and-click adventure game for Windows & OSX, set in the distant future on a desolate spacecraft. John Maracheck must interact and solve puzzles to save his family, while uncovering horrific experimentation, illicit research and an ever deepening mystery.” | |||||||
10/17/13 | 11/16/13 | 10/15/15 | |||||
“An all-new, immersive adventure game from the award-winning creators of Myst and Riven.” | |||||||
The Ballads of Reemus 2 | 09/19/13 | 10/19/13 | 06/30/14 | ||||
“The next chapter in the Reemus series. A classic, Lucas Arts inspired 2D point and click comedy adventure game for PC/Mac/Linux.” | |||||||
08/27/13 | 09/26/13 | 2015 | |||||
“The authentic Octopus City simulation for Windows, OS X and Linux. A surreal adventure game about everything and nothing.” | |||||||
Candle | 07/19/13 | 08/16/13 | 01/31/14 | ||||
“A dynamic graphic adventure with handmade visuals – an incredible mixture of the Graphic Adventure and Platformer genres.” | |||||||
Alum | 07/10/13 | 08/19/13 | 04/31/14 | ||||
“A point&click adventure game with a mature “RPGesque” storyline. An atmospheric quest of epic proportions!” | |||||||
Ghost Encounters: Deadwood | 06/26/13 | 08/05/13 | 12/31/13 | Amazon iTunes | |||
“Classic casual adventure game for PC, Mac, iOS and Android which includes exploration, inventory puzzles, logic puzzles and hidden object scenes. The developer does not have a web site, but I was able to find the game in the Amazon Apps Store.” | |||||||
The Lost Bits | 06/20/13 | 07/10/13 | 07/31/13 | ????? | |||
“Hand-drawn point-and-click adventure game where mad gods sleep beneath frozen streets where the lost and forgotten go. Game should have been completed by now, but I can find no mention of it on the author’s web site.” | |||||||
06/01/13 | 07/01/13 | 12/31/15 | |||||
“HARVEST is a Graphic Adventure similar to Snatcher, Phoenix Wright. Set in the future, you play as a detective searching for answers.” | |||||||
Laney Berry | 05/30/13 | 07/11/13 | 12/31/14 | ||||
“A point-and-click adventure game set within a British private school. When a political protest turns violent, whose side will you take?” | |||||||
05/28/13 | 06/27/13 | 12/31/15 | |||||
“A new adventure game made of clay from the makers of Neverhood and Earthworm Jim.” | |||||||
05/25/13 | 06/29/13 | 07/31/14 | |||||
“Join Nelly Cootalot in this retro Adventure Game, and rescue birds hypnotised by the villainous Baron Widebeard.” | |||||||
05/03/13 | 06/02/13 | 10/31/13 | |||||
“City Quest is a classic point & click adventure game with sharp wit and a clear love for its predecessors. Classic 8-bit graphics with Oculus Rift support.” | |||||||
04/18/13 | 05/18/13 | 12/31/13 | |||||
“Among the Sleep is a first person horror adventure, in which you play a two year old child.” | |||||||
03/18/13 | 04/17/13 | 03/31/14 | |||||
“You don’t find The Gallery, The Gallery finds you! “You are an Urban Explorer. You’ve done this before, but this time things are different. Something is watching you. Something guides you on a path to the unknown and an esoteric secret lost to time. “You must find The Gallery and physically journey into 6 painted portals, individual realities with their own rules, representing the 6 core elements of life: Air, Fire, Water, Earth, Love, and Death. Unravel the true meaning of The Gallery to find 6 sacred, hidden keys. Use your gear, your wits and your imagination to escape The Gallery. “But beware, you are not alone.” | |||||||
02/25/13 | 04/01/13 | 12/31/13 | |||||
“Your body may be gone, but your life has just begun. In death, you will find yourself on a journey across a series of mysterious lands. You will encounter perplexing puzzles, trapped souls, and the power to change the environment around you. “Spiritualism, mysticism and logic come together in the land of XING, where you will traverse mountains, deserts, forests, volcanoes and more.” | |||||||
02/08/13 | 03/10/13 | 11/30/14 | |||||
“Dreamfall Chapters: The Longest Journey is a 3D adventure game for Mac, Linux and Windows PC that takes the player on an epic journey across the twin worlds of Stark and Arcadia; from a futuristic cyberpunk vision of our world, to a realm of powerful magic and dangerous beauty. “With Dreamfall Chapters, we will finally continue the darkly magical story that began in the critically acclaimed and award-winning adventures The Longest Journey and Dreamfall: The Longest Journey.” | |||||||
01/29/13 | 02/28/13 | 12/31/13 | |||||
“From the people who made Scratches, a psychological horror adventure inspired by H. P. Lovecraft and set in a massive, decaying mental institute.” | |||||||
01/19/13 | 02/18/13 | 12/31/13 | |||||
“Exploring an abandoned building, you are at peace, encountering puzzles and clues, and opening new areas of the building. You seem to have been there so long that direct sunlight is blindingly bright, yet you feel at home. But when you sleep, you are plagued by nightmares, frantically running down hallways chased by darkness, an axe in hand, trying to escape.” | |||||||
Oded Sharon | 12/11/14 | 12/16/14 | 04/21/14 | ||||
“A hilarious little point and click adventure game that satires crowd funding and medieval RPG games.” This is an extension of the Medieval Madness campaign.” | |||||||
11/21/12 | 12/21/12 | 03/31/12 | |||||
“Orchestral music meets pixel art to play with your mind in this horror game webseries. Plays on your web browser. As each new episode becomes available, the previous episodes are free.” | |||||||
10/26/12 | 11/25/12 | 10/30/13 | |||||
“The last thing that you remember is standing before the wizard Lakmir as he gestured wildly and chanted in an archaic tongue. Now you find yourself staring at an entryway which lies at the edge of a forest. “So begins the legend of Shadowgate, the grandaddy of all ‘point and click’ fantasy adventure games – a title that paved the way for a host of fantasy games to follow. This Shadowgate is NOT A PORT. It’s a re-imagining that includes a lot of new features, exciting updates and ingenious additions that will add even more to the mythology and expand upon the original story of our fantasy classic.” | |||||||
Rising Sun: Episode ! | Josh Mason | 09/25/12 | 10/05/12 | 01/31/13 | ????? | ||
“Rising Sun: Episode 1 is a story about love and identity. It is the first in what I hope will be a series of adventures. However, the link to the developers site is ‘expired.’ “ | |||||||
09/14/12 | 10/14/12 | 07/31/13 | ????? | ||||
“An adventure game about fish, love, and dire consequences. Completed, but I don’t see a link to the game. One FAQ implies that it was only released to the backers. Contact the author if you are interested.” | |||||||
09/06/12 | 10/06/12 | 12/31/12 | |||||
“Dracula’s Castle has appeared in the middle of the night on the outside of a small village. Your pregnant wife has been abducted by Dracula’s minions and taken to his castle for his evil and demonic uses. Our main hero sets off to Dracula’s Castle to find his wife before its too late. The game is a Classic Point-and-Click game with many rooms, traps, puzzles and of course, — many ways to die!” | |||||||
09/04/12 | 10/04/12 | 12/31/15 | |||||
“Homestuck is an illustrated, semi-animated story on the internet. The end of the story is now on the horizon. When it’s complete, I’ll work with an independent game developer to create a game involving a new story based within the Homestuck universe.” | |||||||
08/23/12 | 09/22/12 | 04/30/13 | |||||
“When a mysterious painting is stolen during an armed raid on a Paris gallery, George and Nico are thrown by chance into the investigation together. From Paris to London and beyond, the trail becomes a race against time as dark forces from Europe’s turbulent past are woken from their slumber. Broken Sword characters old and new are encountered – but who can George and Nico trust? The journey they are on reveals a conspiracy as old as the written word, whose ancient heresies will cause innocent blood to spill once more…” | |||||||
Scope Creep | 08/20/12 | 09/19/12 | 12/31/15 | ||||
“You must hack into the corporate computers. The twist is that the computers are very realistic. The skills and commands you use in the game are identical to what hackers use in real life. The intent is to learn computer security by playing a serious adventure game. Overdue but still active.” | |||||||
07/03/12 | 08/02/12 | 09/30/12 | |||||
“Investigate the crime scene, interrogate suspects, collect clues and solve puzzles, all to uncover the secret of the swamp!” | |||||||
Jack Houston and the Necronauts | 06/25/12 | 08/09/12 | 12/31/15 | ||||
“A classic point & click graphic adventure game set it a pulp sci-fi world of bubble helmets, rockets & rayguns!” | |||||||
05/29/12 | 06/60/12 | 05/31/13 | |||||
“Help Lilly as she seeks to rewrite the past, change the present, and unlock the ultimate mystery. Geeta Games presents an animated adventure for all ages.” | |||||||
Karen B Wehner | 05/15/12 | 06/05/12 | 11/30/13 | ||||
“A history-based adventure game to thrill and enlighten kids, with epic storytelling, awesome gameplay, and real world fun.” | |||||||
05/15/12 | 05/16/12 | 04/22/14 | |||||
“Dystopian Detective Tex Murphy returns in his most amazing adventure yet in Project Fedora.” | |||||||
05/14/12 | 07/13/12 | 12/31/15 | |||||
“The Reincarnation series is adding “The Root of All Evil” to it’s catalog of point&click adventure games.” | |||||||
The Curse of Shadow House | 05/11/12 | 06/10/12 | 11/30/12 | ||||
“Escape The Curse of Shadow House in this dark and mysterious homage to old school adventure games For iOS and Android.” | |||||||
02/08/12 | 03/13/12 | 10/31/13 | |||||
“Broken Age is a point-and-click adventure telling the stories of a young boy and girl leading parallel lives. The girl has been chosen by her village to be sacrificed to a terrible monster–but she decides to fight back. Meanwhile, a boy on a spaceship is living a solitary life under the care of a motherly computer, but he wants to break free to lead adventures and do good in the world. Adventures ensue.” | |||||||
Narratavius Story Engine (Note, my AV says their home page is infected) | 11/07/11 | 11/27/11 | 01/31/12 | ||||
“The Narratavius Story Engine is an iPhone app that will be able to play a number of different text adventures in multiple genres.” | |||||||
10/29/11 | 12/11/11 | 06/12/12 | |||||
“A supernatural adventure game featuring FBI Agent Erica Reed on the hunt for a serial killer who knows her secret: post-cognition.” | |||||||
Dropsey | 10/17/11 | 11/02/11 | 12/31/15 | ||||
“Dropsy is an adventure game with a focus on exploration, emotion, and surrealism. Made complete with a hint of early 90’s nostalgia.” | |||||||
10/17/11 | 12/01/11 | 01/31/12 | |||||
“BlindSide is a survival/horror adventure game with no graphics at all. Navigate a 3D world using only your ears and what’s between them.” | |||||||
09/16/11 | 10/24/11 | 06/06/14 | |||||
“Intriguing story and spectacular environments in the spirit of classic adventures like ICO, The Dig, and Another World. While seeking life on a distant planet, a skeptical astronaut discovers an abandoned Russian laboratory and suspects his mission is a hoax until a mysterious young woman saves him from a strange and deadly phenomenon…” | |||||||
05/09/11 | 06/08/11 | 12/31/15 | |||||
“Thunderbeam is a retro-futuristic adventure game for the iPad, with an original score and sound design by The Octopus Project.” | |||||||
01/07/11 | 02/06/11 | 12/31/12 | |||||
” ‘Kentucky Route Zero’ is a magic realist adventure game about a secret highway in Kentucky and the mysterious folks who travel it. Story-centric with minimalist graphics.” | |||||||
11/01/10 | 12/06/10 | Yes | |||||
“A full-length text adventure for iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch).” | |||||||
09/15/10 | 10/15/10 | 11/15/10 | |||||
“A House in California is an experimental point & click adventure game I’ve been working on since February of 2010. The game is about a community of people who explore surreal and peaceful environments and build a house together. The game is inspired aesthetically by Mystery House, developed in 1980 by Roberta & Ken Williams. But whereas Mystery House is a mystery story about greed and murder, A House in California is more like an Imagist poem about family and memory.” | |||||||
09/14/10 | 10/29/10 | 2016 | |||||
“A puzzle adventure game for touchscreen devices. Breaking and entering has never been this fun…or this legal. Follow Gavin Pike IV as he discovers Harvest Park High School’s dark conspiracy.” | |||||||
09/14/09 | 11/01/09 | Yes | |||||
“Resonance is an ambitious retro-styled point-and-click adventure game that brings a mature storyline and some innovative new game play to the genre.” | |||||||
07/19/09 | 08/18/09 | 12/31/14 | |||||
“A 12 bit action / adventure video game about crystal skulls, shadow people, flash light wielding teenagers, string theory, chaos theory, multiverses, and a talking cat.” |
What is crowdfunding?
Crowdfunding is a relatively new resource which helps independent developers raise funds for their projects. Developers launch a funding drive, people who like the project pledge money towards it, and if enough money is pledged then the project takes off. The two sites which fund the most game development are Kickstarter and Indiegogo.
Game development has become a very complex and expensive endeavor. To create a top-notch professional game requires programmers, artists, musicians, actors, engineers who understand the nuances of shader algorithms and particle physics, and so on. Where do independent developers get those kinds of resources?
Historically, they would go to a publisher who would give them an advance (a loan based upon expected sales). But there were several problems with this paradigm.
First, they would have to convince the publisher that their game would be popular. Then the publisher would impose a deadline for the developer to deliver within, whether they thought it was finished or not. And frequently the publisher would retain legal rights to the game.
Crowdfunding gets around these problems by eliminating the middleman and going directly to the players. If the players want the game, they will put up the money to develop it. Any deadline is self-imposed by the developer so they can release it only when they are satisfied with it. And the developer retains all rights to the game.
The players also win. They get to decide which games get published, and not some faceless executive. Also, by pledging early they can get exclusive bonuses such as signed artwork, tee-shirts and even inclusion in the game itself. But mostly, they win by getting better quality games which are not released until they are truly finished.
There are difficulties as well. The publisher normally takes care of advertising and promotion. With crowdfunding it’s totally up to the developer to get the word out. They may have the greatest game idea since tic-tac-toe, but if nobody knows about it then nobody will pledge towards it.
There is also no guarantee that the developer will actually complete the game. There has been the occasional scam where the developer just took the money and ran, but fortunately these are rare. So you will want to decide just how trustworthy the developer is before pledging, and not just how honest they are, but do they have the ability to actually finish what they start.
What happens when a really cool looking game doesn’t make their goal? Find the game’s website or facebook page. Many times a project will continue, just without the help of Kickstarter.
What happens when you find out about a great game, but missed the campaign? Find the game’s website. Most developers allow backers to come late to the game via PayPal, although the rewards may be limited (i.e., you can still get the tee-shirt, but the signed posters are no longer available).
What if the game is finished and already released? Check to see if it’s available in the JustAdventure Store. If not, go to the game’s website for details. You may be able to purchase it through Steam, Humble Bundle, GOG or however the developer decides to distribute it. You would just lose out on the exclusive backer goodies.
Getting involved in a crowdfunding campaign can be a lot of fun. Check it out. WARNING: Kickstarter campaigns can be even more addicting than eBay auctions!
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