Miles Holmes wants you to play with Road Kill.

Road Kill: Ultimate Car Combat is the name of a new, adult-oriented strategy board game he has developed. It pits 2 to 5 players against each other in a miniature table-top version of a scene right out of the Mad Max or Death Race movies. Holmes describes it as "crazy cars loaded up with guns and explosives driving around on a track trying to blast each other."

To finance the game Holmes has turned to the popular crowdfunding website, Kickstarter.

Kickstarter is the biggest crowdfunding website. It’s been operating in the U.S. for five years, but only launched in Canada this week. It allows creators like Holmes to pitch their idea to the public for cash donations. In Holmes case he’s seeking $39,000.

Other Ottawa-area creators are jumping on the crowdsourcing bandwagon too. Local band Legion of Saints is hoping to raise money for a debut studio CD. "We wanted to get this done now and we think that Kickstarter will help us get that done faster so we'll be able to live our dreams a lot sooner," says lead singer Bryce Atkinson.

There are conditions. The campaign is time-limited, usually 30 days. And creators have to meet their target or they don’t get any money at all, and backers aren’t billed.

Backers are not investors. They don’t buy a percentage of the project. Instead, they are enticed by “pledge rewards” specific to that campaign. In Miles Holmes case, you can get various versions of Road Kill. Legion of Saints has a different approach. "For three hundred and fifty dollars we will go and play a private show for you," says Atkinson.

Kickstarter says about 44% of projects reach their goal. That’s added up to over $780 million dollars since 2009. Kickstarter takes 5% of all funds collected.