We're officially living in the year 2024.5 and that bead of sweat you feel on your temple is surely related to the increased heat and not any recent incidents you've heard about on the news. Fortunately, neither of those will stop us from investing in the future of video games! 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 everything, we recommend only backing crowdfunding campaigns if you feel comfortable with your own security and stability.

PlayStation: A Visual History (ends July 4 estimated reward date Nov 2024)
Author Sandeep Rai returns to these pages with his latest campaign, this time to produce a "visually stunning journey through 30 years of PlayStation." Backers can also opt to purchase copies of Rai's successfully-funded past publications about the Vita and the PS3.

The Eldritch Monarch (ends July 11 estimated reward date July 2026)
"Invoking the spirit of classics like Prince of Persia, Flashback, and Another World," The Eldrtich Monarch features puzzles, stealth, and the threat of death as players explore its world on their Sega Genesis/Mega Drive. You can try a prototype version on itch.io for now, with the full game launching both digitally and physically.

DiveBlob (ends July 17 estimated reward date Dec 2024)
Two-person studio Maithonis call DiveBlob a "platform-survival game" in that you control a small blob descending on perpetually ascending footholds. The top of the screen has spikes and the bottom of the screen burns with hot lava. The challenge lies in trying to last as long as possible. The game is complete with a demo on itch.io, so this campaign will fund the production of physical cartridges—complete with a rumble motor—that should run in any Game Boy, Game Boy Color, or Analogue Pocket.

Steel Legion (ends July 17 estimated reward date Oct 2024)
Indie metroidvanias continue to prove popular amongst developers seeking to raise money, and in the case of Steel Legion, Broke Studio says "the game is 100% finished." They're turning to Kickstarter not to fund the development but to manufacture cartridges so players can actually enjoy Steel Legion on a real NES. The demo, too, should work on actual hardware.

Project S.K.I.F.F. (ends July 27 estimated reward date Dec 2025)
Solo developer Alexis Chacon began Project S.K.I.F.F. as an experiment in NES game design, but over time it has ballooned into an entire series of games. This campaign supports the launch of the original NES concept, a 16-bit "sequel" called Project Mega S.K.I.F.F., and an Anthology release for modern PCs. You can sample demos of each individual creation on Chacon's itch.io page.

Cooly Skunk (ends July 28 estimated reward date Mar 2025)
Prior to its November 1996 release for the Sony PlayStation, Cooly Skunk was going to launch first on the Super Famicom in February 1996. The publisher opted to cancel the 16-bit edition to focus entirely on Sony's newer, much more popular console. The PlayStation version eventually came out overseas under the title Punky Skunk.
When the data for the Super Famicom version turned up a few years ago, a push to finally release it began, hence this crowdfunding campaign to produce physical cartridges of Cooly Skunk at long last.

• kickstarter
• books
• D Feit