A Kick for Kickstarters: Endless Memories and Alwa’s Legacy
It’s far from the best time for video game crowdfunding, but that’s not stopping smaller developers from still pursuing it to raise funds for their games. That’s only smaller developers, too. Larger developers who crowdfunded games tend to find publishers for their new projects, if they haven’t been acquired by them — Microsoft purchased three of them alone.
Any developer that tries to ask for more than $100,000 for their project will have a tough time on crowdfunding platforms these days if their name isn’t well known. The Sonic Mania development team learned this the hard way when they tried to get an independent platformer known as Vertebreaker funded, but pulled the plug on the campaign after it only received 5% of its funding goal after a week. It’s only getting harder to crowdfund projects, but it remains the best way to receive minimal funding for some teams and games.
One such title is Endless Memories, a colorful-looking 2D action-adventure title with a scenario that will take place within a world of dreams, and across multiple locations within it. The game will blend Metroidvania elements with gameplay features from rogue-lite titles, and include RPG leveling and stat systems alongside loot gathering. Developer Homunculus Games is also promising that the game will have tight action reminiscent of indie game Dead Souls. New locations will be unlocked through the usage of Ancient Glyphs, upgrades to help the protagonist reach platforms and open areas they couldn’t before collecting them, typical for a Metroidvania-style game.
The promised “tight action” can be seen in the pitch video and the GIFs available on the page, which show off the melee and long-range attacks. They also show how the style of melee attacks will vary depending on the weapons used, be they swords, dual swords, or maces. Styles used for the long-range attacks and passive abilities can be mixed and matched through the Memory Runes system, for players to choose which abilities they’ll have quick access to or stat gains they’ll have active.
The developers are asking for a mere $12,000 to complete Endless Memories, and it’s raised just over $8,000 as of this writing. With about nine days to go, it could make the initial goal with the usual funding kick that occurs near the end of video game crowdfunding campaigns, but they won’t raise much more than that. Metroidvania games are very common among indie developers, and a prominent on crowdfunding sites, so another one could be a tough sell for the audience too adjusted to them. The low number of updates for this campaign isn’t helping, either. But the overall game could be impressive if there’s good talent behind it. If it gets funded, the developers hope to release it in April 2020 for Switch and Steam; but like all crowdfunded titles, don’t be surprised if it takes at least one delay.
Another currently-running crowdfunding campaign is for Alwa’s Legacy, the sequel to 2017 title Alwa’s Awakening. It’s yet another non-linear 2D platformer, but this one is distinguished by a classic-ish sprite-based presentation. It will take place in the world of Alwa, one rife with interconnected dungeons, each of which is promised to have a unique look. Its main character, Zoe is a young girl who awakens in the mysterious land she has no apparent recollection of. But it feels familiar to her. As it turns out, she’s been sent to be their savior, so she has high expectations to live up to.
The developers are promising that Zoe herself will be fast and agile in the player’s hands, which they’ve displayed in the pitch video and several GIFs on the Kickstarter page. She, of course, has a standard attack where she can swing her magic staff, but the biggest focus will be her magic attacks and techniques. The latter maneuvers can come in the form of more powerful attacks and to reach places she can’t reach on her own.
The developers at Elden Pixels are asking for $25,977 to fund the remainder of Alwa’s Legacy’s development, a strange amount due to being converted from Swedish krona. It’s raised just over $22,000 with nine days remaining in the campaign as of this writing, so it’s well on its way to reaching the initial goal. But it probably won’t make much more than that thanks to the number of developers who’ve crowdfunded similar projects over the years, and the general level of interest in Kickstarter these days. If all goes well, the game will release on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, and Steam in 2020, with the Switch and Steam versions being the first to arrive in the spring.
I’ve mentioned how untenable crowdfunding is becoming for most developers in previous A Kick for Kickstarters posts (and some of their crowdfunding spinoffs), and this isn’t getting any better. But there’s still room for developers to ask for funding for smaller projects like the two examples above. Hopefully it will stay that way, or even improve, considering crowdfunding largely doesn’t deserve the dubious reputation it’s received over the last several years. It’s helped developers produce impressive games like the Divinity: Original Sin games, Pillars of Eternity, and Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night; the number of successful projects is higher than the disappointing ones and outright scams. Crowdfunding can ideally remain viable for small developers, at the very least.
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Geoff
News Editor | Geoff is some nerd who writes for a blog and thinks he's knowledgeable. He write a lot about video games, but is capable of writing about other subjects, too. Twitter
