The Crowdfund Watch: November

PlayStation 4 and Xbox may be launching this month, but doesn't mean you should forget about the independents seeking your cash to realise their games.

Next Car Game (PC, Mac, Linux)
Bugbear Entertainment
Kickstarter page
Progress: $57,575 pledged of $350,000 goal (1,723 backers) 23 days remaining

You may remember Next Car Game from September's Crowdfund Watch, but back then it was solely being funded through its own website. Now Bugbear have taken the spiritual successor to Flat-Out to Kickstarter. The tech looks fantastic and stretch goals for the Kickstarter include versions on PS4 and Xbox One.

Outlook: Next Car Game is off to a moderately slow start on Kickstarter. Perhaps the fact that most of the die-hard Bugbear and Flat-Out fans out there may already have contributed via pre-orders put a damper on the initial push. What should be noted is that Bugbear are presenting a relatively developed concept with videos of the tech, fully developed tracks and more are already in place. They also had the great idea of releasing an early Flat-Out prototype as a free download to attract media and old fans to their campaign. It's looking bleak and perhaps racing games are a harder sell on Kickstarter than genres that have been more overlooked in recent years by big publishers.

Obduction (PC, Mac)
Cyan, Inc
Kickstarter page
Progress: $847,476 pledged of $1,100,000 goal (14,467 backers) 7 days remaining

Remember Myst? Ever wondered what happened to the developer? Well, Cyan are still alive and kicking. They struggled for years keeping Myst Online: Uru Live alive, and more recently they've been porting older titles to mobile and tablet to keep funds coming in. But Obduction is their next big project - a project they want to remain in control of and a project they want funded by fans.

"Obduction will be built with the same framework that made Cyan's earlier games such a wonderful experience: stunning landscapes, deep storyline, engaging characters, dramatic soundscapes, and challenging yet intuitive puzzles. Obduction is an entirely new property, delivered using one of the most powerful game development technologies available today. Obduction is an adventure game for the new millennium that stays true to the concepts that made the genre great."

Outlook: Obduction was off to a very strong start, but the campaign has lost steam over its course and it will likely be down to the wire whether it will succeed or not. The campaign should emphasis on things like add-ons as the large amount of supporters with a vested interest likely want to help in any way they can. On week to go - quarter of a million left.

Deathfire: Ruins of Nethermore (PC)
G3 Studios
Kickstarter page
Progress: $39,287 pledged of $390,000 goal (1,123 backers) 29 days remaining

Old school CRPGs have been very fortunate on Kickstarter and the next one to ask for your money is Deathfire: Ruins of Nethermore from G3 Studios. The team at G3 Studios is headed by Guido Henkel, a veteran of the genre whose credits include Planescape: Torment, Realms of Arkania Trilogy, and Fallout II.

"Deathfire: Ruins of Nethermore" is a party-based computer role-playing game with turn-based combat that hearkens back to the Golden Era of fantasy cRPGs. Built upon the power of the Unity 3D engine, "Deathfire" utilizes a first person view that gives the player the feeling of being there. A solid role-playing engine that utilizes over forty visible character attributes, along with countless invisible ones to track behavior. They make up the heartbeat of the game, and allow us to analyze and adjust gameplay on the fly, and react to the player's actions, shaping the story around these actions and decisions."

Sounds interesting to our ears.

Outlook: It's very early days for Deathfire, but it has managed to reach some sort of critical mass by climbing over 10% in the first couple of days. It's going to take a lot of hard work, plenty of updates, and strong community support to succeed.

Paradise Lost: First Contact (PC, Mac, Linux)
Ashtree Works
Kickstarter page
Progress: $52,867 pledged of $70,000 goal (2,602 backers) 23 days remaining

This month's Watch needed a few more pixels and this time they're coming at us from Spain. Ashtree Works are proposing a stealhy plant adventure described as follows: "In Paradise Lost you will take control of an alien plant that has been hidden in a secret bio-engineering facility. A security breach in the system allows the plant to escape from imprisonment and discover the secret purposes of the research organization which put it in a jar."

Outlook: Paradise Lost: First Contact looks almost certain to succeed in achieving its target sum of $70,000. So it's more interesting to see what kind of stretch goals lies beyond. The initial targets secures versions of the game on PC, Mac and Linux - way out at $200,000 there are versions on PS3, PS4 and PS Vita and at $250,000 a Wii U version will be created. In between these ambitious targets there are lots of incremental steps that will add content to the game including new chapters and translations and achievements (these will be unlocked at $85,000). Adding console support as late stretch goals has been a winning formula in the past, and could provide a rallying point in the final week. Remains to be seen how it works out in this case.

Last month's Crowdfund Watch:

The Long Dark (Linux, Mac, PC)
Hinterland
Kickstarter page
Funded: $256,217 pledged of $200,000 CAD goal (6,966 backers)

Canadian outfit Hinterland managed a very strong sprint to achieve their target on Kickstarter. With three days remaining they hit their goal: "You got us to $200K. You did it. It's been an incredible journey. And it's just beginning. Over the past weeks, the thing that's kept us going through the 18 hours days and the ups and downs of the emotional rollercoaster that is Kickstarter, is you." Expected delivery on the promising wilderness survival adventure is October 2014.

Unwritten: Echoes of Twilight (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
Druid Gameworks
Kickstarter page
Failed: $51,688 pledged of $500,000 goal (661 backers)

Druid Gameworks' Unwritten Tales never looked like it was going to get successfully funded. However, as they should the team appreciates the support they've gotten and "plan b" is being put in motion. "Even though this campaign wasn't funded, we're very grateful to have had this first run. Coming into it not one of us had any experience with Kickstarter, even weeks of research and planning couldn't teach us what a live project could. This one helped us iron out the kinks in our presentation and we plan to make a strong return." The plan is for a new campaign to kick off in November, remains to be seen if it's a tweaked Kickstarter or something different.

Rebuild Gangs of Deadville (PC)
Sarah Northway
Kickstarter page
Progress: $41,330 pledged of $25,000 CAD goal (2,226 backers)

Rebuild Gangs of Deadville had already reached its target when we included it in the list, but still it had an impressive finish and gave us an illustration of how smaller projects can be successful. "Not even halfway through the month and already we've done it, we made our goal! Thank you all so much, not just for your contributions but for your support and enthusiasm. Rebuild: Gangs of Deadsville is going to be so much greater because of it!"

Coleco Vision (iOS - potentially Android, PC, Mac and PS Vita)
Rantmedia Games
Kickstarter page
Progress: $8,966 pledged of $250,000 goal (446 backers)

Yeah, this one wasn't even close. Perhaps the interest in Coleco Vision is much smaller than Rantmedia envisioned? Perhaps the rewards weren't appealing? Perhaps this is the sort of product we expect to be funded traditionally and not through crowdfunding? Regardless of the reason this campaign didn't even reach 5% of its goal. A post 4 days before the end of the campaign seemed to signal that we won't see this project materialise outside of Kickstarter: "It's impossible for this to happen outside of Kickstarter - it's now or never - so NOW is the time to get in there and back us!" Oh well, if you really want that authentic Coleco Vision experience there's always e-bay.