The hottest months of 2019 have ended but in the world of video game crowdfunding, there's no such thing as "cooling off." Here is our latest monthly roundup of projects that caught our collective eyes. As always, we have no insider information or financial interest in any of these projects, and no one at Retronauts has been compensated for including anything on this page.
Alder's Blood
Platform: PC, Nintendo Switch (and PS4 and Xbox One, maybe)
Campaign ends: September 5
Estimated delivery time: January 2020
Minimum pledge to receive the game: $20
I'm a sucker for a good mashup of words I don't normally see together, especially when they make sense, so the phrase "Victorian Western" in the description of Alder's Blood is very alluring to me. The same goes for "turn-based, tactical stealth." And hey, there's definitely an element of cosmic horror here too!
The project has already been funded but stretch goals continue to be added in this, the final days of the campaign. The game is definitely being made for "PC & Switch" but there is a note that says extra funding "will help us to port the game additionally to PS4 and XBox."
Ty the Tasmanian Tiger
Platform: Nintendo Switch (PS4/Xbox One are stretch goals)
Campaign ends: September 5
Estimated delivery time: March 2020
Minimum pledge to receive the game: $25
Did you know that Ty the Tasmanian Tiger was a early-aughts action-platformer on the PlayStation 2, GameCube, and the original Xbox? I did not, but maybe I should: according to Australian sources the game sold a million copies! The 2002 game was remastered for Windows three years ago but Krome Studios - the original developers - wants to bring Ty to the Nintendo Switch as well. Along with the usual enhancements that remastering entails, they're also adding (optional) motion controls for throwing boomerangs and gliding.
The project is already fully funded but there's a big stretch goal remaining: ports for the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One (isn't it crazy that "the original Xbox" and "the Xbox One" are totally different devices? Yes, it is).
RepliTronics
Platform: portable battery chargers
Campaign ends: September 10
Estimated delivery time: November 2019
Minimum pledge to receive a charger: $35 or $45
Often I see a Kickstarter project and say to myself "this is tailor made for a version of me who just has an enormous house and stacks of cash laying around." RepliTronics is just such a project: they make practical, modern devices that needlessly resemble old technology! In this campaign, a $35 pledge gets you a miniature change machine (exactly the kind that used to be in arcades everywhere) except it's actually a mobile battery with six USB ports. For $45, there's a wireless charging deck that looks like a portable cassette player. You can also pledge $75 for one of each device and they'll throw in a "base pad" that looks like the carpet from an 80s arcade.
I don't need any of these things but dammit I want them all.
Coleco Evolved: Berzerk and Frenzy
Platform: miniature arcade cabinets
Campaign ends: September 14
Estimated delivery time: March 2020
Minimum pledge to receive the game: $69
Oh hey, speaking of miniature arcades: back in the 1980s, it was commonplace for a hit arcade game to be made into a toy version of itself. The cabinet art was there, the brand-name was there, but the gameplay and graphics were vastly simplified (not Tiger Handheld simplified, but in the vicinity). Now Coleco (more accurately, a company that owns the rights to the name Coleco) is making all new "Evolved Mini Arcades" that have the toy-like appearance but now, the actual working game is squeezed inside.
While this campaign is for new mini arcade version of Berzerk and Frenzy, a $69 pledge can get you either of those games, a 2-in-1 arcade toy with both games, or either of the previously released games Robotech or Rainbow Brite. Or drop $275 and get all four games - a savings of one dollar!
Chicory
Platform: PC, Macintosh
Campaign ends: September 14
Estimated delivery time: August 2021
Minimum pledge to receive the game: $20
"You're a dog wielding a magic paintbrush!" - sold. Seriously though, this is a cute-looking game made by people with a lot of successes already under their collective belts. It's already been funded twice over! Nothing I write here will affect that!
Beloved Rapture
Platform: Steam (console ports are a stretch goal)
Campaign ends: September 13
Estimated delivery time: August 2020
Minimum pledge to receive the game: $9
Beloved Rapture isn't a genuine retro game or a new SNES game, but it was certainly made to evoke the memory of those games in the player's mind. The pixel graphics look like any number of 16-bit RPG classics - I'll say it reminds me of Final Fantasy Mystic Quest because there are jumping puzzles - although the developers cite a number of other 90s hits among their inspirations. Also an inspiration: the developers cite a need for "stronger LGBT inclusion, diversity, and progressivism" in video games, so they're taking that approach to making Beloved Rapture.
The current project will be released on Steam but there is a stretch goal for ports to "Nintendo Switch, PS4, or other consoles."
Rollie
Platform: NES
Campaign ends: September 30
Estimated delivery time: February 2020
Minimum pledge to receive the game: $9
Lastly this month is an authentic retro project for a brand-new NES game called Rollie about a raccoon that can run, jump, and roll into a ball. Made by "an experienced developer who has worked on NES mods for over a decade," Rollie is already "100% finished" and this Kickstarter campaign is a means to produce physical cartridges. That $9 pledge only qualifies for a digital copy, by the way; to receive a cartridge copy requires a pledge of at least $39 (more if you want a proper box and instruction manual).