What Kickstarter Video Game Campaigns Launched Sep 20 – Sep 26

Every week we take a brief look at all of the Kickstarter video game campaigns that launched in the previous week.  This isn’t to say that all of these projects are worth your hard earned cash, but with any luck having all of them in one place will make it easier to educate yourself on the projects you’d like to back, and which ones to run from.  You’ll find two types of campaigns listed, “featured” and “the rest“.  Featured campaigns are those that contain a significant amount of game information, are from known developers, or are significant in some other way.  The rest of the games are usually smaller campaigns that are lacking in information, are from unknowns, have unanswered questions, or have not yet stood out for one reason or another.

Featured Campaigns :

Game : Surface :

What it is : Jordan wrote: “Simply put, you play as Ben Sharp, an undercover agent of SURFACE attempting to avenge the death of his fallen partner. The company SURFACE, which is strangely abbreviated from Source Flash Bainite Corporate is a corporation located in the centre of the city. However, due to its growth, it’s now become a massive part of the city’s infrastructure; absorbing not only workers, but the corruption and sleaze that lies within the city itself.“

Keep an eye on it in our calendar

Game : Sol Trader :

What it is : Taylor wrote: “Every time a new Sol Trader playthrough begins, the game procedurally generates around 200 years of history. Thousands of unique characters live and die (including your character’s family), interacting with each other in a wide variety of ways. Players can form friendships with these characters (allowing them to request help from NPCs in their time of need), or feud with them. When they’re not interacting with NPCs; players can embark on missions, explore the solar system, or trade goods.“

Keep an eye on it in our calendar

Game : Allison Road :

What it is : Gary wrote: “Of course, none of this would be half as terrifying were it not for the presence of the blood-covered entity known as Lily, who is set to haunt the player throughout Allison Road‘s narrative-driven experience. Like Gone Home, Dear Esther, and more recently, Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, the title aims to channel its story through its environment – and with an environment as fully-realised and believable as Allison Road‘s, it could very well live up to P.T.’s promise.”

Keep an eye on it in our calendar

Game : Tears of Avia :

What it is : Gary wrote: “The project presents itself as ‘a turn based tactical RPG that shakes up dull and linear skill systems, where crafting your strategy is as key as the battle itself’. Here’s what that means: party composition is essential. In Tears of Avia, it’s not enough to simply throw together your favourite characters. The personalities of your party can clash, leading to less effective teamwork. On the other hand, they can gel fluidly, making the party’s performance more effective, and the need to plan battle strategies adds further depth to this system.“

Keep an eye on it in our calendar

Game : Rite of Life :

What it is : Gabrielle wrote: “In Rite of Life, you are given a vast amount of creative freedom from character customization, to how your town develops. You start with a small encampment, and from there, your character adventures into a world of monsters, beautiful scenery, and collectable resources. Overtime, your adventures allow you to build up your camp and become the founder of a thriving town full of citizens.“

Keep an eye on it in our calendar

Game : Top Secret :

What it is : Greg wrote: “Whether you think Edward Snowden is a national hero, a traitor, or just a douche bag there’s no question that his decision to leak some sensitive NSA documents has had far-reaching impact.  And now, thanks to developer James Long, you can play the game!!

Top Secret is a new game on Kickstarter that can basically be described as the Snowden Leaks video game.  This game features fun with encryption, the joy of harassing nosey journalists, and the rush of tracking down moles.“

Game : Muv Luv :

What it is : Serena wrote: “So, what exactly is Muv-Luv? According to the pitch the first game, Extra, is your typical slice of life story. Shirogane Takeru is just your normal high school student when fate literally drops a girl on his lap. This infuriates his childhood friend who wants him. Obviously. Thus starts a comedy dating sim, starting off the trilogy of titles. Which is quite a marked contrast from the next two entries in the series.“

Keep an eye on it in our calendar

Game : First Wonder :

What it is : Serena wrote: “So, what do they do? They take on the brute, but they can’t do it head-on. Monstro’s too powerful and they’re just squishy bits of flesh to be trod on. They have to use their wits and set traps, use technology to their advantage, and do whatever they can to undo the damage they caused on the peaceful populace. Monstro, on the other hand, is out to fulfill some sort of prophecy. Just what that prophecy is beats me, but he’s hellbent on fulfilling it. And doesn’t care about the insignificant insects buzzing around his head.“

Keep an eye on it in our calendar

Game : Alice Dreams Tournament :

What it is : Gabrielle wrote: “This game is heavily inspired by Bomberman with it’s maze maps, but the developers have made it a strong point to say they are not copying. Instead, they are using Bomberman as a foundation to build their own story and their own play modes based on the story of Alice in Wonderland. It’s a very intriguing concept, but what makes me want to try it most are the multiple game modes.“

Keep an eye on it in our calendar

The Rest of the Campaigns :

International Impact: Crystal of Festus : A16 bit SNES style rpg.

Intruder: Isla Sorna : Otherwise known as “Adventures in IP Infringement.”

The Wings of Asgard : It kills me when I see people spell Kickstarter as “Kick Starter.”  There’s a rough looking game here, but I had a hard time getting past the spelling.

A Credible Tale of Yokai, Robots, and the Lunar Tourist : A lovely looking ARPG that I need to take a second look at.

Cow Invader : The Kickstarter page says very little, but at least the video shows lots of barnyard carnage.

Phoneutria : What would you do if a dozen enemies formed into a single line and attacked you?

Solar Escape : Another 16 big RPG.

New Horizons : I love how they promise to unveil art assets after the campaign has successfully raised over $1.7mil.

Survive: Apocalypse 2020 : $500k for nothing.

The Dark Inside Me : This was on IndieGogo in January and raised $1,117 from 78 people.  Since then there’s been no updates.  Why would anyone back a developer that does that?

TGL: ThanksGiving LIFE : A relaunch of a pretty cool sounding game.

Lore Arcana : Another spell creation and casting game.

Devoured Time : An RPG that’s trying to do a whole lot for a small amount of money.

NEO : The Kickstarter page has almost nothing, but they have a demo available to download.  Why would they do that?

Dead of Day : Another zombie survival strategy game.

Fall of Humanity : Another campaign with nothing to show in exchange for asking for money.

Reinus : This developer has a number of other projects they’ve funded through Kickstarter, and their track record with keeping backers in the loop is bad.

Algor – The Eyes that Lie : The developers obviously put a lot of work into this campaign, but they don’t have anything to show.

Rabbit Run : The Kickstarter relaunch of this hare raising (hah!) racer is still too aggressive.

Club Life : Everyone’s favorite “shady? not shady?” visual novel developer AJ Tilley is back.

Vampire Hunter Game : It’s never a good sign when the game doesn’t even have a title. Unless you’re Tim Schafer I guess.

KillerFog : A dark 3rd person action RPG.

Iron Gear : I really want this to turn into something, unfortunately at this point it’s not far enough along and the developer is asking for too much.

That’s it for last week’s Kickstarter video game campaigns.  Watch your wallets!