Being a crowdfunding backer can be a bit stressful, it seems like every day there’s a new project worth giving some money to. But what about bills? If spending money on games is irresponsible, then spending money on crowdfunding can be doubly so since there’s no guarantee you’ll actually get anything for it.
In our new monthly feature, Budget Backer, I’ll be allotting myself a monthly budget of $50 towards backing projects. There’s a few guidelines I’ll be following :
- The entire budget will be donated each month. If a project is cancelled or misses its funding goal, the returned money goes back into the pot. This means that it’s possible I’ll eventually have several hundred dollars in the pool.
- There’s no minimum, or max, to the number of backed projects. If one month fifty different projects get $1, and the next month a single project gets everything, then so be it.
- With a few exceptions only backed projects will be discussed in the monthly article. The point isn’t to disparage non-backed projects, but to highlight those I’m funding.
- All of this is my personal opinion. If you disagree, let me know!
This being the first month things are pretty simple. No recap of how previous projects went, or money calculations, just fifty bucks to spend. Let’s do it!
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Project : Knight & The Ghost Lights
Funding Level : $5.00
Rewards : Digital copy of the game before it’s released
Why? : I’m a sucker for this sort of stop motion claymation, and can appreciate the amount of work that goes into it. The team at Mobot have created an interesting universe that not only looks dreamy, but has a lot of lore that I’ve enjoyed reading about. While a $5 backing isn’t much, we also haven’t seen much of the game. However, I’m more than willing to toss a few bucks into the rabbit hole if that’s what ends up happening.
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Project : The Mandate
Funding Level : $10.00
Rewards : PDF book, wallpapers, and social media icons
Why? : Obviously I didn’t back this one for the rewards. But hey, they’re shooting for $500,000, so it’s reasonable for them to not give away the farm at such a low level. The first reason I backed it is because it looks like the kind of grand adventure of your own creation that I love. It’s also a space game that isn’t just another space shooter, a genre that while under-appreciated by most, isn’t under-represented in the crowd funding arena. The second reason is that at least some of the team is in Sacramento, Ca., which is where I am. If given a chance to support local developers I will. The final reason is that the campaign runs until December 1st, which is after the next installment of Budget Backer. This will tie up $10 of the budget for two months and possibly take money away from others. The up side though is depending on the updates they send out between now and then I may increase the pledge amount.
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Project : Raindrop
Funding Level : $25.00
Rewards : Name in the credits, desktop wallpaper, digital copy of the game, beta access, and the ability to “improve the game.”
Why? : At $25 this is where a sizeable chunk of the budget is going this month. Sure, the character talking to himself in the trailer is a bit annoying, but the rest of the Kickstarter video is fun. From the numerous environmental shots, the random guitar solos, the passion the developers display, all the way to the Wu-Tang Clan graffiti. It’s a survival game with object customization that lets you forgo weapons. Sounds good!
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Project : Spark Rising
Funding Level : $10.00
Rewards : Copy of the game, forum access, alpha access.
Why? : I’ll admit something, I’ve never played Minecraft. I own it, and have for a long time, I just don’t have the time. Family, fulltime job. Ok, that doesn’t seem like a lot, but it is! The concept of Minecraft is great, I love building stuff as much as the next guy, but I want to do a bit more with it. Spark Rising looks like it might finally fill that void. Now I can waste untold hours creating things (or just download other peoples stuff), and then have that stuff blow the crap out of each other. The team behind the game looks really solid on paper, and they’ve done a good job of engaging with the community. Always like getting early access too.
[divider]That’s it for the October edition of the Budget Backer. Check back next month to see how the funding went, and what I’ll be backing next!
[…] John Master Lee is a guy that’s been in the video game world for going on twenty years, having worked for former powerhouses such as Hudson and Sega, he’s seen a lot. Eventually he decided to leave the corporate world and start doing his own thing. Fast forward a few years and he’s heading a small team out of the Bay Area called Wicked Loot while they put together what could be the next big thing. Spark Rising is a unique looking strategy game where players build units Lego style, or download them from a vast marketplace, then fight. It’s basically bring every kid’s pretend play to life. The title looks so promising that it was one of only 4 projects backed in our latest installment of Budget Backer. […]