[dropcap size=small]E[/dropcap]very month Kickstarter is full of wild successes, and depressing failures. While some are always going to have that massive fan push behind them to see hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding others barely make it to the finish line. Due to the nature of Kickstarter, there’s simply not enough money to go around to fund every worthwhile campaign. The purpose of this post is to shine a light on those campaigns that had the chops for success, but for one reason or another failed to make their goal this time. Given campaign restructuring, additional social media pushes, and more they might make it in the future! Of course, anyone who has browsed through Kickstarter pages recognizes that many projects simply don’t have any effort put into them.
Curious about successful and failed Kickstarter campaigns and their data from previous months? Check this tag to see all our posts for 2015 so far.
Note: All non-US $ amounts have been converted to dollars based on exchange rates as of this writing. Please let us know in the comments if you’d like to see both currencies listed in future monthly updates.
Raised: $25,283 of $140,000 goal
Adopted looked like a lot like the swarm of odd simulator games coming around, but with more to it than that. Not only would it let you play as a cute little dog, it would allow players to get a glimpse into the lives of the “owners.” People were definitely intrigued, as $25,000 in funding is nothing to scoff at! Unfortunately, this seems to be the case of a campaign reaching too high with its goal in comparison to what folks believe its price should be. Note that I am not saying it wouldn’t cost $140k to develop the game – it very well might! Backers have just gained a very specific (and often, incorrectly skewed) view of what game development costs via Kickstarter. As of now you can donate directly to the developers (and still receive “backer rewards”).
Raised: $13,921 of $37,210 goal
As a fan of music and puzzle games there was something about Cadence which really spoke to me. The simplistic beauty of it, as well as the creative aspect to generating music felt a lot like Kickstarter success Sentris. Despite a good deal of attention in the indie scene, this one just failed to make it – although it was still a valiant attempt. Instead of retrying Kickstarter later on Made With Monster Love has instead launched a “Noddlestarter” which allows you to pre-order a copy of Cadence from Humble Store widgets. At a higher cost you can even gain access to the beta, which as previously promised at the same price for backers.
Neptune, Have Mercy (Previous Coverage)
Raised: $10,037 of $15,847 goal
Roguelike sensibilities, gorgeous visuals, and an otherworldly atmosphere – Neptune, Have Mercy had it all. Prior to 2015 it seems that a campaign like this would have had no trouble reaching far beyond its tepid $15k goal. Not any longer, it seems. It’s hard to say what exactly went wrong, but developer Octopodo isn’t ready to give up. In their last Kickstarter update they assured backers that they were going to continue development and “actively pursuing and investigating alternative funding methods.” With that said, I feel that if they make a strong effort with a second Kickstarter they could definitely succeed the next time around.
Three Monkeys – Part 1: Into the Abyss (Previous Coverage)
Raised: $12,009 of $41,636 goal
Seeing Three Monkeys fail is a tremendous loss for the gaming community. Why? Simply because developer Incus Games was pushing for something which very few developers have ever played with: Creating an audio game. We need more success for folks creating games of this nature, but this time around they just didn’t make it. As with other campaigns this month, they’ve let backers know that this is not the end of Three Monkeys. In the last Kickstarter update they shared plans of “going back to the drawing board and exploring other avenues of funding.” Again, I feel this is a campaign which could easily see success with a better social media reach in its next attempt.
Unraveled: Tale of the Shipbreaker’s Daughter (Previous Coverage)
Raised: $10,765 of $15,000 goal
Focusing on crowdfunding is a ton of fun, but it can also become incredibly frustrating. That’s the case with Unraveled: Tale of the Shipbreaker’s Daughter. Having played the demo I realized just how awesome this game is and how much I need it to exist. Unfortunately, that message didn’t make its way to enough people! Of course, one failed campaign doesn’t mean a developer is doomed forever. RosePortal Games announced in their last update that Unearthed: Tale of the Shipbreaker’s Daughter will be returning with a “spiffy KIckstarter” and continue to work on the game in the meantime. When exactly will the new campaign go live? They’ve not specified just yet but we’ll probably see it later this year.
Here is a list of all the rest of March’s failed campaigns for completion’s sake. Were there any that you wanted to see get funded?
Snowmobile game with multiplayer
stat of a new genre of games, the
Super Babies: World of Trouble
That’s it for the failed Kickstarter videogame campaigns of March 2015. Be sure to check out our other month-end Kickstarter data recaps.
Marcus Estrada
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