Greetings! We have prepared a list of the latest video game crowdfunding projects to catch our interest, as is custom here at Retronauts dot com. As a matter of fact, it has been a full year since we started doing this and we hope to continue bringing these pleas from donation-seeking developers and designers to you going forward. That said, we are also aware of the tumultuous situation at Kickstarter in recent months, and we wish to express our support for the Kickstarter employees who are bravely seeking to form a union. Retronauts as you see it today was reborn thanks to Kickstarter (and continues thanks to Patreon) and we remain grateful to everyone who has enabled us to succeed. We hope Kickstarter recognizes the hard work its employees have done to bring the company success over the last decade and embraces their efforts to unionize.
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.
Savior
Platform: PC, Mac, Nintendo Switch
Campaign ends: October 10
Estimated delivery time: October 2022
Minimum pledge to receive the game: $15 US
The developers are pitching Savior as a "open-world, action-adventure platformer" but what grabbed my eye was the outstanding and well-animated pixel art. Sam, the protagonist, wields a spear as her primary weapon and combat looks to be complex with lots of dodging and parrying. Sam is also adept at parkour so whether she's fighting or running, this game looks very cool.
Savior already has a Steam listing and while the team has only announced a console version for the Nintendo Switch, they "fully intend to bring Savior to all 3 console platforms and are in discussions with the platform owners" while acknowledging that by the time Savior is complete, there may be new consoles on the market.
Heart of Neon
Platform: it's a movie
Campaign ends: October 12
Estimated delivery time: September 2020
Minimum pledge to receive the movie: $12 US
Do you recognize the name Jeff Minter? How about Llamasoft? The former has been making video games for almost forty years and the latter is the company he started in 1982. Heart of Neon will be a documentary about both of them by Paul Docherty, himself an artist who worked in games back in the 1980s. With this project, Docherty wishes to make a film that "HONOURS AND EXPLORES THE ART OF GAME DESIGN THE SAME WAY FILMS ARE MADE ABOUT THE WORK OF ARTISTS IN OTHER MORE TRADITIONAL MEDIA."
A $12 pledge is enough to download the finished film (in standard definition) but those who seek physical copies will need to pledge $40 or $50 for the DVD or Blu-ray packages, respectively.
Demons of Asteborg
Platform: Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, Steam, Nintendo Switch
Campaign ends: October 25
Estimated delivery time: August 2020
Minimum pledge to receive the game: €10 (about $11 US)
Demons of Asteborg is a brand-new old game for the Sega Genesis (née Mega Drive), a "platform-based game with some metroidvania elements" that cites inspiration from "Ghouls'n Ghosts, Castlevania, Mickey Mania, Space Harrier or Panzer Dragoon." Indeed, the trailer features a most un-platform-like bonus stage with the hero riding a dragon and flying away from the player.
Demons of Asteborg will have a traditional release on Steam and the Nintendo Switch but for the old-school crowd, it will be playable on Sega's original 16-bit hardware. Take note that in order to receive a physical cartridge, backers must pledge at least 40 euros (about $44 US).
Tilt Five
Platform: any flat surface
Campaign ends: October 29
Estimated delivery time: June 2020
Minimum pledge to receive the game: $299 US
We focus on video games here at Retronauts but we are not immune to the call of tabletop games from time to time, and Tilt Five looks downright magical: it's an AR system that turns 2D boards into 3D worlds. Using goggles and a wand controller (included) players can interact with the AR images and play games, both tabletop and video variety. The package will include at least six "introductory games" with additional software allegedly under development.
With a $300 minimum this is one of the pricier Kickstarters we have recommended but as of this writing the project has already been funded twice over with pledges topping one million dollars. Naturally, there are stretch goals yet to be unlocked.
Zachary's Note
Platform: PC, Mac (Nintendo Switch is a stretch goal)
Campaign ends: October 29
Estimated delivery time: December 2020
Minimum pledge to receive the game: $15 US
How often do you get to say in your day-to-day life "aww, that USB plug is so CUTE"? If the answer is "zero, you fool" may I suggest you watch the trailer for Zachary's Note, a 3D "puzzle-adventure game" starring a sentient USB cable searching for his mother. Li'l Zachary can slither, jump, and push objects to explore the world, but his real power is plugging into different devices and turning them on.
Zachary's Note is being developed for home computers but the small team from Seoul pledge that they "plan to add more platforms, especially Nintendo Switch and VR after the desktop version is released."