Are you spending more time sitting around the house than you usually would? Are you looking for new video games you might like to play, but not necessarily something to play right away? Then please enjoy this perfectly-timed monthly roundup of video game crowdfunding campaigns. 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. We also wish to send heartfelt congratulations to the team at Kickstarter who voted to unionize their workplace. 

Cooking Companions
Platform: Steam
Campaign ends: April 7
Estimated delivery time: October 2020
Minimum pledge to receive the game: $15 US

"Cooking Companions is a 'dating sim' psychological horror title" is a great way to start your video game pitch, and so is citing P.T., Until Dawn, and Doki Doki Literature Club as inspirations. The game stars four human beings and five smiling foods which means I have to wonder if they start pairing off at any point: Onion and Potato belong together and I refuse to hear otherwise.

Jeffrey Wittenhagen's Black Box Challenge
Platform: NES
Campaign ends: April 23
Estimated delivery time: May 2021
Minimum pledge to receive the game: $20 US (digital only)

This is an extremely meta project: an NES game about collecting NES games - specifically the original "black box" releases for Nintendo's first console "in order to become a legendary Nintendo collector." The game was originally developed for a different Kickstarter campaign five years ago but now it's being reprinted along with a brand-new guide book. Take note that the NES cartridge and the book are separate items and only at the $80 level are they paired together.

9 Years of Shadows
Platform: Steam, Nintendo Switch
Campaign ends: April 23
Estimated delivery time: December 2021
Minimum pledge to receive the game: MX$ 300 (about $13 US)

The campaign header describes 9 Years of Shadows as "A Heartful Metroidvania Experience" and promises music from both Michiru Yamane and Manami Matsumae - but that's not all: "by request of Ms.Yamane herself, healing music will play a very important role in our game." Apparently there will be an in-game theater where "you will get to see the characters perform exclusive melodies tuned to 432Hz designed to soothe your soul." You had me at Yamane & Matsumae, frankly.

Aeterna: Noctis
Platform: Windows, Mac, Linux, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Campaign ends: April 27
Estimated delivery time: December 2021
Minimum pledge to receive the game: €15 (about $17 US - Steam only)

The title for this Kickstarter page uses the phrase "non-linear platformer" but don't worry, they know where their bread is buttered: later on they expressly use the more reasonable term, Metroidvania. Aeterna: Noctis has an interesting premise: the player controls the recently-defeated King of Darkness who must regain his powers and his throne. The developers ahve already put almost two years into the game and are targetly a multi-platform, multi-lingual release next year. Take note: the lowest entry point to get the game is only for a Steam copy - console ports require a larger pledge.

Fata Deum
Platform: PC, Mac
Campaign ends: May 3
Estimated delivery time: April 2021
Minimum pledge to receive the game: €25 (about $28 US)

"THE GOD GAME GENRE IS BACK" booms a loud voice (God's?) in the pitch trailer for Fata Deum. I don't know if the god game genre actually stopped being a thing or if it ever was a really big thing to begin with, but it's certainly not every day we see a crowdfunding campaign to make a new game about ruling over a tiny island and raising its inhabitants to be good or evil. I am alarmed by the mention of a skill tree in the stretch goals though...what does GOD need with a skill tree?

• kickstarter
• metroidvania
• D Feit