Kickstarter Kompilation: March 2026 edition
Forget February's failings; embrace the month of March
My sincere apologies to any readers inconvenienced by last month's hosting issues: I wrote a roundup as usual but the same day it went live, the website went down. Here's hoping history does not repeat itself as I write this roundup! knocks on the wooden surface of my desk
As a general rule we recommend only backing crowdfunding campaigns if you feel comfortable with your own security and stability. We have no insider information or financial interest in any of these projects (unless noted otherwise) and no one at Retronauts has been compensated for including anything on this page. To the best of my ability I have not (and never will) endorse any campaign built around AI-generated assets.
Masters of Unlocking (ends March 12 estimated reward date April 2026)
Resident Evil turns 30 years old this month and regular featuree in these pages Sandeep Rai has a retrospective on the series. However, his work goes beyond the mainline to cover "every side-game, remake, movie and VR entry." This includes the recently-released Requiem!
Pixels and Polygons Quarterly (ends March 15 estimated reward date May 2026)
Speaking of Kickstarter Kompilation regulars, Darren Hupke latest "premium zine" highlights a few less-celebrated games from SquareSoft's back catalog; namely Ehrgeiz, Secret of Mana, and Parasite Eve. And hey, I spy Nadia Oxford and Maddie Copp on the list of contributors!
GUN NOSE (ends March 16 estimated reward date July 2026)
Featuring "a custom-built 3D pixel art system," GUN NOSE blends the charms of two- and three-dimensional games into one package about a robot detective investigating sinister Murder-Bots. Definitely look at this project in motion, not just the still screenshots.
Shutter Story (ends March 21 estimated reward date July 2026)
Last year I played a demo for Shutter Story, a spiritually-retro game about searching photographs for evidence of g-g-g-g-ghosts. Your tool of choice is an old PC with Windows-XP-esque software. You too can play the demo on Steam and try your hand at pursuing proof of the paranormal.
Game On (ends March 21 estimated reward date February 2027)
New York-based filmmaker Theresa Loong seeks funding to complete her documentary on Brenda Romero, a veteran developer with decades of experience designing games. Brenda obviously takes center stage here although her husband John (himself a developer of some note) also appears as part of her story. Loong says Game On "is so close to the finish line" as the team looks to wrap up post-production and work towards distributing/marketing the final film.
Hyper Sentinel Fusion (ends March 31 estimated reward date December 2026)
Arcade shooters are always retro even when they are new. Hyper Sentinel Fusion—a sequel to 2018's Hyper Sentinel—is "80% complete" with a demo already up on Steam and Itch.io. Kickstarter backers can score a digital copy or a special physical edition with the game data stores on a USB floppy disk.
