End of the Mine has relaunched on Kickstarter. You might remember the original End of the Mine campaign, or you might not. The somewhat Lovecraftian-looking side-scroller launched on Kickstarter back in January, and failed to reach its $33,000 goal by February. Indeed, it brought in just $1,637, much of which, I have to imagine, came from friends and relatives of the 10-man team behind Skirmish Entertainment. Ouch.
It’s a shame, too, because I absolutely adore this game’s art style. In many ways, End of the Mine is visually-reminiscent of those early-2000s Flash-based browser games that made Newgrounds popular. Titles like Alien Hominid and Cantankerous Tank. The nostalgia factor may or may not be what they’re going for, here, but it appeals nonetheless.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKr9adEHPVg
The problem, perhaps, is that the gameplay looks similarly browser-like, for reasons I’m not quite sure I can pinpoint. There’s something that seems awfully light and twitchy in the way the game moves. I can’t quite tell whether it’s the animation or the actual physics, but I feel like End of the Mine, more than anything, needs to at least appear more fleshed-out if it’s going to be successful on Kickstarter, where backers are used to seeing more impressive 2D content (they’re used to seeing a lot of crap, too, if we’re looking at the whole picture).
Nonetheless, I like the underdog quality I sense in this project. I want it to succeed. I want Skirmish Entertainment to get the funding they need to make their dream a reality. They’re targeting a much lower $10,000 this time around, so if you feel like helping out, head on over to End of the Mine’s newly-relaunched Kickstarter page.
Track the progress of the End of the Mine Kickstarter in our Campaign Calendar.
