February was an incredible month for crowdfunding. Not to say there’s ever a dull month, but a surprising amount of excellent projects which launched in January finally finished. Unlike previous years, it also appeared that very few campaigns could see fuding straight out of the gate. Are we completely beyond the days of 100% funding on day 1? No, certainly not, but it appears that such instances will be much rarer (for campaigns asking for sizable amounts of cash, at least).
So let’s dig in and see a listing of every campaign which found success from February 1 to February 28 arranged in alphabetical order. Each game will include the amount of funds raised (converted to USD where applicable), the initial goal, how many days it took for the campaign to be fully funded, and how many backers it accrued. The days to success amount is relevant because it helps to illustrate how rare it is for campaigns asking over $1,000 to kick serious butt right out of the gate.
Animal Lover: An American Dating Sim by Trainwreck Studios
Raised : $6,171 of $5,000 goal
Days to Success : 16
Backers : 89
I’m never one to turn down a visual novel, especially when they decide to get goofy with animals/inanimate objects/etc-turned-hunky guys. What was surprising is how long it took Animal Lover to gain speed. Rather, how long it took to suddenly see a huge jump in funding from $500 to $5,000 in the span of a day. Perhaps a Tumblr post got reblogged via a popular account?
Raised : $2,004 of $600 goal
Days to Success : 2
Backers : 143
This Inuit-localization of a piece of interactive fiction saw almost immediate success. Chances are that Beneath Floes being completely free (and easily playable via web browsers) lured in some pledges. Beyond that, the goal was small enough to make even a small blip in attention substantial.
Car Mechanic Simulator 2015 by PlayWay
Raised : $22,866 CAD of $20,000 CAD goal / $18,282 of $15,957
Days to Success : 26 (not first project)
Backers : 1285
Okay, so maybe Car Mechanic Simulator does not have as massive an audience as something like Shadowrun or what have you. Still, it managed to utilize its devoted fanbase effectively. Not only that, but they probably snagged some new gearheads in the process. After all, how many car campaigns do you typically see?
Raised : $6,437 of $6,000 goal
Days to Success : 25
Backers : 166
You’d think adorable games are a shoo-in for funding, but this actually isn’t always the case. CatFish saw a steady trend in funding throughout the month with a few especially successful days. What caused these extra bursts of attention? Heck if I know, but without them the game likely wouldn’t have made it!
Raised : $108,938 of $65,000 goal
Days to Success : 15
Backers : 3427
What, a title focused on hot genres such as roguelikes and hack ‘n’ slashes with super cool pixel art was fully funded? No kidding! Enough snark, though, what’s most surprising about Children of Morta is that it failed to see immediate success. In previous years this campaign would have been super hot and cleared stretch goals faster.
Raised : $1,879 of $1,500 goal
Days to Success : 5
Backers : 46
The audience for visual novels is not huge, although it is growing. As such, if you run a campaign for one with a low funding goal – and manage to advertise it at least a little bit – it’s very likely to succeed. Genre fans simply want more variety in their libraries and games such as Circles look ready to provide it.
Devils Affliction by Alex Fare
Raised : $250 of $250 goal
Days to Success : 21 (not first project)
Backers : 7
Here’s a campaign with very little information but also a tiny funding goal. It might seem weird at first to see that 7 backers ended up “averaging” out to $69 a piece, but that’s because one individual actually pledged to the $150 tier. Chances are most attention here was derived by friends and family members. There’s nothing wrong with that!
DrawAndRace3 by R D Merrifield
Raised : £1,067 of £100 goal / $1,642 of $153
Days to Success : 1 (not first project)
Backers : 85
When you start out with a goal near $100 you’re almost certainly destined for victory. Another bonus for project leads is an established audience, which R D Merrifield has. In the past they’ve successfully funded DrawAndRace 1 and 2 through it meaning they have an inbuilt funding base.
Drift Stage by Super Systems Softworks
Raised : $57,720 of $30,000 goal
Days to Success : 3
Backers : 2650
There’s something to be said for providing a game which is visually distinct and not in the overplayed, obvious genres that Kickstarter backers are tiring of (platformers!). Drift Stage not only looked good and provided a solid demo but also brought something “new” to the table. Racing games are still not huge in the crowdfunding space which leaves that fandom more willing to pledge.
Gem Wars (Mega Man meets Smash Bros and Worms) by David Israel Nunez
Raised : $2,680 of $2,500 goal
Days to Success : 16 (not first project)
Backers : 25
Gem Wars had a ridiculous sort of funding trend. The first few days saw absolutely no attention, and then finally a few folks trickled in. Then – BAM – a huge surge brought them from $1,000 to right around the goal. Someone out there pledged $1,000 themselves! You cannot always rely on this, especially in lesser known campaigns, but some folks lurking on Kickstarter are very giving. That, or a close friend or family member dished deep to make the game a reality.
Raised : $34,188 of $30,000 goal
Days to Success : 26 (not first project)
Backers : 1050
The concept for Goetia is simple enough: You’re the spirit of a girl who is exploring her home to discover what happened and why she’s been brought back. Sometimes simplicity (and a powerful atmosphere) are all you need to do well. This campaign saw a steady pace of funding all the way through which is great although it cuts off the prospect of stretch goal success.
Identity by Asylum Entertainment, Inc.
Raised : $187,859 CAD of $150,000 CAD goal / $149,885 of $119,679
Days to Success : 28
Backers : 4218
For the first week or so Identity really didn’t have a strong enough push behind it. However, after getting the word out (apparently) funding picked up and then saw additional, and much needed, boosts right before the end. How exactly did they manage it? I’m not sure, but MMO campaigns should look over their social media/backer updates to potentially mimic their victory.
The Incredible Baron by FlatRedBall Studios
Raised : $8,815 of $8,000 goal
Days to Success : 23
Backers : 240
People were hyped for The Incredible Baron. Right on the very first day they saw $3,000 in funding – impressive for a small Kickstarter. From there it was mostly smooth sailing to reach their total. Unfortunately, it seems the team may have rested on their laurels. Had they continued to push for even more funding they might have reached some stretch goals.
Into the Stars by Fugitive Games
Raised : $111,274 of $85,000 goal
Days to Success : 10
Backers : 4131
Into the Stars looked good. Sure, all the text of their space sim concepts and stuff were great, but those high-quality visuals are likely what drew in major success. The campaign took off immediately, reaching 60% of its goal in two days. Funding came easy, but after that backers basically stopped visiting the page.
Raised : $46,078 CAD of $35,000 goal / $36,763 of $27,925
Days to Success : 26
Backers : 1873
Any games channeling that sort of Minecraft/Terraria/Starbound feel already has an inbuilt audience – they just need to stumble upon it. Moonman’s developer seemed to gain attention effectively by getting the word out to “Let’s Players.” After all, many folks who love these types of games are frequent YouTube users. It was a smart choice (or luck) for sure.
Project DeMarque8: New Video Game Studio by David Marquis
Raised : $4,911 of $4,500 goal
Days to Success : 26
Backers : 10
How on Earth do you get nearly $5,000 out of 10 backers? Simple, you apparently have a very generous friend or family member. Most of the backers pledged for tiny tiers, but someone out there pledged over $2000 (and not even toward an actual tier). Mr. Marquis, you’d better thank that individual!
Project Scissors: NightCry by Playism Games
Raised : $314,771 of $300,000 goal
Days to Success : 29 (not first project)
Backers : 2408
Of my time following crowdfunding projects I’m not sure that I’ve seen such an amazing turnaround as that of Project Scissors: NightCry. On day one it seemed like a sure thing but then funding quickly slowed to a trickle. Yet, as they rounded the last week backers picked back up again in amazing force. Suddenly NightCry was back in the game! There’s a lot to analyze about this momentous event.
Pump-Action Captain – Alpha Build by Don Cuthbertson
Raised : $813 CAD of $500 CAD goal / $656 of $398
Days to Success : 19
Backers : 17
Pump-Action Captain attempted to hit basically every keyword that’s currently hot in gaming. It’s a roguelike, FPS, features an open world, utilizes a crafting system, and offers character perks. Although its visuals may not have astonished, the low goal of around $400 helped it receive more than enough support.
Shadowrun: Hong Kong by Harebrained Schemes LLC
Raised : $1,204,726 of $100,000 goal
Days to Success : 1 (not first project)
Backers : 31497
You mean to tell me a Shadowrun game would see outrageous levels of success? Of course Harebrained Schemes latest Kickstarter would completely decimate its $100,000 goal. Very few prospective project leads can look to achieve this level of success without a known property, but never say never.
SkullFist: a strange and dark side scroller by Gus Fink
Raised : $235 of $199 goal
Days to Success : 2 (not first project)
Backers : 9
Given a bit more time (to actually show prototype game builds rather than drawings), SkullFist may have seen more funding. Even so, at least nine fine folks were willing to pledge some cash for it. The one problem with relying on a miniscule audience? One backer retracting their pledge could screw it all up. One backer retracted $80, but luckily the game still had enough to succeed.
Starr Mazer by Imagos Softworks
Raised : $193,566 of $160,000 goal
Days to Success : 28
Backers : 5055
Had we still been in Kickstarter’s heydey I have no doubt that Starr Mazer would have been funded to a ridiculous degree long before the campaign ended. Instead, it took nearly to the end to reach its goal! This goes to show that if you ever intend to ask for $100k+ you almost certainly require a super slick campaign page. Hell, you still don’t even need a demo or actual gameplay video but you need to impress immediately.
Steel Assault by Sri Kankanahalli
Raised : $8,706 of $8,000 goal
Days to Success : 31
Backers : 406
Even though it’s not a shock to suggest that ‘NES-like’ games are reaching critical mass in indie game development, it’s tough to tell someone not to make their dream retro game because of it. Steel Assault saw a nice first few days of funding before they hit a scarily slow plateau. Luckily there were enough die hard classic game fans out there to help it receive the funds it needed.
Raised : $207,847 of $185,096 goal
Days to Success : 28
Backers : 4953
Here’s another example of an outrageously slick campaign that failed to really hit its stride the way it should have until the last week. Why? Despite the utter awesomeness the page oozed, somehow backers are becoming more cautious. At least the STRAFE team finally released a (“broken” by their definition) demo, but at that point they’d also managed to accrue a lot more funds.
Terra Incognita RPG by Dan Steer
Raised : £1,496 of £500 goal / $2,303 of $769
Days to Success : 14 (not first project)
Backers : 80
The campaign for Terra Incognita seems to prove a few things. One, backers still really adore tangible goodies (perhaps even more now that many campaigns have shied away from them due to expense). Secondly, they love access to multiple copies of the same game, as higher tiers offered up “3 extra Steam keys and 1 extra Wii U game code.” Gotta love sharing with friends.
Raised : $35,508 of $25,000 goal
Days to Success : 27
Backers : 1910
Here’s a campaign I personally expected to go all the way – and fast. This Is the Police has a pretty cool concept of a retiring police officer’s dubious choices AND Jon St. John, and yet it still took most of a month for funding. A strong start does not seem to prove continued strong funding, although it does seem that as long as you get a good beginning that your fans will spread the word later on to ensure their dream game makes it.
Where They Cremate the Roadkill by myformerselves
Raised : $6,256 of $3,600 goal
Days to Success : 8 (not first project)
Backers : 233
The larger gaming audience is often viewed as a completely risk-averse atmosphere, but in truth tons of people desire something different. As such, campaigns for creative, strange, and wondrous-looking projects like Where They Cremate the Roadkill can and do succeed. Now let’s see even more creativity crop up!
Vidar – An RPG Puzzler Where Everyone Dies by Dean Razavi
Raised : $19,530 of $18,000 goal
Days to Success : 27
Backers : 467
Vidar deserves props for wearing its heart entirely on its sleeve. An RPG “where everyone dies” is a great hook, in all honesty. Over the past weeks funding trended upward at a high enough degree to angle it right for a successful run. As with many other campaigns this month, it’s a bit of a photo finish though. One bonus: It had a demo and that no doubt helped too.
Thanks for taking the time to look over all the successful Kickstarter videogame campaigns from February! Are you surprised with how many there were – and do you wish you hadn’t missed out on a few of them? Expect to see a post of this type each month right here at Cliqist. Up next, a more data-driven look at this month’s trends in regards to crowdfunding successes and then a look at those unfortunate campaigns which came up short. Is there more you’d like to know about campaigns on a monthly basis? Is there something you feel we’re missing – or perhaps even a game we forgot to mention? Let us know in the comments!
