Crowdfunding is now a thing. It's funny to think about, that years ago Double Fine said "We want to make an adventure game like those old adventure games" and started this wave of everyone and their dog trying to pitch video games, from indie startups to obvious scams to old franchises (or spiritual successors to old franchises) that might not have needed to ever come back.
Here are my direct contributions to this madness, as opposed to Kickstarter games that I didn't back but played later on (i.e. Shadowrun Returns). Time will tell how much of an idiot I have been, but thus far I've done alright for myself. These games are listed in the order that I backed them, not that it really matters.
Showing 1-10 of 17 items
Backed for $15. A solid, if rather unsurprising, RPG that successfully imitates a game I would've blogged about 2 or 3 years ago with all the good and bad that comes with that.
I've said my piece about FTL before. It's great, unlocking ships is occasionally frustrating and the final encounter with the Rebel Flagship is ALWAYS frustrating. Definitely worth my $5
A turn-based something or other from ex-Bioware guys. Aside from the gorgeous art style, the game executes on its ideas quite well, but it could've benefited from a bit more complexity in regards to both the combat and the Oregon Trail-type stuff. I'll be interested in seeing where this series goes. Backed for $10.
Congratulations Xenonauts. You successfully made a polished, tweaked and rebalanced version of X-COM: UFO Defense. Not sure if that counts as praise or not. (Hint: It doesn't) $25
A neat little trifle of a classical dungeon crawler, this one also boasts some really strong art design to go along with what seem like decent mechanics. I haven't necessarily gotten super far, but it seems quite worth the $10 I backed it for (that's right, I paid extra for this one).
Pillars is genuinely amazing, both as a throwback RPG and as a tribute to Baldur's Gate. One of my favorite RPGs of the last decade... not that there have been a ton of great RPGs in the last 10 years. Backed for around $20, I think?
I think Planescape Torment is an amazing, singular force in the pantheon of CRPGs, so it's kind of regrettable that Numenera feels like a pale shadow of the game it's imitating. Backed for $20
I am part of the problem. I gave these monsters $1.
Backed for $25. A solid-ass RPG with some great combat and systems level interactions stuff. The story and characters are pretty forgettable, but I'm glad I finally got around to finishing it.
Backed for $25. I'm not gonna lie, those first two Ultima Underworld games are just a tad too old for me to have gotten super far in either, but I love them in concept a lot. I figure this sorta-official sequel revival thing (no, seriously, they got the rights to use the "Underworld" license, but not the "Ultima" license. Don't ask me how that works) will hopefully be the ticket I need for that.
