With the January blues firmly behind us, and the world beginning to thaw (especially in England, where flooding has put a dampener on everything), many of you may be realizing that those Dryathalon challenges have left you with some serious Bitcoin. Wallets and purses worldwide are slowly being opened after the cataclysm of Christmas, and money is pouring out. But what to invest it in? Instead of, say, a gallon of maple syrup, or an ill-advised betting spree on this year’s World Cup, why not put your money into something you can nurture, grow, and play? We’ve scoured the crowdfunding coal mines of Kickstarter to highlight five extraordinary projects worthy of praise and attention.
And money. Don’t forget money.
To begin, we have the heart-warming 2D RPG adventure Super Chibi Knight, followed by bizarre meat-infused retro experiment Hot Dog Heartache. After that, we explore the streets filled with incandescent rage in side-scrolling brawler Treachery in Beatdown City, as well as the Metroid-Contra morphgasm that is Hive Jump. Finally, to finish us off, we visit the 3D horror-exploration genre with ReLive.
Let’s put your money where your mouse is.
Project: Super Chibi Knight
Genre: Classic 2D Hack ‘n’ Slash RPG Adventure
Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux
Funding Target: $6,000
In A Nutshell…
From the programmer of Abobo’s Big Adventure comes a gorgeous little 2D hack ‘n’ slash platformer that puts many others to shame. Not only that, but 33-year-old developer Nick Pasto designed the game with his eight-year-old daughter.
Dem feels…
If you chucked Angry Birds, Muramasa: The Demon Blade, and Vietiful Joe into a blender with Avatar: The Last Airbender, Aliens, and the complete works of Hayao Miyazaki, you might have a smoothie that tastes like Super Chibi Knight.
Why Flash Your Cash?
Despite the low target, Super Chibi Knight has a bright, exciting art style with fluid animation that is superior to games boasting larger budgets. Although a lot of the groundwork was done in the original web-based Chibi Knight, Pasto estimates this game to be five times the size of that. His gleaming past record of making games shows he has the determination and spirit to not only finish this game, but make it something worth playing.
Rewards?
The entire game can be yours for the small donation of $5, which is an absolute steal, and subsequently only available for the first 10 days of the campaign. If you miss out, the price rises to… $6! If you have a little bit more money to throw around and admire retro soundtracks, $15 will bag both the game and the original score. If you fancy sitting at the head of the round table, a pledge of $450, limited to 10, will see you receive a slew of goodies, including the game, soundtrack, two t-shirts, three key chains, and a signed poster, but also your likeness will be used in the game as an NPC. The top tier of $1,000 comes with all this as well, but allows a maximum of three wealthy backers the opportunity to design the theme for an entire level!
Project: Hot Dog Heartache
Genre: Surreal 2D Platformer
Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux
Funding Target: $25,000
In A Nutshell…
So… hmmm… you play as a hot dog. With legs. Who has a semi-sexual relationship with the chef who dared to dream and put a sausage between a bun. Only the chef discovers his beloved sausage is, in fact, a meatless” and then “and throws the hot dog out to survive on his own in a trippy platformer. The broken-hearted snack must explore the world, fending off attacks from roaming cutlery and hungry hobos.
Why Flash Your Cash?
If you are old enough to remember Cool Spot on Sega’s Mega Drive (Genesis), then this title may conjure up some nostalgic memories. The team at Fever Brain Studios has created an early demo, which, while rough around the edges, shows the twisted, manic world of the game, including cute Mario-esque green platforms smeared with the blood of enemies.
Rewards
While the developers are happy to take $1 donations for ‘special thanks,’ in order to receive the actual game, donors would have to pledge $10 to reach the Hot Dog Hero tier. Doubling this amount will allow players to climb to Le Cheese Dog level, granting access to the beta versions of the game, while tripling the pledge to the $30 Coney Dog rung of the ladder throws in some downloadable wallpapers.
At the gourmet end of the kitchen, a pledge of $250 or more, limited to 10 people, gives you the Chili Cheese with Everything reward, which includes a signed, hand-drawn poster, t-shirt, and mask of the ubiquitous Chef B. Hole. The top tier, Footlong Chili Cheese, asks for $1,000 or more, which will allow the lucky backers to join the good people at Fever Brain for a celebratory feast of hot dogs (travel and accommodation not included).
Project Treachery in Beatdown City
Genre Side-scrolling Brawler
Platforms PC, Mac, PS4, PS Vita
Funding Target $50,000
In A Nutshell…
Streets of Rage. Double Dragon. Final Fight. These titles stand as a testament to the glory days of side-scrolling beat-em-ups. And it is this retro brawling nostalgia that New Yorker Shawn Alexander Allen hopes to capture in Treachery in Beatdown City. The story, of an American President being kidnapped and held for a $1 trillon ransom, sends up the 1980s action films that inspired these games, much in the same way Far Cry: Blood Dragon did so well last year.
Why Flash Your Cash?
While the game is a brawler at heart, it has evolved from the decades-old model into a fighting game fused with RPG elements. For one, many of the playable characters are women, with the creators having shied away from typical female representations. Players will also have skill trees that their characters can develop over the game, which can be combined to create unique moves. These can be utilized against the wide range of enemies, with 26 so far created and more in the pipeline, broken into various categories, such as Grunts, Sneaks, and Grapplers.
Rewards
In order to receive a copy of the game, pledges of $15 or over are required. Why not add just $5 and get the rocktastic 8-bit soundtrack? There are two penultimate boss tiers for pledges of $1,000 or over. The Vain Fighter reward, limited to three lucky fighters, includes a watercolour portrait of yourself by artist Diana Santiago, as well as a digital art book plus all other rewards. The second $1,000 pledge level, Ultimate Counter, is limited to 10 people, and offers donors the chance to become a member of one of the street gangs in the game’s fictional East Fulton setting. This reward tier also includes a pixel art portrait of your character. The final tier for donations of $2,000 or over will see you join the Beatdown team in New York City (flights and accommodation not included) for a unique tour of the studio and the city.
Project: Hive Jump
Genre: 2D multi-player sci-fi shooter
Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux (Possibly)
Funding Target: $75,000
In A Nutshell…
From St. Louis-based Graphite Lab comes a 2D side-scrolling multiplayer shooter reminiscent of Contra and Metroid, borrowing from great sci-fi classics such as Aliens, Starship Troopers, and Ender’s Game. The mission is simple: a team of ‘jumpers’ leap down to hostile planet with the single goal of reaching the alien hive and blowing it to smithereens with the help of a handy nuke. Players will have to work as a unit or die alone as they battle wave upon wave of nasty alien bugs.
Why Flash Your Cash?
For the acronym of JUMP (Justified Use of Military Power) alone. But seriously, this game looks like one, fast, furious thunderball of fun, that makes interesting use of light and colours to keep the game’s levels from being dull and repetitive. The hives are procedurally generated, so no two games will ever be the same. Add that to the huge arsenal of sci-fi weapons, which can be upgraded by collecting alien goo, and you have yourself a party that Paul Verhoeven will want an invite to.
Rewards
For those who wish to fund the project in exchange for the game, there is an early bird tier of $10, limited to 100 backers. Otherwise, it’s going to be $15, but this higher tier also includes the soundtrack and digital concept art. If you double this to $30, you will receive a Recruiter Key that you can gift to one of your friends (just make sure they can shoot straight).
Deeper into the alien hive, a pledge of $1,000 will shower backers with a bundle of goodies, including t-shirts, a flag, sculpted alien, poster, and pin badge. You will also get the Queen Alien plushie and will be able to work with the Graphite Lab team to design one of the enemies. Doubling down to $2,000 will add the fabled Graphite Lab hoodie to this treasure trove, as well as a personalised art tutorial. Finally, by pledging $5,000 players will reach the rank of Jump Corps General, and have the honor of visiting the developers at PAX Prime, including dinner (but again, not travel or accommodation), as well as receiving a watercolor art piece by Matt Stevens.
Project: ReLive
Genre: 3D Survival Horror
Platforms: PC, PS4, PS Vita
Funding Target: $3,000 AUD ($2,690)
In A Nutshell…
It would be easy to label Inactive Pixel Studios’ game a rip-off of Zombie Studios’ upcoming horror title Daylight. Both are 3D survival horror games firmly grounded in the sub-genre of Japanese psychological horror games, like the Fatal Frame series. Both use a mobile phone as the primary light source and interactive tool for the gaming world, although ReLive also shows the protagonist sporting a lighter in later stages. Despite the obvious similarities, the two games have a distinct feel to them. Watching ReLive’s alpha build shows a more green-tinted, glowing world, with shafts of light highlighting areas of interest, while from what we have seen of Daylight, it offers a darker, bare urban environment to explore.
There is also the phone device. ReLive’s looks remarkably better and more realistic, featuring an array of social media icons. Whether these are just for show or actually usable, e.g. posting a status to Facebook or a snapshot of the game to Flicker, remains to be seen.
Why Flash Your Cash?
Even with it only being in the alpha stages, the game looks beautiful, while the gameplay shows the potential to offer a horrifying experience on par, if not exceeding, what has been shown by Daylight since E3 2013. The dust and particle effects are particularly impressive, as is the often-neglected sound effects, which are sure to be utilized to mess with players’ minds.
Rewards
Inactive Pixel Studios has decided to forgo the merchandise route, making their tiers solely about the game. For a mere pledge of $15 AUD donors will not only receive the finished game in digital form, but also take part in the beta testing. Add $10 AUD onto that tier if you are old school and prefer a physical copy of the game. Doubling the donation to $50 AUD will see your name glistening in the credits. As the initial target is at a low $3,000 AUD, the top tier is set at $100 AUD, limited to 100 people. This level comes with all the trimmings, including a hard copy of the game with a signed cover by everyone at Inactive Pixel.
That’s it for this edition of Kickstart This! So stop pondering whether morphgasm is the coolest new word you have ever read aloud, and go support some games already!
