Greetings! Some of you are experiencing spring right now, others are anticipating fall. I'm stuck in a late-summer heatwave, thank you very much, so I'm not writing a longer introduction than this.

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. Also, in light of the ongoing pandemic, we recommend only backing crowdfunding campaigns if you feel comfortable with your own security and stability.

Lost Ruins
Platform: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Campaign ends: September 2
Estimated delivery time: January 2021
Minimum pledge to receive the game: ¥2,200 (about $21 US)
Demo available

Lost Ruins is a good-looking "2D side-scrolling survival action game" that pits a schoolgirl against a number of gross creatures in a sticky underground world. I like the pixel art but the game has a slightly more modern feel thanks to "beautiful effects that we’re really proud of." The funding goal has been passed many times over so ports to all current consoles have been promised.

Barony
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Campaign ends: September 3
Estimated delivery time: June 2021
Minimum pledge to receive the game: $14 US

Barony is a game that is already out. You can buy it now! The crowdfunding campaign is to port this first-person rogue-like dungeon crawler "inspired by Ultima Underworld, System Shock, and Nethack" to the Nintendo Switch. Besides making a new version, the developers seek to add an assortment of upgrades to the existing PC version as well.

ZX Spectrum Next
Platform: it's a computer
Campaign ends: September 10
Estimated delivery time: August 2021
Minimum pledge to receive the machine: £300 (about $401 US)

At first glance I thought this was a "mini classic" version of the ZX Spectrum, a computing platform from the 1980s that missed me because I am American. But I was wrong: this is a new, modern version of the ZX Spectrum which is fully backwards-compatible - no emulation required. What's more, the enhanced specs allow for all-new software to be created for the Next, making this a true resurrection of what it was like to have a computer in the 1980s: you could get games for it or try making them yourself!
For more info, please listen to our latest podcast episode where Jeremy speaks to Henrique Olifiers, one of the men behind this project.

Polybius
Platform: it's a very small arcade cabinet
Campaign ends: September 27
Estimated delivery time: February 2021
Minimum pledge to receive the game: £99 (about $133 US)

Polybius is a very old video game which likely never existed, except that's a moot point now since the legend of Polybius has inspired people to create their own version of the game, thus making it real in the present day. In any case, this is NOT a game at all but a miniature arcade cabinet of what Polybius supposedly looked like, with the idea being that you can put it alongside your other tiny arcade cabinets for fun. Oh, and it's a USB power hub with 10 slots in the back, so it's a practical item as well as a conversation piece.

8Doors: Arum's Afterlife Adventure
Platform: "PC (Steam) then to Nintendo Switch"
Campaign ends: September 29
Estimated delivery time: March 2021
Minimum pledge to receive the game: $10 US
Demo available

"8 Doors: Arum’s Afterlife Adventure is a story driven 2D action platformer metroidvania game based on Korean afterlife folktale" is a succinct pitch which got my attention. The developers are all Korean and they are leaning into the cultural concepts behind the game by using traditional instruments in the soundtrack as well.

• kickstarter
• zx spectrum next
• D Feit
• polybius