Crowd-Funding Roundup (Week of February 24)

Every now and then, I like to spend all ten of my dollars on something that’s important to my eternal well-being. I’m not talking food, or rent… those are important to my body. I need to satisfy my karma. This is what I’m spending my hard-earned dough on this week.

Below I’ve listed three promising and otherwise notable games currently being crowd-funded. If they strike your fancy, considering scoring a couple karma points by contributing to their funds.

DEATH BOULDER BONES (KICKSTARTER)

Death Boulder Bones is a story about a man who runs. But instead of guiding him through the landscape, you guide the landscape past him. 

All interactions are performed with the mouse (or the touch screen). Click and drag to draw a wall, or right-click and drag to draw a jump. Walls are multi-purposed: they can be used to guide Bones in certain directions, keep him from running into pits and lava, and protect him from crushing walls, arrow shooters, and other traps. Because of this, you need to carefully decide how to draw your walls in order to both protect Bones and guide him.

The trailer for the game is quirky and hilariously well-voiced, and even includes a Zelda reference that’s bound to make you smile. The makers of the game, Grandenroit, have worked on charmingly twisted games like Godfinger, a game about controlling tiny people, and Super Comboman, a beat-em-up game with stickers.

If you pledge $9 or more to Death Boulder Bones, you receive a digital copy of the game and in-game currency to unlock all 50 levels. Higher-level rewards include things like comic books, costumes for Bones, and, if you’re a big spender, your own likeness in the game. 

Death Boulder Bones can be funded through March 22nd, 2013.

DIVERGENCE ONLINE (INDIEGOGO)

Like MMOs? Science fiction? Does the concept of permadeath heat your blood? Divergence Online will be right up your alley, then. 

Divergence is a project I started in 2006 with the idea of bringing back what I considered to be “real MMORPGs” to the ailing genre, bloated with disposable throwaway installments. In the midst of a recession, the project has suffered from an almost total lack of reliable funding until now. It wasn’t until noticing the success other projects were seeing with much less shown and available to backers that I decided it would be criminal not to charge full-steam at an IndieGogo crowdsourcing campaign.

The Indiegogo page promises an MMO experience that relies on things beyond combat, like a skill-based system rank system and profession classes. The game also boasts a nearly-limitless world, satisfying sandbox fans across the globe. 

Divergence has been in progress for several years, and it shows. There’s an astounding level of work already produced for the game, which should help you make a decision in whether or not you back this project. 

It has until April 22nd to reach its funding goal.

BUNNY RUN (KICKSTARTER)

Arguably my favorite of the three projects listed here, Bunny Run by Team Krinoid is a family-appropriate, blood- and guts-free melody game. You’re in control of a bunny specimen escaped from a secret laboratory, and your goal is to escape the giant rock-like Kahroll whose task it is to drag you back to the lab.

The art for Bunny Run is pretty darn adorable, and there are sound bites on the Kickstarter page to clue you into the pace of the game (all of the music is cleverly named, too). The game is a part platforming, part rhythm, with the speed and pace of the game matched to the music, with a different song for each level. The music responds to your interaction with the game (collect carrots to speed up the music, run into obstacles and the music slows down). 

If you pledge $5, you get a free copy of the game. At the big-spender levels, you can score a personal help session with the developers for Unity, and even an invitation to participate in a game jam with Team Krinoid.

Bunny Run has until April 1st to gain its funding.