Popup Dungeon - Papercraft Roguelike Awesomeness - on Kickstarter

I'm not really a patient person. When I buy something, I'm not against spending an extra few bucks to get it in the store instead of waiting for a week to get it in the mail (unless, you know, it only costs a few bucks anyway). This is always the problem with Kickstarter projects - with very few exceptions, you'll be waiting months or even over a year before you get your hands on what you supported.

It's with that strong impatience for awesomeness that I have to say: Popup Dungeon looks AMAZING! Now that I'm making some money at a decent job, I was finally able to back my first video game project. Someone else in my friends list had backed it, so I clicked the link from my email and began drooling almost immediately... The art is glorious and the features seemingly never ending! I was already ready to back it when I saw that it's being developed by the folks who did Ring Runner as well, which made me even more psyched.


Now, this isn't just another dungeon crawler RPG, no siree! You get to choose from some awesome playable characters [Note: this also includes special characters like Isaac from The Binding of Isaac and Juan Aguacate from Guacamelee!], import others from other players or even create your own and watch it come to life, folding together in front of your eyes! The game also offers the ability to "play as the wizard", taking control as the dungeon master, create and edit items and all other sorts of nifty things.

Kitty can has cheezburgers... From the corpses of his fallen enemies!

And again, there's the art! It's so gloriously fun and amazing! It reminds me of Herocraft from back in the day, playing the game on an actual board and using tiles for the "pieces", except that these are 3D (ish!) and fantastically animated!

The game is releasing for Windows, Linux and Mac AND IS ALREADY GREENLIT ON STEAM! If stretch goals are reached, Wii U and mobile (Android and iOS) will be made available as well.

Available for: Win/Linux/Mac, Wii U and mobile possible with stretch goals
Lowest Pledge for Game: $15 ($20 for Ring Runner as well!)
Estimated Release: Q2 2015 for "Backer Only Beta" (available to all at above $15 pledge), full game Q2 2016

Query, The Party Game!

I don't often peruse or pay attention to party games because I don't party and very, very rarely play games with more than one other person, but Query has to be an exception. The concept is simple and hilarious - guess the second half of the search string!

Catapult for Hire is on Kickstarter!

Catapult for Hire is a game that I'd heard a lot about over the last several months. When I ran across it on Kickstarter, I was really psyched - it means the game is getting closer to release! Tyrone, the developer, lovingly calls it a Nintendo 64 era world, and he's absolutely right - the art and aesthetic are reminiscent of games like Banjo Kazooie or Ocarina of Time in the very best of ways.

Default Dan on Kickstarter - The Anti-Platformer!

When I say "platformer", what do you think of? A game where you run to the right, stomping on enemies heads, collecting coins (or whatever item you might have to collect), avoiding spikes and carefully jumping across holes? Default Dan does stick to one of those things - running to the right (or left sometimes) - and you do dodge things, but it's not enemies or holes... It's coins! That's right, in Default Dan, coins are fatal.


What makes a platformer unique enough to talk about on Kickstarter? A crazy sense of humor mixed with platforming execution! While it's funny enough that it mocks other platformers with style, it also looks like a solid, challenging platforming game. The Kickstarter page even has a couple 9+ minute videos where you can watch people playing it! That's pretty unheard of for a Kickstarter game, you're usually lucky to get a couple minutes in one video trailer.

Aside from that, there are some really fun perks! It's only $5 for the game on a platform of your choice, $15 adds the mp3 soundtrack, a short comic pdf and other digital goodies, $25 adds a tshirt and beta access... Then it gets AWESOME! $50 adds Bobble Head Mode, where you send in six photos of your face and they make a special version just for you (Which looks HILARIOUS!), and the rest is fantastic as well.

There's a video, too, and it's amazing!!!

Estimated Completion Date: May 2014
Goal Platforms: Windows, Mac, iOS, Android (maybe OUYA too!)
Lowest Price Point for Game: $5 ($25 for beta)

That's What She Said - The Game - On Kickstarter

NOTE: This game involves sexual innuendo as its primary game play mechanic, and therefore might not be the safest thing for kids. You've been warned!

I'll admit - I don't really play party games because I really don't party. I very, very rarely "hang out" with people. If I did, though, this would be the game I'd want to play! Oh, and YOU can even play the game a bit (for free!) since there are 100 "print and play" sample cards! Who doesn't love free?


TWSS is something I say rather often (too often? Probably), usually at the silliest times possible, and the game brings a much needed strategy to using the phrase "that's what she said!" There are two types of cards - setup cards and phrase cards. Each round, each player picks one of their phrase cards to play on the setup card, and the judge decides which is the funniest, awarding that player a point. Whoever hits x points first wins!

"Wow, that is really hard. You really think you can go all day long? Well, you always left me satisfied and smiling..." - Jim, trying to force Michael to say "That's what she said" after being told never to do it again. (The Office)

Of course, the first thing I think of with TWSS is Steve Carell's character, Michael Scott, from The Office. What a surprise it was to find out that he actually sent in a signed photo of himself! Seriously, how is this not successfully funded yet?

Treasurebear: Humor, Exploration, Platforming, Treasure and Food!

Treasurebear combines two incredibly awesome things: good platforming action and LOTS of treasure! The game focuses on a duo of unlikely "heroes" - [From the Kickstarter page] "The greedy and unpredictable Chester, a charismatic treasure chest forever condemned by the treasure hunter's guild, and his sleepy sidekick Barry, a hungry bear who prefers sauce battles over boss battles." The story is driven as such: "Barry teams up with Chester following the promise of visiting foreign lands in order to locate and sample exquisite and tasty foods. Determined to locate his blackmailer and exonerate himself, Chester utilizes his uncanny talents for finding shiny and potentially valuable items while upholding his promise to Barry."

While the story is humorous and intriguing, it's the gameplay concepts that really sold me on the game. See, because of the way the two team up, you're able to do some really awesome things together! As you can see from the image below, Bear & Boar (the developers) have had no shortage of creative ideas! And this goes far beyond abilities, the depths of the story, crazy levels and treasure hunting all appear to go just as deep.

Concepts for upgrades. Why hasn't anyone come up with the gold coin machine gun before?

Ti Cubes - Cool or Heat Awesomely!

There have been a lot of cool ways to cool things or make ice in the past, but Ti Cubes definitely have to be toward the top of the list. These are actual cubes of 100% pure, aircraft grade titanium that's food safe and hypo-allergenic. Plus, since they're titanium, they can not only make your drinks stay cold, they can keep your drinks hot too, all without adding any off flavor or melting!

Dyscourse - An Island Survival Game Where Choices MATTER!

Dyscourse looks to be an awesome combination of survival, adventure, humor, action and story. You're Rita, one of numerous survivors of a plane crash who suddenly ends up having to make lots of tough decisions and survive with the jerks who were kicking your seat and squishing you in the plane. As the developer states, it's up to you whether you want to work with the other survivors to try to make it together or leave them to their own devices and try to make it on your own. Unlike other games, however, this isn't an either/or choice where you'll basically only play one of two different games either with or without computer AI.

Budget $ This - A Board Game to Teach Budgeting!

These days, far too many people's knowledge of a budget is simply knowing how much money is left until they max out their credit card(s). Heck, there's even a version of Monopoly that uses a card for "electronic banking"! Sure, it could be similar to a debit card, and debit cards are far from evil, but the point is that even board games are moving further and further away from secretly teaching while having fun. Budget $ This looks to fix that!

Apexicon - Scrabble-meets-RPG!

The best way to describe Apexicon is a clash between Scrabble and RPG, or for gamers who are familiar with the titles, Bookworm Adventures meets Puzzle Quest. The concept is simple: you're given letter tiles, and the bigger the word you can spell with them the more damage you'll do to your enemy. Spelling words beginning with a green tile will end up healing you instead of hurting your enemy, and other skills can change tiles to where they do more damage or (theoretically) all kinds of things!

Kickstarter Retrospective - How Are They Doing Now?

It's been a lazy Sunday filled with movies, Once Upon a Time and Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, so I figured it'd be a perfect day to recap how all of the Kickstarter projects I've mentioned are going now (or, if they've finished, how they did!). Two failed (DOH!), six succeeded (WOOHOO!) and four are still funding.

Retroworld on Kickstarter - An Awesome Childhood Relived!

Retroworld has one heck of a concept going for it - you're a game-lovin' kid who goes through four different generations of games, collecting, selling and trading them while solving their mysteries, maintaining high scores, chatting with NPCs and all kinds of other things! The in-game games really appear to reflect their age's style and game play, and the developer promises dozens of them when it's all completed!

NES-Cartridge Styled Flasks on Kickstarter!

Okay, this is officially one of the coolest things EVER! Eric Bailey of Examiner.com reported on these "Ink Whiskey Concealable Entertainment Flasks", which are basically really awesome NES cartridges that you can drink or pour liquor out of! As if that isn't enough, there are some really fun covers for the cartridges as well, which just makes these absolutely irresistible for drinkers and game lovers!

Class. Distinction. NES style.

Hex Paper Pads, Quill Pen Letter Openers and Breaking Bad Tees! Kickstarter Roundup!

Today's Kickstarter roundup is going to focus on three of my favorite things - paper, pens and Breaking Bad!

Fright Fight on Kickstarter - Frightening Characters + Super Smash Bros + RPG!

Happy Halloween! Today feels like a perfect day to point out Fright Fight for OUYA, iOS and Android. Oh, and there are 31 days left, which is 13 backwards! MWAHAHA! Seriously though, Fright Fight looks intriguing for its increasingly-awesome animations, online multiplayer and intriguing controls: on iOS and Android, everything is handled via gesture system, not simple buttons!

Astro Golf on Kickstarter - Adventure, Golf Style!

I've played a few games in the past that revolve entirely around basically shooting yourself in a direction to get to your goal, collecting points and the like as you go. I would say it's one of my favorite genres, really, as it's a unique way to get around and explore. Imagine if you combined Angry Birds with exploration; instead of flinging yourself at a building and pigs to destroy them you flung yourself in a direction toward a goal. All of that being said, Astro Golf looks like a fun addition to the genre!

Ever, Jane Kickstarter - An MMO in Jane Austen's World!

Ever, Jane is one of those things that should pretty much be Kickstarted on concept alone, but has the experience and awesomeness behind it to really follow it up. The concept is pretty simple - play in a world based on Jane Austen's novels! You won't be killing dozens of enemies for quests (there are still quests though!), experience and epic loot, instead you'll be gossiping, inviting people to balls and playing minigames like sewing and hunting. There's also an early playable version for you to try out, and I happily did!

Awesome Kickstarters: 8-Bit Inspired Notebooks and NEW SNES Boss Music!

Kickstarter is a really awesome place where we can geek out over stuff that's absolutely perfect for us. Today's finds include lasercut notebooks with awesome 8-bit game-themed art, hilarious and useful "passive aggressive notepads" and two different talented musicians covering SNES-era music! None of these are quite backed yet, but REALLY should be! Make sure that you give them all some love! Remember that even if you can't afford to back them, you can help out by sharing them with friends and family.

Magicite - A Multiplayer RPG (Roguelike) Platformer on Kickstarter

Note: Although the game is on Kickstarter, it's just shy of the 400% mark as I write this! Since the Kickstarter was officially successful, you can get the perk goodness through Paypal as well.


Magicite (raise your hand if you've heard that term before!) is a Multiplayer RPG Platformer, and you'd may as well through Roguelike in there as well. The concept sounds rather simple - you create a character, fight baddies through procedurally generated instances and if you survive, you can move on to a randomized town to do all the awesome stuff that RPG towns are famous for before doing it all over again. Oh yeah, and you can put your hand back down now... Sorry, I forgot about that.

SCALE - A Unique Puzzle Game on Kickstarter!

EVERY treasure chest should be this huge!

What does that image look like to you? That's right, boys and girls, it's a super huge treasure chest, and it's only one of many awesome concepts in SCALE!

Steve Swink and CubeHeart, described by Steve himself as "a Voltron-like flesh monstrosity of game development talent", have begun a Kickstarter campaign for a truly interesting PC game named SCALE. SCALE, again in Steve's own words, is "a first person reality manipulation game that reimagines exploration with a unique resizing mechanic." I honestly don't think I could say that any better myself, which is why they make the big bucks. For such an awesome game, a goal of $87,000 is pretty SCALEd down! [Note: Right now as I write this, it's just over 42% funded with 27 days to go!]