Some people might know that I've been tracking KSes for a long time, so I have a really good idea of what's going on. I wanted to call attention to some cool KSes that are coming up on completion this year, that are going to have really good reviews on release, and that have been transparent in communicating with fans:
Distance. Futuristic racing game, 95% positive Steam reviews (2,077). Funded 2012 for $161,000 with target release date of August 2013. Looks unbelievably good, user content creation tools, tons and tons of content, very active developers.
Jon Shafer's At the Gates - This is a Civilization style turn-based strategy empire building game focused around clans. Really good communication the entire time through development except recently (radio silence since November). Funded 2013 for $106,000 with target release June 2014. Great visual style and thoughtful mechanics. Hope the recent silence doesn't indicate development trouble.
Ghost of a Tale - Imagine the gothic world of Dark Souls, lighter gameplay, and themes drawn from Brian Jacques' Redwall and you have this spectacular looking game. Frequent updates with progress on art and mechanics, and it's great because the developer is someone with an art background and no programming background--so seeing him learn and improve is awesome. Backer playable coming soon and full release targeting later this year. Funded May 2013 for $50,000 with intended release June 2014.
Frontiers - One crazy person tries to make an open world ARPG with the same scope as Morrowind all by himself. The downside is that reviews suggest it's buggy, progress has been halting, and the dev is clearly going through a lot of stress as he makes the game. But it seems like there's something there, and the developer is really transparent. He's also the only person I've ever seen say "I'm going to use some of my money to work on side projects which will allow me to reinvest in the project you paid for" and actually seem to be a professional about doing so--he's working on side projects in the VR space and the money from those project is being used to hire people to work on Frontiers. Originally funded July 2013 for $157,000 for release January 2014.
The Long Dark - Open world Canadian wilderness survival game. I think a lot of people know about this one because it's been successful. Just an obscene amount of content, and more being added over time--over 600,000 copies sold on PC in early access and more on consoles where it was the first Early Access for Xbox One game. 95% positive Steam reviews with 14,148 reviews. Funded September 2013 for release October 2014. Updates every month or so with real substantial progress.
Obduction - Myst VI, developed by the original developers. A real labour of love. Looks beautiful and certainly seems to capture the Myst spirit. Lots of development updates from a developer known for great fan interaction for over 20 years. Launching this summer. Undeterred despite a publishing agreement falling through. Funded November 2013 for $1.3 million dollars, target release date October 2015.
That Which Sleeps - This is like a digital board game text adventure card game visual novel event strategy game. Kinda hard to describe. Set in a world plainly inspired by Lovecraft and other early-20th pulp horror writers. Solid updates with emphasis on polishing the UI, which in a game like this is paramount. Funded October 2014 for $85,000 with intended release March 2015
Strafe - 90s Quake-style fast paced shooter with big chunky polygons. Picked up a publishing deal with Devolver, frequent updates, looks really great. Targeting Early 2017, great looking trailer recently. Funded February 2015 for $207,000 with intended release May 2016.
Quern: Undying Thoughts - Myst-like 3d adventure that claims to be inspired by the works of Jules Verne. Looks great in videos, updates every few weeks, good progress and graphical upgrades, beefy length (12-14 hours as of last update), and almost content complete. Funded July 2015 for $35,000 with intent to release March 2016.
The common element with all of these is just a consistent professionalism when it comes to updates, combined with good premises and solid looking executions. Any you guys are keeping your eyes on?
