Niten, the Japanese island walking sim created by Donald Macdonald, was unsuccessfully funded on Kickstarter. It managed to raise roughly £6,015 of its goal of £15,000. I had a chance to cover Niten and correspond with Donald over the course of the last few weeks, penning a short piece on Donald’s love for old school martial art movies and 80s arcade games that inspired him to create the walking sim. In the final stretch of his campaign, Donald began posting a text-based adventure on the Kickstarter site where backers voted on which part of the story would next be released.

Donald Macdonald (creator of Niten)

Donald Macdonald (creator of Niten)

He also sent me a few beautiful Niten wallpapers, which my editor Greg has posted on Cliqist. It’s been a long campaign for Donald, and even though he is disappointed that he wasn’t able to fund the game, he stated that “in a lot of ways it was an absolute success as it opened many doors and enabled a lot of exposure for Niten.” He also assured supporters in a backer-only email that Niten would be finished regardless and that everyone who supported him would receive a free copy of the game upon completion—which he speculates will be roughly December 2016. He has no plans to return to Kickstarter anytime soon, but he does have some final words to share with everyone who pitched in, “I’ve loved doing this with all of you and once again thank you all so much, you made this experience really awesome. All the best.niten3

About the Author

Felix Wong

Felix spent a large chunk of his youth behind a 24 inch monitor and intends to do the same with the rest of his adult life. For reasons still unbeknownst to friends and family, he decided to eschew a more conventional career path to instead become a guy who writes about video games for cash and coin.

View All Articles