Good morning and blessed 2024 to all! Here's our first batch of video game related Kickstarters & other projects that seek your support this year. One of them's quite timely! 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.

Hermano (ends Jan 5 estimated reward date Sep 2024)
The Pat Morita Team, based in Spain, submitted a Game Boy-style action platformer for a competition last year. Now they're taking their basic concept and fleshing it out for full release. And by "full release" I mean they're printing boxes and making cartridges!

Alien Cat 2 (ends Jan 14 estimated reward date Jan 2024!)
The folks at PSCD Games must love cats or aliens because they already made Alien Cat 2 four years ago; this year they wish to port the existing software to the NES and SNES. You can try demos for all their games, with or without alien cats, on their itch.io page.

Cat Catch (ends Jan 19 estimated reward date Dec 2024)
By sheer coincidence, Cat Catch seems to be a fusion of the two projects listed above: a brand-new Game Boy with cats in it, one that already works on actual hardware. A demo for the game is up on the developers' itch.io page.

Plague: London 1665 (ends Jan 27 estimated reward date May 2024)
Is the Bubonic Plague retro? The infamous pandemic takes center stage in this pixel-art adventure game about a "body collector and graveyard keeper" trying their best to keep the streets from being overrun with corpses.

The Broken Controller (ends Jan 31 estimated reward date Mar 2024)
No matter the state of the publishing industry, zines will be there to keep the flame of physical media burning. Bloat Zines in Kentucky wants to produce four issues of this zine dedicated "dedicated to retro video games and the people that love them." That's clearly within our wheelhouse!

Game Center Betty
You may have heard the news that on New Year's Day a major earthquake hit the northern coast of Japan. While this tremor startled people for hundreds of miles (I felt it in Osaka), it did major damage to many homes and businesses close to its epicenter. One of those affected is Game Center Betty in Nanao, Ishikawa, home to many classic games and a number of cats as well. So far no one at Betty was hurt—human or feline—but their stock took a serious hit, as did the road out front. They're currently accepting donations via Japanese "creator support site" Ci-en; plans start at just 500 yen a month.

• kickstarter
• arcades
• game boy
• D Feit
• cats