Kickstarter and its generous community have brought the video gaming world some top-notch entertainment over the last few years. Games like Divinity: Original Sin 2, Undertale, and Shovel Knight might never have seen the light of day without the support of gamers like you and me. However, with the success of games like these, there are literally hundreds of people trying to make their game ideas a reality. While high profile campaigns like Banner Saga 3, Battle Princess Madelyn and Pathfinder: Kingmaker need little or no introduction, there are some truly brilliant gems hiding among the sea of copyright-infringing remakes and people simply looking for handouts. With this monthly series of articles, I hope to shed some light on a few of the diamonds-in-the-rough that need support from people like you.
Here are five such potential games-to-be whose campaigns are ending in the month of February 2018:
AVARIAvs
Imagine an entire planet that is populated by creatures completely devoid of emotion, the cold and immortal Eoni. This might sound like a nightmare scenario, but their is a reason for this species’ aversion to feeling anything. In this world, emotions have a direct impact on the planet, its inhabitants and the ecosystem. A sense of passion might cause a massive explosion while a feeling of greed could unleash a deadly plague. Still, emotions are hard to ignore. Any Eoni that develops an emotion transforms into a Hume and loses their immortality in the process. The Hume, knowing the threat these feelings impose, have lived subserviently under the rule of the Eoni…until now.
At it’s core, AVARIAvs is a turn-based RPG that focuses on player-vs-player combat. You will be able to create a 3-person team whose skills and abilities will be measured against another player’s 3-person team in a fight to the death. You’ll have access to 16 different characters each representing one of four main classes. Each class has 40 different abilities to choose from. Additionally, every character has two available archetypes to choose from which will dictate their ultimate move, equipment and stat placement. Altogether, this allows for over 2,000 unique party combinations that you can create and encounter in online or split-screen offline matches.
As of this article going live, there is just under two weeks to show your support. So far, they have collected about two-thirds of their minimum goal. Back the campaign by just $15 to get a copy of the full version at release. Giving more will grant you extra digital rewards such as Beta access and the game’s soundtrack along with physical goodies like pins, t-shirts and hooded sweatshirts! The team are currently aiming for release in August of this year. At launch, the game will be available via Steam or DRM-Free for Windows and Mac users. Stretch goals could also add home console and mobile phone ports, so spread the word if you’d prefer one of those platforms!
Genesis Noir
Astrophysicists agree that our known universe came into being 13.8 billion years ago as the result of a massive event known as the Big Bang. This awesome force that created all that we can see was brought about when an incredibly dense mass rapidly rose in temperature. What scientists don’t know is what came before that event. For all we know, maybe that mass was originally an evocative jazz singer and that sudden heat was actually a gunshot she suffered from a crazed fan. Maybe there is a down-to-earth street musician who saw it all go down. Maybe he has the power to stop that from occurring. Doing so would mean that our entire reality would never come to pass. If you were that man, would you stop it anyway?
Genesis Noir is a visually striking puzzle game with an emphasis on art and exploration. It takes the classic film noir genre and uses it to tell a story about the birth of the universe. Since the laws of physics and time didn’t exist prior to the Big Bang, you will be able to move backwards, forwards and sideways through the events leading to the death of the jazz singer. Interesting riddles and games will need to be solved to alter each moment. Objectives will vary widely including things like improvising a jazz duet, planting seeds to change the layout of future locations or even destroying stars. When you can interact with everything from entire solar systems to the smallest microscopic objects, where does it end…or begin?
With two weeks remaining, the campaign is about halfway to their goal. With good momentum, they should be able to reach it. Early bird tiers are sold out, but you can still get a copy of the game for only a $15 contribution. If you’re feeling generous, extras such as stickers, pins and an interactive art book can be yours as well. Stretch goals include working on a prequel story, side missions, and a second playable character. The developers are aiming to have the project finished around December of 2019. Upon release, the game will be available through Steam and DRM-Free on itch.io and Humble for Windows and Mac.
Vulpine
We originally covered this project back in our September 2016 article. The campaign was unable to reach its goal, but the team at Clockwork Giant had been hard at work on the game regardless. Now, they have returned to Kickstarter with a more solid vision, enhanced visuals and refined gameplay. If you’re unfamiliar, Vulpine is set in a world inhabited only by animals. Some cataclysmic event took place long ago that wiped out all of humanity. Nature has reclaimed the land and the roles of predator and prey have been upended as wildlife has started utilizing tools and weaponry. It’s truly a dog-eat-dog world except that the dogs are now wielding axes.
In this open-world adventure game, you will be able to choose to play as six (or more) different animals. The species are divided into three sizes; small, medium and large. Each size has it’s own benefits and drawbacks as well as unique types of weapons to wield. You will be tasked with exploring a large, procedurally-generated world made up of a variety of biomes. Many secrets will be waiting to be discovered and many more threats will be there to challenge you at every step. Each enemy you defeat can be scavenged for resources you can use to upgrade your gear. If the world seems too big for you to traverse alone, join up with your friends online and tackle large threats and quests with up to 32 people!
The campaign is pacing very well with over three-fourths of their minimum goal and about two and a half weeks to go. With that said, they have some awesome stretch goals like adding more playable animals and even porting the game to home consoles! Get yourself a copy of the game for as little as $15 or loosen your purse strings to unlock additional items like Beta access, a digital soundtrack and even resin miniatures of the six playable animal races! There are even some social goals to add red pandas and customizable fur patterns! The game will be released around April of 2019 via Steam for PC, Mac and Linux. With enough support, this could also include PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
Cerebrawl
Life can seem pretty bland and boring at times, can’t it? One day, a powerful weapon called the Imagination Bomb is detonated in the middle of Harmon City guaranteeing that life will never be uninteresting ever again. The bomb causes everyone caught in the blast to suddenly have all of their wildest dreams (and nightmares) to become reality. With whole worlds suddenly popping into being, Harmon City starts to burst at the seams. These new realities will need to assert their dominance in order to ensure a foothold in the new version of the world that is taking shape. Tension and aggression are high as these new lifeforms fight to stay alive. What will Harmon City look like tomorrow? It’s literally anyone’s guess.
Cerebrawl is a colorful, fast-paced 2D fighting game in the same vein as the first two Marvel vs Capcom games. The main gameplay mode will be 4-player 2v2 matches where each team has one fighter active at a time with the benched player able to call their fighter in for a variety of combo-enhancing or combo-breaking assists. Using these assists will expending some of the special meter that both players share, so you will need to work together to avoid needlessly deleting that gauge. For a more traditional experience, there will also be a 2-player 2v2 option. All of the character sprites are being hand-drawn and will feature a cast of over-the-top fighters like a witch, a knight and a track-and-field runner. Check out the demo on the campaign page!
There is just over three weeks remaining, but this ambitious project has a long way to go towards its $278K goal. Contribute now and tell all your professional fighting game champion friends to do the same. Early bird tiers are still available that will get you a digital copy for just $19 which includes the soundtrack. Get rewarded for larger donations with physical prizes like pins, shirts, body pillows and even an original animation cell from the production! The development team are aiming for release around February of 2019. At launch, the game will be available on Steam for Windows PCs. Stretch goals could also allow for home console ports as well.
Perfect Tides
Teenage life is hard. You are just starting to learn about the world and what your role in it is. It’s a time of sexual awakening, experimentation and self-discovery. Who you end up becoming is formed during this time and you’ll probably have your first encounter with Love. Our story is set in the year 2000 and revolves around Mara, a young girl who lives on an island just off the mainland. It’s easy to feel alone when you’re a teen, but imagine your home being a ghost town for nine months out of the year. As such, Mara has formed many of her lasting relationships online. Summer is quickly approaching and it is shaping up to be the most pivotal point in Mara’s life so far.
Perfect Tides is a traditional point-and-click adventure game that focuses on Mara’s life and her interactions with her family and friends across her expansive island home. The narrative will take place over the course of an entire year. As Mara, you will be able to freely roam the island, find and utilize items, and solve puzzles. Each season, as well as day and night, will present their own secrets to uncover. All the while you will get to know Mara’s innermost thoughts, fears and aspirations. Visually, the world is depicted in classic pixel art with characters designed and story written by Meredith Gran, creator of the long-running web comic Octopus Pie.
This campaign is off to a great start with about one-third of their funding goal already raised and three and a half weeks to earn the rest. With a consistent pace and your support, this project should easily hit its goal. A digital copy of the game will cost you $25, but also includes a PDF prequel comic and a hand-written “Thank You” postcard from Meredith herself. Generous backers will be able to acquire a t-shirt, a boxed copy of the game and even a chance to be included as a character in the story! The team are estimating the launch window for October of 2019. At that time, the game will be available via Steam and DRM-Free for Windows PCs. Stretch goals are planned to include the addition of a Mac version as well.
Addendum:
Of the games I featured in December, only The Ballad Singer was fortunate enough to reach its funding goal! Sadly, this means that Sense: A Cyberpunk Ghost Story, Du Lac & Fey: Dance of Death, Raji: An Ancient Epic and Choreo: Legend of Loco were not as lucky. Fortunately, all four of these development teams are pushing forward in spite of these defeats. If any of these projects relaunch on Kickstarter, I will be sure to let you know.
On a positive note, a wonderful tactical RPG that I featured back in October 2016 has finally been released! If you are one of those people who have been itching for another Advanced Wars game, you might want to give Tiny Metal a try. Pick up a copy of the game on Steam, Switch or PS4 right now!
Did any of these games strike your fancy? Let us know in the comments or on social media! And, as always, until next month, happy gaming!