Kickstarter Kompilation: January 2021 edition
Look at the calendar again, I promise it is correct.
MERRY NEW YEAR! We did it, we survived 2020. Some people did not, but we did. Some of us lost work, some of us lost friends, all of us lost a lot of time and probably money - but we survived. If you survived and you feel like supporting a crowdfunding campaign, I have a few suggestions for you.
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.
Here Comes A New Challenger
Platform: it's a movie
Campaign ends: January 3
Estimated delivery time: November 2021
Minimum pledge to receive the movie: £15 (about $21 US - digital only)
Guess what? Street Fighter II turns 30 this year. Catch your breath, now go look at this campaign to fund a documentary about the massive phenomenon that started with one game but became something much, much larger. Note that £15 only qualifies for a digital copy; backers interested in a region-free Blu-ray must pledge at least £40 (about $55 US).
Misery Street
Platform: Windows, Mac, and "thinking about porting it to Linux"
Campaign ends: January 6
Estimated delivery time: February 2021, very soon!
Minimum pledge to receive the game: €5 (about $7 US)
Promising a "huge retro world" with "delusional NPCs," Misery Street looks like a long-lost computer game from the early 80s, though in the here and now (which is 2021, I keep forgetting) it kind of looks like a Princess Remedy game. It is not one of those games though, it's more of an "adventure RPG about humanity, loneliness and existential dread." Fun!
Tapeworm Disco Puzzle
Platform: Windows, NES, Sega Dreamcast, plus stretch goals
Campaign ends: January 15
Estimated delivery time: August 2021
Minimum pledge to receive the game: £8 (about $11 US - digital only)
Demo available
You don't often see a new game announced for the NES and the Sega Dreamcast, but here is Tapeworm Disco Puzzle, a cute game about a worm stuck inside a cassette tape (get it??) who can only unravel so far. As the music jams, it's up to you to navigate that worm past spikes and monsters to reach...notes? Fleas? I'm not 100% sure I understand the lore here, but playing the demo is cute.
Note that £8 is only enough for a downloadable version of the game; backers looking for an NES cartridge or a Dreamcast disc must pledge at least £30 (about $41 US).
1982 Bally Midway Super Pac Man Arcade Restoration
Platform: it's an arcade cabinet.
Campaign ends: January 17
Estimated delivery time: December 2021
Minimum pledge to receive the game: n/a
This is an unusual Kickstarter but it's also one that is pure retro and I couldn't pass it by: one guy bought an old Ms. Pac Man arcade cabinet at auction, only to discover it contained a lot more history. As he puts it, "Our Project involves taking an old and forgotten arcade cabinet made in 1982, and restore it." That's the entire campaign, and the only real rewards available are for $20 backers who will receive a hat (design pending).
Airoheart
Platform: Windows, Mac, plus stretch goals
Campaign ends: January 22
Estimated delivery time: March 2022
Minimum pledge to receive the game: AU$ 15 (about $12 US)
I mentioned a famous video game turning 30 years old above, but guess what? The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past also turns 30 this year! And this campaign is for a 16-bit-style action RPG that looks a lot - and I mean A LOT - like Link to the Past. The campaign text also mentions Final Fantasy by name but really, this game screams Link to the Past right down to the tree sprites, so you know what they're going for.
