The Kickstarter Compendium

Our regularly revised feature keeps you up to date on the Kickstarter games worth watching, and helps you track projects both before and after they’re funded.

Welcome to the Kickstarter Compendium, a gathering of games and game-related projects that we’ve come across that deserve your attention. The crowd-funding model for video games has resulted in some fascinating new game ideas, and new projects are going up on a weekly basis that deserve your attention. 

The only problem is keeping track of it all – what’s worth watching, and what are these different projects about? As an ongoing feature, our Kickstarter Compendium is your guide to games seeking funding through Kickstarter. After funding projects are complete, this feature will also track what games (and game-related projects) got funded and which ones didn’t – and, where possible, offer links to the projects as they are developed. 

[Editor's Note: This feature was co-written by Manon Hume, Blake Hester, Aj Moser, Haley MacLean, Joe Buchholz, Luke Walaszek, Joseph Knoop, Marcus Stewart, Parker Lemke, Hershall Cook, Christian Belland, Alissa McAloon, Jon Gregory, Elise Favis, Matthew Stolpe, Jason Dafnis, Wayne Stainrook, Cameron Koch, Isaac Federspiel, Katie Seville, Liz Lanier, Kayla Herrera, Ali Rapp, Mike Mahardy, and Matt Miller.]

Projects Seeking Funding

Disturbing the Verse
Developer: Gremlin_Ent
Funding Goal: $50,000
Funds Due By: May 13, 2017

When asked to save the universe from a future catastrophic event, the characters of Disturbing the Verse respond in the only way they know how – with stylish violence. This 2D fighting game gives each character close- and long-range fighting options and has players face off in zero gravity, adding a vertical dimension to traditional brawler gameplay as they try to get above, below, and behind each other for the perfect combo. In addition to one-on-one battles, single-player arcade and training modes will be included, along with two-on-two team battles and four-player free-for-alls. Gremlin_Ent aims to have six playable characters for this PC game, though stretch goals would add more fighters and stages as well as console ports. A prototype of the game has also been released as part of the campaign.

Eagle Island
Developer: Nick Gregory
Funding Goal: £20,000
Funds Due By: May 15, 2017

With a colorful aesthetic inspired by the 16-bit era, developer Nick Gregory’s 2D platformer brings charm and challenge to the classic genre. Quill, a young falconry expert, journeys with his owl Koji to defeat the eagle deity Armaura, who has kidnapped Koji’s brother Ichiro. All the platforming and treasure chest opening is handled by Quill, who then leaves the fighting to Koji. Players must direct the owl to attack enemies by sending him swooping in one of eight directions, building combos and better loot with each successful attack. Throughout the game’s nine different areas, each procedurally generated, Quill finds power-ups, gems, and special elemental totems to boost Koji’s abilities in combat. These buffs will help the duo battle the boss of each stage and, eventually, Armaura. Eagle Island is planned to release on PC in mid-2018 if successful.

Forged of Blood
Developer: Critical Forge
Funding Goal: $105,651
Funds Due By: N/A

This tactical RPG sets itself apart from other fantasy titles through one very ambitious project: to create a “true” spellcrafting system. Beginning with a choice of three types of magic, followed by two directions for the spell, five effects, eighteen modifiers for each effect, and eighteen global modifiers for the spell as a whole, Critical Forge’s projected system would allow players to craft truly unique spells.

The enormous magic system is complemented by in-depth weapon modification, grid-based combat, and a morally gray storyline. Numbers and charts play a key role in Forged of Blood, whether it be battle, discourse, or simply upgrading your home base. Whatever challenges players face as brother to the heir of an unnamed kingdom, they are sure to always have ample options at their disposal in this PC title.

Fort Triumph
Developer: Fort Triumph Team
Funding Goal: $75,000
Funds Due By: May 23, 2017

Advertised as a fantasy XCOM, Fort Triumph is a grid-based tactical RPG where even the simplest objects can become deadly weapons. Crates can be kicked into oncoming foes, trees can be set on fire and toppled into the enemy ranks, and allies can be flung toward monsters to get them into the thick of battle faster. Procedurally generated levels and unique mission objectives make each playthrough different, even on the same stage. Adding to the strategic layer are the distinct traits that each hero is randomly assigned. Split into four classes, characters are further divided by these personality traits – for example, some paladins will be loud, making it impossible for them to sneak, while others are determined or impressionable. Fort Triumph Team currently has demos of the game for PC, Mac, and Linux, with plans for console release in the works.

Hellpoint
Developer: Cradle Games
Funding Goal: CA$50,000
Funds Due By: May 9, 2017

Far in the future, a sudden and catastrophic event causes all parallel universes to merge together, resulting in mass insanity and the awakening of horrible cosmic beings. So begins dark RPG Hellpoint by Cradle Games (which Andrew Reiner describes in more detail here), a studio founded by developers with experience working on series such as Assassin’s Creed and Call of Duty. Set on the space station Irid Novo, players control a nameless character immune to this event. As players explore, Irid Novo orbits a black hole in real time, which affects everything from the appearance of secret areas to the ferocity of enemies. Players won’t have to face these threats alone, though: Hellpoint supports split-screen co-op, allowing two players to share loot and experience as they explore the space station together. A demo of the game is available for PC, and the game is planned to launch on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in early 2018 if funded.

Humans of the Internet Age
Developer: Island Bar Games
Funding Goal: $65,000
Funds Due By: May 11, 2017

What would a museum of the Internet look like? Humans of the Internet Age doesn’t only seek to answer that question – it actually aims to build that very museum in game form. Joe Sansone, the one-man team of Island Bar Games, has started his Kickstarter campaign not only for funding the first-person adventure title, but to gather contributions for the exhibits in the virtual museum. Kidnapped by a being known as The Great Observer, players will navigate this museum, solving puzzles and evading security systems as they try to escape their mysterious captor. Backers will be able to send in original artwork, poetry, videos, and, of course, memes, which will be featured in the game’s design. Planned for PC release in late 2018 if successful, stretch goals for Humans of the Internet Age include console and VR ports.

Minotaur
Developer: U7 Committee
Funding Goal: €30,000
Funds Due By: May 16, 2017

Torn to pieces by a strange monster. Drowning in a giant fish tank. These are at least two gruesome ends characters face in Minotaur, with plenty more lurking around every corner. Combining aspects of point-and-click gameplay and visual novel-style storytelling into a murder mystery adventure game, Minotaur throws players into an eerie futuristic world of life and death. Viewed through the eyes of five different playable characters, ranging from an android to a human to a talking penguin, players try to figure out why nine people have been trapped in a building and are slowly being killed off. The search only becomes more desperate as the murders continue, and it becomes more difficult to know who to trust. Set to launch in late 2017 if the campaign is successful, U7 Committee has released a fully voice-acted Minotaur demo, as well as a website explaining the game’s lore here.

The Misfits
Developer: PigDog Games
Funding Goal: $50,000
Funds Due By: May 15, 2017

A third-person arena shooter with attitude, The Misfits allows up to 20 players to face off in stylish, fast-paced battles. PigDog Games, a studio of six industry veterans, mixes the usual run-and-gun action of shooters with destructible environments, day-night cycles, and fresh game modes. Along with the usual deathmatch and king of the hill modes, The Misfits offers Gang War, where four teams of five compete to destroy each other for domination; Cash Grab, where players accumulate money that must be taken back to their base, leaving a trail of cash for opponents to follow; and Smash and Grab, a search-and-destroy meets heist mode, where teams race to break safes and bring the loot safely to the getaway car before rivals take the goodies for themselves. If the campaign succeeds, the game is set to release on PC this winter, with console ports and additional game modes as stretch goals.

Rise of the King
Developer: Revelation Games
Funding Goal: $160,000
Funds Due By: May 18, 2017

Formed by developers who worked on Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, Furi, and Age of Chivalry, Revelation Games strives to give players a challenging and realistic experience combining survival, action, and mystery in Rise of the King. Cast as expert woodsman Greyson Wallace, players must set out into the wintery wilderness of Arnithon to rescue the kidnapped son of a powerful noble. With no power-ups, healing items, or mini-map to aid players, combat becomes a precise test of skill and learning to navigate is key to surviving the harsh environment. Information about the missing child can be found by questioning residents of villages discovered along Wallace’s journey. Wallace then records these clues in his journal, which players can use to make deductions to advance their investigation. If successful, Rise of the King is planned to release on PC in late 2018.

Safe House
Developer: LABS Games
Funding Goal: CA$5,000
Funds Due By: May 18, 2017

What’s cooler than being a spy? Being the one in charge of all the secret missions, of course. A PC game by one-man studio LABS Games, Safe House is a management sim where players build a base of operations for training spies, intercepting enemy communications, and other espionage-related activities. In addition to constructing the base, recruiting agents, and accumulating cash, players will have to juggle decoding messages, providing shelter to wounded spies, and sniffing out moles through password-laden interrogations. The game includes story missions that tie in to the overarching plot of political intrigue in the fictional country of Kazitaire, and each successful job brings new upgrades and improvements to your base. Plan each mission carefully, though – one wrong step, and the jig is up. If the Kickstarter succeeds, Safe House is planned to launch this fall.

Touchdown: Armor League
Developer: Ares Games
Funding Goal: $50,000
Funds Due By: May 7, 2017 

Football is a rough sport as it is, but what if mech suits, jetpacks, and rocket launchers joined the fray? That’s the rough-and-tumble concept behind Touchdown: Armor League. Pitting two teams of six against each other, Touchdown is a no-holds-barred take on traditional football. Featuring the core mechanics of passing the ball, running it to the end zone, and scoring, the addition of four mechanical athletes to choose from adds abundant explosions to the mix. Grenades can blow off rivals’ limbs; some power suits stun or destroy opponents completely, making them drop the ball; and passes can be shot down with bullets or intercepted mid-air. Developer Ares Games aims to have their title enter the eSports arena later this year on PC, with PlayStation 4 and Xbox One ports planned for early 2018.

The Watchmaker
Developer: Micropsia Games
Funding Goal: $30,000
Funds Due By: May 5, 2017

Alexander has always performed his job like clockwork – oiling gears, repairing springs, and whatever else was necessary to keep the clock tower running smoothly. One day, he wakes up to a disembodied voice warning him that his masterpiece has been sabotaged, and now time is spinning out of control. Time manipulation is a key component in this third-person puzzle-adventure game, but these powers come at a cost: Alexander ages at a rapid rate, putting a limit on how long players can take to advance through each level. Using his time control powers and magnetic gloves, Alexander must fight enemies, solve puzzles, and platform his way through the tower to find and stop the saboteur, whoever they may be. With a PC demo already launched supporting six different languages, developer Micropsia Games’ campaign has stretch goals for versions on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One that would also add a seventh language. 

Zombie Society: Dead Detective
Developer: Francesco Dell’Anna Muia
Funding Goal: €2,000
Funds Due By: May 4, 2017

Are you tired of zombies always being the bad guys? Developer Francesco Dell’Anna Muia’s zany point-and-click PC game starring zombie detectives Margh and Ghvnn lets the undead be the heroes for once… kind of. Players control Ghvnn as he and Margh solve four different cases, from tracking down a stolen head to finding out the truth behind the sudden appearance of a living person on the edge of town. As they talk to NPCs (who will be based on backers’ names and appearances) and gather evidence, players will be able to combine information in their “deaduction” notebook. Be careful, though – arriving at incorrect conclusions affects which of the game’s endings you’ll receive. Muia has released the first chapter of the game on Newgrounds, Game Jolt, and Kongregate [Disclaimer: Kongregate is owned by GameStop, the parent company of Game Informer] as a demo for the campaign.

Successfully Funded

31 Days of Zero Suit Samus
Project Type: Art book
Fundraising Goal: $20,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Artist and podcaster Chris Furniss is compiling a hardcover book of his "31 Days of Zero Suit Samus" illustrations and the work other professional video game-related artists.

The Adventure Pals
Developer: Massive Monster
Fundraising Goal: $28,190
Funds Due By: N/A

Everybody needs a best friend. In Massive Monster’s adventure game, The Adventure Pals, evil Mr. B has kidnapped your dad in hopes of turning him into a hot dog. Taking on the role of a young adventurer, you set out with your two best friends, a pet rock and Sparkles the giraffe, you travel through a world “fueled by imagination” to stop him. Mixing together platforming, RPG elements, and combat arenas, The Adventure Pals gives players five areas to explore with twenty-five levels each. The cartoony game will also feature local co-op, towns full of quests, and open-world exploration. Massive Monster’s campaign ends August 27.

Adventurezator: When Pigs Fly
Developer: Pigasus Games
Fundraising Goal: $20,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Adventurezator allows players to not only play through levels, but create their own point-and-click adventures for friends to try. All objects in the sandbox world of Adventurezator are “emergent.” This basically means that each object has a pre-defined use and reaction to other objects. The developers at Pigasus give an example of needing an object for liquids in a quest scenario. Rather than the player being told they need a specific type of chalice or goblet, all receptacles can serve as liquid-holders. It takes the nonsensical aspects out of many questing scenarios. Just the same, obstacles can be set up by players creating levels because they know certain characters or objects will respond to each other in pre-determined ways that can require strategic thinking to get through. To see this type of emergent level design in action, be sure to check out Adventurezator’s preview on Kickstarter. The game with sandbox mode is planned for PC, Mac, and Linux. A later release without sandbox mode is also in the works for iOS and Android. 

Aegis Defenders
Developer: Guts Department
Fundraising Goal: $65,000
Funds Due By: N/A

A tale of grandfather Bart and granddaughter Clu, Aegis Defenders puts you in the role of the two explorers in search of a relic that can save their world, the Aegis. They must use their respective engineering and combat skills to defeat a host of enemies across a beautifully animated world.

The game's already been funded, but the stretch goals for local co-op and two additional characters, the monk and assassin, sound way too cool to forgo. With enough funding, Aegis Defenders will also come to PlayStation 4 and Wii U, where four-player cooperative adventuring would feel right at home.

Afterland
Developer: Imaginary Games
Fundraising Goal: $32,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Afterland is sure to be popular with casual gamers who are looking for something outside of the mainstream. While it is a social turn-based game, Afterland is unique in that it has card based gameplay with a macabre art-style. Fans of Alice: Madness Returns should definitely take a look. Afterland is planned for release for iOS devices late this summer and for Android this fall.

Amplitude
Developer: Harmonix Music Systems
Fundraising Goal: $775,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Before Guitar Hero, Rock Band, or Dance Central, Harmonix had an enthusiastic following of fans for its fantastic PS2 music game, Amplitude, an evolution of an earlier project called Frequency. After years of hearing fans beg for a follow-up, Harmonix is leaving it up to the vocal fan base to fund a sequel. The original Amplitude is a controller-based music game requiring incredibly fast reflexes and frenetic controller button tapping, and includes a fantastic party game multiplayer mode. Harmonix hopes to launch this new version on PS3 and PS4. 

Ancient Dystopia
Developer: Dystopia Games
Fundraising Goal: $1,100
Funds Due By: N/A

Ancient Dystopia is intriguing enough based on gameplay but throw the fact that a 16 year-old is developing it, and it becomes even more interesting. Players must gather their party and assist the Rebel Coalition in its quest to defeat the Emperor. An RPG reminiscent of classic Final Fantasy games, Ancient Dystopia will not only allow you to customize your party members but also your hometown. Nw shops and residents will assist you as you progress through the story.

Anew: The Distant Light
Developer: Resonator
Funding Goal: $30,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Imagine a baby put into cryogenic sleep on a spaceship waking up 20 years later to a strange landscape outside the ship window and an empty sleep pod nearby. With experience stemming from BioShock 2, Saints Row IV, Spec Ops: The Line, and other well-known titles, Steve Copeland and Jeff Spoonhower have banded together to found Resonator, and this is the beginning they imagined for Anew: The Distant Light. With striking 2D backgrounds and 3D character models, this single-player action game contains no dialogue and delivers story through playable segments scattered throughout the open alien world. In classic Metroid style, weapons, tools, and power-ups can be found in the moon’s sprawling caves and floating debris that grant new abilities in combat and allow access to areas that may hold the answers you seek. Anew: The Distant Light is planned to release on PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4.  

Anima - Gate Of Memories
Developer: Kai Nesbit
Fundraising Goal: $90,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Anima - Gate of Memories is an action-focused RPG that allows players to freely experience a world brimming with an enticing story and striking characters. Two sould are trapped in a parallel dimension, and must unravel its secrets before they slip into RPG-induced madness. Like other RPGs this generation, the payer's choices will impact other characters, as well as the overall story. 

Antharion
Developer: Orphic Software
Fundraising Goal: $10,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Antharion is a turn-based combat, party-based game with old school vibes. With a custom party of four and an open world ready to explore, it hearkens back to 16-bt era RPG games. The world contains over 100 dungeons, around 20 cities, and more than 50 monster types to do battle with. Don't forget the 45 unique magic spells either; this game sounds huge.

Armello
Developer: League of Geeks
Fundraising Goal: $200,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Only a few days remain to throw your support behind this digital card and board game. The project has already hit its fundraising goals, but it’s not too late to contribute to stretch goals (and snag some snazzy rewards). Armello stars a cast of anthropomorphic animal heroes that live in the kingdom of Armello. The game promises to mix role-playing with classic tabletop gaming mechanics, but all set on your digital screen. Your furry hero travels across a beautiful map, completing quests, fighting monsters, and more. Armello is targeting release on iPad, and PC/Mac/Linux, but a yet-to-arrive stretch goal would add Android and Windows tablets. 

Armikrog
Developer: Pencil Test Studios, Inc.
Fundraising Goal: $900,000
Funds Due By: N/A

From the creator of Earthworm Jim comes Armikrog, an adventure game that uses Claymation. Armikrog will feature the voice talents of Michael J. Nelson, John Heder, Veronica Belmont, Rob Paulsen, and Scott Kurtz. The hero, Tommynaut, and his blind dog Beak-Beak land on an odd planet and get locked in a fortress named Armikrog. Help the duo escape using point and click gameplay to solve puzzles in this PC, Mac and Linux adventure.

Auro
Developer: Dinofarm Games
Fundraising Goal: $7,500
Funds Due By: N/A

Dinofarm is creating a turn-based, dungeon-crawling strategy game. Players can specialize in fire, ice, illusion, and other abilities, and the game features pixel art created from scratch.

Awkward Zombie: Volume 1
Project Type: Comic book
Fundraising Goal: $8,500
Funds Due By: N/A

Awkward Zombie is an online video game comic that has been published weekly for the last five-plus years by Katie Tiedrech. She wants to sell a book featuring the first 100 comics, with more to be included in later volumes.

Battle Chef Brigade
Developer: Trinket Studios
Fundraising Goal: $38,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Imagine a 2D Monster Hunter game inspired by Cooking Mama and designed by the Legend of Korra and Studio Ghibli animators. If you’re like us and have no imagination, take a look at Battle Chef Brigade. In Trinket Studios’ genre-mashing PC game, a cooking competition pits hunter-chefs against one another in a challenge that breaks the divide between the arena and the kitchen. The side-scrolling action and culinary combination elements, along with an endearing anime style and full original soundtrack, make it one to watch.

Battle Chef Brigade is already fully funded, but a lot of stretch goals still vie for your dollar, including voiceover work, more playable characters, and extra language localization. It’s currently a PC exclusive with no console stretch goals as of yet, but Trinket’s self-proclaimed interests lie in branching out to other platforms.

 

Black The Fall
Developer: Sand Sailor Studio
Fundraising Goal: £25,000 GBP ($40,206.50 USD)
Funds Due By: N/A

Sand Sailor’s Limbo-inspired game is self-proclaimed as many things: a “2.75D” sidescroller, a game about choice, and a metaphor for the four-person team’s personal experiences growing up in a communist country. What can be said about the game without playing it is that its art style, most immediately reminiscent of Limbo’s silhouetted appearance, lends itself to the oppressive atmosphere of the game. Expressive character animation gives it a sardonically lighthearted vibe, stark in contrast to its grave subject matter.

In addition to having a distinct art style, Black The Fall features a reputation system in which the way you play dictates the way the game responds. If you’re aggressive towards an NPC, maybe he’ll trip an alarm that exposes you to enemies. If you’re gentler with the natives, though, they might help you out by showing you secret areas.

Blindside
Developer: N/A
Fundraising Goal: $7,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Blindside is an audio-only game, intended to be fully accessible for visually-impaired gamers, and to offer gamers who have played only visually-intense games the experience of encountering a world without sight.

Boma Naraka Sura
Developer: Anantarupa Studio
Fundraising Goal: $25,000
Funds Due By: N/A

There are plenty of Metroid-style games out there, but Boma Naraka Sura might be the first based on Southeast Asian mythology. The story follows a young girl named Sveta who awakens in the lowest level of the underworld with no memories. There, she teams up with the imprisoned and enigmatic entity Bomantara. This being also has unfinished business, so the two set out to reclaim their memories and fight through the six realms of the world. As Sveta regains fragments of her memories, she can upgrade her abilities and craft new equipment. Additionally, she can meet and recruit mythical beasts from real-world scripture to fight by her side. Like any good Metroid-style adventure, unlocking new skills will enable Sveta to discover new areas and secrets.

The Book of Unwritten Tales 2
Developer: KING Art Games
Fundraising Goal: $65,000
Funds Due By: N/A

KING Art Games released The Book of Unwritten Tales in 2012, which was well received by critics. However, the publisher went bankrupt, and the developer amassed debt. KING Art is now releasing a sequel to The Book of Unwritten Tales, and is asking for your help with a unique pitch video. They admit up front that The Book of Unwritten Tales 2 is already funded and will come out, even if the Kickstarter campaign fails. This campaign’s purpose is to improve the game, do more, and make it truly memorable with things like side quests and fully orchestrated music. Apparently fans agree with its philosophy, since they have already surpassed its fundraising goal with over 30 days left. If you have a point-and-click adventure game itch that can’t be scratched, check out The Book of Unwritten Tales 2.

Boss Monster
Developer: Brotherwise Games
Fundraising Goal: $85,000
Funds Due By: N/A

After a successful Kickstarter campaign to bring its card game to life in physical form, Brotherwise Games is back to bring its video game-inspired card game to mobile devices. As card games continue to gain traction in digital spaces, this one is worthy of attention for any fans of classic NES titles.

In Boss Monster, you play as the boss of a dungeon against other bosses. You build a dungeon by laying down a trail of cards to build space between you and invading heroes. You must balance difficulty of your dungeon rooms with loot rewards to entice the heroes to advance. The first player to defeat 10 heroes or surviving after heroes have slain all their opponents wins. Release is planned for iPad and Android tablets so please back it because I want to play.

Breach
Developer: Space Rhino
Fundraising Goal: $35,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Developer Space Rhino is taking a chance on combining features from several popular strategic game genres and seeing how they mix together. At its core, Breach utilizes tower defense mechanics to defend against waves of attacks, but with a tinge of competitive MOBA and RTS thrown into the mix. The team hopes to eliminate some of the more passive elements of tower defense in exchange for an active, competitive 3v3 experience set in a rich fantasy backdrop. Initial release is headed towards Android and iOS. 

Buddy And Me
Developer: Sunbreak Games
Fundraising Goal: $40,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Buddy and Me is a platformer embellished in a beautiful art style for tablets and mobile. It is the story of a boy and his best friend who run through the forest together, seeking adventure. 

Camelot Unchained
Developer: City State Entertainment
Fundraising Goal: $2,000,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Camelot Unchained is a counter-revolutionary MMO set in a post-apocalyptic world where the boundary between two dimensions has been pierced. This led to the almost-extinction of the world and you must fight to get your world back. 

Car Mechanic Simulator 2015
Developer: PlayWay
Fundraising Goal: $20,000 CAD
Funds Due By: N/A

Playway’s new game is a direct sequel to their previous installment, Car Mechanic Simulator 2014. This simulator will place you in the shoes of a car mechanic, featuring improvements such as new cars and parts. There will be 16 new car models, and each will have more than 200 customizable components. Another new addition is mission mode, which will generate random car repair jobs that are time-restricted. There will be different difficulty and payment levels. Beyond car repairs, you will also have to manage your work environment with new skills and designs for the garage. Car auctions are another way to make an extra buck, where you buy old cars to renovate. Stretch goals will offer DLC packages with more cars, such as the classics and hot rods selections.

Castle Story
Developer: Sauropod Studio
Fundraising Goal: $80,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Castle Story is a creative sandbox game. Similar to popular sandbox games such as Minecraft, Castle Story allows players to explore vast worlds and build whatever they like. However, Castle Story has worked in a unique strategy element by requiring players to build complicated, firm, well thought out structures in order to withstand the hordes of enemies who come out at night.

Catlateral Damage
Developer: Chris Chung/Fire Hose Games
Fundraising Goal: $40,000
Funds Due By: N/A

“Cel-shaded first-person cat simulator” is a phrase we never thought we’d type, but that is precisely the experience developer Chris Chung hopes to create with his game. In Catlateral Damage, you play as a housecat, and your primary form of interaction with the environment is pawing things off of shelves and desks. While the game allows players to perform “sillier” cat actions like meowing and coughing up hairballs, Catlateral Damage also incorporates power-ups, mission structure, and collectibles. The Kickstarter page even has a playable demo, should you find yourself unable to wait for some feline frolicking.

Cavern Kings
Developer: Vine
Fundraising goal: $2,500
Funds Due By: N/A

"An endless and explosive game about digging your own grave" is one of the best pitches to grace Kickstarter, and the trailer for Cavern Kings certainly lives up to its tagline. In Cavern Kings, you take control of one of four characters and see how far down you can burrow into a cavern full of increasingly more difficult enemies, taking them down using weapons and power-ups that stick indefinitely.

It's already almost quadrupled its funding goal, but it's still a bit of a ways away from a stretch goal that would double the available power-ups from 50 to 100. It's also hit its stretch goal for online co-op, which would mean twice as much mayhem for you and your friends.

Celestian Tales: Old North
Developer: Ekuator Games
Fundraising Goal: $30,000
Funds Due By: N/A

This turn-based tactical RPG features six playable characters whose stories will be told over three decades, each with unique perspectives and story arcs that are sometimes in contention with one another. At times, character’s storylines will converge and experience game events together. Don’t let the game’s art style fool you; Celestian Tales: Old North is aiming to create a serious tale of grey morals and questionable moral decisions, with the goal of having the player ask themselves if they did the right thing. Ekuator Games is planning on releasing the game episodically for PC, Mac, and Linux, with each part offering several hours of gameplay and a piece of the larger story.

Chain Gang Chase
Developer: Joe Pietruch
Fundraising Goal: $10,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Chain Gang Chase is a multiplayer game developed by professor Joe Pietruch of the Rochester Institute of Technology. Pietruch had been a backer of Ouya’s Kickstarter campaign, and first started developing his Chain Gang Chase with the Ouya in mind. For those who don’t know, a “chain gang” is a group of prisoners, typically a work crew, who are chained to one another by leg irons. The game has a simple premise: each player controls a convict in an escaped chain gang. As many as eight people can play, working together to navigate obstacles, solve puzzles, and evade capture. Lastly, players must utilize an oncoming train to sever their respective chains – simultaneously. Chain Gang Chase is planned for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Ouya. Support for Android, iOS, and the web depends on the success of the campaign.

Chaos Reborn
Developer: Julian Gollop
Fundraising Goal: $180,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Chaos Reborn is a reboot/sequel to the classic strategy title Chaos: The Battle of Wizards, originally published by Games Workshop in 1985. Players take control of a wizard who uses spells and summons creatures to do battle against another wizard doing the same. Maps will feature varying terrain that must be taken into account when making tactical decisions, and the game will include numerous RPG elements for improving your wizard. A large scale single player campaign is also planned. If funded, Chaos Reborn will be appearing on PC, Mac, and Linux in the spring of 2015. You can check out this feature on the original Chaos here for a better idea of where this new game is drawing inspiration from.

CLANG
Developer: Subutai Corporation
Fundraising Goal: $500,000
Funds Due By: N/A

CLANG's development team was co-founded by sci-fi author Neal Stephenson. The game will be an authentic sword-fighting game that uses a high-precision, third-party motion controller.

Close Your
Developer: William Hellwarth
Fundraising Goal: $20,000
Funds Due By: N/A

There’s a cliché saying that life flies by in the blink of an eye. The game Close Your has taken that idea and made a game around it – kind of. Currently in development by William Hellwarth, Close Your lets you live a life from birth to death, but with a twist. Every moment in this life – no matter how big, small, happy, or tragic – lasts only as long as you can keep your actual real life eyes open. Using a webcam, Close Your tracks when the player blinks, moving scenes forward when they close their eyes. “Could be five seconds or five years. Life literally flashes before your eyes as you try desperately to hold onto each fleeting moment,” the game’s campaign page reads.

Opening with a meeting from Death himself, Close Your takes an involuntary bodily function and makes it a time machine of sorts – taking you through moments like your first steps, a kiss, and death of loved ones. Each moment lasts only as long as your eyes will let it. Hellwarth is asking for $20,000 and has currently raised over $11,000.

Codemancer
Developer: Robert Lockhart
Fundraising Goal: $12,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Looking for a project with an educational twist? Codemancer is set in a fantasy universe of magic and monsters, but is actually a teaching tool targeted at 9-14 year-old kids who might be interested in learning programming. The game’s magic system is based on the same principles as coding, and the team’s stated goal is to cover the same fundamentals that would be communicated in a university Programming 101 class. Codemancer already nailed its fundraising goal, but if you’d care to add to the total and show your support for this kind of game, there’s still time to contribute. 

Crea
Developer: N/A
Fundraising Goal: $15,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Crea is a sandbox game similar to Minecraft and Terraria, and will feature fully moddable worlds and characters. It will be multiplayer-capable, and the development team hopes to make the game available on Steam.

Crossing Souls
Developer: Fourattic
Funding Goal: $45,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Crossing Souls takes you back to the summer days of your youth, when it was just you and your buddies trying find ways to pass the time. On one particular day, five friends discover a stone that allows them to travel between the living and dead planes of reality. Players will control this group over the course of their magic adventure as they solve puzzles and fight enemies ranging from soldiers to dinosaurs.

Filled with vibrant neon hues, Crossing Souls borrows an ‘80s aesthetic, but it’s not parodic like Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon’s. Rather Crossing Souls comes off more as a loving recreation of the games of days past with its orthogonal 2D perspective and blocky characters.

Crystal Catacombs
Developer: Levels or Lives
Fundraising Goal: $7,500
Funds Due By: N/A

Crystal Catacombs is an action platformer with procedurally-generated dungeons. The art style is inspired by Super Metroid and Castlevania, and the game features a stat-based character upgrade system.

Dad Quest
Developer: Sundae Month
Fundraising Goal: $8,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Turns out child endangerment can be charming, as long as your kid is indestructible. Dad Quest is a student team-developed 2D action platformer that takes an unusual approach to parenting. Players control a Dad on a quest to reach the mythical Dad Island, running through colorful levels with a Child tucked under their arm. In this world, parents of either gender can use the title Dad and fling their Child to defeat wacky enemies. RPG elements include leveling up the Child to learn new skills. Players accomplish this by tossing the Child through the window of a gym, school, or other building. Though bizarre on many levels, Dad Quest looks like it offers a fun mix of unique gameplay concepts that could appeal to players with the right sense of humor.

Darkest Dungeon
Developer: Red Hook Studios
Fundraising Goal: $75,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Darkest Dungeon is the first project by Red Hook studios, and it's a unique one. It is a rogue-like turn-based RPG that attempts to show the psychological damage done by adventuring. You will lead a team of four heroes into crypts and other nasty locations, and battle the monsters they contain. At times your party members may become frightened, stressed, or develop phobias based on the dangers they’re put through. Interesting mechanics and the dark, gothic art style make Darkest Dungeon a tempting campaign to fund. Darkest Dungeons will release on PC and Mac if funded, with the possibility of expanding to Linux, 3DS, and other consoles in the future.

Dead State
Developer: DoubleBear Productions
Fundraising Goal: $150,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Dead State is a survival RPG set during the zombie apocalypse. The game features turn-based combat and character skill branches.

Defense Grid 2
Developer: Hidden Path Entertainment, AMD, and Razer
Fundraising Goal: $250,000
Funds Due By: N/A

The team behind the original, well-received Defense Grid, wants to build an expansion for the first game, and to create an all new sequel. The first Defense Grid is a strategic tower defense currently available on Steam.

Descent: Underground
Developer: Descendent Studios
Fundraising Goal: $600,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Kickstarter is a haven for revamping long-abandoned franchises, and Descent: Underground is just one of the latest cult classics to look for a new lease on life via crowdfunding. The original Descent released on PC in 1995, arguably too early for its “six degrees of freedom” space flight – and right in the middle of the console market’s rise to power. Inputs weren’t as accurate as they are now, and the flashy console wars stole the PC platform’s thunder. However, recent years have seen a big resurgence in spacefaring games like Star Citizen and Elite Dangerous. Enter Descent: Underground, a multiplayer focused ship game with a voxel environment that can be destroyed over the course of a game. If funded, Descent: Underground will also be one of the few games using Unreal Engine 4, and the engine shines in the enclosed spaces of the map Descendent Studios has shown off. Keep a doggy bag handy if you’re thinking about backing Descent, though, you might need it when the release date rolls around.

Diabotical
Developer: The GD Studio
Fundraising Goal: $145,517
Funds Due By: N/A

Diabotical is an old-school arena FPS that’s aiming to be a successor to the old Quake games. Players control colorful, spherical robots and battle it out using seven different weapons in “lots and lots of maps.” Development team The GD Studio is behind the project, and has grown over the last two years from an esports media house to game studio while focusing on the competitive FPS experience. Diabotical aims to avoid a “pay-to-win” system by having in-game purchases only be available for cosmetic items. Players will also be able to create and share their own multiplayer maps, game modes, power-ups, weapons, mods, and more. Diabotical has reached its funding goal, but is accepting further donations until September, with perks ranging from custom skins to being able to design your own Eggbot fighter with The GD Studio’s art, design, and sound team.      

DieselStörmers
Developer: Black Forest Games
Fundraising Goal: $50,000
Funds Due By: N/A

This unabashed action extravaganza is a 1-4 player cooperative run ‘n’ gun. DieselStörmers features procedurally generated levels and customizable weaponry as players charge through stage after stage of chaos in a medieval city overtaken by futuristic weaponry and the hunger for oil. The multiplayer mode includes an interesting twist on the standard formula in the form of an arcing energy ball that connects the onscreen characters, which helps to confront and defeat enemy forces. An initial release is headed to PC/Linux/Mac, with later releases on PS4, Xbox One, and Wii U. 

Doko Roko
Developer: Okobu Games
Fundraising Goal: $30,000
Funds Due By: November 19, 2015

What if, instead of a rich lore spread out thinly over a vast world, the world itself was a contained, thriving ecosystem in a colossal tower? That’s the question developer Erick Mack wants to address in this side-scrolling action game: What does a world look like stacked on top of itself rather than built outward. As the “Unslain,” players battle their way through the tower with a collection of massive swords, trade tales with the strange denizens of the tower, and discover ancient magic manuscripts to aid in their upwards journey.

Double Fine Adventure
Developer: Double Fine and 2 Player Productions
Fundraising Goal: $400,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Double Fine Adventure is a point-and-click game developed by Tim Schafer and Double Fine. 2 Player Productions will be documenting the entire development process and will be releasing monthly video updates to Kickstarter backers.

Duck Quest?
Developer: Waffle Friday Studios
Fundraising Goal: $500
Funds Due By: N/A

Duck Quest? is an 8-bit online flash game about a duck who has lost her baby chicks in the park. The development team also hopes to make iOS and other mobile versions of the charming title.

Duelyst
Developer: Counterplay Games
Fundraising Goal: $68,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Duelyst first saw life as a custom tabletop board game played among friends, and has now been rebuilt and reimagined for the digital realm as a tactical-turn based game in the same vein of Fire Emblem or Final Fantasy Tactics. Players will assemble squads of sprite fighters, each with unique abilities and spells, and go toe-to-toe with other players in a variety of multiplayer game modes. Duelyst will also include a single player mode where new units and spells can be unlocked and brought into multiplayer. The developers, whose work experience includes Diablo III, Rogue Legacy, and the Ratchet and Clank Series, promise short gameplay sessions of 30 minutes or less, hundreds of units and spells to use, and five unique factions set in a world that isn't just another generic fantasy setting.

Dungeon of Elements (DoE)
Developer: Frogdice
Fundraising Goal: $20,000
Funds Due By:  N/A

DoE combines RPG elements with classic puzzle gaming in such a way that it’s the perfect gateway to draw casual gamers into a more intense gameplay experience. Basically, imagine Dr. Mario if it were also a dungeon crawler and you have a good idea what to expect out of DoE.

Earthlock: Festival of Magic
Developer: Snowcastle Games
Fundraising Goal: $150,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Playing as desert scavenger Amon, you must stop an impending war by uncovering the secrets of a planet that has stopped spinning long ago. A demo of the game is already available and features classic turn-based battles, an old-school RPG overworld, and no random enemy encounters. The game also features a unique organic crafting system that allows players to grow ammunition for their various weapons. Earthlock: Festival of Magic is planning to release on PC, Mac, Linux, Wii U, Xbox One, and PS4.

Echoes of the First Dreamer
Developer: Highwire Games
Fundraising Goal: $45,000
Funds Due By: N/A

After a messy breakup with Bungie, Destiny and Halo composer Marty O’Donnell has paved his own path with Echoes of the First Dreamer. It’s a musical prequel to Highwire Games’ VR game Golem, which debuted at PlayStation Experience in December of last year. Although you wouldn’t expect a Kickstarter to be necessary for a project that’s already in full swing, it’s interesting to imagine an auditory prequel to a video game. Usually a soundtrack accompanies a game just fine, but having an audio-prequel introduce players to the themes of Golem before it comes out is a fresh idea. Highware Games plans to contribute an additional $20,000 above the project goal if the Kickstarter is successful.

Eco
Developer: Strange Loop Games
Fundraising Goal: $100,000
Funds Due By: N/A

From the makers of Vessel comes a bold and ambitious new game: Eco features Minecraft-like creation with the added twist of player-created pollution affecting the environment. Mining waste makes water undrinkable, and chopping down too many trees transforms lush woodlands into desert. Each server starts at the beginning of man, with players working together to defend themselves against an impending natural disaster. Yet they must exercise caution, as a certain level of pollution will destroy the world, resulting in permadeath. On the other hand, if everyone refuses to use the environment's resources, then natural disaster will kill off all of the players.

Edo Superstar
Developer: Jed Henry
Fundraising Goal: $65,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Masaru is an arrogant monkey, but for a good reason. Pretty much no one in all of Japan can best him in a fight. After realizing that joining a ninja clan means staying on the down low, Masaru quits the gang and heads off on his own. His goal is to defeat other colorful, animal enemies on his path to Edo – and gain superstardom along the way.

Edo Superstar is likely best enjoyed on iOS and Android, as full touch-screen compatibility will be added. However, PC and Mac editions are also in the works.

Elysian Shadows
Developer: Elysian Shadow Team
Fundraising Goal: $150,000
Funds Due By: N/A

From reading the Kickstarter listing, Elysian Shadows aims to be the Shovel Knight of RPGs: an homage to a bygone era littered with frustrating mechanics alleviated with modern sensibilities. Imagine a pixelated Paper Mario aesthetic with nods to 16-bit Squaresoft RPGs like Secret of Mana, and that's the gist of this game.

Bringing together Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis inspired soundtrack with an impressive lighting system, the Elysian Shadows team wants to bring its game to PC, iOS, Android, as well as Ouya and Dreamcast. For any old-school JRPG fan, this one is definitely worth checking out.

Embers of Caerus
Developer: Forsaken Studio
Fundraising Goal: $25,000
Funds Due By: N/A 

The team creating Embers of Caerus is an international group of volunteers. That the developer is so passionate about its game that its individual are willing to go unpaid should say a lot about how amazing Embers of Caerus' potential is. At its core, Embers is an open world, MMORPG set in a living fantasy world. 

Endless Migration 2
Developer: HotAirRaccoon Games
Fundraising Goal: $8,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Endless Migration 2 is a sequel to the original mobile game, Endless Migration, in which players control a flock of birds. The sequel will set your flock of birds adrift in time, and they must be led back home to Canada.

Everspace
Developer: ROCKFISH Games
Fundraising Goal: $244,285
Funds Due By: N/A

Imagine No Man's Sky as a roguelike with more realistic graphics. You're now thinking of Everspace, a space shooter with a non-linear story and AAA quality visuals. Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of Everspace lies in its extensive upgrade system; because this title has persistent progression, players can build more and more powerful ships as they sink more time into the game. Prepare to spend hours optimizing engines, weapons, sensors, armor, and more.

Every Day Is Play
Developer: Matthew Kenyon
Fundraising Goal: £26,000
Funds Due By: N/A

While not a game, Every Day Is Play will still likely to interest gamers. The campaign is meant to fund a large collection of art inspired by games all gathered into one, hardcover book. All types of projects will be featured, from graphic design to sculptures. For those looking to fund the project, £20 nets the backer an e-book copy. For £30 or more, you can have it on your coffee table. 

Exogenesis ~Perils of Rebirth~
Developer: Kwan
Fundraising Goal: $32,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Fans of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney and Zero Escape should perk up and pay attention to Exogenesis. The game combines the traditions of adventure gaming with visual novel storytelling to tell an original tale. Set in 2069, the main characters are a young team of treasure hunters; in the course of one of their quests, the main character’s young sister is tragically killed. The subsequent story involves the quest to bring her back. Make sure and check out the fourth-wall-breaking pitch video, where the anime-inspired main characters make their case for the project, which is aiming for release on PC, Mac, and Linux.

Exoplanet: First Contact
Developer: Alersteam
Fundraising Goal: $45,000
Funds Due By: September 12, 2015

Exoplanet: First Contact, a third-person action RPG, strikes a pulpy Western tone. "As a matter of habit," says the game's hero, space cowboy Jack Sharp, "like brushing your teeth, you'll want to keep your knife always sharp." Gameplay shifts between classic shoot-em-up combat and open-world exploration, with a healthy dose of story in between. Exoplanet: First Contact's influences range from the Fallout franchise to the famous Dune book series.

The Fall of Lazarus
Developer: No Wands Studios
Funding Goal: $9,700
Funds Due By: N/A

Wandering hallways while rifling through torn-up papers may not sound like much of an adventure, unless the hallways are on an abandoned spacecraft and the papers are vital codes to keep life support running. Aided by an unusual AI and a tool known as Mnem/0z1n3, the unnamed amnesiac protagonist must investigate the USSC Lazarus and solve the mysteries of its abandonment by piecing together clues scattered throughout the cargo ship. Through hacking into terminals, completing puzzles, and finding items, maybe players will discover what happened to the crew and why the ship’s systems are failing… Maybe. 

A prologue to the game’s events was released as part of the Kickstarter campaign, and No Wand recently added new backer tiers allowing contributors to create stories or videos for the in-game app and OS system.

The Flame in the Flood
Developer: The Molasses Flood
Fundraising Goal: $150,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Developed by another studio formed in the wake of the Irrational downsizing, The Flame in the Flood imagines a post-America in which it isn’t quite clear how it came to an end (“with a bang or a whimper?” asks the Kickstarter page). The game features a soundtrack by alt-country rock artist Chuck Ragan and a storybook art style that give the appearance of an atmospheric experience.

Looting, crafting, and traversal mechanics maintain gameplay as players traverse a procedurally generated river through backwater America toward an untold end. Survival is paramount: weather, wilderness, and other survivors can present obstacles to the player’s journey. A light permadeath system in which supplies are carried over from the time of your last death gives The Flame in the Flood a “rogue-lite” tension. Check out Matt Helgeson's feature to learn more about the story behind The Flame in the Flood and its developers.

For My Brother
Developer: Crooked Tree Studios
Fundraising Goal: $150,000 (Canceled, privately funded)
Funds Due By: N/A

For My Brother is a 2.5D platformer about a young girl who transforms herself into a monster for the sake of her younger brother. Drawing inspiration from games like Shadow of the Colossus and Mega Man, Sister gains skills to navigate the environment and defeat monsters and bosses, but only at the cost of her humanity. Although For My Brother displays old-school influences in its mechanics, its Insular art style and fused Celtic/metal soundtrack set it apart from the crowd. For My Brother is in development for Windows, Mac and Linux, but Crooked Tree may bring the game to consoles through stretch goals.

Forced
Developer: BetaDwarf
Fundraising Goal: $40,000
Funds Due By: N/A

An arena combat game allowing you to team up with friends, Forced is in the top 3% of Steam Greenlight. The game allows you to rank up your character and improve weapons to deal with the increasing difficulty of each wave, described as a mix of Diablo and Left 4 Dead.  

Forsaken Fortress
Developer:Photon Productions
Fundraising Goal: $100,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Whats better than a post-apocalyptic world game? A post-apocalyptic world game with base building. In Forsaken Fortress, you'll design and upgrade a base with which to house survivors in. Maintaining the base, interacting between survivors, and scavenging for supplies in the wasteland are all integral ingredients for survival.

Friday the 13th: The Game
Developer: Gun Media
Fundraising Goal: 700,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Horror fans have begged for years for a proper Friday the 13th game, and Gun Media hopes to deliver just that. Designed as an asymmetrical, 7v1 multiplayer experience, six players control Crystal Lake counselors cooperating to survive against another player behind the mask of the machete-wielding juggernaut (played by original Jason actor, Kane Hodder). Each counselor possess unique skills and Jason boasts a variety of appropriately brutal executions like smashing heads into trees or eviscerating victims with his machete. For more on the game, check out our previous coverage. 

The Gallery: Six Elements
Developer:  Cloudhead Games
Fundraising Goal: $65,000
Funds Due By: N/A

A new game in development for the Oculus, The Gallery is an urban exploration intertwined with a secret and shrouded in uncharted mystery. You must travel into six painted portals which represent the core elements of life: Air, Water, Fire, Earth, Love and Death. Retrieve a hidden key from each portal and escape The Gallery. What begins as a typical adventure ends in a volcanic eruption of action and adventure. 

Game Developerz
Developer: Onion Squire
Fundraising Goal: £8,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Have you ever wanted to experience the struggles of game development? Well now you can, thanks to the Kickstarter for Game Developerz, a tabletop game that is all about forming your own game studio. In the game you must assemble a team of talented game designers and craft your dream game, all the while dealing with publishers, critics, and random events. The Kickstarter campaign has already reached its fundraising goal, but you can still lend your support to receive a copy of this tongue-in-cheek look at the world of game development.

Guardians Of The Rose
Developer: Broc Copeland
Fundraising Goal: $7,500
Funds Due By: N/A

Guardians of the Rose is the next in a long line of retro, 2D-inspired games that take a familiar art style and add an extra layer of beauty, such as Hyper Light Drifter – also a Kickstarter success. A 2D open-world adventure game much in the style of the Legend of Zelda series, players are allowed to choose their own ways to play the game, from which directions they explore its open-ended world, to how they tackle its main and side-quests, to whether they want to be good or evil while pursuing its ultimate objective of restoring peace to the land. The game is being designed by Broc Copeland, who’s employed members of his young family to help with development. While his wife helps with beta testing, his young son Ender acts as art director, sitting in Copeland’s lap and telling his dad what to draw “literally pixel by pixel; color by color.”

Gaymercon
Project Type: Convention
Fundraising Goal: $25,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Gaymercon is an upcoming gaming and tech convention to be held in San Francisco during the summer of 2013. It is intended to be a convention that is safe, welcoming, and celebratory of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender gamers, as well as straight allies.

Glitched
Developer: En House Studios 
Fundraising Goal: $7,500
Funds Due By: N/A

What if your video game knew you were playing it? That’s the crux of Glitched, a retro-inspired RPG by En House Studios reminiscent of the Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy series. After a glitch appears in the town of Betwixt, Glitched’s protagonist slowly begins to learn of the player’s existence. Together, an unlikely duo, you, the player, and Gus begin exploring the world of Soren, from cities to ruins, to discover what’s going on with the mysterious glitch. 

Glitched is well over its funding goal, having raised over $42,000 of its $7,500 goal. But it’s still worth checking out for its fourth wall-breaking story and “Essence System,” a mechanic that tracks the player’s choices to shape your own personality type. 

The Grifta – Morphing Gamepad
Developer: Paul Weatherstone
Fundraising Goal: £65,000
Funds Due By: N/A

This gaming controller mod aims to reinvent the way we play games. It’s made up of three units: the left part, the right part, and the middle connector. The Grifta can be dismantled and reassembled in its three-unit form, shaped into a comfortable controller optimized for the player. These different shapes include the Grifta mouse, Grifta split, and Grifta classic. What’s particularly unique is its compatibility with a gaming mouse. You can use the right or left unit as a joystick or d-pad, while your other hand holds the mouse. The gamepad features ABXY buttons, just like the Xbox controller, but has redesigned shoulder buttons for quicker access to the triggers. The buttons and D-Pad are made from mechanical components, which the Grifta team stresses are more comfortable than rubber surfaces. This controller is no longer just a prototype or concept, and has already been produced with a manufacturer. The Grifta will be compatible with Windows, Android, and PlayStation 3. Using the XIM adapter, it can also be used for PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.

Halcyon 6: Starbase Commander
Developer: Massive Damage, Inc.
Fundraising Goal: $40,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Halcyon 6 may have a rather modest Kickstarter goal attached to it, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t an ambitious game. The strategy roguelike puts players in control of a massive space station that is also the last hope for humanity. It combines a bunch of elements from some of the video game world’s most challenging games into a world inspired by classic science fiction universes like Star Trek and Star Wars.

Players’ biggest hurdle will be the brutal turn-based combat, both in space and on the ground. Backing up the fight against an overwhelming alien force, is the need to manage the Halcyon 6 space station in a manner similar to XCOM’s home base. Developer Massive Damage, Inc. has also promised a crew of characters full of personality, and that their personality will impact how the characters perform in certain situations. Topping off everything are gorgeous pixel art aliens and outer space vistas.

Heart Forth, Alicia
Developer: Alonso Martin
Fundraising Goal: $60,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Already well past its funding goal as of this writing, your interest in Heart Forth, Alicia at this point may be about looking forward to a brand new entry in the fan-favorite “Metroidvania” genre. Alternately, if you’re interested in the remaining stretch goals, your money could make them happen, including a version of the game on Wii U. Heart Forth, Alicia stars a young wizard on a quest to save her homeland. The game combines '90s-era graphics, Metroid-style exploration, and some light RPG elements for a charming aesthetic. The game also includes an intriguing second story about a real-life woman told through live-action footage – how the two stories intertwine remains to be seen. PS4, Vita, PC, Mac, and Linux releases are all currently planned.   

The Hero Trap
Developer: SmashWorx
Fundraising Goal: $25,000
Funds Due By: N/A

A fast paced dungeon crawler, The Hero Trap is a roguelike where you control three heroes and must swap between them on the fly to defeat the monsters and traps the dungeon throws at you. Only one of your heroes is "materialized" and can be harmed, while two ghost heroes follow behind in ghost form and are immune to damage. Switching between the three characters and utilizing their unique abilities is key to making progress. Developer SmashWorx is looking to bring the game to PC, Mac, Linux and consoles on the PlayStation 4 and Vita is successfully funded.

Hero-U: Rogue To Redemption
Developer: N/A
Fundraising Goal: $400,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Rogue to Redemption presents you with turn-based combat and adventure game puzzles. The character relationships are drawing comparisons to Persona games, while the story itself changes based on the way you play. 

Hex MMO Trading Card Game
Developer: Cryptozoic Entertainment
Fundraising Goal: $300,000
Funds Due By:  N/A

Hex will combine the open world feel and story of a MMORPG with the strategy and collecting aspects of a trading card game. The creators at Cryptozoic Entertainment previously published the World of Warcraft Trading Card Game, and aim to make Hex a successful new installment for the PC and Mac. Players new to collectible card games should not be intimidated to give Hex a try, as Cryptozoic aims to make the game accessible by being free to download.

Hollow Knight
Developer: Team Cherry
Fundraising Goal: $35,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Many modern games have a tendency to infantilize their audience, telling players how to complete mission objectives and quests in overbearing detail. Hollow Knight stands out in contrast, giving players little guidance and tough challenges. As the eponymous hero, players will discover their quest for themselves as they platform their way through the kingdom of Hallownest. Hollow Knight’s mechanics are indebted to classic platformers, but the game doesn’t crib their visual style. Hallownest and its inhabitants come to life in gorgeous 2D animation despite their ghastly appearances.

HomeMake
Developer: Franklin Cosgrove & Archgame
Fundraising Goal: $15,000
Funds Due By: N/A

HomeMake features a shape-shifting, endless neon cityscape of Galaxy Seed Sumimoto, an inverted planet. Sumimoto is a subjective experience, and each trip around the planet as a different denizen reveals new perspectives of the city, each reflected in the changing architecture between avatars. On top of their unique perspectives, each character has his or her own special platforming abilities, forcing players to swap between multiple characters like Kigi the robot and Sandwiches the fox to traverse all of Sumimoto. Currently planned for Windows, Mac and Linux, the developers expressed interest in releasing HomeMake on consoles, even the Dreamcast.

Hover: Revolt of Gamers
Developer: Midgar Studio
Fundraising Goal: $38,000
Funds Due By: N/A

If you’ve ever found yourself wondering why there aren’t more first-person free-running games in the style of Mirror’s Edge, you should keep an eye on Hover. The project cites Jet Set Radio and Mirror’s Edge as chief inspirations, and watching footage of the game, it’s almost exactly what you’d expect if you mashed those two games together. Players sprint and leap their way through a futuristic and colorful city in an effort to depose the reigning mayor and his anti-video game politics. The game is already funded, but several thousand more dollars will bring about a Wii U port. Midgar’s parkour game is already running in the direction of release on PS4, Xbox One, PC, Mac, and Linux. 

Idle Thumbs Podcast
Project Type: Podcast
Fundraising Goal: $30,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Idle Thumbs is a popular video game podcast that went dormant several times due to cost. The team behind the podcast wants to set up a permanent recording base for the cast, and add an additional book club series.

Infinity: Battlescape
Developer: I-Novae Studios
Fundraising Goal: $300,000
Funds Due By: N/A

This ambitious sci-fi title promises to have over 100 players facing off in massive spaceship battles in the vein of Star Wars and Battlestar: Galactica. Teams are divided into three major corporations vying for control over the many moons and planets across a seamless, true-to-scale solar system. Players pilot a slew of customizable ship types, from smaller fighters to massive destroyers, all of which look great thanks to the game’s impressive graphical prowess. Designed by a team comprised of industry vets who worked on games such as Gears of War, Unreal Tournament, and Microsoft Flight Simulator, Infinity: Battlescape looks to have the development chops to match its grandiose vision.

Jetpack 2
Developer: Adept Software
Fundraising Goal: $10,000
Funds Due By: N/A

The sequel to the 1993 shareware, Jetpack, Jetpack 2 again allows players to use the level editor to create their own trials. The game will also employ a real physics engine (unlike the first game), and will feature a soundtrack.

Kaiju Combat
Developer: Sunstone Games
Fundraising Goal: $350,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Kaiju Combat is a fighting game being developed by some of the same people who developed the 2002, 2004, and 2007 Godzilla fighting games. Kaiju Combat will be for 1-4 players, will be released on PC only initially, and will possibly incorporate the Godzilla license.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance
Developer: Warhorse Studios
Fundraising Goal: £300,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Kingdom Come: Deliverance’s developers at Warhorse Studios are sick of RPGs with elves, magic, and dragons; and they think you are too. Kingdom Come: Deliverance offers a realistic medieval fantasy game, which they liken to Braveheart. Players can play as a knight, rogue, bard, or mixture of the three as either a villain or hero. It will use a first-person combat, touted by the developer as innovative. Kingdom Come’s detailed, vibrant visuals look like it is taking advantage of the CryEngine it’s powered by. With that and its experienced developer team, this looks like an interesting game. Warhorse hopes to release its game on PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Mac, and Linux in late 2015.

Knock-knock
Developer: Ice-Pick Lodge
Fundraising Goal: $30,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Ice-Pick Lodge is creating a game based on files they claim to have mysteriously received from an anonymous person back in 2011. The game plays as a series of nights during which the main character is forced to play hide-and-seek with terrifying monsters who make their way into his house. The art is gorgeous, the monsters are sufficiently creepy, and the whole premise sounds like a real-life Creepypasta.

Kôna
Developer: Parabole
Fundraising Goal: $40,000 CAD
Funds Due By: N/A

Few games manage to make their setting a memorable character in and of itself, but Kôna's 1970 Quebec already makes a haunting impression. Explore the quiet, snowy town of Cree as private investigator Carl Faubert and unravel the mysterious disappearance of its citizens.

Labyrinth
Developer: Free Range Games
Fundraising Goal: $150,000
Funds Due By: N/A

We covered Free Range Games’ promising blend of RPG dungeon crawling and collectible card games in a more in-depth preview, but the developer still hasn’t quite met its goal. Taking a page from Hearthstone, Free Range Games is planning on a player-friendly free-to-play model that allows you to earn every card in the game without spending real money. Those cards contain new party members, the attacks, spells, and equipment that they use during the turn-based tactical combat, and even monsters you can use to design and defend your own dungeon – the  asynchronous multiplayer allows you to create the perfect defense deck to protect your lair while you’re away from the game, giving the PVP a single-player feel.

Lacuna Passage
Developer: Random Seed Games
Fundraising Goal: $40,000
Funds Due By:  N/A

Jessica Rainer is the sole survivor of a crash landing on Mars. As the player, your objective is to carry out the Heracles mission: to investigate the disappearance of the first crew who traveled to the planet. Uncover audio recordings, documents, and take pictures of your findings to aid your investigation. Using satellite data, Lacuna Passage’s environments are based off of the actual topography of Mars. Lacuna Passage is planned for PC, Mac, and Linux release in December 2014.

The Last Door, Episodic Horror Adventure
Developer: Alejo AC
Fudraising Goal: £3,852
Funds Due By: N/A

The Last Door is an atmospheric, episodic, horror adventure game with orchestral music used to heighten the mood. Set in the late 19th century, the story draws inspirations from H.P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allen Poe, focusing on a character who arrives at an old friend's house to find that something is seriously wrong in Sussex County. Following the pilot episode, the developer hopes to continue the story with more episodes.

Last Life
Developer: Sam Farmer/Rocket Science
Fundraising Goal: $75,000
Funds Due By: N/A

There’s still a little time left to put some money towards Last Life, a science-fiction game with noir overtones. The player controls a detective who was murdered but then 3D printed back to life to solve his own murder, which leads to a wide-ranging conspiracy. This initial Kickstarter is meant to support the crafting of the first of three episodes in the storyline, which cites Kentucky Route Zero and The Walking Dead as storytelling inspirations. The game is getting a helping hand from Double Fine in distribution, and is targeting a release on PC, Mac, and Linux. Help the team reach the next stretch goals to add additional voiceover work throughout the game. 

The Last Time
Developer: Big Cow Studios
Fundraising Goal: $6,208
Funds Due By: N/A

The Last Time isn’t shy about its influences. True to the campaign’s headline, the short demo evokes Quantic Dream and Telltale Games in spades. This narrative-driven point and click adventure focuses on smart dialogue, nonlinear plotting, and interpersonal relationships. Dialogue trees branch out depending on player choices. The decision to say something seemingly innocuous, for example, might have repercussions further down the road. Players assume the role of Jack Glover, a retired police officer traumatized by a crime from decades before. A surprise phone call from his old life drags him back into the modern world where Jack must fight his flaws or give into them, depending on player choice. The Last Time is a one-man project that’s a love letter to both old-school point-and-click adventures and modern, branching storytelling.

Legend Of Dungeon
Developer: RobotLovesKitty
Fundraising Goal:$5,000
Funds Due by: N/A

RobotLovesKitty's game features pixel art in a rogue-like, 4-player beat 'em up. The combat tends toward arcade classics like TMNT and X-Men, while the 1-player permadeath mode sets it aprt from those. The constantly generated content means hours of exploration and replayability, especially with up to three friends tagging along.  

Leisure Suit Larry
Developer: Replay Games
Fundraising Goal: $500,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Replay Games secured the rights to the Leisure Suit Larry series and intends to make a "reloaded" version by updating and rewriting content from games 1-7.

Lightspeed Frontier 
Developer: Riveted Games
Fundraising Goal: $2,500
Funds Due By: N/A

This ship-building open world simulator allows players to use materials found in space to craft ships used for battling and exploring alike. Collecting modules for your ship allows a greater variety of ship classes, which in turn unlocks more missions and areas to explore. When battling other ships, knocking components off their build allows you to fly up and attach them to your own ship if you're quick enough. Mining is also a key aspect of ship-building, and material-rich asteroids can be extracted and then either sold or crafted into new pieces for your ship. You can currently try out a demo on IndieDB here.    

Lilly Looking Through
Developer: Geeta Games
Fundraising Goal: $18,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Lilly Looking Through is a point-and-click adventure with all hand-drawn backgrounds. Some of the people working on the development team have previously worked on the Harry Potter, Alice in Wonderland, Bolt, and the Chronicles of Narnia films.

Lioness
Developer: Zak Ayles
Fundraising Goal: $7,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Lioness has the ambitious goal of making the player question the complexities of human nature, connectedness, and existence. The trailer is simple but flashes questions with more intricacies than their basic syntax implies: If you could live your life again, would you change anything? Would you change who you are? Would you become a different person? Would you still be you? Who are you?

Whether or not Lioness aims to answer any of these questions for protagonist Egger Kirby is unclear. But with the promise of a non-linear, complex narrative, it certainly looks worth a try. Lioness is planned for a PC, and possibly Mac, release.

Long Night
Developer: Trickster Face
Fundraising Goal: $10,000 CAD
Funds Due By: N/A

Inspired by the original Resident Evil, Silent Hill 2, and similar titles, developer Trickster Face hopes to recreate their classic survival horror feel with Long Night. Like the others mentioned, Long Night is a third-person game. It takes place at a summer camp where players take control of a teenager named David searching for his lost friends. During David’s ordeal, players will confront monsters, uncover secrets, and do their best to keep him sane. Anyone interested can try out a demo version of the game and find more information on the Trickster Face website. According to the developer, work on Long Night is already halfway done, and the game will be released regardless of the campaign’s success. Additional funding will help the developer make it a more polished game, however. Long Night is expected to release in May 2014, on PC, Mac, and Linux, as well as PSN and XBLA at a later date.

The Lords Of Rock
Developer: Dave Killingsworth
Funding Goal: $8,500
Funds Due By: N/A

The Lords of Rock is redefining the phrase ‘Battle of the Bands.’ This tabletop game will let players form a band with prominent figures from a wide variety of mythologies and legends. Anubis, Athena, and Odin are just a few of the characters already confirmed in this crazy card-based game. Players will select their pantheon and band members, then do battle to capture the most souls by rocking each venue. Stretch goals for the project will add a Chinese pantheon, elder gods, and even more venues. 

Lumbermancer
Developer: Roger Biersborn
Fundraising Goal: $15
Funds Due By: June 25, 2016

Lumbermancer is an interesting case as far as Kickstarter campaigns go, because, well, the game is already finished. Its creator, Roger Biersborn, is using the platform more or less as a means for distribution and advertising for his game. Players will have to simultaneously control two characters, the Lumbermancer and the small logs that can do his bidding, through a 2D adventure. The ultimate goal in Lumbermancer is to get the Lumbermancer to a sandwich. According to the game’s Kickstarter page, the stakes are low, it’s just lunchtime. That being said, the journey will be dangerous and the Lumbermancer will have to rely on his log companions to help him fight ghosts, monsters, and even the devil, which try to block his way. According to Biersborn, the risks behind funding Lumbermancer are pretty slim. “The game is done! The rewards are made and ready to ship! So you won't have to wait a long time, and unless I die, you'll get everything for sure!” he writes.

Malevolence: The Sword of Ahkranox
Developer: N/A
Fundraising Goal: $6000
Funds Due By: N/A

This turn-based fantasy RPG is an homage to classic PC RPGs like Eye of the Beholder and Might & Magic. Filled with plenty of dungeon crawling and questing, the project boasts a goal to have an infinite, persistent game world.

The Mandate
Developer: Perihelion Interactive LLC
Fundraising Goal: $500,000
Funds Due By: N/A

A sci-fi RPG, The Mandate casts players in the role of a starship captain, in the command of the Mandate’s empress, recently crowned following the death of her father. Players can reclaim the rebelling fringe worlds and find the Mandate’s grand fleet, as the empress commands, or disregard her orders by joining another faction entirely. Alliances notwithstanding, players’ behavior and choices may affect their reputation and relationships. Drawing inspiration from series like Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, and Firefly, The Mandate emphasizes the personal roles played by your ship and her crew, as your home and family respectively. The Mandate can be played alone or cooperatively with up to six players, and is planned for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Those interested can try out the game’s interactive prologue and ship designer on its Kickstarter page.

Mark of the Old Ones
Developer:  Hit the Sticks
Fundraising Goal: $46,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Only a few days remain if you want to fund a game that combines the gameplay traditions of Metroid and the storytelling milieu of H.P. Lovecraft’s horror fiction. The story revolves around controlling a powerful being named Mogal that must delve into the mysterious caverns under the mountain once built in worship of an ancient being called Kraal. Mark of the Old Ones offers a twist on the classic exploration game, as your character navigates the world using strange dark tendrils that reach out to grab the environment and swing around. Hit the Sticks' unusual but intriguing game is headed to 64-bit PC and Linux. 

Max Gentlemen
Developer: The Men Who Wear Many Hats
Fundraising Goal: $500
Funds Due By: N/A

Max Gentlemen is an arcade-style game that revolves around hat-stacking, something its aptly-named developer explains is the result of manners taken to the extreme. This Kickstarter campaign has already met its fundraising goal many times over, but there are still a number of stretch goals that haven’t been reached. Max Gentleman is planned as a free game for iOS, Android, Ouya, PC, Mac, and Linux. The Men Who Wear Many Hats does hope to sell extra content in the future, but stresses that the full game will be available free of charge.

Mercenary Kings
Developer: Tribute Games
Fundraising Goal: $75,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Mercenary Kings is a 2D action game with platforming and crafting elements, created by several members of the team that developed Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game. Weapons are fully customizable, and local 4-player co-op is available. The game will be published on PC.

Mechrunner
Developer: Spark Plug Games
Fundraising Goal: $25,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Spark Plug Games is behind this transforming robotic battle game, in which players navigate an endless series of arcade action fights. At first glance, the game calls to mind endless runners, in which you’re constantly surging forward along a static track. The difference here is that your transforming mech robot regularly encounters things that need to be blown up with heat-seeking missiles and lasers. If all goes well, Mechrunner will charge into battle on PS4, Vita, and Steam. 

Mediocre Monster
Developer: Opal Squad
Fundraising Goal: $50,000
Funds Due By: N/A

There’s no sympathy for JRPG monsters. Slimes are obliterated at the beginning of Dragon Quest without remorse, eerily smiling as Level 1 heroes plunge them into the void with a cheap copper sword. It seems depressing, but the genocide of early RPG creatures isn’t as bleak as it seems. The Bestiary is a company that employs random-encounter monsters who pretend to die for protagonists. You work your way up the corporate ladder, moving from the tutorial forest to a palette-swapped monster who is only marginally stronger. Mediocre Monster is a creative take on what it’s like to be on the other side of turn-based RPG combat. 

Meriwether: An American Epic
Developer: Sortasoft LLC
Fundraising Goal: $35,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Based on the titular explorer and his companion William Clark, An American Epic tasks you with forming the Corps of Discovery. Over the course of the historic 28-month journey, you'll lead this band of hunters, explorers, and interpreters on a mission to find an all-water route across the country, form good relations with Native Americans, and map the area as well. The game splits your time between "Lewis" and "Travel" mode. "Lewis" mode will allow you to hunt and interact with characters, while "Travel" requires you to complete part of the famous expedition.

Midora
Developer: Epic Minds
Fundraising Goal: $60,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Many Kickstarter games are homages to classic NES and SNES titles, and this action-adventure game is no different. In Midora, you explore the eponymous world as a white-haired young girl named Snow in Legend of Zelda fashion: descend into dungeons, collect items, and defeat bosses. Snow can also craft new items and potions and manipulate water for magic spell attacks and interacting with the environment. Epic Minds hopes to bring Midora to Windows, Mac and Linux, and possibly consoles and mobile devices should it reach its stretch goals.

Möira
Developer: Onagro Studios
Fundraising Goal: $13,225
Funds Due By: N/A

Möira (not to be confused with Barry’s daughter from Resident Evil Revelations 2) is a retro platformer molded to fit the aesthetics of the Game Boy Color. Made by the Brazilian independent developer Onagro Studios, Möira follows the adventures of Rubick, a student mage with the worst grades at his magic school. His master inexplicably goes missing, and now Rubick must travel through Magic Kingdoms in search of his teacher. Möira takes more than a few pages from the likes of Cave Story, Ori and the Blind Forest, and other gear-gated exploration titles. The game has already been Greenlit by Steam’s community, and asks for a modest amount of money in comparison to other titles on the list.

Monochroma
Developer: Nowhere Studios
Fundraising Goal: $80,000
Funds Due By: N/A

This puzzle platformer is faithful to its namesake in stylistic quality; stark black, blurry gray, and only a splash or two of crimson make up the palette. The game takes place in a dystopian world in which you must care for your little brother. To get him through obstacles is a challenge, as you can’t leave him behind, but carrying him has other limitations. Monochroma looks like a mixture of Limbo’s style and some of Ico’s gameplay mechanics that come along with caring for a companion— not a bad combination at all. Monochroma is coming to PC, Mac, and Linux with possible later releases for Ouya, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.

MyDream
Developer: MyDream Interactive
Fundraising Goal: $100,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Taking ideas from MMOs and real-world activities like geocaching, MyDream will allow players to build and design their own quests and environments for others to share and explore using 3D creation tools. The developer is looking to promote cooperation rather than competition, and as a result your character will gain experience by exploring, building, and cooperating with others as opposed to defeating monsters. A pledge of $5 grants you access to the game’s beta and additional support grants various in-game items.

Narita Boy
Developer: Studio Koba
Funding Goal: $126,371
Funds Due By: N/A

Bursting with retro sci-fi personality, Narita Boy oozes ‘80s flair. From surfing through the air on a floppy disc to the evil antagonists forming their own band, this 2D sidescroller creates a weird, charming world for players to explore. Starring Narita Boy, a famous video game character come to life in the Digital Kingdom, players must stand against dark beings known as The Stallions who are trying to conquer the kingdom. Wielding the legendary Techno Sword, the eponymous hero must platform, battle, and ride his way through the futuristic landscape on his quest to protect not just the digital world, but the real world as well. Studio Koba plans to release Narita Boy for PC, with stretch goals for ports on PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One as well.

Nelly Cootalot: The Fowl Fleet
Developer: Alasdair Beckett-King
Fundraising Goal: £ 15,000
Funds Due By:  N/A

Follow pirate Nelly in her mission to overtake Baron Widebeard and his bird minions in this point and click adventure for PC/Mac/Linux. With a hand-drawn, colorful world also comes over 45 original characters and almost as many locations to explore. Though The Fowl Fleet is a sequel, it is still accessible to new players. For those who want to know more about Nelly, the first game is free to play. 

Nelo
Developer:  Magic & Mirrors
Fundraising Goal: $25,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Calling Nelo “fast-paced” is an understatement. Even adjectives like frenetic, breakneck, and frenzied don’t seem to do the twitchy shooter justice. Nelo takes place in a grim sci-fi setting where a race of aliens war with their own A.I. creations. You use four levitating robotic hands to shoot enemies as you pop the perspective back and forth between third-person combat and twin-stick shooting similar to Geometry Wars. If you’re curious how Nelo actually plays, you can check out a pre-alpha demo on the game’s Kickstarter page. 

Neptune Flux
Developer: Zoxide Games
Fundraising Goal: $8,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Developer Zoxide Games has called Neptune Flux a classic point-and-click for the modern age, which means at first glance it may not seem like a point-and-click at all. Neptune Flux takes place entirely within the dark depths of the true final frontier: the bottom of the ocean. Players take control of a character named Sarah as she completes tasks deep underwater for a mysterious corporation called A.Q.U.A. Neptune Flux combines classical point-and-click style world interaction with dark, undersea exploration, and a sprawling narrative that continues to unwind as Sarah explores deeper and deeper. Set in a future where the surface of the Earth has become dry and almost unlivable, Neptune Flux delivers a curious dose of story-driven undersea exploration as Sarah tries to both cope with her own past decisions and do her job as an A.Q.U.A. employee. As you’d expect, the corporation’s true intentions are less than pure and Sarah must do her own exploration to uncover the company’s real motives. Neptune Flux seems like a project that sets out to create an amazing world without being unrealistically ambitious. It’s hard not to be interested in this project when it lists inspirations like Fallout, Myst, and LucasArts era point-and-clicks. 

NightCry
Developer: Playism Games
Fundraising Goal: $300,000
Funds Due By: February 23, 2015

The creator of the Clock Tower series, Hifumi Kono, and The Grudge director, Takashi Shimizu, are teaming up to bring to life the Japanese-inspired horror game Night Cry. The game is a result of Kono wishing to return to his horror/adventure roots. This 3D point-and-click game puts you on a luxurious cruise that takes an ugly turn as passengers are murdered left and right. Investigating objects, rooms, and clues will slowly lead you towards the culprit. As you search, however, a terrifying dark presence known as the Scissorwalker stalks the hallways, wielding giant scissor blades. Your cellphone can be used to communicate and discover other survivors, but its ringtone can attract the Scissorwalker’s attention.

Nintendo Entertainment System/Famicom: A Visual Compendium
Developer: Bitmap Books
Fundraising Goal: $36,733
Funds Due By: N/A

Though already funded, we felt it was worth including this upcoming book because it’s just really cool. Bitmap Books’ unofficial book covers the history of the Nintendo Entertainment System, and its tentpole games, such as The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Double Dragon, and over 100 more. The book features high-quality glossy photos and art, as well as a forward by Kevin Bayless, an ex-Rare developer currently working on Yooka Laylee. Bitmap Books has done similar releases for the Commodore 64, the Commodore Amiga, and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum.

Novus AEterno
Developer: Taitale Studios
Fundraising Goal: $75,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Novus AEterno is an ambitious MMO RTS game from developer Taitale Studios, which plans on making it the largest strategy game to date. Generous investor donations allowed Taitale to cancel the game’s first Kickstarter campaign, and launch this second one with a much lower fundraising goal. In just over four days, the relaunched campaign achieved base funding, and is now focused on stretch goals. Novus AEterno has players start with a home planet, which they’ll never lose, and expand their empire across the universe. The game features sandbox gameplay and a seamless world, hosting all players on a single universal map. Players can influence one another, and make choices that could have in-game consequences even in the far future. Check out the game’s Kickstarter page and website for more information. Novus Aeterno is planned only for Windows at the moment, but Taitale is exploring the possibility of Mac OSX and Linux support.

Nubuwo Summer Bundle
Project Type: CD Soundtrack
Fundraising Goal: $8,000
Funds Due By: N/A

This game music project is aiming to craft a 2-CD soundtrack for the online browser game Rokko Chan, including both music from the game and new original tracks by eight participating composers.

Obduction
Developer: Cyan, Inc.
Fundraising Goal: $1,100,000
Funds Due By: N/A

It’s been twenty years since the release of Myst, a game that’s most famous for its immersive environments, and its influence on the graphic adventure genre. The game spawned a franchise, with Cyan, Inc. as developer for most of the entries, including Myst and its sequel Riven. Now they' working on Obduction, which isn’t a sequel, but is inspired by the Myst experience. Cyan is designing Obductiion with the intent of evoking many of the same feelings felt by first-time Myst players. Obduction is planned for PC and Mac.

Olympia Rising
Developer: Paleozoic
Fundraising Goal: $10,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Olympia Rising is a 16-bit platformer with a heavy emphasis on jumping all over the screen. You play as Iola, a hero who resides in the Fields of Asphodel. She awakes during a purge of the Underworld, and sets off on a quest to rejoin the living world. To do this, you must fight your way through the many stages of the Underworld and then visit the Olympic throne room to meet Zeus. Olympia Rising has a fun, fast-paced soundtrack and looks similar to old school Castlevania games, but with a greater sense of mobility. Paleozoic includes the link to a demo on their Kickstarter page if you’d like to try before pledging money to its campaign. 

Orion Trail
Developer: Schell Games
Fundraising Goal: $90,000
Funds Due By: March 12, 2015

This game is a reference to the old-school, educational game Oregon Trail in every possible way, but replaces 1800s America with a futuristic space adventure. In the game, you start by picking out a suitable ship, and then you can choose from a selection of captains, one being Cymric Manx, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Grumpy Cat. As you venture through the galaxy, your crew will respond to different prompts that can be either hazardous or positive for your team. How should you investigate this black hole? Should you attack the oncoming, possibly hostile aliens? There are also mysterious illnesses and ailments that can overcome your team. Orion Trail puts those difficult choices in your capable Space Captain hands. Each decision has consequences, often pulling at your resources such as food or fuel, or adding to them. Stretch goals include the inclusion of a new mini-game, new playable Lieutenants and Captains such as the Fabulons (in all their well-groomed, perfect hair glory), and twice the amount of random space encounters. Orion Trail is planning a PC, Mac, and Linux release, and currently offers a free demo on its Kickstarter page.

The Orphan
Developer: Windy Hill Studio
Fundraising Goal: $32,000
Funds Due By: March 2, 2015

The Orphan is a platformer that looks and feels like a mix of Limbo and Another World. It has mostly monochrome colors, unique lighting, and dark silhouettes, creating an eerie look that resembles old photographs. However, unlike Limbo, there are no puzzles. Instead, The Orphan focuses on stealth, exploration, and combat. Several in-game items can be used against enemies, such as grenades and laser guns. Playing as a young boy, you venture through the barren world as the sole survivor of an alien invasion. Be careful with every step, because you never know what human-killing machine is around the corner. The project is slated for PC, Mac, Linux, and Steam, but if the stretch goal of $36,000 is achieved, the team will be bringing the game to PlayStation 4.

Oscar
Developer: Team Sharkeye
Fundraising Goal: $40,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Oscar is a side-scrolling platform that puts players in the shoes of a young girl and her elephant companion Flynn. As the two go on adventures through Oscar’s daydreams, hints of the girl’s painful reality begin to creep in. The developers promise that Oscar is all about experiencing the story for yourself and putting the pieces together – they will never tell the player what exactly is going on or how to feel about it. Team Sharkeye is planning to release the game on PC.

Our Darker Purpose
Developer: Avidly Wild Games
Fundraising Goal: $40,000
Funds Due By: N/A

If Tim Burton and William Golding collaborated on a game project they would make Our Darker Purpose. This title offers more than just an eerie atmosphere and a Lord of the Flies-like story, though. Our Darker Purpose combines elements of RPGs and adventure titles to bring a unique experience. Play as young Cordy, as she navigates through the Edgewood Home for Lost Children as the students have taken over the school. Find the administrators at the top of the school to discover the secret behind the disappearance of all the adults.

OUYA
Project Type: Console
Fundraising Goal: $950,000
Funds Due By: N/A

OUYA is a new console powered by Android. It will be completely open in terms of software development (anyone can publish to it), and hardware hacking (which won't void your warranty). Developers like the creator of Prince of Persia and companies like Mojang and thatgamecompany have expressed their excitement for its possibilities and its potential competitiveness in the console market.

Overfall
Developer: Pera Games 
Fundraising Goal: $65,000
Funds Due By: N/A

One of the more ambitious roguelike titles in recent memory, Overfall's procedurally generated world is massive and dynamic, with the ruling factions changing based on how the player interacts with them. This game also features hand-drawn art for more than 80 characters and over 100 locations along with interactive story encounters and a handful of character classes.

Pankapu: The Dreamkeeper
Developer: Too Kind Studios
Fundraising Goal: $44,130
Funds Due By: N/A

Blending action, platforming, and role-playing, Pankapu appears to be as imaginative as it is colorful. Inspired by Lakota culture, Final Fantasy, and scored by Secret of Mana composer Hiroki Kikuta, Pankapu puts players in the diminutive boots of Djaha’Rell, a knight out to protect his world from the invading Nightmares. Equipped with three uniquely-powered sets of armor that can be swapped on the fly, players leap and hack their way across an expansive, beautifully illustrated 2D world. Pankapu is planned to be an episodic adventure, and players can take it for a spin by downloading the game’s alpha. 

Paper Sorcerer
Developer: UltraRunawayGames
Fundraising Goal: $5,000
Funds Due By: N/A

A visually innovative RPG inspired by games like Wizardry, Paper Sorcerer casts the player in the role of a rogue sorcerer aiming to escape from a book in which he has been trapped by enemy heroes. Players can summon forth monsters to fight as part of their party, and the game includes both battle and puzzle elements.

Party Golf
Developer: Giant Margarita
Fundraising Goal: $10,173
Funds Due By: N/A

Party Golf is a golf game. Okay, before you pass out from overexcitement, consider that the game takes inspiration from other competitive “sports” titles like Sports Friends and Nidhogg. Two to four players swing their ball in a procedurally generated course, completely customizable in all aspects. According to the developer, there’s over a trillion possible combinations, including changing your ball into a giant rectangle, your course being shrouded in darkness, and various ball power-ups. If that wasn’t good enough, the game also features local competitive multiplayer.

Pathfinder Online
Developer: Goblinworks Inc.
Fundraising Goal: $1,000,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Pathfinder Online is designed to encourage human interaction between players. Economics, politics, and diplomacy will all play a huge part in this fantasy world. Originally a tabletop RPG, Pathfinder's world promises exploration and warfare in addition to player interaction. The tabletop RPG roots are influencing much of the character progression, a staple of MMOs. The fundraising goal is massive, but the developer is well on its way to the finish line.

Perception
Developer:  The Deep End Games
Fundraising Goal: $150,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Horror games are an art, not a science, and the guys at The Deep End Games are in the middle of painting one creepy portrait. Perception exists as a horror narrative adventure brought to you by some of the developers behind BioShock and Dead Space. The first -person game starts with a familiar premise: You play as Cassie, a young girl exploring an abandoned estate trying to discover why the house has been plaguing her dreams. The twist? Cassie is blind and uses sound to see. Everything in the house is hidden beneath a layer of darkness until the sound of Cassie’s footsteps, her walking stick, or sounds within the environment reveal the world to her. Players must balance the need to “see” with the urgent need to stay quiet and hide from the dark presence stalking Cassie within the walls of the estate at Echo Bluff. 

Pier Solar HD
Developer: WaterMelon Co.
Fundraising Goal: $139,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Originally designed for the Sega Mega Drive and Sega Genesis, Pier Solar HD follows the character Hoston on a quest to save his ill father. Claiming to be the largest 16-bit RPG ever, the game promises a massive world with 50+ hours of gameplay. Original enemies, weapons, characters, combat system, and an original score promise that this game could be the new coming of 16-bit adventures.

Pine
Developer: Twirlbound
Funding Goal: $106,540
Funds Due By: N/A

If humans hadn’t made it to the top of the food chain, who would have? Pine, a 3D adventure game, envisions a world where animals, unchallenged by humans, dominated the evolutionary race and developed tools, languages, and cultures all their own. 

As Hue, a young human, players must search the island of Albamare for a new home where the remaining members of the human species can live in peace and safety. Developer Twirlbound aims to deliver a completely unique experience to each player of Pine through dynamic AI and choice progression. In addition to the effects of being befriended, sabotaged, or ignored by players, animal tribes will migrate, form alliances, or go to war with each other independent of players’ actions. This means that events in an area across the map can still impact players’ experiences, making each playthrough different. Twirlbound plans to release Pine for PC, with hopes to bring it to consoles in the future.

Pixel Press: Draw Your Own Video Game
Developer: Robin @ Roundthird
Fundraising Goal: $100,000
Funds Due By:  N/A

Pixel Press is exactly what its title says. Draw out your design for a level on a printable graph paper sheet, snap a picture with an iOS device, and play your level. Drawing and video games –  what’s not to love?

Pixelsphere – A Musical Adventure
Developer: Alex Smith
Fundraising Goal: $5,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Alex Smith, the musician behind The Cynic Project, is the creator of Pixelsphere, a classic platformer that involves music as an essential element. Pixelsphere features dynamic music generation, so the soundtrack changes depending on how the game is played. Pixelsphere takes place in the land of Hexatonia, a brightly colored land with an omnipresent melody in the air. Players control Axl as he travels through Hexatonia in search of his missing father, a Hexatonian anthropologist. The game is already playable, and funds from the Kickstarter campaign will go to hiring artists, contracting developers, and paying for the software Smith needs to finish it. Pixelsphere – A Musical Adventure is planned for PC and Mac OSX, with an estimated release date of September 2014. Smith is exploring the possibility of porting the game to other platforms, including iOS, Android, and Ouya once the PC and Mac versions are finished.

Planet Explorers
Developer:  Pathea Games
Fundraising Goal: $100,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Planet Explorers puts you in the midst of the year 2287. Earth has reached out into space. One of the first colony ships is sent out to the planet Maria. As it lands, something happens and the ship crashes into the planet. A minimal number of survivors make it to the planet on life boats, and they find a world flooded with hungry creatures. Players must explore this new, dangerous world, gather food to survive, build shelters to live, fight creatures off, and dominate the planet in order to establish a new home.

Planets³
Developer: Cubical Drift
Fundraising Goal: $250,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Combine Elder Scrolls-style character progression with the voxel-based world of Minecraft and you get Planets³ (pronounced planets cube). The game lets players explore their own cube world, fighting monsters, leveling up craftsmen, and meeting local inhabitants before setting off to explore a galaxy filled with even more planets. Your character grows more powerful as they perform actions, with sprinting increasing your stamina capacity while wielding heavier weapons increases your strength over time. Planets³ will also feature quests, dungeons, and boss monsters to conquer and defeat. And of course, being heavily inspired by Minecraft, there are countless items, weapons, and vehicles which can be created to suit the player's needs.

Prismata
Developer: Lunarch Studios
Fundraising Goal: $140,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Developed by PhD-level MIT students, Prismata is an unconventional project that blends elements from card games and real-time strategy titles, yet doesn’t lay claim to either label. Aesthetically, it looks like a card game, but there are no decks to be found. Instead, players get their units on the field by spending resources, which they farm during the matches. Both you and your opponent share the same pool of randomly selected units to choose from too, so if you’re defeated with a trump card, you only have yourself to blame for not using it first.

Lunarch has crammed Prismata full of content; players can partake in standard duels, customize their units with cosmetic items, stream their matches, and play an episodic campaign spanning over 40 missions. What’s more, the developer plans to update the game with new units and tweaks every month. If you want try a match for yourself, check out the demo on the Prismata website.

Project Giana
Developer: Black Forest Games
Fundraising Goal: $150,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Project Giana is the placeholder title for the followup to the original 1987 Great Giana Sisters, a Mario parody game that was eventually pulled off the shelves by Nintendo's legal arm (though a DS version was released in 2009). Project Giana is a platformer that asks players to control two different Gianas; one's cute and the other's a punk. Players can also switch between the nightmare world and the dream world in order to solve puzzles.

Project Lodus
Developer: Leviathan Interactive
Fundraising Goal: $50,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Project Lodus is a co-op action RPG set in a pseudo-post-apocalyptic cyberpunk world. The game will feature a loot system and its combat will be choreographed for multiple action sequences. Player-characters begin their stories at age 15 and progressively get older as the game continues.

Project Maiden
Developer: Kevin B. Cole
Fundraising Goal: $9,600
Funds Due By: N/A

In most games, you gain more powers, level-ups, armor, equipment, etc. as you work through them. Project Maiden aims for the opposite. In this title, you start off as the most powerful version of the protagonist, Imogen. Each level Imogen must give up a power as she works toward fighting the final boss to retain her sanity and save her own life. Project Maiden is planned for PC. Other platforms such as Mac, Linux, and Ouya are also a possibility.

Project Nimbus
Developer: GameCrafterTeam/Kiss Ltd.
Fundraising Goal: £6,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Project Nimbus is a mech action game being developed by GameCrafterTeam with the help of Kiss Ltd., a digital distribution-management agency. The story plays out in the late 21st century, and mankind must live in flying cities due to a war that rendered Earth’s surface uninhabitable. Players control an agile, high-flying, heavily armed mech called a “BattleFrame,” which they’ll use to combat legions of others. Nimbus features free-flight, so players can soar across the devastated planet and experience Earth’s day-night cycle and changing weather. They’ll also be able to replay any cleared missions with other BattleFrames encountered during the story mode. The developer is completely focused on the single-player campaign right now, but multiplayer could be added in the future. The highest reward tier is just £25. Project Nimbus is currently planned for a PC release only, unless the campaign reaches its £7,000 Mac stretch goal. 

Project Phoenix
Developer: Creative Intelligence Arts, Inc.
Fundraising Goal: $100,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Project Phoenix has a ton of experienced developers at its helm, including professionals who have worked on Final Fantasy, L.A. Noire, and Valkyria Chronicles. The famous composer Nobuo Uematsu is even attached to the project. Project Phoenix will be a combination of RTS and JRPG, and has already gained a lot of attention in the Kickstarter community as the first game projects from Japan. You can read more about Project Phoenix here. 

Pro Wrestling X 
Developer: Wrestling Gamers United
Fundraising Goal: $6,400
Funds Due By: N/A

Pro Wrestling X looks to return to the glory days of wrestling games like WWF No Mercy on the N64. The developers aim to craft a game that is open and moddable, giving gamers the freedom and tools to create and share new content. The base game is modest, matching its modest funding goal, and will come with one arena, two playable fighters, a variety of wrestling moves and controller support. Already reaching its goal, the developers are toying with stretch goals such as character customization and new arenas. Pro Wrestling X will be released on PC, Linux, and Mac.

Pulse
Developer:  Team Pixel Pi
Fundraising Goal: $75,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Pulse is a first-person survival game set against a world that can only be discovered by sound. You are basically blind like a bat, and you use something like echolocation to make your way around. Using the sounds and reverberations, you can map out your surroundings. Using visual memories from when they were younger (and not blind), the player can use these memories to help them map out their environment. Creatures both kind and cruel are present and will either aid your journey or slow you down.

Quiplash
Developer: Jackbox Games
Fundraising Goal: $15,000
Funds Due By: N/A

The team at Jackbox Games has been making the wildly popular You Don’t Know Jack series of trivia games for years, but they hit a massive homerun last year with the release of the Jackbox Party Pack. The quirky collection of games, particularly new creations Fibbage and Drawful, were an instant hit. The games also became a go-to option for streamers on Twitch who were searching for a way to get their audiences involved in the show. Quiplash is partially a response to the Twitch community, while also being a simple and brilliant idea for a party game. Two players are given a prompt to submit answers on their phones, and those answers are then judged by as many people as the players can coordinate – whether that’s a stream full of fans or a room full of friends.

Rain World
Developer: Joar Jakobsson and James Primate
Fundraising Goal: $25,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Rain World is a platformer where you play as a Slugcat, a character more adorable than the name would suggest. Rain World takes place in a world constantly barraged by rain so tremendous that creatures frequently hibernate; only waking up to hunt for brief periods so they can survive. Slugcats are in the middle of the food chain, so you will need to both hunt and avoid being hunted by other predators. There is an unnerving atmosphere just going off the Kickstarter video, and the soundtrack really helps build that up. It’s not surprising this game has already more than doubled its funding goal, between the adorable character and the dark world it inhabits. Even though it is well past its goal, there are still backer rewards available.

Ray's The Dead
Developer: Ragtag Studio
Fundraising Goal: $30,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Ragtag studios has an impressive track record; the team's credits include Halo Wars, Thief: Deadly Shadows, and Stubbs the Zombie. Together, they want to make a game akin to Pikmin with classic adventure game brand of humor.

You play as Ray, both in human and undead form, as you try to piece together how he came to be zombified. Along the way, you'll recruit zombies to your cause (by infecting the unsuspecting living), each with their own abilities, all the while listening to the synth sounds of musical artists like Shovel Knight's Jake Kaufman and admiring the hand-drawn characters.

Rebuild: Gangs of Deadsville
Developer: Sarah Northway
Fundraising Goal: $25,000 CAD
Funds Due By: N/A

Rebuild: Gangs of Deadsville is the third entry in Sarah Northway’s well-liked Rebuild series, following the free Flash game Rebuild and Rebuild mobile on iOS and Android.  Like its predecessors, Gangs of Deadsville tasks players with finding and recruiting survivors of a zombie apocalypse, but this time the goal is to not only survive the zombie hordes, but to resurrect human civilization as well. Although the campaign has already met its initial funding goal, there are also several stretch goals to shoot for. Rebuild: Gangs of Deadsville is planned for iOS and Android, in addition to Steam distribution for PC and Mac.

Regalia: Of Men and Monarchs
Developer: Pixelated Milk
Fundraising Goal: $40,000
Funds Due By: N/A

In Regalia: Of Men and Monarchs, players take control of a young ruler named Kay who, upon returning to his domain, finds the lands in ruin and a massive debt accrued in his name. Regalia prides itself on telling a story without falling back on larger-than-life scenarios or typical JRPG character tropes. Combat is handled on an isometric grid, featuring distinctly designed and hand-drawn characters and environments. Outside of battle, players are encouraged to build relationships with NPC characters throughout their party and hometown, which provides bonuses throughout gameplay. Regalia is directly inspired by games like Disgaea and Persona, but manages to take elements from both games while maintaining its own unique look and feel.

The Repopulation
Developer: Above and Beyond Technologies
Fundraising Goal: $25,000
Funds Due By: N/A

This MMORPG is set on a colonized planet where humanity is under attack, both from each other and the indigenous lifeforms. The game is built to allow player choice both in and out of combat, and both the skill and mission systems are being built with an eye toward innovating away from the MMO norm.

Republique
Developer: Camouflaj/Logan
Fundraising Goal: $500,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Ryan Payton and the team at Camouflaj and Logan hope to create a triple-A console experience on mobile devices with their stealth game, Republique. Hope is a young woman desperate to escape from a dystopian facility. She calls your phone, and you must help her navigate her way out with the aid of cameras and other security devices.

ReVeN
Developer: Varia Games
Fundraising Goal: $18,000
Funds Due By: N/A

If you’re a fan of the 2D Metroid and Mega Man games then you might want to take a look at ReVeN. Varia Game’s 2D platformer-shooter stars a 400-year-old android war veteran who has the ability to think on his own and adapt to new situations. What sets this game apart from similar titles is the ability to constantly shift power between shields, weapons, sensors, and mobility. Also included is crafting and mining components that should go well with exploring the desolate and eerie world of ReVeN.

Rival Threads: Last Class Heroes
Developer: Studio Kontrabida
Fundraising Goal: $5,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Rival Threads: Last Class Heroes is a 2D side-scrolling action RPG that started development last year, but could use one last push to help with Unity Pro and other related finishing costs. You play as a high school student who controls a marionette, which is a kind of avatar that accurately reflects the contents of each puppeteer's soul.

Rocket Ranger Reloaded
Developer: Cinemaware
Fundraising Goal: $89,999
Funds Due By: N/A

If you’re a gamer jaded with morally ambiguous villains and yearn for the day you could just take down good old-fashioned baddies, then look no further than Rocket Ranger Reloaded. Reloaded is an update of Cinemaware’s Rocket Ranger, a 1988 action game inspired by the rocket man serials of the ‘40s. Players will once again have the opportunity to take control of Rocket Ranger as he squares off against the Nazi menace.

More than just a remake, Cinemaware is pulling out all the stops for Reloaded. Besides boasting a massive leap in graphics from its humble Amiga origins, the game will feature new territories and locations for players to explore, new weapons and gadgets for Rocket Ranger, and new action sequences.

Ron Paul: Road to REVOlution
Developer: Daniel
Fundraising Goal: $5,000
Funds Due By: N/A

This politically charged Kickstarter project is designed as a sidescrolling action game in the vein of Super Mario Bros. or Sonic the Hedgehog, except players take on the role of Ron Paul as he collects gold and delegates across the 50 states.

SanJiten
Developer: N/A
Fundraising Goal: $12,000
Funds Due By: N/A

SanJiten is a language-learning game that leads players through digital environments and helps them learn the words for the objects around them. Though it will be an educational game, it's also intended to function like typical play-for-fun games by incorporating rewards and point systems.

Saurian
Developer: Urvogel Games
Fundraising Goal: $55,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Saurian is all about dinosaurs. It has already been in development for three years and hopes to replicate, as accurately as possible, a real prehistoric era where players exist and survive as dinosaurs. The game has already met its goal and its Kickstarter pitch video shows a great deal of completed work and impressive visuals. It has features the involvement of RJ Palmer, who has become renowned for his realistic Pokémon drawings.

Scale
Developer: Steve Swink
Fundraising Goal: $87,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Scale puts players in the shoes of Penny Prince, imprisoned on several million counts of “depraved heart murder” for accidentally obliterating America’s east coast. As Penny, players work to escape prison armed with a mass-manipulating device of her own creation. The device is capable of sucking the mass out of an object and shooting it into another, mechanics inspired by other physics-based games like the Portal series and The Swapper. Scale is planned for PC, Mac, Linux, and possibly additional operating systems as well.

Shadowrun Online
Developer: Cliffhanger Productions
Fundraising Goal: $500,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Shadowrun Online is an MMO for PC, Mac, iOS, and Android tablet, and is set within the popular pen-and-paper Shadowrun universe. It will feature PvP, co-op, and turn-based tactical combat. Players will have the option to play as a mage, a shaman, a street samurai, or a hacker. The game can either be free-to-play, with premium content costing about $10-$12 per month, or be bought for $25 up front, with the option to purchase additional campaigns later.

Shadowrun Returns
Developer: Harebrained Schemes
Fundraising Goal: $400,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Jordan Weisman returns to the game world he first brought to life decades ago; Shadowrun Returns is a new RPG entry in the classic Shadowrun magic cyberpunk future. The highly ambitious project aims to offer a 2D, turn-based system with rich story interactions and highly tactical combat.

Shadowscrapers
Developer: Sky Pulse
Funding Goal: $600
Funds Due By: N/A

Hopping from rooftop to rooftop may be a staple of video game parkour, but how many people can simply walk across on shadows? Shadowscrapers takes that idea and creates a relaxing puzzle-platformer for Android. Players aid a spacefaring pilot traverse the skyscrapers of an unknown civilization using the planet’s unusually thick shadows. By moving objects scattered around the environment to block or redirect light, players can build bridges, move obstacles, and more to clear the explorer’s path. Indie studio Sky Pulse announced at GDC that a playable beta of the mobile game can be found on the Google Play Store. For those without an Android, the campaign’s first stretch goal is to bring the game to iOS as well.

Shape of the World 
Developer: Hollow Tree Games
Fundraising Goal: $60,222
Funds Due By: N/A

Imagine a game where getting lost is a good thing, then merge that concept with the relaxing atmosphere of a game like Flower and put it in a world full of beautiful visuals that grow and populate constantly around you. That fusion of ideas is roughly what Shape of the World is all about. The game forgoes the usual mechanics of combat, high scores, and health, and instead aims to create a world all about the thrill of exploration. Colorful environments within the game are all procedurally generated; each adventure in Shape of the World leads you through a unique landscape that changes and grows the more you interact with it.

Shenmue 3
Developer: Ys Net
Fundraising Goal: $2,000,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Shenmue 3 joins a growing list of games that found massive, unprecedented success on Kickstarter: Mighty No. 9, Bloodstained, and Yooka-Laylee, to name a few. Shortly after the announcement during Sony’s E3 press conference, Shenmue 3 found itself wrapped up in controversy. Ys Net’s initial misinformation about Sony’s involvement in the project did not stop the campaign from becoming a juggernaut, however. With about four hours to go at the time of this writing, Shenmue 3 is sitting on nearly triple its two million dollar goal. As far as the game itself is concerned, there aren’t many details. Shenmue 3 will continue Ryo Hazuki’s quest to avenge his father, all with “familiar elements from its predecessors and new fight mechanics to achieve a new level of interactive storytelling.” Time will tell if Shenmue 3 will be as groundbreaking as the first two titles.

Sidius Nova
Developer: N/A
Fundraising Goal: $3,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Sidius Nova is a space-based, combo-real-time and turn-based strategy for iOS. The real-time mechanics are condensed so the game can quickly be picked up and put down on-the-go. The game should be available this fall.

Sir, You Are Being Hunted
Developer: Big Robot
Fundraising Goal: £40,000
Funds Due By: N/A

This game places you in a surreal environment as you elude British gentlemen-robots whose task it is to hunt you.Additionally, the game's consistently generated world will keep you on your toes as you balance stealth and survival as long as you can; before the robots get you that is. 

Skyjacker
Developer: Digitilus
Fundraising Goal: $200,000
Funds Due By:N/A

This first-person free roaming space combat game aims to deliver space adventure, customizable spaceships, and broad freedom to play the way one likes. Among other things, the developers promise the ability to travel from the surface of a planet up into orbit without any break in the action.

Slain!
Developer: Wolf Brew Games
Fundraising Goal: $12,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Slain is a tribute to the brutally difficult, and just plain brutal, side-scrolling action games of yesteryear. The game wears its Castlevania inspirations most obviously, as players dodge bats and battle massive skeletons in the ominous castle setting. If you enjoyed Volgaar The Viking, then Slain’s gameplay is right up your alley. Fans of retro aesthetics are also likely to be drawn in by the game’s gorgeous pixelart graphics. The pixel aesthetic is often overdone or poorly executed in other projects, but Slain’s world is so well animated and richly detailed that it doesn’t seem like an excuse for the developer to skimp on presentation costs.

Soul Saga
Developer: Disastercake
Fundraising Goal:$60,000
Funds Due By: N/A

With adorably detailed character designs and story inspiration drawn from PlayStation classics, Soul Saga is definitely a title JRPG fans should look into backing.  The combat system allows players to toggle between classic turn-based battles or active time battles. Soul Saga is coming to PlayStation 4, PS Vita, Wii U, PC, Linux, and Mac.

Spark The Electric Jester
Developer: Felipe Ribeiro Daneluz
Fundraising Goal: $7,000
Funds Due By: N/A

With fast-paced levels, sharp controls, and branching paths, Spark The Electric Jester apes the best parts of classic 2D Sonic. Yet the homage to Sonic stops there, as this action platformer also features precise combat. Along with a three-hit combo, Spark can equip weapons, charge up beam shots, and use jump-kicks. Additionally, different costumes give Spark different abilities, such as the purple Gravity Jester outfit allowing him to fly. Regarding bells and whistles, Spark The Electric Jester combines cute pixelated graphics with a retro soundtrack.

Sportsfriends
Developer: Douglas Wilson, Ramirio Corbetta, Bennett Foddy, and Noah Sasso
Fundraising Goal: $150,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Four developers have teamed up to bring you Sportsfriends, four local multiplayer games for the PS3 and PC. The games -- Johann Sebastian Joust, BaraBariBall, Super Pole Riders, and Hokra -- all innovate multiplayer trends and aim to bring people together in one room. For instance, the joust game tasks players with jostling each other's Move controllers without sacrificing their own. Each of the titles exhibit what are sure to be new trends in local multiplayer games; you owe it to yourself to check them out.

The St. Christopher’s School Lockdown
Developer: Laney Berry
Fundraising Goal: £9,000
Funds Due By:  N/A

As an adventure game, each episode of The St. Christopher’s School Lockdown is shown from the perspective of a different student stuck in a lock-in protest in their British prep school. Rather than tedious puzzles like fetch quests and item combinations, this point and click aims to offer more entertaining play.

Star Citizen
Developer: Cloud Imperium Games Corporation
Fundraising Goal: $500,000 
Funds Due By: N/A

Star Citizen is aiming to be an immersive experience, not a one-time story. With constant updates, you'll pilot your ship through the universe and take on roles as commander, bounty hunter, smuggler, and merchant, among others. A single player mode reminiscent of Wing Commander lets you defend settlements across the galaxy's frontiers, ensuring that several different play styles are addressed in one game.

Steam Bandits: Outpost
Developer: Iocane Studios
Fundraising Goal: $30,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Steam Bandits: Outpost will be a free-to-play game that requires additional money only for decorative accessories – not for actual gameplay. It's a town-building game similar to Animal Crossing and Harvest Moon, but set in a steampunk fantasy universe. The development team is comprised partially of people who were laid off from Obsidian, including Obsidian's lead producer.

Storm The Castle!
Project Type: Co-op Battle Board Game 
Fundraising Goal: $12,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Up to four players can take control of four different Dark Force armies and storm Castle Storm Haven. You'll utilize Halfling archers, musketmen, Dawrven Pikemen, and fireball-hurling mages in the race to breach the keep before any other player. Players enjoying cooperative gameplay and a steep challenge are promised a frantic experience with Storm the Castle.

Strike Suit Zero
Developer: Born Ready Games
Fundraising Goal: $100,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Juxtaposed against space strategy titles, this game places you in frantic dogfights at the epicenter of space battles. The twist is, the Strike Suit fighter you pilot can transform into a mech warrior Battle Armor suit at the tap of the button, adapting you to different combat scenarios throughout the fights.

Strength of the Sword Ultimate
Developer: Ivent Games
Fundraising Goal: $14,000
Funds Due By: N/A

The two-person studio behind the PlayStation 3 game Strength of the Sword 3 is back with a new Kickstarter campaign, which aims to remaster its first project and bring it to Windows, Mac and Linux. The new edition, titled Strength of the Sword Ultimate, comes with three new gameplay modes: co-op, PvP, and dark mode. As with the original game, story mode and survival mode will still be playable. Strength of the Sword Ultimate is most innovative in its deathmatch PvP, which will have players duel in a tug-of-war style match beginning in a middle-ground battle area. The first player to overthrow the other’s castle wins. Dark mode also holds potential, described as “a kind of extension to PvP,” where players challenge the dark swordsman and gain loot regardless of who wins. If victorious, players can eventually become the dark swordsman themselves with mysterious powers. Strength of The Sword Ultimate has multiple stretch goals that could also bring the game to Wii U, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4. One of the developers has even promised to go bowling dressed as a pixie if $100,000 is achieved. If that’s not motivation enough to back this project, nothing is.

The Sun Also Rises
Developer: Horse Volume
Fundraising Goal: $15,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Borrowing the name of the Ernest Hemingway novel, The Sun Also Rises describes itself as "a different kind of war game." Based on the project's plans, it's easy to see how Horse Volume wants to make a mature war game beyond hails of bullets and gore.

The Sun Also Rises uses passive multiplayer, meaning the actions you take as one of the three characters - the medic, the analyst, or the boy - affect the outcomes of other players' stories. Using a low-poly graphical style, The Sun Also Rises tackles post-tramatic stress disorder, sexism and nationalism.

Sunset
Developer: Tale of Tales
Fundraising Goal: $25,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Citing Dear Esther and Gone Home as influences, Sunset puts you in the role of housekeeper Angela Burns in 1970s South America. Game designers Auriea Harvey and Michael Samyn want their game to be one in which you’re not just uncovering the past, but one in which even the smallest interactions can have an influence on Sunset’s other characters. As Burns, the player’s actions—whether those include ordinary housekeeping duties or pushing professional boundaries—influence the owner of the luxury suite, Gabriel Ortega, a revolutionary looking to overthrow the dictatorship. Sunset has already exceeded its funding goal, but you can still pledge for goodies and to help meet stretch goals for console and Oculus Rift support.

Super Comboman
Developer: N/A
Fundraising Goal: $14,900
Funds Due By: N/A

This Beat-em-Up allows you to customize your own combos with unique stickers. The character customization, perks, and combo chains set this brawler apart, and the unique look exudes a cartoon vibe. 

Super Retro Squad
Developer: Exploding Rabbit
Fundraising Goal: $10,000
Funds Due By: N/A

The makers of Super Mario Bros. Crossover bring us this mash-up sidescroller starring a host of familiar faces from video gaming. Whether playing as the guy who isn’t from Contra or the guy who isn’t from Castlevania (or six others) you’ll travel through different worlds inspired by each of the game’s characters. 40 levels are being created across the game’s eight worlds.

Tales of Fallen London: The Silver Tree
Developer: Failbetter Games
Fundraising Goal: $10,000
Funds Due By: N/A

The Silver Tree is a standalone prequel to the browser-based RPG, Fallen London. The game is text and image-based, and the story is nonlinear. Each player has a deck of cards which determines the trajectory of their game's story. The Silver Tree will be free-to-play, with the option of purchasing new story content and the ability to make moves faster.

Temporus
Developer: Firebelly Studios
Fundraising Goal: $20,000
Funds Due By: N/A

A hybrid of old-school games like Mega Man and R-Type with a dash of modern games like Starbound, Temporus tells the story of a space opera across time. You’ll collect resources for game missions, including on-foot enemy blasting and forced-progression spaceship fighting, while uncovering the mysteries of the galaxy. Temporus is up for vote on Steam Greenlight, and currently slated for release on Windows, Mac and Linux.

Timespinner
Developer: Lunar Ray Games
Fundraising Goal: $50,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Imagine if Street Fighter’s Rose starred in a Metroid-style game and also possessed the ability to stop time, and you have the gist of Timespinner. Play as Lunais, a young woman who travels time to defeat the evil empire responsible for her mother’s death. A child prodigy, Lunais uses her telekinesis to defeat screen-sized bosses and uncover hidden areas across a sprawling world. Lunar Ray plans to release Timespinner on Windows, Mac and Linux in late 2014, but you can vote for it on Steam Greenlight now.

That Dragon, Cancer
Developer: Ryan Green & Josh Larson
Fundraising Goal: $85,000
Funds Due By: N/A

If you have even a passing familiarity with empathy games, chances are you’ve heard of That Dragon, Cancer. This touching point-and-click adventure is a tribute to developers Ryan and Amy Green’s son Joel, who tragically passed away in March after a four-year battle with cancer.

That Dragon, Cancer places a strong emphasis on narrative as it chronicles the third year of Joel’s struggle with the disease. You won’t find any puzzles to solve or platforms to reach. Players need simply to be present in the moment as they experience the hope and heartbreak Joel’s family did. Although originally set for release on Ouya, this Kickstarter was created to bring That Dragon, Cancer to more platforms and a wider audience. 

Thimbleweed Park
Developer: Ron Gilbert & Gary Winnick
Fundraising Goal: $375,000
Funds Due By: N/A

The point-and-click adventure game is back in vogue thanks to Telltale Games, but Ron Gilbert and Gary Winnick pioneered the genre over 20 years ago at LucasArts (then LucasFilm Games). Together the pair created highly influential Maniac Mansion and worked on the wickedly funny Monkey Island games of the early ‘90s. With Thimbleweed Park, Gilbert and Winnick are giving players what they call a “true” point-and-click adventure, and not a title merely “inspired” by its predecessors – that means tough puzzles and pixel-art graphics.

A Twin Peaks-style murder mystery lies at the center of Thimbleweed Park; players start off controlling a pair of detectives investigating a dead body found outside of town. As the game progresses, three more playable characters appear, each with their own part to play in the story. It remains to be seen if Thimbleweed Park can reach the heights of its spiritual predecessors, Gilbert and Winnick seem to be tackling the project with aplomb.

This Is The Police
Developer: Weappy
Fundraising Goal: $25,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Ever wanted to play an epic strategy/adventure game, narrated by the voice of Duke Nukem (John St. John)? Well, now you can, with This Is The Police. This detective game centers on Jack Boyd, a 60-year-old cop nearing retirement. Through the trailer, which is reminiscent of Max Payne's interior monologues, Jack describes himself as an honest cop. But, with only six months left before retirement, Jack wants to go out with a bang and start bending the rules. He’s looking to make half a million bucks as his police enforcement career comes to an end, and he’s going to do it any way he can. The game uniquely blends different genres, such as tycoon, strategy, adventure, and interactive fiction. Player choice is a major component, with each choice creating different consequences.. You spend your time managing co-workers and their partying habits, attending press conferences, coordinating crime scene investigations, and fighting criminal gangs.

Toejam and Earl: Back in the Groove
Developer: Humanature Studios
Fundraising Goal: $400,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Toejam and Earl has always been a weird series (weird enough that we paired the second game with eccentric rapper Riff Raff for an episode of Replay). A handful of the team behind the original game have taken to Kickstarter to fund another entry in the cult classic series. The new game promises a big overhaul to the world of Toejam and Earl. Four player co-op, persistent elements between playthroughs, new music, a combination of both games’ gameplay, 3D terrain, and a new art style are all slated as additions for Toejam and Earl: Back in the Groove. To top it all off, the team has already recorded a pretty amazing track as a demo of what to expect for the final release.

Together: Amna & Saif
Developer: Lyle Cox
Fundraising Goal: $10,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Together: Amna & Saif is about companionship. Players control Amna and Saif, a mother and her son, who must work cooperatively to solve environmental puzzles and obtain the cure for their ill daughter/sister. Designed for a wide audience, game designer Lyle Cox has also implemented optional objectives for seasoned players looking for added difficulty. Together has already met its goal for release on Windows, but stretch goals for Linux and Mac OSX versions have yet to be met with just a few days left for funding.

Tower 57
Developer: Benitosub
Fundraising Goal: $49,460
Funds Due By: N/A

In this twin-stick shooter, players must infiltrate and destroy Tower 57 before its inhabitants enact their plan to destroy the player's home tower. From a gameplay standpoint, Tower 57 features destructible environments, six playable characters, and an assortment of intriguing guns. The tesla connectors, for example, shoot out two orbs that stick to enemies, creating bursts of lightning when the orbs are close to each other. The developer intends Tower 57 to be played with a friend, and thus some of the weapons were designed with co-op in mind. Although the crossbow may not deal a lot of damage, it pins enemies to the wall and thus allows teammates to kill them.

Tropes vs. Women in Video Games
Project Type: Video Documentary Series
Fundraising Goal: $6,000
Funds Due By: N/A

This video series aims to offer a feminist perspective on the role women take in video games. The 12-part series will address tropes like the damsel in distress and the sexy sidekick, and explore what these issues mean for game developers, publishers, and gamers.

Tsioque
Developer: OhNoo Studio
Fundraising Goal: $35,000
Funds Due By: September 5, 2015

Tsioque offers a gameplay experience somewhere between an animated cartoon and a point-and-click adventure. The cartoon feel arises from the fully voiced dialogue and hand-drawn animations, while the game aspects come from the possibility of death and a soundtrack that changes based on the player's actions. Additionally, OhNoo Studio has experience with this genre, as the developer's debut title was the point-and-click adventure game Tormentum: Dark Sorrow.

Underworld Ascendant
Developer: OtherSide Entertainment
Fundraising Goal: $600,000
Funds Due By: March 6, 2015

It has been well over a decade since the fantasy RPG Ultima Underworld franchise had its last release. The series is now being rekindled by its creators, OtherSide Entertainment, with an array of new elements and gameplay improvements. The new entry to the series is titled Underworld Ascendant, and will take place in refined environments such as underground caverns, Dwarven ruins, and enchanted forests. The game’s developers cite Deus Ex, Thief, Bioshock, Skyrim, and others as major influences. Three playable classes include thief, mage, and fighter – each with their own special powers and abilities. 

Unforgotten Quest
Developer: N/A
Fundraising Goal: $100,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Loot, skills, classes, bosses, and 2D co-op are all included in Unforgotten Quest, an RPG that up to four players can participate in together. You'll be given random choices that walk the line between black and white, pushing you along the free form quests spawned from odd conversations with the world's inhabitants. 

The Universim
Developer: Crytivo Games
Fundraising Goal: $320,000
Funds Due By: N/A

The Universim is aiming to explore a field of games that used to be a little more common: the god game. Players control the development of life on a planet, but don’t control the people directly. Rather, players help guide major decisions, such as the evolution of major technologies. The game even lets you unleash wrath (in the form of asteroids and other events) to indicate your displeasure for decisions that your people make. Eventually, your species can evolve to head out into space, encountering new planets that have their own distinct challenges. The initial design seems ambitious and visually vibrant. As of now, The Universim is headed towards PC, Mac, and Linux. 

Unsung Story: Tale of the Guardians
Developer: Playdek
Fundraising Goal: $600,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Unsung Story: Tale of the Guardians might be the sequel to Final Fantasy Tactics fans have been waiting for. Developer Playdek even managed to get FF Tactics creator Yasumi Matsuno onboard with the project, along with FF Tactic’s composer Hitoshi Sakimoto, and artist Akihiko Yoshida, who also did art for FF Tactics. Unsung Story will use a triangular grid and characters will stand on the intersections, instead of the square-based grid that is usually seen in tactical RPGs. Unsung Story would be hard to recommend since there isn’t much proof of concept shown on the Kickstarter page, but the team assembled makes this a compelling campaign.

Ukiyo-e Heroes 
Project Type: Woodblock art
Fundraising Goal: $10,400
Funds Due By: N/A

Ukiyo-e Heroes is a series of prints inspired by video games and drawn in traditional Japanese ukiyo-e-style. Prints based on Star Fox, Metroid, Kirby, Zelda, and other games have been completed and will be turned into woodblock prints by a Japan-based master woodblock craftsman.

Unemployment Quest
Developer: Charles DeYoe
Fundraising Goal: $1,000
Funds Due By: N/A

An old-school RPG with a unique premise, Unemployment Quest puts players into the role of a young unemployed person facing the challenge of the real world. Foes include monsters like “Isolation” and “Shame,” and the game’s primary villain is “Uncertain Future.”

Unusual Heroes
Developer: Deano Calver
Fundraising Goal: £ 70,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Unusual Heroes features three disabled characters and a dog that are transported on board an alien ship. Using an isometric view and sci-fi RPG progression, you're tasked with exploring the vessel through each individually styled area. Each character has different abilities and in-depth skill trees, allowing you the decision of which works best in each situation.

Valthirian Arc: Red Covenant
Developer: Agate Studio
Funding Goal: $21,130
Funds Due By: N/A

Players are cast as the principal of an academy that raises heroes in this PC title combining management sim, RPG, and real-time strategy. The game’s school sections focus on upgrading the academy’s facilities, hiring mentors to teach the students, and overseeing the training of the young heroes-to-be. Under your tutelage, students can learn new skills, advance to one of three special classes, and wield equipment forged in the school’s armory. Once the lessons for the day are done, gameplay switches to real-time combat segments where players lead students on heroic quests for the various warring queendoms of Valthiria. 

Agate Studio has launched a playable demo as part of their Kickstarter campaign. Two of the developer’s previous games are set in the same universe and provide a glimpse of the vibrant world of Valthiria. 

Volgarr the Viking
Developer: Crazy Viking Studios
Fundraising Goal: $18,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Volgarr is a 2D side-scroller with hand-drawn pixel art. The development team promises it will be a punishing game, with difficult bosses, challenging environments, and an angry Viking.

Wanderer
Developer: Red Cloak Games
Fundraising Goal: $70,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Wanderer tells the story of a graying convict named Rook, stranded in stasis aboard an orbital prison facility, only to crash back to a desolated earth teeming with dangerous creatures and bandits. Gameplay fuses traditional 2D side-scrolling, puzzle solving, and dialogue-based roleplaying, all in a pixelated world punctuated by hand-painted environments. Rook isn’t without help in his journey to escape the graveyard planet, as players can befriend a colorful cast of supporting characters to aid in battle, including a young hacker and a teleporting wolfhound named Zigfried. 

War For The Overworld
Developer:Subterranean Games
Fundraising Goal: £150,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Blending the god game of Overlord with the Rts elements of Starcraft, War for the Overworld tasks you with building an empire underground. You'll have a host of units at your command, ready to defy any forces of good that enter your dungeons. Building doors will allow you to control the flow of enemy forces, allowing your minions the chance to swiftly end the valiant knights' lives.

War of Omens
Developer: Fifth Column Games
Fundraising Goal: $30,000
Funds Due By: N/A

War of Omens is a digital deck-builder/CCG (collectible card game) hybrid, or collectible deck builder, developed by Fifth Column Games. The card-collecting element gives WoO a sense of progression that deck-building games such as Dominion or Thunderstone don’t normally have. With WoO, players can collect cards to develop their own personal deck, as they would in a game like Magic: The Gathering. Cards can also be upgraded as players progress in the game. In an individual match, players will construct an in-game deck from a bank composed of their own cards. WoO cards fall into three factions, each with three unique heroes, and players can only use cards from one faction in a single match. WoO is completely free-to-play. Fifth Column Games has assured fans that WoO will contain no pay-walls, and that it’s possible to acquire every card without spending real money. War of Omens is a browser-based game, designed to run on most systems and popular PC browsers, so it should be playable on most computers. It only requires the latest version of Adobe Flash Player to run. 

War of Rights
Developer: Campfire Games
Fundraising Goal: $106,917
Funds Due By: N/A

War of Rights takes the first-person shooter genre back in time to the pastoral fields of the American Civil War. The authentic period piece shooter encourages group-based tactics on the battlefield. Players form lines and fire volleys with black powder rifles that make reloading part of the challenge. Bayonet charges, artillery barrages, and cavalry regiments add deadly realism to encounters. When playing the multiplayer game, players will follow a chain of command that includes privates, flag bearers, and officers. Danish developer Campfire Games also hopes to balance fun with education by providing accurate information about the distant conflict. Players will be able to see if the team meets the challenge of creating an engaging civil war game when it launches an Early Access version on Steam. 

Wasteland 2
Developer: inXile
Fundraising Goal: $900,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Many of the chief developers of the original Wasteland and Fallout are back together to bring us the first true sequel to the original post-apocalyptic video game. With the aim to bring back the fun of old-school computer RPGs, Wasteland 2 will offer a top-down tactical experience with a deep and complex storyline.

We Happy Few
Developer: Compulsion Games
Fundraising Goal: $201,353
Funds Due By: N/A

We Happy Few is a first-person, procedurally generated roguelike that takes place in pseudo-utopic city known as Wellington Wells. The citizens of Wellington Wells are all very happy and rule abiding people who frown upon those that don’t conform to their sometimes insane standards of life. You control a character that has rejected those very rules, yet must find a way to survive within the city.  The game follows an alternate take on the events of World War II, where England was all but destroyed and its citizens had to do some terrible things under German occupation. To make it past those horrible memories, the citizens of Wellington Wells developed a pill called Joy that keeps the entire town in a state of ignorant bliss. As a Downer, or someone off their Joy, you must sneak, fight, and steal your way through the streets of Wellington Wells and do whatever you can to keep from starving while you hunt for a way to escape the city. We Happy Few isn’t about stealth; it’s a game built around the idea of hiding in plain sight. Preforming tasks that a happy Wellie wouldn’t approve of draws suspicion and will most likely result in the death of your character. At that point, you’re dead; there is no respawning in We Happy Few. Instead the game drops you in an entirely new, procedurally generated Wellington Wells where you must once again either escape or die. 

Wild Season
Developer: Quickfire Games
Fundraising Goal: £22,500
Funds Due By: N/A

Developed by London-based developer Quickfire Games, Wild Season is a farming sim inspired by Harvest Moon, Rune Factory, and similar titles. Although it shares many features with these titles, Wild Season has a more mature tone, intended to make its characters more interesting and relatable. It also boasts a wide variety of non-farming activities, multiple storylines, and more romance options, including same-sex relationships. Wild Season is expected to release first on Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems. iOS and Android devices will receive a touch-friendly version of the game as well. Depending on the campaign’s success, Quickfire could add support for other mobile and touch-friendly platforms, as well as current-gen consoles and handhelds.

The Wizards of Trinity Bellwoods
Developer: Chris de Castro
Fundraising Goal: $11,571
Funds Due By: August 27, 2015

Unlike the majority of the games on Kickstarter, The Wizards of Trinity Bellwoods explores a real-life setting. According to the developer, hipsters like to drink in Trinity Bellwoods, a park in Toronto, Canada, and they often forget to throw away their beer cans. This game charges the player with cleaning up the mess and then selling the discarded cans to make money. With an upbeat soundtrack and a vibrant art style, The Wizards of Trinity Bellwoods already possesses an impressive level of polish.

World’s Dawn
Developer: David Grund
Fundraising Goal: $5,000
Funds Due By: N/A

World’s Dawn just might be the game Harvest Moon fans have been waiting for. The game, being developed by David Grund, is a top-down life simulator set in a quiet farming village. Most of the gameplay is focused on the day-to-day routine of your character, which includes helping them build up their farm, participating in village wide activities, engaging in activities like fishing or mining, and building relationships with the citizens the Sugar Blossom village. All of this may seem very familiar to games like Harvest Moon, but World’s Dawn prides itself on its diverse characters and story progression. As of writing, a free demo including the spring, summer, and fall segments of the game are up on the game’s website to let players experience a little of the flavor World’s Dawn hopes to bring to the life-simulator genre.

Yogventures
Developer: The Yogscast and Winterkewl Games
Fundraising Goal: $250,000
Funds Due By: N/A

This open-world sandbox game aims to offer the freedom and world creation of Minecraft, but with a deeper focus on adventures. Randomly generated game worlds can be changed on the fly, altering terrain layout, adding creatures and NPCs, and even blowing up the world if you prefer. As the game pitch video declares jokingly at its conclusion: “In your face, Notch!”

You Are Not The Hero
Developer: Donn Manalili
Fundraising Goal: $12,001
Funds Due By: N/A

You Are Not The Hero is a 2D, action-platformer RPG that gets its inspiration by all the NPCs regularly harassed and likely financially ruined by the so-called heroes of many classic RPGs. As the name implies, YANTH has players assume the role of a non-hero, named Petula, on a quest to get your pendant back from some “heroes” who “scavenged” it from your house. YANTH’s campaign has already collected twice the amount called for in its initial fundraising goal, but there are still several stretch goals that haven’t been reached, including two extra chapters for the game. In order to keep from adding to the development time, these chapters will most likely be released as free DLC. Maybe one will reveal whether Petula would tolerate stealing if she was an NPC.

Z.
Developer: Downward Viral
Fundraising Goal: $100,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Z. is a a zombie-themed downloadable trading card game that can either be played digitally or with physical copies of the cards. Special guest cards include Tim Schafer and Sean Baby.

ZED
Developer: Eagre Games
Fundraising Goal: $48,000
Funds Due By: NA

ZED is an “unpredictable, nonviolent” adventure game by Chuck Carter, whose past work includes Myst, the Command & Conquer series, and even NASA and National Geographic. With ZED, players are invited to explore Carter’s new world, helping a dying dreamer create a legacy for his grandmother by solving puzzles. Interestingly, the dreamer, not understanding why the player is there, can set obstacles in the way of the player, hindering their process. A demo for ZED is currently out now.

Zombie Playground
Developer: Massive Black
Fundraising Goal: $100,000
Funds Due By: N/A

This online, team-based action arena game also plans to include RPG elements. Players take on the role of a kid during a zombie apocalypse. Despite the childlike visuals, the game isn’t targeted at kids, but is instead filled with gore and challenging gameplay. Aiming to capture the experience of childhood pretend games of fighting monsters, the game has unique character classes, 4-player cooperative online play, and leveling.

Not Funded

Afterdark: When Heroes Become Legends
Developer:  Napalm Studios
Fundraising Goal: $110,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Afterdark is a beat-em-up game set in a world of gothic horror. The game aims to resurrect the classic beat-em-up style of gaming. Afterdark showcases epic battles against evil with a progressing list of objectives lined with a developing narrative. 

Albert & Otto
Developer: Nikola Kostic
Fundraising Goal: $15,000
Funds Due By: N/A

At first glance, Albert & Otto looks like another 2D puzzle platformer in the vein of Limbo, but a little time watching the game in action reveals that it’s something a bit different at its core. The most obvious shakeup is the visual style, which while appearing to be 2D subtly shows to be 3D through animated sequences. Main character Otto is also not alone or defenseless. At his side is a gun that allows him to fight back, and an unassuming little stuffed rabbit that he uses to help solve puzzles. Otto also has some magical capabilities at his disposal, allowing him to levitate objects in a manner similar to the wizard from Trine. Following the kidnapping of his friend, Otto must set out on a dangerous adventure to find her and bring her back.

Alone
Developer: Greenwood Games
Fundraising Goal: $25,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Greenwood Games hopes to take immersion to new levels in Alone, an innovative horror game for the Oculus Rift. With the headset on, players will find themselves on a couch facing a TV in a seemingly ordinary house at night. A PC-enabled controller is used to play The Witching Hour, a game-within-the-game, on the TV, while the VR headset lets players look around the room. As players progress through The Witching Hour, strange things begin to happen in the house. To get a better sense of just how unsettling an experience Alone delivers, see our previous coverage of the game which includes a video demonstration of the game by the VR Brotherhood’s Tyler Hodder.

A prototype of Alone is available for download on Greenwood Games’ website, and requires an Oculus Rift, headphones, and an Xbox Gamepad to play.

Alpha Colony: A Tribute to M.U.L.E.
Developer: DreamQuest Games
Fundraising Goal: $500,000
Funds Due By: N/A

DreamQuest has the license to M.U.L.E, an extremely influential PC game from the 1980s, and intends to make not only a faithful remake of the original game, but also a tribute to it. Alpha Colony is that tribute game, and combines gameplay mechanics from M.U.L.E. and Settlers of Catan.

Alum
Developer: Micah Orsie
Fundraising Goal: $10,000
Funds Due By: N/A

In this point-and-click adventure, Alum must find a cure for a mysterious plague causing loved ones to feel hopeless inside. With puzzles to solve and a deep story to unveil, Alum is aimed at those looking for a simple adventure game with a nostalgic feel. Alum will be exclusively available via digital download for PC.

Americana Dawn
Developer: Bit Bonton
Fundraising Goal: $70,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Graphics are looking better than they ever have with the dawn of the new generation of consoles, but there’s a certain beauty to the sprites of retro games – a beauty Americana Dawn remembers all too well. Americana Dawn evokes the best of ‘90s RPGs as it tells the story of Foster, a traveling water spirit who takes the form of a lumbering, yet gentle 7-foot-tall man.  For two centuries he roams the American frontier ignorant to race, politics, and war. But despite his peaceful nature, Foster finds himself pulled into many of America’s conflicts.

Battles take place on macro and micro scales. Microbattles put new twists on ATB-style combat; certain abilities can manipulate enemies’ positioning on the grid and party members don’t gain experience points, but rather develop proficiencies with items instead. Macrobattles pull from American history; players control historical figures and their armies as they partake in large-scale wars. But all the conflict won’t change the tides of American history – that’s set in stone. The real draw of Americana Dawn is watching how Foster changes in the wake of America’s development.

Ars Magica
Developer: Black Chicken Studios
Fundraising Goal: $290,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Playing as a mage bounded to the Order of Hermes, it's your job to protect the people around you throughout the seasons, beginning in the spring. If you can survive a century until the last brutal winter, your followers will be the most advanced settlement under your watch. 

The Artful Escape Of Francis Vendetti
Developer: Beethoven & Dinosaur
Fundraising Goal: $35,631
Funds Due By: N/A

Equal parts Broken Age and Fantastic Planet, The Artful Escape of Francis Vendetti moves like a construction-paper diorama with a Technicolor sheen.  Francis Vendetti grapples with the legacy of his dead uncle, who was a culturally impactful folk singer. Francis has big shoes to fill, and goes on a kaleidoscopic journey through multiple dimensions to find a proper stage persona that can measure up to his uncle’s stardom. The Artful Escape of Francis Vendetti seems to be a psychedelic mixture of the adventure, platforming, and rhythm game genres. This promising game already has a list of accolades such as being Greenlit on Steam and winning an Unreal Developers Grant.

Ashen Rift
Developer: Barry Collins
Fundraising Goal: $45,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Inspired by old-school shooters like Quake and the scenic adventures of games like Dear Esther and Journey, lone developer Barry Collins is looking to craft a moody, post-apocalyptic tale of a man and his dog. Together the two characters will travel across the remains of the central United States to shut down the “Rift”, the mysterious source of the deformed creatures that now roam the countryside. With limited ammo, players can use the environment to defeat enemies or sneak past them entirely. Collins has worked on the game by himself for the past five months, and is looking for funding to improve the game and outsource some aspects of development such as music, sound effects, and voice-overs. If the Kickstarter is successful, Collins is planning to launch the game on PC, Mac, and Linux.

Bad Dudes 2
Developer: Pinstripe Games
Fundraising Goal: $80,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Bad Dudes 2 is the sequel to Bad Dudes vs. DragonNinja, the cult beat-'em-up arcade game from 1988. The sequel intends to be fully licensed, and the plot will once again revolve around Blade and Striker rescuing the president.

Bad Planet
Developer: Red Fly Studio
Fundraising Goal: $575,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Bad Planet is based on the 2005 comic book with the same name. The game will be released episodically, and players will play as the Convict, an alien trying to save Earth from befalling the same fate as his home planet – utter destruction at the hands of creepy spider aliens. Combat will be third-person, over-the-shoulder, and gory.

Bear Vs Methlab
Developer: Whitebox Interactive 
Fundraising Goal: $22,843
Funds Due By: N/A

Adolf Hitler has started an interdimensional meth cartel, and it’s up to four bears to stop him. Players can customize the look of their bear with a variety of costumes and color schemes, then enter a four-player arena to rack up the most destruction. There are enemies to defeat but players can trip each other up with bombs and traps to fight for the high score. Bear vs Methlab is focused on fast-paced mini-games full of destructible environments. The game is expected to launch on Steam this November, with a console release possible in 2017.

Behind the Rose
Developer: Peyton Burnham
Funding Goal: $10,000
Funds Due By: N/A

The influence of classic RPGs is clear in Behind the Rose’s colorful pixel art and quirky characters, but the game makes its own voice heard through unique combat components. Mixed into the turn-based battles are mini-games that test players’ reflexes and rhythm. Enemy attacks can be blocked by reading their movements and pressing the right direction with good timing, while certain spells increase in power if players accurately follow a rhythmic button pattern. 

Harkening back to the original Legend of Zelda, one-man team Peyton Burnham plans to let players progress through the game’s world however they wish. How much they interact with other characters, the order they tackle the dungeons, and other choices will determine how the story of the protagonist’s quest to save the Heavenly Queen ends. Developed for PC, a playable prototype has been released for the Kickstarter campaign.

Beyond Flesh And Blood
Developer: Pixelbomb Games
Fundraising Goal: £30,000
Funds Due By: N/A

The first major project from indie developer Pixelbomb Games, Beyond Flesh And Blood is a third-person action/shooter driven by a strong story with horror themes. By the year 2260, most of Earth has been contaminated by nuclear fallout. The bulk of humanity has relocated to an orbital habitat, but a handful of people remain planet-side. Tensions between these groups are high when a new threat endangers all of mankind. BF&B puts players in control of the Tactical Combat Frame (read: mech) for combat, exploration, puzzle solving, hacking, and more. The TCF appears somewhat larger than the cargo loader from Aliens, but is far more agile. The game’s campaign page has more detailed information, as well as footage from a combat test, mission, and more. Beyond Flesh and Blood is planned for PC and Xbox Live. Pixelbomb also plans on bringing the game to more platforms, with a focus on PS3 and Mac ports in particular. 

Beyond Human
Developer: Dominique Hendricks, David Morales Hernandez, Michael Kelly
Fundraising Goal: €20,000 ($25,352.70 USD)
Funds Due By: N/A

The Metroidvania genre is often inundated with titles, choking much opportunity for the quality titles to gain traction. Beyond Human puts a slightly unique spin on it by adding elements of Mega Man and Devil May Cry to the mix.

Beyond Human stars Adam, a silent protagonist who wakes up from a coma in the year 2099 with no idea about the world around him. Players control Adam as he explores the world in search of answers. Suffice to say the story isn’t the game’s selling point. The attraction to Beyond Human comes from its blend of shooter, melee, and exploration aspects. It features Metroidvania style progression with monumental boss battles—a combo that could help it stick out in a pretty big crowd.

The Big Blue
Developer:  Ed Annunziata
Fundraising Goal: $665,000
Funds Due By: N/A

By the creators of the classic undersea adventure Ecco the Dolphin, The Big Blue is an aquatic adventure game set a million years in the future deep in the ocean. Explore the ocean and interact with everything. It also has you pursuing quests and spawning new life forms. All creatures in the ocean are controllable, allowing you to control multiple creatures at once. 

The Black Glove
Developer: Day For Night Games
Fundraising Goal: $550,000
Funds Due By: N/A

When Irrational Games effectively disbanded earlier this year, some of its members got to thinking about their next project. That discourse resulted in The Black Glove, a “surrealistic, first-person” game set in The Equinox, a 1920s-themed theater somewhere in (or outside of) time. The player’s job is to restore The Equinox—and its resident creators—to artistic prominence.

The core gameplay includes completing challenges in a number of minigames, which then allows the player to use the Black Glove, a mysterious glove that can alter the work of three creators present in The Equinox (an artist, a musician, and a filmmaker). Through some wibbly-wobbly quantum mechanics, players change the course of the creators’ careers, influencing their Medium, Message, or Muse to affect their work in the “present.”

Bleak
Developer:  Tenwall Creatives
Fundraising Goal: $50,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Bleak is a massive fantasy platformer set in a dark, perilous new world. In this place, your dominant arm is amputated upon birth and in its place is a pickax. From then you are sent to the mines to extract the precious metal, Core. The “Cultivators of the Good” can punish you for refusing to work by denying food. Other workers have different tools for arms, like wrenches, depending on their job. Brave the dark, callous world and explore, if you dare, for around every corner is distress and disappointment, and perhaps even death. 

Boogerman 20th Anniversary: The Video Game
Developer: Toy Ghost LLC
Fundraising Goal: $375,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Boogerman: A Pick And Flick Adventure is a platformer that first released for the Sega Genesis in 1994, delighting children with its potty-humor. Nearly twenty years after the release of the original game, Boogerman co-creators Chris Tremmel and Mike Stragey have taken to Kickstarter in hopes of reviving the franchise. The new game introduces new collectibles, mechanics, and gadgets such as the fart-copter. Boogerman 20th Anniversary is planned for PC, Mac, Linux, PS4, PS Vita, Xbox One, and Wii U. Check out our interview with Chris Tremmel for more information about the game.

The Breakout
Developer: Pixel Trip Studios
Fundraising Goal: £49,500
Funds Due By: N/A

Inspired by classic point-and-click adventure games, as well as the fondly remembered The Great Escape (1963), The Breakout casts players as a WWII prisoner of war who must try and escape the dreaded Verdammen Hof prison camp. Players move through the camp, sneaking, stealing, and hiding their to find a way out. Unlike many adventure games, if you don’t prepare well for your escape attempt, you can die in the process of trying to complete the story. The Breakout hopes to release on Windows, Mac, and Linux. 

Buck
Developer: Wave Interactive Games
Fundraising Goal: $75,000 (Australian)
Funds Due By: N/A

Game designer Gal Kfir always promised himself he’d make a game about his childhood dog, Buck, and now he is making good on that promise. Buck is an action/adventure about the titular dog, who is exploring a massive desert while investigating the loss of his beloved. The game draws on the existing tradition of modern 2D action games, and adds in weapon customization and non-linear storytelling. Initial release is headed towards PC, Max, and Linux platforms.

Cadence
Developer: Made With Monster Love
Fundraising Goal: £25,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Cadence is a rhythm game with ambitions of being more than just a challenge. Like Fract OSC, Cadence aims to let players create as well as solve puzzles, but with the added benefit of being less overwhelming than Phosfiend Systems’ first-person music game. In Cadence, players arrange notes in a field, with the distance between the notes as they chose to connect them determining the frequency at which they are played. The ultimate goal in the puzzle side of the game is to create loops that run endlessly. Creating a loop isn’t as simple as just making a big closed circuit. Different notes react differently when the beat reaches them; some send out pulses in all directions, one direction, only if struck by two sources at once, and so forth. Beats that meet in the middle of a connection fail, and force players to fix their mistake to keep the loop flowing. Getting everything working right can be quite complex, and the game eventually expands into managing multiple instrument loops at once.

Codename: Morningstar
Developer: Trapdoor Technologies
Funding Goal: $18,360
Funds Due By: N/A

Anyone who’s ever played a tabletop game knows the frustration of having to halt a battle to look up an obscure rule in a manual. It’s an unfortunate, but necessary evil in a form of gaming that keeps distributes its extensive guidelines across several tomes. Enter Codename: Morningstar, a tabletop app that puts all the core components of the experience players’ fingertips but doesn’t eliminate the roundtable fun.

Built around a standard PRD ruleset, the app replaces nearly every pen and paper component of tabletops with a digital interface. Players can quickly make characters and campaigns, generate NPCs, roll virtual dice, and look up rules all with a few swipes. Morningstar also allows users to share their campaigns with friends, or publish them online for the world to play. Don’t fret if you don’t have a tablet; all game documents are cloud-based, meaning you can just as easily pull them up on a laptop as you could on a mobile device. You can even print them out if you’re set in your ways.

Chroma
Developer: Hg Template Studios
Fundraising Goal: $5,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Chroma is an Android game where players control Huey and his paintbrush Tint, who must bring color and life back into a world deadened by the evil shades. The development team is made up primarily of NYU students studying games and media.

Combiform
Developer: N/A
Fundraising Goal: $300,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Combiform is a new console/controller (with magnets!) that focuses on social games, and especially, games played without a screen. The system will be entirely open-source. The console/controller focuses on getting people to physically work together to solve puzzles and play games.

Cradle
Developer: Mojo Game Studios
Fundraising Goal: $350,000
Funds Due By: N/A

If you’re into games that have a strong mythology build around then, then Cradle is a Kickstarter worth your consideration. Cradle is an open-world action-RPG that puts you in the shoes of an exiled traveler that gets caught in the middle of a conflict between humans, nature, and the gods of the world. You can choose between five character classes: arcanist, druid, ranger, paladin, and swordsman. Cradle has an interesting art style that is brought to life by the CryEngine, which is good for gamers who enjoy exploring vast, open-world games.

Cross Reverie: The Trial of Nightmare
Developer: Sinxsoft
Fundraising Goal: $47,724
Funds Due By: N/A

(The developers cancelled their Kickstarter on July 21, upon receiving private funding.)

Anyone itching for a traditional turn-based JRPG should check out Cross Reverie. Sinxsoft is taking nods from classics like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest to push the genre forward. The conditional turn-based battle is reminiscent of Final Fantasy X, while the Stigma system seems to be inspired by Materia. With eight characters and three Stigma slots each, you can customize your party in any direction. Visuals are colorful with bold lines and anime-inspired designs. Gameplay is from a top-down perspective, just like the PlayStation-era RPGs that defined the era. Cross Reverie’s stretch goals are ambitious, too. The team wants to add character transformations for all eight protagonists, an optional superboss for the hardcore players, and even two additional story arcs.

Cthulu World Combat
Developer: N/A
Fundraising Goal: $300,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Aiming for iOS systems, this strategy/turn-based game lets you compete with your friends over control of Earth after the Old Ones (from H.P. Lovecraft's mythos) have returned. Much like other turn-based strategy games, you'll be producing units to aid you in world domination. Except this time, it won't be airplanes and tanks; you'll be creating monsters and cultists. 

Dead Century: Mosaic
Developer: Dead Century
Fundraising Goal: $95,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Dead Century: Mosaic is the second entry in a series of puzzle RPGs from developer Dead Century. Its gameplay is similar to that of other puzzle RPGs, such as Dungeon Hearts. Tiles and an action-queue system displayed on the lower part of the screen are used to command characters in the action unfolding above. There are three playable characters: the Engineer, the Fusilier, and the Scholar. Players select two characters for each mission, and can choose between three possible appearances for each. On its Kickstarter page, Mosaic’s developer notes the shortage of women, minorities, and non-heterosexuals in many modern games. Dead Century’s desire to change this is evident in its diverse cast and character-appearance options. The first game in the series, Dead Century: Silhouette, is available on the iTunes store for $0.99. Dead Century: Mosaic is being developed on Unity 3D, and is planned for iOS and Android devices. The developer has not ruled out the possibility of extending support to more platforms.

Deadwood: The Forgotten Curse
Developer: Steamroller Studios
Fundraising Goal: $65,000
Funds Due By: N/A

[This campaign was canceled before it reached its fund-by date.]

Deadwood: The Forgotten Curse is one of those games that pulls from enough disparate ideas that you wonder how no one seemed to fit any of them together before. Equal parts twin-stick shooter, wave-based survival, and tower defense, Deadwood adds some much needed charm to each genre along with an interesting central hook. During the daytime in Deadwood, players are protected by their magical stone golem Roguard. The towering rock monster lumbers along behind main character Lathe, allowing him to safely explore the world for resources. When night falls, however, Roguard settles down to sleep and Lathe must keep him safe from the Deadwood, a horde of wooden zombies. Backing up Deadwood is a team with impressive backgrounds, including time at animation studios Weta and Dreamworks, and game projects like BioShock.

Devastated Dreams
Developer: Infinitap
Fundraising Goal: $115,896
Funds Due By: N/A

From the creator of the disturbing Neverending Nightmares, Matt Gilgenbach is currently crowdfunding his second foray into the horror genre. Devastated Dreams is based in Filipino folklore, partly inspired by Gilgenbach’s own travels to the country. The game follows Angel, a Filipino woman suffering from anxiety about parenthood and pregnancy. She has a string of interconnected nightmares which take her to real-life locations in the Philippines. All the while, she is haunted by vicious monsters known as aswang. Some of these demons feed on fetuses and infants, representative of Angel’s own fears. The atmosphere in Devastated Dreams is dense and wholly oppressive. The inky black darkness was suffocating in the demo I played, while eerie sound design enhanced the dread-inducing visuals. Those who were disappointed by Neverending Nightmares’ underdeveloped narrative will be happy to hear that Angel’s journey will be the focus of Devastated Dreams.

Discordia: Guardians of the Domain
Developer: Movimiento Épico
Fundraising Goal: $70,000
Funds Due By: March 28, 2016

The pitch video for Discordia: Guardians of the Domain shows a Chilean office space with cartridges lying everywhere. Games like Fire Emblem, Final Fantasy, and Golden Sun are strewn about as one developer talks about his inner child living in the secret world of video games. Discordia draws from these spaces and experiences with its vibrant hand-drawn world that encompasses an intriguing-looking online tactical video game.  You take control of one of three factions and gather collectible units as you move through the game. The units that you earn are opened in a flashy sequence similar to Hearthstone’s card packs. The grid-based combat seems like it will translate well to the game’s projected PvP mode. Discordia: Guardians of the Domain will be a game to keep your eye on if it reaches its funding goal. 

Draw a Stickman Epic
Developer: Hitcents
Fundraising Goal: $50,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Draw a Stickman will be a Scribblenauts-style iOS and Android game which allows you to draw your own hero and tools, etc. to overcome obstacles.

Dream
Developer: HyperSloth
Fundraising Goal: £20,000
Funds Due By: N/A

In this first-person puzzle/adventure game, you'll take control of a college graduate searching for meaning in his life. Finding solace in studying his dreams, Howard will encounter nightmares as well. Narrative elements from Dear Esther and non-linear gameplay mechanics of Deus Ex both inspired the formula Dream is presenting, putting exploration on a pedestal. Collectibles and multiple game endings promise to extend the longevity of the game.

Dreamland
Developer: Oniric Interactive
Fundraising Goal: $5,411
Funds Due By: N/A 

Dreamland is a relatively simple game looking to achieve anything but. Created by a team of medical experts and game developers, Dreamland looks to help children going through painful medical procedures. Using a simple and peaceful design, the game looks to hinder fears, pains, and anxieties children may have during their treatments. A virtual-reality game, players are put aboard an aircraft that takes them to a land of floating islands inhabited by friendly dragons watching over the magical crystals keeping the islands afloat. Players’ objective is to rid the islands of unwanted berry intruders by using an apple cannon and the help of the dragons.

Echoes of Aeons
Developer: Alchimia Studios
Fundraising Goal: $50,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Alchimia Studios wants to make a digital cutout and frame-by-frame, hand-painted action RPG for iOS, Android, and PC. The game will feature more than 20 hours of gameplay, a crafting system, and skill trees.

Eden Star
Developer: Flix Interactive
Fundraising Goal: £620,000
Funds Due By: N/A

[This campaign was cancelled before it reached its fund-by date.]

Eden Star is a first-person, sandbox survival-creation game with physics-based combat. In the Eden Star Universe, Earth is a dying world, and humanity’s survival depends on the success of the Pioneers in the first migration fleet. Players control a Pioneer of the migration vessel Eden Star, and are responsible for investigating and reclaiming the lost colony of Pharus 7. Currently, Eden Star is planned exclusively for the PC. Support for additional operating systems depends on demand and funding. All backers receive a prototype combat tech demo upon successful funding of the campaign.

Eliosi’s Hunt
Developer: TDZ Games
Fundraising Goal: $18,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Inspired by action games like Metal Slug, Eliosi’s Hunt is a top-down sci-fi shooter from development team TDZ Games. Players take control of Eliosi, a Zelicyan who is working towards being a bounty hunter by attempting to complete his very first contract. However, his target Sieverr will prove harder to kill than initially thought. Along for the journey is your own drone that grants the ability to dash away from enemies who produce an energy shield to block incoming damage.    

Epic Skater
Developer: UpUpStart
Fundraising Goal: $50,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Epic Skater is an iOS and Android game being developed by former Tony Hawk and Guitar Hero title developers. It is a side-scrolling skateboarding game that utilizes touch screen mechanics. The team is intending to make the game available for the Ouya as well.

Eyes Open
Developer: LatinForImagination
Fundraising Goal: $8,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Eyes Open doesn’t have quite the flash of some of the other titles on Kickstarter. The creators chose to focus more on gameplay than animation. The premise is that keeping your eyes open at all times is not an option, as it will cause your character to go insane. The player must navigate through portions the game without sight, adding to the suspense of gameplay. The environments are randomly generated, adding replay value to the PC title.

Faceted Flight
Developer: Matthew Scott
Fundraising Goal: $50,000
Funds Due By: N/A

A VR flight game that comes with the feature “not vomit-inducing” is a selling point within itself. Faceted Flight is a game developed exclusively for VR from its very inception by longtime industry veteran Matthew Scott. The game lets players take control of three different kinds of aircraft and pilot them through stylized airfields to either explore or compete in events like racing or ring attack. If you’ve ever looked at a game like Pilotwings and wondered what it’d be like in virtual reality, you’d best keep an eye on Faceted Flight. 

Failsafe
Developer: Game Over
Fundraising Goal: $80,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Merging the gameplay of Mirror’s Edge and narrative zen of Hayao Miyazaki, Failsafe plans to bring epic parkour exploration to the forefront of this fantasy adventure. On a desolate wasteland planet, a young girl named Isra has been raised to one day lead her people. Instead, she chooses to leave the confines of her village to explore the wider world, intent on discovering a mysterious location known as the Forgotten. The game stars Ashly Burch (“Hey Ash, Whatcha Playin’”) and Dante Busco (Avatar: The Last Airbender), along with additional talent like writer Anthony Burch and Journey animator Seiji Tanaka.

Farabel
Developer: Frogames
Fundraising Goal: $16,425
Funds Due By: N/A

Farabel is a turn-based fantasy strategy game, developed by a guy who grew up playing that kind of game. As a result, Farabel takes a lot of influence from old-school games like Advanced Wars, but still emerges with its own unique look and feel. The adorable and stylistic world is divided into a hexagonal grid on which you move and arrange cute little orcish characters. In campaign mode, the ultimate goal is to protect the city of Farabel from invading forces, featuring new enemies and challenges at every turn. The game also features a challenge mode that lets players explore different locations and situations while building an army. Fans of turn-based strategy games will feel right at home in Farabel, a game the developer says is “easy to learn, but difficult to master.”

Fight The Dragon
Developer: 3 Sprockets
Fundraising Goal: $50,000 AUD
Funds Due By: N/A

Developer 3 Sprockets has described its new venture, Fight the Dragon, as a 3D Mini Action-RPG, or MARPG. A hack-and-slash game at heart, Fight The Dragon’s gameplay revolves around short adventures approximately 15-minutes. This gives players the flexibility for both short and long gameplay sessions. The game supports local split-screen co-op and up to four player online co-op, both of which allow friends to join at any time. It also features a loot system and character customization. As players progress through the game, they’ll receive tickets to fight a dragon in a special arena. Fight the Dragon also comes with the in-game Adventure Construction Kit, which players can use to design levels of their own, with enemies, NPCs, puzzles, and more. Fight the Dragon is planned for Steam release on PC, Mac OSX, and Linux. 3 Sprockets also intends to release on Steam Machines, the Mac App Store, and on all platforms via the Humble Store – where it will be DRM free.

Forge
Developer: Dark Vale Games
Fundraising Goal: $300,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Forge is a PvP MMO third-person shooter that rewards "skill" rather than traditional MMO grinding. Classes currently in development include assassin, pathfinder, pyromancer, shaman, and warden. The development team is comprised of former Bungie, Epic, and THQ employees.

Framed 
Developer: VIE Games
Fundraising Goal: $300,000 CAD
Funds Due By: N/A

Framed is a story-driven, episodic action-shooter (seven total episodes) that aims to put players in the shoes of someone framed for a crime. To bring the game to life, VIE Games is using the largest motion capture studio in Canada. Additionally, VIE Games will have the player take the roles of other characters to facilitate a further understanding of the greater plot. Framed will take place five years into the future, and issues of privacy and terrorism will play central rolls in the world and story. VIE's aim is to have actions influence later episodes, much like Telltale’s The Walking Dead. There will even be a multiplayer mode where you attempt to frame other players. Framed is in development for PC.

Frozen State
Developer: Snow Arc
Fundraising Goal: £60,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, Frozen State combines elements of survival horror and RPG titles. Rather than have a traditional leveling system, Frozen State will have players focus on surviving through keeping the playable character in good health by avoiding frostbite and remaining well-equipped with armor and weapons. Three playable characters are available, and each provides different challenges. For example, Ingvar the soldier is more skilled in combat but requires more food to survive and is less adept at hiding. Several different endings are planned based on whether the player makes choices in the game that benefit the greater good or just the character. Frozen State is coming to PC, Mac, and Linux.

FutureKat SuperPark
Developer: Pierce International, Unlimited
Fundraising Goal: $30,000
Funds Due By: N/A

FutureKat SuperPark is a VR jogger available on iOS and Android played through the use of Google Cardboard, Google’s mobile virtual reality headset. Taking place in a cartoon multiverse, players meet a cast of anthropomorphic characters, collect Trinkets, and learn more about the evil FatKat Biggums. In order to explore the game’s three main exhibits, you jog in place while wearing Google Cardboard. Walking up to the game’s characters will allow you to have conversations with them, and perks for backing include being able to create your own character with the development team.      

Galaxy For Hire
Developer: Trench Games
Fundraising Goal: $300,000
Funds Due By: N/A

A hero-based tower defense game, Galaxy For Hire also allows 4-player cooperative play. It's your job to utilize your mercenaries to stop waves of enemies with strategy and unique abilities. There are 6-8 playable characters, all with persistent leveling, increasing the replay value of the game. Furthermore, the heroes have complete keyboard control, instead of mere mouse-clicking to move them around. The fast-paced action of this sci-fi universe will require players to work together if they want to progress.

Galaxy Heist
Developer: Space Bear Development
Fundraising Goal: $99,391
Funds Due By: N/A

If being a space pirate has been a life goal of yours, you might want to consider backing Galaxy Heist. The game is an ambitious blend of a lot of cool ideas that all come together to create what looks to be a highly entertaining experience. Crews of 4-5 pilot flagships around a space environment populated with other players and other flagships. Players can either pilot the ship, control a turret, or take control of a small drone ship to engage in large-scale space battles. If you’re looking for a more personal brand of space piracy, players are also able to board enemy ships and take them over from the inside. Hopping inside an enemy ship pulls the gameplay from large-scale ship combat to close-quarters FPS. Run around and take down the enemy crew with brute force, or maybe just blast a hole in the wall and let the vacuum of space do the fighting for you. 

GameBob Handheld 8-Bit Entertainment System
Developer: Home Run Games
Fundraising Goal: $80,000
Funds Due By: N/A

[This project was cancelled before its campaign ended]

On the hardware side, Home Run Games is looking to create the GameBob, which can play cartridges from the Nintendo Entertainment System, but on a handheld scale. They’re asking for quite a bit of money, but seeing the GameBob up and running in their prototype video adds a layer of faith to the project. Taking a very similar shape to Nintendo’s Game Boy, the GameBob features a 3.5 inch LCD screen, a USB charging port, and even two controller ports for NES-style rectangle controllers. Home Run is hoping to bring back a feeling of nostalgia with their project, giving a more authentic NES experience than delivered by emulators.

Glitch
Developer: En House Studios
Fundraising Goal: $10,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Combining the aesthetic of games like Superbrothers and the fighting mechanics of RPGs like Radiant Historia, Glitch is the story of a boy named Gus and his journey to close the Glitch, a rift in space with the power to destroy the world. Though Glitch borrows ideas from traditional RPG designs (characters like Tex the Robot and Nina the Rebel look very similar to ‘90s Squaresoft characters), it also mixes up the formula with ideas of its own. For example, Gus’s encounter with Glitch gives him the ability to communicate directly with you and he occasionally picks your brain as he progresses through Soren with his party. While the game will come to Windows, Mac and Linux if it receives minimum funding, En House lists Wii U, 3DS and PS Vita ports and a web comic as stretch goals.

GoD Factory: Wingmen
Developer: Nine Dots Studio
Fundraising Goal: $70,000
Funds Due By: N/A

If you've ever wanted to build your own ship, you're in luck, space cowboy. GoD Factory allows you to do just that, plus lets you make alliances with three friends to take on opposing teams in four-on-four battles. This space combat simulator will be available only for PC.

Gotta Go
Developer: Dire Nerd Studios
Fundraising Goal: $6,000
Funds Due By: June 28, 2016

Gotta Go is one of the most relatable games we’ve ever seen. It’s all about fighting through a busy office in a desperate attempt to get to and go to the bathroom. It hits almost too close to home. Players must maneuver through an isometric maze of cubicles as male or female protagonists Gus and August, avoiding chatty coworkers that engage the player in dialogue trees, and fighting against the Gastric Gauge and their body’s instinctive nature to just go. Failure to reach a toilet in time leads to a messy embarrassing voiding of the bowels and public shame. Furthermore, developer Dire Nerd is using Gotta Go to raise awareness for stomach cancer, supporting the company No Stomach For Cancer.

Grey Night
Developer: Therplay
Fundraising Goal: $15,000
Funds Due By: N/A

With its monochromatic presentation and gloomy atmosphere, it’s no surprise to learn that Limbo is Grey Night’s primary inspiration. The story centers on a father who, after suffering a car accident, discovers his daughter has gone missing. To locate her, the player must solve environmental puzzles, avoid wild beasts, and combat opposing citizens, including malicious children and a freakishly large woman. The narrative unfolds through interactive cutscenes that contain no dialogue, which the developer hopes will create a stronger, more emotional bond between player and game. 

Grimlands
Developer:  Drago Entertainment
Fundraising Goal: $650,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Grimlands is an MMO-shooter set in an open, post-apocalyptic world. Craft items out of scavenged raw materials and complete quests and battle for territories. Grimlands has undergone a little over five years of development, with the remaining work being polishing. 

GRIP
Developer: Caged Element
Fundraising Goal: $500,000 
Funds Due By: September 10, 2015

What if cars could drive upside-down while engaging in an intense gunfight? That's the question Caged Element asked when the company started developing GRIP, a futuristic combat racer. Because vehicles in GRIP function with equal ease on ceilings, walls, and floors, courses feature loops and other gravity-defying obstacles. Equally as important as the tracks are the game's weapons. The developers want to keep races as intense as possible, and to achieve that goal they intend to add a wide variety of items ranging from missiles to plasma cannons. If the controls match the quality of the graphics, GRIP could prove addictive when the game releases in mid-2017.

Ground Branch
Developer: BlackFoot Studios
Fundraising Goal: $425,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Ground Branch is a shooter that sits somewhere between run-and-gun games like Call of Duty and war simulations like Operation Flashpoint. BlackFoot Studios was founded by a former employee of Red Storm Entertainment.

Grow
Developer: Studio Grow
Fundraising Goal: $33,000 AUD
Funds Due By: N/A

Grow is the colorful brainchild of fledgling indie developer Studio Grow. Inspired by Pokémon and, to a greater extent, Team Fortress 2, Grow is an online brawler that can host up to 32 players. Different game modes have players fight in a free-for-all match or divide into teams. At the moment, Grow is solely a multiplayer game. However, according to the campaign’s promotional video, single-player and co-op modes could be added if enough money is raised. Check out the Kickstarter page or Studio Grow's website to see their PAX Build footage and other media. Grow isn’t currently planned for a specific platform, and will release on Steam, Wii U, Xbox One, and PS4 depending on the campaign’s success.

Hatch-It!
Developer: Multivarious Games
Fundraising Goal: $15,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Our second punny title on this most recent edition of Kickstarter Compendium, Hatch-it is a puzzle game about a cubic robot who must rescue dinosaurs. With an asteroid hurtling toward Earth, Dr. Tyrannosaurus travels back in time and creates a charming robot to recover and hatch the scattered dinosaur eggs in order to save them from extinction. Players move the robot by swiping in the desired direction and must finish the level before running out of fuel or being destroyed by unfriendly dinosaurs. Slated for a fall 2014 release on iOS, a demo of Hatch-It is available on the game’s Kickstarter page.

The Hostage Trials
Developer: Gnarly Tooth
Fundraising Goal: $90,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Gnarly Tooth is creating what they call the first "real-time mobile adventure," which forces you to complete tasks assigned to you by the game's villain (voiced by Solid Snake voice actor David Hayter) in real-time.  Tasks will include traveling a certain distance, changing your elevation, and answering questions about your hostage, a friend you choose through either Facebook or email.

H.P. Lovecraft – The Case of Charles Dexter Ward
Developer: Senscape
Fundraising Goal: $250,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Games inspired by the work of H.P. Lovecraft (like Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth and Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem) have traditionally gone to great lengths to imagine some of his definitively unimaginable horrors. They usually include insanity, gruesome death, and a lot of tentacles. Not so with Senscape’s hopeful attempt.

Based on the posthumous book of the same name (which was the only novel Lovecraft ever wrote), The Case of Charles Dexter Ward is an attempt to bring Lovecraft’s works back to their psychologically, cosmically demented roots. Senscape’s game features no weapons, enemies, running, or even dying. It’s a point-and-click adventure game that relies on mood and setting rather than jump scares and gory creatures. The team has also pursued the copyright to the story, which would make Charles Dexter the first-ever officially licensed Lovecraft video game.

The Hum
Developer: Ariel Arias
Fundraising Goal: $250,000 NZD
Funds Due By: N/A

[This campaign was cancelled before it reached its fund-by date.]

A first-person Oculus Rift horror game about an alien invasion - need we say more? Though the developer is flirting with just how many traditional game elements (like item crafting) to include in the game, it looks like a title that could herald a new golden age of horror games along with Silent Hills and Alien: Isolation.

Human Resources
Developer: Uber Entertainment
Fundraising Goal: $1,400,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Uber Entertainment’s take on the RTS genre sees players controlling either monsters or robots fighting for control of (what’s left of) Earth. Humanity plays a pretty significant but not active role: both monster and mech factions use humans as resources to gain ground.

The game boasts a clean-looking art style reminiscent of Spartan comic art with a slight cel-shaded flair. The team also claims to blend the gameplay of Command & Conquer with the huge battles of Annihilation. We’ll see how that pans out if the game reaches its mammoth asking price.

Izzy’s Revenge
Developer: Indie4Fun
Fundraising Goal: $55,000
Funds Due By: N/A

This 2D action platformer takes place in the world of Steelbridge, a steampunk-themed city where four guild leaders rule all.  You play as Izzy, a young inventor, who attempts to carry on her father’s research which could bring her steam-powered city to a new technological era of holographs. To accomplish this, she journeys through Steelbridge, fighting to overthrow the four guild leaders and their oppressive governments. The game will have combo-driven combat, secret items, new areas to uncover, 15 different weapons to choose from, and several difficult bosses

JetGetters
Developer: TinyBuild
Fundraising Goal: $50,000
Funds Due By: N/A

(funded, but cancelled)

If you've watched countless videos of jet antics in Battlefield 3 or Just Cause 2, then this is the Kickstarter for you. It's official description is "a game about jumping out of jets and landing on other jets." Players take to the skies in aerial dogfights, but can jump out of their plane at any time to continue shooting or even hijack enemy fighters. The developers plan on releasing the game on Steam if their fundraising campaign is successful.

Jungle Adventure
Developer: Jungle Venture
Fundraising Goal: $900,000
Funds Due By: N/A

David Crane, the creator of Pitfall! and co-founder of Activision, wants to make a side-scrolling platformer set in a lush jungle environment. GameTrailers will be documenting the entire game development process. "Jungle Adventure" is the working title for the game.

Kaidan
Developer: Metanoia Games
Fundraising Goal: $75,000
Funds Due By: N/A

There has been a recent crop of asymmetrical multiplayer horror games similar to Friday The 13th, but Kaidan may have the freshest concept of the batch. Players choose between three roles: the storyteller, who crafts a story and builds the level, the victim, who cautiously traverses a mansion created by the storyteller, and the haunter, who actively tries to scare and kill the victim. While watching the beautifully rendered demo of the game, it reminded us of a robust form of gothic Dungeons & Dragons. The storyteller sets goals for the victims and the player who selects one of the haunter classes tries to intervene. It’s a unique concept that we would love to see come to fruition.

Kaptain Brawe 2: A Space Travesty
Developer: Cateia Games
Fundraising Goal: $75,000
Funds Due By: N/A

A point-and-click adventure throwback, Kaptain Brawe not only channels the spirit of games like The Curse of Monkey Island, it's brought to life by Monkey Island artist Bill Tiller. Expect plenty of wacky comedy as you help Brawe escape from his frozen prison on an ice planet as he tries to stop Ursula Unsula from taking over the second-smallest planet in the universe.

Available for free, you can play the interlude between the first game and this sequel, Kaptain Brawe: An Unexpected Intermission, downloadable on the Kickstarter page. With fully voiced dialogue and a cast of colorful characters, Kaptain Brawe 2 looks to continue the tradition of classic PC games for a new generation.

Kick, Punch...Fireball
Developer: Lambda Bound Games
Fundraising Goal: $25,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Kick, Punch...Fireball is a deathmatch style arena game set in a fantasy universe. Players can choose from several different classes to fight it out with other players online, with a progression system allowing for customization like tweaking your character's attributes and upgrading your various skills. The developers are participating in the Ouya Free The Games Fund, which means if funded Ouya will match Kick, Punch...Fireball's fundraising goal in return for the game being a timed Ouya exclusive.

Laika Believes
Developer: John Warren
Fundraising Goal: $20,000
Funds Due By: N/A

For anyone who didn’t pay attention in history class, Laika was the dog that Russia sent into space. Laika was the first dog in space, and she met a sad end as it was discovered later that she likely died from heat exhaustion after launch. Unsatisfied with this chain of events, the developers of Laika Believes are creating an alternate version of history with their game. In it, Laika survives and comes back to earth, only to find that everything has changed. Laika, now equipped with space armor and the ability to talk, must find out what has happened in her absence. This 2D platformer is planned for PC, Mac, Linux, and possibly a console release at a later date.

Last Year
Developer: James Matthew Wearing
Funding Goal: $50,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Ever get frustrated at a horror film watching characters make stupid decisions like “splitting up” that inevitably get them killed? Well with Last Year, you can finally show the world how you’d take down the killer. Last Year is an asymmetric multiplayer game that pits five horror stereotypes (the jock, girl, nerd, popular girl, etc.) against one killer out for blood.

Players controlling the teens have to accomplish mission specific tasks like calling the cops or getting a truck ready for a grand escape, but they’ll need to keep the killer at bay too. That’s easier said than done though. Players controlling the killer have a nifty power called Predator mode that allows them to sneak past the survivors and ambush them from hiding spots, just like in the movies.

Lennie
Developer: Cryogenic Studios
Fundraising Goal: $10,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Lennie is a 2D platformer about a robot. The art is in children's-book style and the narrative is influenced by the Japanese storytelling tradition.

Leroy Johnson in the Greatest Game Ever Made
Developer: SpriteSoHard Studios
Fundraising Goal: $8,500
Funds Due By: N/A

SpriteSoHard Studios brings science and platforming together with Leroy Johnson in the Greatest Game Ever Made. Players control the titular character, an astrophysicist whose theories about entities from other dimensions were rejected at NASA. When these beings invade Washington, D.C., Leroy is the only one prepared to deal with them. Mechanics in the game are inspired by Mega Man’s run-and-shoot gameplay, and the variety of items and puzzles in The Legend of Zelda. It also features skill trees and various classes, or professions. Leroy can graduate to various classes to specialize his skills. The game doesn’t use typical weapons. Rather, Leroy uses a device of his own invention, the Red Ruby, and other creations to combat the inter-dimensional menace. SpriteSoHard has also emphasized the importance of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) concepts in the gameplay. Leroy Johnson in the Greatest Game Ever Made is planned for PC, Mac, and Linux, and is estimated to release in late fall or 2014.

Looking for Group: The Fork of Truth
Developer: Paladin Studios
Fundraising Goal: $600,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Based on the webcomic Looking for Group, this project aims to bring the characters of the comic to life in a classic RPG. While the game can be played solo, it is intended as a four player co-op. Four friends play as Cale, Richard, Benny, and Krunch as they adventure through the fantasy world of Legarion. Each of the 12 levels explores a new part of the world and offers quest missions for the players to complete. Considering the parody nature of the webcomic, fans of RPG’s are likely to get a laugh out of plenty of genre tropes. Planned for PC, Mac, and Linux.

Love Mythos: Sanctuary Island
Developer: Squid Sins Squad
Funding Goal: $8,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Folklore meets dating sim in this visual novel for PC starring mythological figures. As a selkie, a creature that is human on land and a seal in water, players join a cast of characters ranging from Greece’s famous Minotaur to the Philippines’ anggitay. After an unfortunate run-in with humans, the selkie has become trapped on Sanctuary Island, home to a rehabilitation center for myths who’ve had bad experiences with humanity.

During their stay on the island, players interact with the other troubled residents, wooing their choice of famous fey. Throughout the characters’ story arcs, players must decide whether they will help their fellow creatures overcome their resentment of humans or instead encourage them to seek revenge. Players’ choices in conversation and results in puzzle segments will determine the fate of not just their romance, but of all of Sanctuary Island’s inhabitants as well. Developer Squid Sins Squad further aims to create an inclusive game that provides friendship paths for those uninterested in romance and the option for gender neutral pronouns for the selkie protagonist. 

MEG: RVO
Developer: Skunkwerks Kinetic Industries Inc.
Fundraising Goal: $3,500 CAD
Funds Due By: N/A

Skunkwerks has launched this campaign to support the creation of a large challenge-zone map for its online RTS multiplayer game MEG: RVO, which puts players in control of the MEG, a robotic support unit that looks like a futuristic tank. The MEG can set up turrets, barriers, mines, and more. In addition to the MEG, players also have access to Rigs, which can be customized with various weapons and defensive systems. The game itself is already available for the iPad 4 and up, and can be downloaded for free in the iTunes app store.

Metacell
Developer: Products for Robots
Fundraising Goal: $35,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Metacell is a 2D twitch puzzle shooter. Set in an alternate universe, Metacell is the first of a five game saga where new gameplay mechanics will alter the genre with every installment. The sci-fi plot opens on the year 2272. There are two dimensions: the primeverse, where things are structured and logical, or the metaverse, where things don't make sense whatsoever.In order to stop a lurking danger from seeping into the primeverse, you'll need to guide your crew through the dangers of the metaverse.

Mongrel
Developer: Blake Whitworth & Stephan Messier
Fundraising Goal: $30,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Mongrel takes place in a world taken over by a new race. Animals have grown into humanoid hybrids and are running the world on a strict caste system. Mongrels are slaves and the only way they can be freed is through battle in the arena. Fight for your freedom. 

Nancy Drew: Tomb of the Lost Queen
Developer: Her Interactive
Fundraising Goal: $250,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Her Interactive wants to bring one of their popular Nancy Drew games (Tomb of the Lost Queen) to iOS and Android. The development company, located in Washington, has been making games based on the long-running series of stories about a girl detective since the late 1990s.

New Orbit
Developer: Blackish
Fundraising Goal: $40,000
Funds Due By: N/A

New Orbit is the latest project from Blackish, an indie studio founded by game developer Markus Hofer, who is also its CEO. The game’s story takes place over two episodes, the first of which is already complete. The first episode follows the story of Jonah Braun, and includes 10 missions as well as a bonus playground. Episode 2 promises to be a more extensive experience, with a longer story, challenges, and an open playground. The game’s story is fully voiced, with two of the campaign’s reward tiers offering backers a chance to add their own voice to the game. New Orbit players can build and customize their own ship, and several reward tiers include exclusive ship components as a prize. Space travel in New Orbit features realistic gravitation, which you can see in the Episode 1 trailer. New Orbit is planned for PC, Mac, and Linux, as well as Android devices. An iOS version is in the works.

Nevermind
Developer: Erin Reynolds
Fundraising Goal: $250,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Nevermind is the combination of a horror game and self-help tool for anxiety – and it looks awesome at both. Basically, you hook a biofeedback device up, and the game becomes more difficult when you’re scared. Controlling your fear and anxiety will bring Nevermind back down in difficulty. The creator, Erin Reynolds, created Nevermind to work well as both a game and self-help tool. Check out our coverage of Nevermind to learn more info.

Night Trap ReVamped
Developer: Night Trap LLC
Fundraising Goal: $330,000
Funds Due By: N/A

HD remasters of video games are nothing new, but for a full-motion video game, especially the infamous Night Trap, that's not quite so common. The controversial Sega CD horror game that help incite a Senate hearing on video game violence puts you in the shoes of a S.C.A.T. agent sent to rescue a group of teens from the haunted Martin house, turning its perilous traps against the Auger monsters.

Nimbi
Developer: Mortar Boar
Fundraising Goal: $22,416
Funds Due By N/A

Nimbi is a game out to reclaim your childhood innocence. Nimbi takes place in the imagination of a child named, appropriately enough, Nimbi. The child must explore 10 different cartoony levels of his imagination, that are both bizarre and charming, collecting animal onesies during his adventure and gaining special powers and abilities that will help him on his journey. The game currently boasts “astonishing environments,” puzzles that will make players think as if a child would, and a kitten companion, which is awesome. 

No Pineapple Left Behind
Developer: Subaltern Games
Fundraising Goal: $35,000
Funds Due By: N/A

“Pineapples are very simple,” says the body of the No Pineapple Left Behind Kickstarter page. “Children are way more complicated and have needs and feelings.” There is, however, a relationship between pineapple and child: If left unattended, pineapples turn into children. As principal of the school where this freakish nature-bending is commonplace, it’s up to you to decide whether to invest the time to grow children’s minds… or to just grow some pineapples.

The game’s mechanics boil down to a resource-management system. Your decisions as principal are paramount to the success or failure of your school, from cooking the books (and lying about test scores to get more state funding) to dealing with late school bus headaches. Players have to manage and monitor the risks and rewards of cultivating children’s minds, (which is more difficult but results in better test scores), taking the easy way out (pineapples can, apparently, get C’s), and raising or lowering teachers’ salaries (or firing them altogether).

The Old City
Developer: PostMod Softworks
Fundraising Goal: $40,000
Funds Due By: N/A

[This campaign was canceled before it reached its fund-by date.]

The Old City offers an ambitious premise – a first-person game built entirely to communicate story rather than action, with themes that explore epistemology (the study of the scope and nature of knowledge) and other philosophical concepts. If you’ve ever found yourself in an argument about video games and their willingness to tackle challenging topics, The Old City seems to be aiming high. The player controls an isolated individual who lives in the sewers as he or she travels to the surface and the old city that waits there.  If PostMod gets the funding it needs, The Old City will arrive on PC. 

The Orion Project
Developer: Spiral
Fundraising Goal: $200,000
Funds Due By: N/A

From the makers of Orion: Dinosaur Horde comes another dinosaur-based Kickstarter, this time promising an expansive dinosaur-filled open universe and proudly boasting “No game will ever have more Dinosaurs than The Orion Project.”  A first-person shooter, developer Spiral is looking to create a persistent online universe that can be explored at the player’s whim, with deep customization options, companion characters, loot, and both cooperative and competitive gameplay. There will also be spaceships, because spaceships and dinosaurs were meant to be together.

The Other Brothers
Developer: 3D Attack
Fundraising Goal: $50,000
Funds Due By: N/A

The Other Brothers is a pixel-art game based very loosely on the Mario Bros. The main characters are Jim and Joe, who run a mechanic shop. Joe's had his eye on Tavy, who is suddenly, unfortunately, and predictably "stolen" by mafia thugs. It's up to Jim and Joe to save Tavy in this familiar damsel-in-distress story.

Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen
Developer: Visionary Realms
Fundraising Goal: $800,000
Funds Due By: N/A

There are tons of MMOs that come and go without much notice, but Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen’s impressive team demands a bit of attention. The founders of Visionary Realms all have extensive experience developing MMOs, such as EverQuest, EverQuest 2, Star Wars: Galaxies, Myst 3, and a few others. It all takes place in the fantasy world of Terminus, where gods are prevalent. You take the role of a hero stripped of their powers on a quest to regain them. Pantheon puts a lot of emphasis on grouping with other players, so if you’re more of a lone wolf when it comes to MMOs, you might want to look elsewhere.

Passenger: Convert the Universe
Developer: Jesse Miki
Funding Goal: $7,000
Funds Due By: N/A

God sim games come in many forms, but Passenger: Convert the Universe takes an unusual approach to divinity. The goal in this case isn’t to demonstrate deific might, but to convince societies you discover to worship you as a god. Underneath the cheeky premise of this PC game lies a deep system for exploration and evolution. Every planet has a unique culture that will react differently to players’ influence. Factors such as birth rate, education, and government corruption, as well as which of the 10 societal phases the planet is in, will change over time and affect players’ standing on that world. If the inhabitants choose to worship you, their souls are used as fuel for your ship, allowing for further exploration and conversion. If they don’t, well, you can always blast them with a laser.

Pigsodus
Developer: Psilocybe Games
Fundraising Goal: $30,000
Funds Due By: N/A

You are what you eat. At least in the case of Psilocybe Games’ point-and-click RPG Pigsodus you are. Assuming the role of the titular pig, Horace Oinkstein, you must gather barnyard allies and supplies in preparation for a showdown with the butcher, Theodore Cleaver. With the aid of characters like an alcoholic squirrel and The Gadget Horse, Oinkstein will fight for his survival, either running free in the end or landing on a breakfast plate. Psilocybe is asking for $30,000. 

Ping 2: Attack of the Spheres
Developer: Nami Tentou Mushi, LLC
Fundraising Goal: $20,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Ping 2: Attack of the Spheres is a sequel to the recently released Ping, an Android game that continues to be popular on Google Play. As with its redecessor, gameplay in Ping 2 involves bouncing a ball off of or past obstacles to progress through a stage and solve puzzles. Besides enemies and bombs, obstacles consist mostly of a variety of blocks. The game also introduces a new FPS mode to the Ping series. Ping 2: Attack of the Spheres is planned for PC, Mac, the Wii U, and the PS3.

PitterPot
Developer: Tree Fall Studios
Funding Goal: $8,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Charming and nostalgic, Tree Fall Studios’ PitterPot channels 3D platformers of old with its plant-themed world full of bright characters and wacky environments. As the hero of the garden realm, PitterPot must set off on a journey to stop an invading evil force that is corrupting plants and making them wilt. Levels range from a barren desert to the inside of a house, each with ledge-hopping, tower-climbing, and boulder-dodging to test players’ platforming prowess. Different varieties of seeds, such as bomb seeds or beanstalk seeds, allow PitterPot to access new areas he couldn’t reach before. The developer has previously released Maze, The Gem Collector, and The Perplexing Orb for Wii U and plans to make PitterPot available on the platform as well, along with PC, PS4, and potentially Nintendo Switch.

Pixel Ripped 1989
Developer: Pixel Ripped
Fundraising Goal: $61,957
Funds Due By: N/A

All Nicola wants to do is play her Gear Girl video game system. Too bad she’s stuck in class. Pixel Ripped 1989 tasks players with sneaking in some gaming time all while avoiding the teacher and finding Easter eggs in the classroom. Built from the ground-up for VR, Pixel Ripped 1989 uses head-tracking to simulate just how dire a situation Nicola is in. Pay close attention to the teacher at the front of the room, and then look down at your Gear Girl to play through the game-within-a-game (also called Pixel Ripped). Be careful, though – if the teacher catches you looking down at your video game, you’ll get in trouble. There are no stretch goals for this campaign, but Pixel Ripped 1989 is just the first installment in a forthcoming series. The team also has Pixel Ripped 1979 in the works, which plucks Nicola out of school and into her childhood living room with her Fauxtari 2600. As of this writing, the Oculus Rift for PC is supported and the developers “will be negotiating with the manufacturers” to explore other platforms and headsets. A non-VR version is in the works exclusively for backers. An Oculus Gear VR version is also being developed.

Poi
Developer: PolyKid
Fundraising Goal: $80,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Inspired by the likes of Super Mario 64 and Banjo-Kazooie, Poi is a 3D platformer sporting bright graphics and smooth animations. The game's premise is simple: Players must navigate across six worlds as they search for explorer medallions. These worlds include varied locations like rumbling volcanoes and flying pirate ships alongside time-tested obstacles like boiling lava, slippery ice, and pattern-based spike traps. In terms of platforming difficulty, Poi offers both wide-open spaces for exploration and challenge-focused areas for only the most dedicated of gamers.

Pray For Dark
Developer: Vaylr Studios
Fundraising Goal: $400,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Pray for Dark is a first-person action horror game set in the underground of a city. Players are tasked with traveling deeper underground in order to kill the enigmatic Queen Mother. The game will be published on Steam.

Prisonscape
Developer: Lunar Enigma
Fundraising Goal: $49,500
Funds Due By: N/A

[This campaign was canceled before it reached its fund-by date]

With only a few days left, and more than half of its funding goal still ahead, it’s going to need a big push to find success this time around, but Prisonscape is certainly a project that stands apart from the crowd. Lunar Enigma’s game looks like an old-school JRPG on the surface. But the story itself is all about surviving in the harsh and unforgiving world of prison. Players build makeshift weapons, form alliances, and develop their prisoner’s skills, all with an eventual eye towards escape.  Whether it manages its Kickstarter goal or not, I hope Prisonscape sees the light of day at some point for its targeted release on PC, Mac, and Linux. 

Project Bliss
Developer: Enlightened Games
Fundraising Goal: $150,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Project Bliss was created to mirror the developer’s struggle with anxiety. As such, the game involves finding hope within a land in need of healing. The style of Project Bliss is described as “fantasy puzzle adventure.” It is likely to appeal to fans of games that strive to create an emotional connection.

The creators have helpfully included an early prototype build of Project Bliss for PC, Mac, and Linux for people to check out before backing.

Proven Lands
Developer: thesetales
Fundraising Goal: £299,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Proven Lands is a classic science-fiction inspired sandbox survival game where players must survive and explore strange alien worlds. Drawing upon rogue-like games similar to Don’t Starve, the environments of Proven Lands are procedurally generated and filled with alien life forms both friendly and hostile. A story told across five episodes in addition to events constructed by the game’s AI director, such as attacks by alien raiders or hostile wildlife, will also be included. The developers are looking to launch first on PC before then bringing the game to Mac and mobile devices.

Quantum Rush: Champions
Developer: GameArt Studio
Fundraising Goal: $36,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Quantum Rush: Champions is an offshoot of the original futuristic racer Quantum Rush, however Champions aims to bring single player content to the series. This offline version introduces a career mode, which features challenges like Last Man Standing mode, in which the racer in last place is eliminated from the track every 20 seconds. GameArt Studio also promises customizable racing conditions, additional ship parts and an arcade mode.

QONQR
Developer: QONQR, LLC
Fundraising Goal: $25,000
Funds Due By: N/A

QONQR is a location-based MMO game for iOS and Windows Phone in need of a map-driven interface so that players have the ability to "capture" buildings and other landmarks in their actual area (such as the airport across the highway from their house).

Rack n Ruin
Developer: N/A
Fundraising Goal: $30,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Rack n Ruin is being developed in-part by a former Blizzard employee who worked on StarCraft 2, Diablo 3, and WoW. It is a 2D, top-down, action adventure game that lets players turn areas of the world dark and nightmarish by corrupting each area's local shrine. Rack n Ruin's visuals are hand-drawn.

Raindrop
Developer: Raindrop Studios
Fundraising Goal: $144,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Raindrop is a survival game, with a twist. As a survival game, Raindrop is very environment-driven. However, players must contend not only with their surroundings, but with their character’s damaged sanity as well. Environments are fully-explorable, and sometimes have a surreal feel to them, bolstered by the player-character’s questionable hold on reality. These environments host complex puzzles, a dynamic weather system, and enemies with advanced AI. Collectibles include tools and weapons. Raindrop is planned for PC and Mac.

The Realm of Thyïlia
Developer: Flying Llama
Fundraising Goal: $20,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Flying Llama, a team based in Finland, is attempting to make a free online RPG that does not include grinding mechanics. The game will be in top-down, pseudo-3D style, and will include three playable character races.

Red Ash - The Indelible Legend
Developer: Comcept USA
Fundraising Goal: $800,000
Funds Due By: N/A

(Red Ash was privately funded by Fuze, a Japanese company, for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.)

Keiji Inafune’s second crowdfunding attempt after the success of his Mighty No. 9 Kickstarter, Red Ash is the developer’s attempt to blend classic Japanese animation with modern video gaming. The Red Ash team is headed by two key directors from Mega Man Legends, so this open world project has a strong pedigree. Like Mega Man Legends, Red Ash is a third-person action game with shooter elements. Beck and Tyger, two treasure hunters called Delvers, scavenge for Lost Technology in the ruins of the old world. When they learn of something called the “Legendary Legacy” hidden within the massive weapon Mobile Citadel KalKanon, they decide to search for it. There’s a catch – KalKanon will be destroyed in 14 hours by the overzealous defenders of the city Great Slope. Inafune aims to take the fundamentals of action adventure RPGs and infuse them with more modern design ideas. Specifically, Red Ash seeks to mix RPG elements with open-world freedom, meaningful NPC interactions, and even horror. You can find the anime that also takes place in the world of Red Ash here.

Reflex
Developer: Turbo Pixel
Fundraising Goal: $360,000 AUD ($321,444 USD)
Funds Due By: N/A

[The campaign was canceled before it reached its fund-by date]

Arena shooters were once thought to be lost to the rising tide of massive PvP gaming. The staff at Melbourne’s Turbo Pixel wants to be part of the renaissance by developing a tight, fast-paced arena FPS. They’re trying to include online multiplayer with dedicated servers, a plethora of game modes, and highly responsive input to evoke a nostalgic experience that still feels fresh.

Reflex is built on a custom engine shooting for 120fps, so even if it doesn’t look much like arena shooters of yore, it should be able to emulate the feeling of one. It’s a pretty straightforward endeavor, but the amount of effort Turbo Pixel is putting into it doesn’t look like it’s going to waste.

Remnants of Twilight: Age Of Arius
Developer: TwilightTeddiez
Fundraising Goal: $21,500
Funds Due By: N/A

Promising over 50 hours of gameplay and full-voice acting, developer TwilightTeddiez has an ambitious undertaking on its hands with Remnants of Twilight: Age of Arius. The story-driven RPG draws its inspiration from well-known franchises like Persona and the Tales series, but character sprites give it a retro flair. With a robust item-crafting system, zodiac-inspired art direction, and an active time battle system, there’s a lot to like here if you’re a JRPG fan.

One of Age of Arius’ coolest bits is how it takes one of the most satisfying parts of JRPGs – the summons – and makes them a core part of battle. Instead of calling forth a behemoth to devastate your foes, your characters become their own behemoths in mid-battle transformations that open up new combat possibilities.

Seven Dragon Saga
Developer: Tactical Simulations Interactive
Fundraising Goal: $450,000
Funds Due By: N/A

[This campaign was canceled before it reached its fund-by date]

It’s been a long time since a game was released under the Strategic Simulations, Inc. name. Purchased by Ubisoft in 2001 after more than two decades and 100 games, the brand was ultimately retired as Ubisoft expanded. There was a time when SSI and its Gold Box engine RPGs were a force to be reckoned with, and that’s exactly the time a group of veterans from the studio are hoping to recapture. Seven Dragon Saga is the first game from Tactical Simulations Interactive and, though it shares more in common with Baldur’s Gate than its Gold Box precursors, it’s an old school tactical RPG through and through. Players build a six character party and guide them through turn-based battles in classic fantasy settings. TSI promises a massive world and interesting conflict to pair with battling skeletons and dragons.

Shades of Sanity
Developer: Sword and Spirit
Fundraising Goal: $200,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Designed as a spiritual successor to Sanitarium, Shades of Sanity is a survival horror story that follows a schizophrenic patient who awakens in a strange environment. With no recollection of how he got there, the player must find his way through the eerie setting using a combination of point-and-click gameplay and puzzle-solving techniques.  Difficulty settings accommodate novice and advanced players alike.

Shadow of the Eternals
Developer: Precursor Games
Fundraising Goal: $750,000
Funds Due By:  N/A

After a cancelled campaign, Shadow of the Eternals is back with a slightly more reasonable fundraising goal. You can read more about the history of this project here.

From the creators of Eternal Darkness comes Shadow of the Eternals. Spanning over 2,500 years of history, you must navigate through a variety of scenarios in this action adventure title. Playing as Detective Paul Becker, the first episode has you question two survivors of a gang massacre. One is a toughened biker, the other a clean-cut businessman. To uncover the truth, interrogation leads the player to see through the eyes of a handmaiden in Hungary, 1610 AD. The broad scope of Shadow of the Eternals is aided by gorgeous character design and an expansive world.

Shadow Remnants
Developer: Shorebound Studios
Fundraising Goal: $75,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Shadow Remnants is a tactical RPG with thirteen playable classes and two skill trees per playable class. The game also includes a crafting system, online multiplayer, and a custom map creator.

Shaman: Shadows of the Last Immortal
Developer: High Iron Studios
Fundraising Goal: $27,000
Funds Due By: N/A

[This campaign was cancelled before it reached its fund-by date]

Shaman: Shadows of the Last Immortal is a strategic spell-casting game set in a reimagined version of ancient China. In the game, players control a young shaman named Pipa, who travels to Wudang Mountain in order to defeat an ancient evil armed only with her knowledge of magic. The spell system is based around traditional Chinese medicine and the concepts of Wu Xing, or the five elements of wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. Each spell is created by scavenging and fusing together specific components into seals, which are deliberately broken in combat to release the spell. Combat takes the form of real-time, arena-style spell duels. Shaman: Shadows of the Last Immortal is planned for PC, Mac/OS, and Linux in May 2014.

Skara: The Blade Remains
Developer: 8 Bit Studios
Fundraising Goal: £150,000
Funds Due By:  N/A

Players can battle it out online in Skara using hand-to-hand combat in a fantasy world. Skara is planned for PC, next-gen devices and mobile platforms and draws influences from several different gaming genres. One of the innovative features of Skara is that it will not have a leveling system. This means that new players have a shot at competing against long-time players as the highest skill wins over the best grinder.

Skyrider
Developer: Magic Guiso
Fundraising Goal: $40,000
Funds Due By: N/A

The world of Skyrider is both fantastical and grounded in reality. A massive, gleaming city in the sky looms over a shattered planet. The rich live in the luxury of this so-called AirCitadel. Impoverished workers live on the ground below, mining for resources and sedated by an exploitative TV broadcast from above. Noki is a citizen of AirCitadel who gets cast out when he tries to help these poor folks. Now, Noki and his personal drone ROBOTO must fight and climb their way back to the city. Skyrider is a gorgeous platformer with a twist: Players control both Noki and ROBOTO at the same time. The drone can lay down platforms so Noki can clear otherwise impossible jumps, as well as shield him from projectiles and fight airborne enemies. Noki, on the other hand, must collect energy so his faithful friend can perform these actions.

SkyWar Dragon
Developer: Matt "Tieg" Tieger
Fundraising Goal: $41,000
Funds Due By: N/A

It's rare that we have the space and time to highlight one of the many exciting tabletop Kickstarter games, but we wanted to alert readers to SkyWar Dragon because of the background of its creator. Matt "Tieg" Tieger served as game director over at High Moon Studios on Transformers: War for Cybertron and its sequel, Transformers: Fall of Cybertron. His new tabletop venture tackles a theme that's close to the heart of many gamers -- the excitement of midair dragon dogfights, complete with breath weapons, dragon riders, and desperate clawing melees, as the combatants tumble earthward. If that's a board game you'd like to see come to life, hop over, and offer your support. 

Song Of Horror
Developer: Protocol Games
Fundraising Goal: $55,167
Funds Due By: N/A

Fans of Resident Evil and Until Dawn may want to give Song of Horror a look. The story centers on a washed-up advertiser, who is tasked with investigating the mansion of a missing client. However, the residence is infested by a malevolent entity and things quickly take a turn for the terrifying. Song of Horror channels classic survival horror with clue-finding and environmental puzzle-solving, but thankfully eschews static viewing angles in favor of automatic cameras. In addition to the main protagonist, players control 15 unique characters who, depending on how you play, either survive the ordeal or die within the mansion’s walls. 

SOS: Ship of Sacrifice
Developer: Water Bottle
Fundraising Goal: $40,000
Funds Due By: N/A

[This campaign was cancelled before it reached its fund-by date.]  

A sickness breaks out on a ship – and at the same time, the vessel has sustained serious structural damage. Made for co-op play, you and a friend must escape the ship before it sinks. With a classic art style and puzzle game mechanics, SOS is likely to appeal to fans of old-school adventure titles. SOS will be available on PC and Mac.

Source
Developer: Fenix Fire
Fundraising Goal:$50,000
Funds Due By: N/A

A husband-and-wife development team is behind this visually arresting project, which presents a strange alien world to discover and explore that is inspired by the experience of the couple’s first child and his experience of understanding the world. You control a strange firefly creature navigating a vast 3D environment, battling creatures, solving puzzles, and upgrading over time. The visual presentation of Source in early screens and videos is stunning, but Fenix Fire still needs a big push if they’re going to hit the game’s Kickstarter goal. Source is hoping to come to PS4, Xbox One, and PC, with a stretch goal for a Wii U edition.

Spectrum: An Elegy for Piano
Developer: Rienzi Gokea
Fundraising Goal: $30,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Few games play around with real-world conditions in interesting ways, especially when they aren’t associated with something physically or mentally dramatic. Spectrum, however, tackles a very real condition called synesthesia. While synesthesia can manifest in many different forms, Spectrum’s main character Timothy hears music as color. The resulting game is a mix of puzzle and adventure mechanics, based around colors and sounds. When Timothy’s mother, a talented pianist, passes away, his father begins neglecting the family-run concert hall. After a time, the music Timothy loved fades, as does the color of the world around him; and players must guide the young boy on a journey to restore them. As players return colors to the world, the game’s music becomes more complex, as opposed to the simple scales and chords of the previously dull environments.

Spell Saga
Developer: French Toast Gaming Co.
Fundraising Goal: $35,000
Funds Due By: N/A

While it’s not a video game, Spell Saga is sure to pique the interest of many gamers, particularly fans of tabletop RPGs. The creator cites inspiration from series like Final Fantasy and Zelda for Spell Saga, which is a single-player, story-driven card game that casts players in the role of The Last Minstrel, who searches for answers following the downfall of his world. Backers may donate however much they like, and there are many possible rewards for reaching different pledge tiers. A copy of the game’s standard edition is available for a pledge of $30. A ninety-nine card demo deck and rulebook can be downloaded from the game’s Kickstarter page or the Spell Saga website.

Spellsworn
Developer: Frogsong Studios
Fundraising Goal: $25,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Spellsworn takes the arcane gameplay of Magicka and combines it with the tactical mind of a MOBA. Based on an old Warcraft III mod, Spellsworn is a competitive arena-style combat game where spells react dynamically with one another and the battlefield is constantly shrinking. The main game mode so far is a simple king-of-the-hill match, with capture the flag and more in development. Lava slowly encroaches on the field of play, forcing combatants closer and closer together. These cramped quarters are coupled with spells that can be used both offensively and defensively. Reflect spells can turn a fireball back on its caster, while summoning a stone pillar will block projectiles and can also be used to trap an opponent. Aesthetic customization is another focus of Spellsworn, allowing you to stand out in the arena with different wizard types. There will be multiple skins for characters and weapons as well as custom banners. Spellsworn will be free-to-play, but Frogsong is committed to keeping things fair. The studio promises that there will be no way to pay for any sort of competitive advantage.

Stunt Runner
Developer: Kermdinger Studios, Inc.
Fundraising Goal: $55,000
Funds Due By: N/A

The mechanics of Stunt Runner are similar in play style to Lemmings. In that classic game, the player had to assign skills to certain lemmings in order to get as many of the little guys through the level as possible. In the same fashion, players must lead down-on-his-luck stuntman Smash Johnson through film acts by controlling the environment rather than the character. The objective is to set up props along the level for Smash to interact with such as trampolines, umbrellas, jetpacks, rakes, etc. If all goes as planned, Smash will make it through the scene in one piece. If not, you can share the disastrous results on YouTube.

Stunt Runner is planned for PC, Mac, and Linux. Try out a demo here.

Super Motherload
Developer: XGen Studios
Fundraising Goal: $50,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Super Motherload is the followup to the 2004 free-to-play mining game, Motherload. The development team is partially comprised of people who previously worked at Bioware.

Super Techno Kitten Adventure
Developer: 21st Street Games
Fundraising Goal: $100,000
Funds Due By: N/A

21st Street Games is the developer behind the popular XBLA/iOS game, Techno Kitten Adventure. In the sequel, as in the first game, players maneuver a kitten wearing a jet-pack, flying through colorful techno worlds. Kittens are now customizable, and the game will feature multiplayer and co-op.

Super World Karts GP
Developer: Paul Hamilton/One Legged Sea Gull Games
Fundraising Goal: $16,000 AUD
Funds Due By: N/A

Paul Hamilton, also known by his trading name, One Legged Sea Gull, is the creator of Super World Karts GP. SWK is a 16-bit kart racing game inspired by classics like Super Mario Kart and similar titles. As with other kart racers, there are multiple characters and tracks to choose from, as well as power-ups, items, and other helpful things to find. SWK also features achievements, rankings for every race, and analogue steering. Fans of kart racers and racing games know the importance of a solid control scheme. As a fan himself, Hamilton has put a great deal of effort into SWK’s controls, noting that it already plays well despite being early in development. A recently added $50 reward tier gives backers a chance to own a physical copy of the game and soundtrack. Super World Karts GP is planned for PC, Mac, Linux, and Ouya, as well as iOS and Android devices. If the campaign reaches its first stretch goal, which requires $25,000 AUD, a Wii U port will also be available for backers of the $16 tier and above.

Tetropolis
Developer: Next Gen Pants
Fundraising goal: $50,000
Funds Due By: N/A

As much as some might malign the "Metroidvania" naming convention for games (it only describes a game in relation to two other games), it serves a purpose in that it gets a game design idea across quickly. Now, what would your reaction be if I told you a developer seeks to reinvent the genre with a "Tetroidvania" game?

Tetropolis unshackles the tetromino from its downward gravitational pitfall and puts the puzzle piece into a world in which the player must shift the shape into its multiple variants to progress. Oh, yeah, and the entire world map itself is composed of tetrominos that you can rearrange, so you're essentially playing a platformer within a puzzle. Plus, there's a free demo available for you to try out.

TGL : ThanksGiving LIFE
Developer: DDT Games
Fundraising Goal: $50,000
Funds Due By: July 1, 2015

DDT Games knows that, at the end of the day, nothing is better than being able to play god. Their most recent game, ThanksGiving LIFE, lets you do just that. In TGL you select and take control of an A.I. and micromanage their life and help them to hopefully realize their dreams. Each of the selectable A.I. characters has their own goals, personalities, and story arc. Nearly every action your character performs affects their skills, mood, and environment in some way. Sitting on the sofa causes your avatar to gain weight, and probably curse you in the process. Hitting the gym helps get them in the best shape of their life, which might just be what they need to woo that special someone or fulfill their ultimate dream. 

That Day We Left
Developer: Inner Void Interactive
Fundraising Goal: $22,353
Funds Due By: N/A

Attempting to portray the hardships undergone by immigrants and refugees as they fled their homes, That Day We Left is a narrative game based on real stories surrounding the recent Syrian crisis. From a refugee’s point of view, the player controls Rashid as he tries to lead his family to safety in Europe. Utilizing a survival-style resource management system, the player can explore environments and interact with items that affect the storyline. Choices made in-game not only affect the physical well-being of members of your party, but their emotional personalities as well. 

Think Zombie
Developer: carboLab
Fundraising Goal: $21,900
Funds Due By: N/A

Think Zombie is an adorable iOS, Android, and Windows Phone game that uses an overdose of adorable characters to hide a mildly morbid plot. On the surface, players are in charge of managing a cute little theme park run by Zombies. Like any theme park-management game, your goal is to build the best park possible to attract more and more visitors. In Think Zombie, your goals are the same but slightly more sinister. After attracting thrill-seeking humans to your theme park, you must capture as many of them as possible and convert them into minions for your zombie army. Adorable, right? Some humans can be tossed on stationary bicycles and used to power your park or instructed to dig tunnels and expand the dungeon beneath your theme park. And when your army becomes big enough, you can wage war on the nearby human habitats. The final build of the game promises multiplayer, different human and zombie classes, and even more adorable little human sprites to enslave.

Transmission
Developer: Paper Unicorn
Fundraising Goal: $84,000
Funds Due By: NA

Transmission asks players to discover the past of a mysterious planet, all the while confronting their own. Using a beautiful hand-drawn art style, similar to that of Broken Age, developer Paper Unicorn looks to craft a sci-fi world rich for exploration, reminiscent of the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey – which it cites as an influence. Set from an isometric point of view, players will have to be smart with their approach to combat in Transmission, crafting special equipment and weapons to help them fight the creatures and guardians of the planet. They will also have to search through interactive environments and solve puzzles littering the strange world during their explorations. 

Tridek: Creatures of Galena
Developer: Team Tridek
Fundraising Goal: $55,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Tridek is a fantasy-based digital trading card game that aims to eliminate the common complaints of similar games. For example, many card games require the player to build up resources before they can complete actions, such as land cards in Magic: The Gathering. Tridek also avoids the element of luck playing a larger role than skill by balancing the abilities of cards— one all-powerful card winning a match by itself is not a problem in this game, as players will need to use strategy to get ahead. Stronger cards do not always have the most victory points. Players will instead need to use a mix of larger and smaller cards to win. Tridek will be available on both PC and mobile platforms. 

Twin Souls: The Path of Shadows
Developer: Lince Works
Fundraising Goal: $70,000
Funds Due By: N/A

A self-described blend of Tenchu and Portal, Twin Souls seeks to return the stealth genre to its roots by favoring tactical sneaking prowess over one-man army style gameplay. You play as Aragami, a spirit with the ability to control shadows, summoned by a girl named Yamiko looking for help to escape imprisonment. Aragami can use his abilities to throw shadows and teleport between them to slip past guards or twist them to spook enemies into cutting down one another in a panic. Twin Souls is currently planned for Windows, Mac and Linux, with news of console editions coming in future updates.

Vagante
Developer: Nuke Nine
Fundraising Goal: $50,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Citing Castlevania and Diablo as influences, Vagante is a 2D procedurally generated game in which you adventure into a cave using classes like mages or knights to earn treasure. There's a playable demo, so you can check out for yourself how the leveling up system and skills trees and abilities work.

A Vampyre Story: Year One
Developer: Autumn Moon Entertainment
Fundraising Goal:$200,000
Funds Due By: N/A

A prequel to the PC game A Vampyre Story, Year One is being developed by a former Lucas Arts employee and looks especially promising in the animated previews. Using full 3D character models and animations, A Vampyre Story: Year One is easy on the eyes. In addition, a mobile game is also a possibility. In this graphic adventure game, you must help Mona find a way out of trouble for Froderick the bat.

VIRUS
Developer: Plexcom
Fundraising Goal: $50,000
Funds Due By: N/A

[The campaign was canceled before it reached its fund-by date]

The longer that Capcom postpones making another Mega Man game, the more games inspired by Big Blue will appear on Kickstarter. Mighty No. 9 was a resoundingly successful campaign, and now Virus hopes to carry on the torch in its own way.

Virus is pretty much exactly what you’d expect from a fan continuation of the Mega Man X series: a leveling system with a skill tree, upgradable weapons and armor, secret areas, and semi-linear progression. The fluid animation, fast pacing, and tight controls are the tools Plexcom is using in the hopes of doing Mega Man fans proud.

Waking Amy
Developer: Martian Media Inc.
Fundraising Goal: $10,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Waking Amy has the titular character’s body stuck in a coma, as her mind is trapped in a dream world. With combined combat and puzzle elements, Waking Amy is sure to appeal to fans of sidescrollers and PSOne-era platformers. Rather than lock players down to a set of rules there will be multiple ways to get through levels and defeat enemies. PC, Mac, and Linux releases are planned, with possibilities for Ouya, Android, and Oculus Rift compatibility in the stretch goals.

Wars and Battles
Developer: Kermorio
Fundraising Goal: $50,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Wars and Battles is likely to appeal to both tabletop fans and history buffs. The initial release of the title plans to have the battles at Gettysburg and Normandy available for players to strategize through. The aim of the title is to combine the strategic challenge of tabletop wargames without the overly complex control schemes that PC war simulator games have, making it easier for casual gamers to give it a try. Stretch goals include more historical battles to play through. Wars and Battles is coming to PC, Mac, Linux, iOS, and Android.

Wartile
Developer: Playwood Project
Fundraising Goal: $76,677
Funds Due By: N/A

Taking advantage of the Unreal 4 engine, Wartile is a visually-stunning tabletop game. Each board is a miniature vista with hexagonal tiles breaking up the terrain. Fans of Harry Potter who drool at the prospect of having chess pieces come to life will probably have a similar reaction to Wartile’s tiny moving warriors. Wartile seeks to merge the strategic thinking of traditional tabletop games with the quickened pace of contemporary video games. There’s a pedigree behind Wartile, too; the game is being developed by Playwood Project, which was founded by Michael Rud Jakobsen. He worked on art for Kane & Lynch 2 and the game design in the recent reboot of Hitman.

Wicked Crush
Developer: N/A
Fundraising Goal: $15,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Wicked Crush is a 2D platformer. The final game will come with at least 100 floors. The game's most standout feature, though, is one that allows people to create their own dungeons, which are then sent to other players online. If players die while traversing other player-created dungeons, the original creator will get a large amount of in-game gold, encouraging people to build punishingly hard levels.

Windwalkers
Developer: Forge Animation
Fundraising Goal: $330,000 CAD
Funds Due By: N/A

The French game studio, Forge Animation, is creating the transmedia project Windwalkers, which will come in the form of a video game, comic book, and film. The project is adapted from the French sci-fi novel La Horde du Contrevent (The Horde of the Counterwind) and each media will retell its epic story. Forge Animation collaborated with the author Alain Damasio, who worked on DONTNOD’s Remember Me, to bring this media to life. In the video game Windwalkers, you traverse a world  ravaged by strong winds and attempt to uncover the source. The action/RPG will feature Dark Souls-like gameplay, and exploration mechanics similar to Journey. Co-op will be another addition so you can play with friends. 

Wings: Director's Cut
Developer: Cinemaware
Fundraising Goal: $350,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Wings: Director's Cut is an HD remake of the flight sim action game, Wings, produced for the Amiga in 1990. The Director's Cut will also include content not found in the first release of the game. The title will be available on PC, Mac, iOS, and Android.

Wisp
Developer: Overzealous Studios
Fundraising Goal: $4,000
Funds Due By: N/A

Players move a small ball of energy through a 2D world that looks a little bit like space/microbiology. The development team promises that the platformer's puzzles will be challenging to modern gamers.

Wotan
Developer: Wolf Of Victoria 
Fundraising Goal: $11,000
Funds Due By: July 6, 2016

Wotan looks like it takes place in Lisa Frank’s nightmares. It’s a colorful, yet dark, beat ‘em up in the vein of games like Streets of Rage II and King of Dragons where combat isn’t actually the only option. Putting players in the shoes of the titular Wotan, a former gang leader, players will be given the choice of spilling blood in their wake or making decisions that will sidestep combat entirely. Boasting a large cast of characters where every friend can be a foe and vice versa, players will be able to take to the streets on foot or bike, building up character stats, and creating alliances or enemies. A demo of the game is currently available.

Yum Yum Yummy
Developer: bacu-bacu
Fundraising Goal: $5,555
Funds Due By: N/A

Yum Yum Yummy is a deceptively complex puzzler where players must swap and match tiles to feed some cute, hungry animals. The gameplay is straightforward, especially for anyone that has played a match three before. Each of the four basic animals will only eat a certain type of food. For example, the only way to clear carrot tiles off the board is to move a rabbit next to them. The different food blocks above will fall, possibly starting a chain reaction. Players must plan their moves out in advance, because it’s very easy to get stuck with five bamboo tiles and no pandas left. On top of the four basic animals, bacu-bacu is designing three special animals to complicate certain levels. The lion tile will eat adjacent animals, while pig tiles will eat any food around them. Yum Yum Yummy seeks to differentiate itself from the frantic pace of games like Candy Crush by presenting complex puzzles without a focus on quick completion. The game encourages players to think through problems and predict how the board will react.

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Are there other Kickstarter projects you think we should be covering? Leave a note in the comments below, or contact the author directly through the email address at the bottom of this story.  As we learn about new Kickstarter projects, we'll review and add games through regular updates to this story.