Night mode

Crowdfunding Corner – August 2015

Crowdfunding Corner - August 2015

Crowdfunding Corner – August 2015

Bob’s August update of 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.

Category:

Written by on

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).

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 August 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…
 
The Last Time – “Jack Glover was a police officer. His life hadn’t been particularly eventful in spite of his line of work; his patch was relatively peaceful, and most of his patrols were spent chatting with this partner. One day, however, something went terribly wrong (you can play the prologue in the demo to find out more), and he suffered an emotional truama. Cut to forty years later, and we find Jack languishing in a care home, living out his remaining years in solitude. Suddenly, the phone rings; the caller is somebody connected with his past, and they want to meet with him. This phone call starts a chain of events which forces Jack back into the real world, where he must overcome the challenges that come with age; physical frailty, ignorance of modern technology, and most importantly, his difficulty connecting with people.”
The Book of Self Help: Depression Quest – “Follow a distraught boy on his journey to battle depression. Battle through 32 levels of hell. 32 pages missing from the mystical book. Each page represents a new challenge ot overcome; a new boss. He must collect the new pages to learn their ancient secrets to help him defeat his foes. Only then will his mind be clear. He will finally have the abilities to leave his past behind him; to make a new life for him.”
Paranoid Days – “The year is 2054, you play as Jack, a man who repairs service bots for a major company in the City of Vento. Suddenly something goes wrong. A robot without any operating system installed, comes back to life. Is it a glitch? A government black project? Rise of the machines? PARANOID DAYS is an open world game. Our goal is to create a truly next-gen point&click experience. It’s all about freedom and exploration. Making your own choices. Jack, the person you’re controlling throughout the game, is aware of his own existence and often tells you what he thinks about your ideas or where you should go next. These are just suggestions, nothing more. He will tell you that jumping from one rooftop to another might kill him but he will do that anyway.”
Gayway – “A point and click adventure with an irreverent story, a retro graphic and a fresh gameplay. Frank needs your help! Frank goes to Strongtown determined to find his father’s assassin. His loyal buddies Rus, Tim, Leon, and Jake are on his side. The residents of Strongtown don’t seem to appreciate the presence of the newcomers, but Frank and his crew are used to this kind of welcome.”
Calm Waters – “Calm Waters is a 2.5D mystery thriller point & click adventure game, very much in the style of the classic Broken Sword games. Think of a cross between Twin Peaks, Lost, and Alan Wake when it comes to storytelling and atmosphere.”
Tsioque – “A dark but playful point & click adventure, hand-animated in glorious frame-by-frame 2D.”
The Gourd of the Beans – “Hilarious content, state-of-the-art 3D graphics [circa 1985], and a command-line parser… the REBOOT has begun. Please insert disk 2.“
The 13th Doll: a fan game of the 7th Guest – “In the 7th Quest, evil toymaker Henry Stauf built a mansion and invited 6 guests. A 7th Guest, Tad, snuck in and was trapped there, afflicted by mystifying spirits, dolls, and the ghosts of the other guests – until he defeated Stauf. The 13th Doll ties in with the events of The 7th Guest. A decade after Tad managed to escape the mansion, he is still haunted by the souls, dolls, and Stauf’s victims he left behind. So haunted, in fact, that the young man now resides in mental institution – misunderstood, plagued by guilt and obsessed with one idea; to escape the dreary padded walls of his asylum cell, return to the mansion – the site of his innermost fears – to rescue those he left behind and defeat Stauf once and for all!”
 
Honorable Mention
 

Here are a couple of games which do not fit the classic adventure genre, but are really cool.

Shape of the World – A game of pure exploration where the world procedurally builds where ever you step.
The Bard’s Tale IV – This is the true spiritual successor to the Bard’s Tale trilogy, the classic RPG from the days of the C64. A new dungeon crawler with the playing feel of the originals but with contemporary sound and graphics. This is a big budget production with some big industry names involved. Play the in-engine video and try not to drool.
 
Honorable Mention
 

Here are projects which do not fit the classic adventure genre, but which I think are really cool.

Missing 411: the movie

“A National Park Ranger told 30 year investigator and writer in the field, David Paulides a troubling story. Over his years of involvement with numerous search and rescue operations at several different National Parks, he had detected a trend that he couldn’t understand.

The Ranger explained that during the first 7 – 10 days of a disappearance he would witness massive Search and Rescue activity and significant press coverage. Following this initial weeklong effort there was almost always an immediate halt to the coverage, a discontinued search for the victims and no explanation from the search authorities…

It bothered David enough that he began asking questions yet he got no answers. So he conducted research. What he discovered shocked him. People of all ages have been disappearing from National Parks and Forests at an alarming rate, all under similar circumstances. Victims’ families are left without closure and the Park Service refuses to follow up or keep any sort of national list and/or database of the missing people. Thousands of missing people.

David’s instincts told him this was a story that needed to be told. He devoted six years to investigating missing people in rural areas. The result? The identification of 52 geographical clusters of missing people in North America.

These clusters formed the basis for four Missing 411 books that have garnered widespread acclaim and multiple 5 star ratings on Amazon.com. The story has been featured on several primetime newscasts and on hundreds of radio stations across the country.

But we believe there’s more to the story. The mass awareness and interest a feature film can generate will force the government to show their hand. To tell the real story, so that thousands of families can heal… and thousands of other disappearances can be prevented. “

 
Key to the Table
 

Crowdfunding Page – Widget/link to the crowdfunding page.

Game Homepage – Name of game and link to its homepage, if it has one.

Developer Homepage – Name of the developer and link to their homepage, if they have one.

Articles/Reviews – Links to any articles and reviews at JustAdventure. Note, a star (star) in this field indicates that I think this game is worthy of special attention. It is a personal pick.

Start – Date the campaign started. The table is sorted by this date.

End – Date the campaign ended. Note, Indiegogo Flexible Funding campaigns never end.

Complete – Date the project itself is expected to complete. Usually represents pure fantasy.

Get it Here – Links to where the completed project can be acquired.

 

Crowdfunding Page

 

 

Game Homepage

Developer Homepage

 

 

 

 

star Articles

Reviews

 

 

Start

00/00/00

End

00/00/00

Complete

00/00/00

Start

00/00/00

End

00/00/00

Complete

00/00/00

Start

00/00/00

End

00/00/00

Complete

00/00/00

Get it Here

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Start

00/00/00

End

00/00/00

Complete

00/00/00

Start

00/00/00

End

00/00/00

Complete

00/00/00

Start

00/00/00

End

00/00/00

Complete

00/00/00

 

 

 

The 13th Doll

Attic Door Productions

Gourd of the Beans

Jolly Roger Epic Productions

Tsioque

OhNoo

star

 

 

Start

07/28/15

End

08/27/15

Complete

01/31/16

Start

07/24/15

End

08/23/15

Complete

09/30/16

Start

07/21/15

End

09/05/15

Complete

10/31/16

 

 

 

Calm Waters

Tayanna Studios

Gayway

Camouflame

FoxTail

Artem Vodorez

 

 

Article

Start

07/26/15

End

08/25/15

Complete

12/31/15

Start

07/24/15

End

08/23/15

Complete

09/30/16

Start

07/23/15

End

08/22/15

Complete

02/28/17

 

 

 

Paranoid Days

FinkNoise

Depression Quest

Clay Robert Williamson

The Last Time

Big Cow Studios

Article

 

Article

Start

07/17/15

End

08/16/15

Complete

05/30/16

Start

07/15/15

End

08/15/15

Complete

12/31/17

Start

07/12/15

End

08/12/15

Complete

03/31/16

 

 

 

Charlotte’s Dream

Robert Guiscard

Quern

Zadbox Entertainment

Gwan Moon High Achool

AWE Studio

 

star Article

 

Start

06/21/15

End

08/21/15

Complete

12/31/15

Start

06/03/15

End

07/18/15

Complete

03/31/16

Start

06/05/15

End

07/05/15

Complete

?????

 

 

 

Walkerman

Scalemail

The Eyes of Ara

100 Stones Interactive

Perception

The Deep End Games

 

star Art1 Art2

*

Start

06/03/15

End

07/03/15

Complete

11/30/15

Start

05/31/15

End

07/01/15

Complete

05/31/16

Start

05/26/15

End

06/25/15

Complete

06/30/16

 

 

 

The Mystery of Oak Island

Visionaire Studio

Tokyo Dark

Cherrymochi Game Studio

The Gates of Charon

McGlone

Art1 Art2

Art1 Art2

 

Start

05/11/15

End

06/05/15

Complete

09/30/16

Start

05/11/15

End

06/10/15

Complete

10/31/16

Start

04/27/15

End

05/30/15

Complete

07/31/15

 

 

 

a’part’ment

Robyn Tong Gray

Quest for Infamy

King’s Challenge

Fortress of Fire

Infamous Quests

Brilliant Shadows

Ithaqua Labs

Article

 

 

Start

04/27/15

End

05/27/15

Complete

05/31/16

Start

04/03/15

End

05/03/15

Complete

11/30/15

Start

04/03/15

End

05/18.15

Complete

06/30/15

 

 

 

Herald

Wispfire

Ferrum’s Secrets

ZigZag Soft

Crisis Crunch

Trim Tangle

Article

 

 

Start

04/01/15

End

05/25/15

Complete

02/29/16

Start

03/17/15

End

04/26/15

Complete

06/30/15

Start

02/27/15

End

04/13/15

Complete

12/31/15

 

ZigZag Soft

 

Detective Di: The Silk Rose Murders

Nupixo Games

Project Scissors: NightCry

Playism Games

Goetia

Sushee Games

Article

Art1 Art2

star Art1 Art2

Start

02/25/15

End

03/27/15

Complete

04/30/16

Start

01/24/15

End

02/23/15

Complete

12/31/15

Start

01/19/15

End

02/20/15

Complete

10/31/15

 

 

 

Under that Rain

Bad Tale Studios

Skullz 2

Feliks Balzer

Medieval Madness Sale

Oded Sharon

 

 

 

Start

01/09/15

End

03/09/15

Complete

12/31/15

Start

12/28/14

End

02/01/15

Complete

03/31/15

Start

12/11/14

End

12/16/14

Complete

12/21/14

Steam

 

Unity

Herbert’s Quest

Oded Sharon

Scraps

Fredrik Strom

Dog Business

Kyle Marcarello

 

 

 

Start

12/11/14

End

12/16/14

Complete

12/21/14

Start

12/02/14

End

01/01/15

Complete

12/31/16

Start

12/02/14

End

01/19/15

Complete

03/31/15

 

 

 

Thimbleweed Park

Ron Gilbert & Gary Winnick

That Dragon, Cancer

Ryan Green & Josh Larson

Kevin and the Infamous Machine

Blyts

star Article1Article2

star

Article

Start

11/19/14

End

12/18/14

Complete

06/31/16

Start

11/12/14

End

12/12/14

Complete

10/31/15

Start

11/12/14

End

01/29/15

Complete

09/30/15

 

 

 

NoseBound

Quarentine Interactive

Steampunker

Mariusz Szypura

HM Spiffing

Billy Goat Entertainment

Art1 Art2 Art3

 

star Art1 Art2 Art3

Start

11/04/14

End

01/04/15

Complete

07/31/15

Start

11/04/14

End

12/28/14

Complete

01/31/15

Start

10/16/14

End

11/21/14

Complete

09/30/15

 

 

 

Dog Mendonca & Pizza Boy

Okam Studio

Outpost 13

Max Hall

Paradigm

Jacob Janerka

star Article

 

Article

Start

10/08/14

End

11/07/14

Complete

05/31/15

Start

10/04/14

End

11/03/14

Complete

03/31/15

Start

09/06/14

End

10/06/14

Complete

07/31/15

 

 

 

desolate

InkBit

Loki’s Exile

Kreative Spill A/S

Kona

Parabole

Art1 Art2

Article

Article

Start

08/31/14

End

09/30/14

Complete

07/31/15

Start

08/21/14

End

09/20/14

Complete

12/31/14

Start

08/07/14

End

09/06/14

Complete

04/30/15

 

 

 

Duke Grabowski: Mighty Swashbuckler

Venture Moon Industries

A Rite from the Stars

Risin’ Goat

Albino Lullaby

Ape Law

Article

Art1 Art2 Art3 Art4

Art1 Art2 Art3 Art4

Start

08/07/14

End

10/06/14

Complete

12/31/15

Start

08/05/14

End

09/05/14

Complete

02/28/15

Start

08/05/14

End

09/20/14

Complete

06/30/15

 

 

 

Bolt Riley

Oded Sharon

Unnecessary Sentience

Joe Richardson

Caffeine

Incandescent Imaging

Art1 Art2 Art3 Art4 Art5 Art6

 

Art1 Art2 Art3 Art4 Art5 Art6 Art7 Art8 Art9 Art10 Art11 Art12

Start

08/01/14

End

08/09/14

Complete

04/30/16

Start

08/01/14

End

08/31/14

Complete

07/31/15

Start

07/30/14

End

08/30/14

Complete

12/31/15

 

 

 

Jenny LeClue

Mografi

Epanalepsis

Cameron Kunzelman

Subject 13

Microids

Article

Article

Art1 Art2

Start

07/22/14

End

08/21/14

Complete

12/31/16

Start

07/11/14

End

08/10/14

Complete

06/30/15

Start

07/09/14

End

08/08/14

Complete

10/31/14

 

 

 

RedOfPaws Big Crazy Stupid VR Adventure

Nick Pittom

Karma. Incarnation 1

Alexander Kuvshinov

Tormentum

Oh Noo

 

Article

Art1 Art2 Art3 Art4

Review

Start

07/08/14

End

07/28/14

Complete

01/31/15

Start

07/03/14

End

08/03/14

Complete

12/31/15

Start

06/01/14

End

08/01/14

Complete

Yes

 

 

Tormentum

Together: Amna & Saif

Lyle Cox

Keith the Magnificent

Amund Farifteh

Loading Human

Untold Games

 

 

Art1 Art2 Art3 Art4 Art5 Art6 Art7 Art8 Art9

Start

05/30/14

End

07/01/14

Complete

03/31/15

Start

05/07/14

End

06/06/14

Complete

08/31/14

Start

05/06/14

End

06/05/14

Complete

02/28/15

 

Keith the Magnificent

 

Technolust: True Cyberpunk

Iris Productions

Last Life

Sam Farmer

SightLine

Tomas Mariancik

 

Article

 

Start

04/10/14

End

05/10/14

Complete

07/31/14

Start

04/10/14

End

05/09/14

Complete

05/31/15

Start

04/07/14

End

05/07/14

Complete

No

 

 

Steam

Dead Synchronicity

Fictorirama

Shrug Island

Amazu Media

Tiny Text Adventure 2

Julian Churchill

Art1 Art2 Art3 Art4 Art5 Art6 Art7

 

star

Start

03/12/14

End

04/12/14

Complete

04/11/15

Start

02/21/14

End

03/23/14

Complete

12/31/14

Start

02/11/14

End

03/13/14

Complete

07/31/14

Dead Synchronicity

 

 

The Book of Unwritten Tales 2

KING Art Games

Adrift

Seth Howell

Contradiction

Tim Follin

star Art1 Art2 Art3 Art4 Art5 Art6

Rev1 Rev2 Rev3 Rev4

Article

Article

Start

02/11/14

End

03/23/14

Complete

01/31/15

Start

02/07/14

End

03/09/14

Complete

08/31/14

Start

01/03/14

End

01/17/14

Complete

04/30/14

JA+ Store

Steam

 

 

Delaware St. John: Asylum of the Lost

Brian Wiegele & Simon Rosati

Jason the Greek

Kristian Fosh

ROM: Read Only Memories

GaymerX

star Art1 Art2 Art3

Art1 Art2 Art3

 

Start

11/20/13

End

12/22/13

Complete

10/14/14

Start

11/18/13

End

12/15/13

Complete

07/31/14

Start

11/13/13

End

12/13/13

Complete

09/30/14

 

 

 

Stasis

The Brotherhood Games

Obduction

Cyan Worlds

The Ballads of Reemus 2

Jay Ziebarth

Art1 Art2 Art3 Art4 Art5 Art6 Art7 Art8

star Article1Article2

Art1 Art2

Start

11/04/13

End

12/07/13

Complete

03/31/15

Start

10/17/13

End

11/16/13

Complete

10/15/15

Start

09/19/13

End

10/19/13

Complete

06/30/14

 

 

 

Conspirocracy

Little Red Dog Games

Octopus City Blues

Ghost in a Bottle

Candle

Teku Studios

 

 

Article

Start

08/27/13

End

09/27/13

Complete

Yes

Start

08/27/13

End

09/26/13

Complete

2015

Start

07/19/13

End

08/16/13

Complete

01/31/14

Conspirocracy

 

 

Alum

Micah Orsie

Fran Bow

Killmonday Games

Ghost Encounters: Deadwood

Anarchy Enterprises

Article

* Article

Art1 Art2

Start

07/10/13

End

08/19/13

Complete

05/15/15

Start

06/30/13

End

08/30/13

Complete

12/31/15

Start

06/26/13

End

08/05/13

Complete

12/31/13

Steam

 

Amazon

iTunes

The Lost Bits

Dan Cox

The Maker’s Eden

Screwy Lightbulb

Fleish & Cherry in Crazy Hotel

Red Little House Studios

 

 

 

Start

06/20/13

End

07/10/13

Complete

07/31/13

Start

06/18/13

End

07/18/13

Complete

Act 1

Start

06/03/13

End

07/03/13

Complete

No

 

The Maker’s Eden

Steam

Dominique Pamplemousse

Squinky

Harvest

GondeFire Productions

The St, Christopher’s School Lockdown

Laney Berry

 

Article

 

Start

06/01/13

End

07/01/13

Complete

Yes

Start

06/01/13

End

07/01/13

Complete

12/31/15

Start

05/30/13

End

07/11/13

Complete

12/31/14

Dominique Pamplemousse

 

 

Armikrog

Pencil Test Studios

Nelly Cootalot: The Fowl Fleet!

Alasdair Beckett-King

City Quest

Stone Monkey Studios

star Art1 Art2

 

 

Start

05/28/13

End

06/27/13

Complete

12/31/15

Start

05/25/13

End

06/29/13

Complete

07/31/14

Start

05/03/13

End

06/02/13

Complete

10/31/13

 

 

 

Among the Sleep

Krillbite Studio

Gallery: Six Elements

Cloudhead Games

XING: The Land Beyond

White Lotus Interactive

Art1 Art2 Art3

star

star Article

Start

04/18/13

End

05/18/13

Complete

12/31/13

Start

03/18/13

End

04/17/13

Complete

03/31/14

Start

02/25/13

End

04/01/13

Complete

12/31/13

Among the Sleep

 

 

Dreamfall Chapters

Red Thread Games

Asylum

Senscape

Homesick

Lucky Pause

star Art1 Art2 Art3 Art4 Art5 Art6

Review

star Article

* Article

Start

02/08/13

End

03/10/13

Complete

11/30/14

Start

01/29/13

End

02/28/13

Complete

12/31/13

Start

01/19/13

End

02/18/13

Complete

12/31/13

Red Thread Games

 

Steam

Richard and Alice

Owl Cave

The Last Door

Alejo AC

Montas

 

 

Art1 Art2 Art3 Art4 Art5 Art6

Review

 

Start

11/23/12

End

12/23/12

Complete

Yes

Start

11/21/12

End

12/21/12

Complete

03/31/12

Start

11/14/12

End

12/14/12

Complete

Yes

Richard and Alice

The Last Door

Steam

The Samaritan Paradox

Faravid Interactive

Shadowgate

Zojoi

Rising Sun: Episode 1

Josh Mason

Article

star Art1 Art2 Art3 Art4

Review

 

Start

11/05/12

End

12/05/12

Complete

Yes

Start

10/26/12

End

11/25/12

Complete

10/30/13

Start

09/25/12

End

10/05/12

Complete

01/31/13

The Samaritan Paradox

Zojoi

 

Castle Dracula

GondeFire Productions

Homestuck

MS Paint Adventures

Broken Sword V: The Serpent’s Curse

Revolution Software

 

 

starArt1 Art2 Art3 Art4 Art5 Art6 Art7

Review

Start

09/06/12

End

10/06/12

Complete

12/31/12

Start

09/04/12

End

10/04/12

Complete

12/31/15

Start

08/23/12

End

09/22/12

Complete

04/30/13

GondeFire Productions

MS Paint Adventures

Revolution

Scope Creep

MiDGames

Reversion

3f Interactive

Detective Grimoire

SFB Games

star

 

 

Start

08/20/12

End

09/19/12

Complete

12/31/15

Start

07/09/12

End

08/09/12

Complete

Act 1 & 2

Start

07/03/12

End

08/02/12

Complete

09/30/12

 

Reversion

SFB Games

Jack Houston and the Necronauts

Warbird Games

Coma: a Mind Adventure

Carlos Coronado

Lilly Looking Through

Geeta Games

 

 

Article

Review

Start

06/25/12

End

08/09/12

Complete

12/31/15

Start

06/15/12

End

07/16/12

Complete

?????

Start

05/29/12

End

06/60/12

Complete

05/31/13

Warbird Games Pre-Order

 

Geeta Games

The Time Tribe

Karen B Wehner

Tesla Effect

Big Finish Games

Reincarnation: The Root of All Evil

B-Group Productions

 

star Art1 Art2 Art3 Art4 Art5

Review

 

Start

05/15/12

End

06/05/12

Complete

11/30/13

Start

05/15/12

End

05/16/12

Complete

04/22/14

Start

05/14/12

End

07/13/12

Complete

12/31/15

The Time Tribe

JA+ Store

STEAM

GOG

Mac Game Store

Amazon

Humble Bundle

 

The Curse of Shadow House

Eric Shofe

Kinky Island

Screen 7

Broken Age

Double Fine

 

 

star Art1 Art2 Art3 Art4 Art5 Art6

Start

05/11/12

End

06/10/12

Complete

11/30/12

Start

02/28/12

End

05/31/12

Complete

12/31/15

Start

02/08/12

End

03/13/12

Complete

10/31/13

Amazon

iTunes

 

JA+ Store

Double Fine

Narratavius Story Engine

Baked Ham Games

Cognition: An Erica Reed Thriller

Pheonix Online Studios

Dropsey

Jay Tholen

 

star Art1 Art2 Art3 Art4

Rev1 Rev2 Rev3 Rev4

Article

Start

11/07/11

End

11/27/11

Complete

01/31/12

Start

10/29/11

End

12/11/11

Complete

06/12/12

Start

10/17/11

End

11/02/11

Complete

12/31/15

 

JA+ Store

Phoenix Store

 

Blindside

Aaron Rasmussen

Michael T. Astolfi

Lifeless Planet

Stage 2 Studios

Thunderbeam!

Karakasa Games

*

star Art1 Art2

Review

 

Start

10/17/11

End

12/01/11

Complete

01/31/12

Start

09/16/11

End

10/24/11

Complete

06/06/14

Start

05/09/11

End

06/08/11

Complete

12/31/15

iTunes

Desura

Lifeless Planet

 

Kentucky Route Zero

Cardboard Computer

Hadean Lands

Zarf

A House in California

Jake Elliott

star

 

 

Start

01/07/11

End

02/06/11

Complete

12/31/12

Start

11/01/10

End

12/06/10

Complete

Yes

Start

09/15/10

End

10/15/10

Complete

11/15/10

Kentucky Route Zero

Hadean Lands

Cardboard Computer

Cracked

Lightborne Lore

Resonance

XII Games

High Strangeness

Crystal Labs

 

Review

 

Start

09/14/10

End

10/29/10

Complete

2016

Start

09/14/09

End

11/01/09

Complete

Yes

Start

07/19/09

End

08/18/09

Complete

12/31/14

 

Humble Bundle

STEAM

GOG

Steam

 
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, 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 is 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, 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 is for sale 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!

Bob Washburne

Bob Washburne

I have been playing adventure games since 1979 when I played "Adventure" on the DEC PDP minicomputer at work. The first adventure game I ever purchased was "Zork 1" for CP/M. I can remember the introduction of the IBM PC. I remember the invention of the microcomputer (actually, it was discovered rather than invented). I remember the invention of the minicomputer. Yes, I am an old fart. I have written 80 reviews and articles for JustAdventure starting with my review of "Bioscopia" in February of 2004. I currently own more adventure games than I will ever be able to play, let alone review. And I want more!

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.