Kickstarter has been around for 10 years now, and has proven to be a good way for people to both gain traction and funding for their projects, whatever they may be. Among the most popular types of projects being funded on Kickstarter are of course video games. However, donating for projects on Kickstarter is a double-edged sword, because while it may feel gratifying to support the development of a new game and receive bonuses, the quality of the finished project is never guaranteed.
We’ve added a few more entries to our list of titles that either soared past expectations or were crushed to death under the weight of their own ambition. While it might showcase the volatility of the crowdfunding scene, it’s also a testament to the amazing titles that have been developed, as well.
25 TERRIBLE: Project Phoenix
This indie jRPG started out with seemingly honest intentions, and with some top-tier names attached to it, including Ori And The Blind Forest’s David Clark, famed art director Kiyoshi Arai, and legendary Final Fantasy composer Nubuo Uematsu. Unfortunately, promises were never kept, and Project Phoenix failed to rise.
Worse, rumors began circulating that the team intentionally caused Project Phoenix to fail. Area 35’s PR manager Tariq Lacy openly accused Project Phoenix’s director Hiroaki Yura of funneling Kickstarter funds to pay for the tactical game Tiny Metal. The company fired back with its own allegations against Yura, leaving backers in the wind with nothing to show for their contributions.
24 GREAT: The Banner Saga
Stoic Studios lived up to their promise with the amazing Banner Saga, a tactical RPG complete with charming, simplistic art direction, a strong story infused with Viking mythology, and an award-winning score.
The brainchild of ex-BioWare devs Alex Thomas, John Watson, and Arnie Jorgensen, The Banner Saga made over $720,000 in funds across 20,042 backers, easily surpassing their intended $100,000 goal. Critical praise was quick and bountiful.
23 TERRIBLE: Takedown - Red Saber
Backers might have been excited at the prospect of Takedown: Red Saber, a tactical shooter lifted from the mold of games like Rainbow Six, but the hype failed to live up to reality.
It managed to attract well less than half of designer Christian Allen’s intended crowdfunding goal, but he didn’t give up. At one point, Robert Bowling (former Creative Strategist behind the Call Of Duty franchise) got involved, but it was simply not meant to be. The game was released on Steam to mass critical panning thanks to horrendous gameplay and shoddy tactical mechanics.
22 GREAT: Wasteland 2
Deep Silver managed to bring back an iconic franchise from obscurity with their Kickstarter funded Wasteland 2, the sequel to the 1988 classic which single-handedly influenced the Fallout franchise. The project developers aimed low, and scored high after their modest (and humble) roadmap for a $1,000,000 goal was met within a stunning 43 hours.
The game was released to positive critical feedback, re-igniting the long-dormant franchise in an era where Fallout had become the dominant name. Rather than rest on its laurels, Deep Silver continued to support the game, eventually releasing a Director’s Cut with enhancements that nobody asked for, but appreciated nonetheless.
21 TERRIBLE: The Stomping Land
Every once in a while, a Kickstarter game doesn’t just fail - it goes down in flames. That’s precisely what happened to The Stomping Land, a multiplayer survival game with dinosaurs as the main focus. If it sounds familiar, that’s because Ark: Survival Evolved would succeed where this title failed.
After failing to move forward on its promise following the sudden absence of creator Alex “Jig” Fundora, the project was essentially dead in the water. Modeler Vlad Konstantinov was forced to apologize to the community and move on, with Fundora nowhere to be found. 4,427 backers never got their refunds, but at least the game was released in its current form on Steam, for a time.
20 GREAT: Shovel Knight
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Shovel Knight is a prime example of a game inspired by the NES era and the 8-bit aesthetic done right. While there are countless games that were riding on the nostalgia wave, using the styles of retro games to attract players, Shovel Knight didn’t just use the style of old NES games but made it its own. The game was met with extremely positive reviews due to its polished gameplay, fun and interesting mechanics, challenging difficulty, great story, and amazing music.
Although this game came out back in 2014, it definitely still holds up due to the sheer amount of content it has. As if that wasn’t enough, the game has gotten multiple expansions that were free for everyone!
18 TERRIBLE: Star Citizen
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Probably one of the best-earning games of this decade that haven’t technically come out yet, Star Citizen has been the topic of many debates. There are a few main points that turned this project into a catastrophe. The first being that it raised well over $2 million on Kickstarter alone, and was set to release after it was backed - in 2014. Fast-forward 5 years and the game is still not fully released, getting a new release date in 2020. Secondly, was that the in-game space ships that people can purchase cost literally thousands of dollars.
Whichever way you look at it, this does not seem like a game that ever kept the players’ best interests in mind. Sure, you might own a beautiful space ship that you can show off, but at what cost?
16 GREAT: Darkest Dungeon
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Darkest Dungeon was a strange concept during the backing phase, as it mixed and matched elements of different genres to come up with a rather terrifying and stress-inducing result, and people loved it for it when it came out. While it seemed like another turn-based combat game with a gritty art style, it turned out to be so much more.
Mixing difficult fights with solid mechanics, with a dark setting inspired by Lovecraftian cosmic horror, this game brings a gaming experience like no other. This is one Kickstarter project we’re glad got funded.
14 TERRIBLE: The Mighty No. 9
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There are few other Kickstarter funded games as notorious as The Mighty No. 9. Riding on the trend of nostalgia, this game took obvious inspiration from Mega Man due to the main person behind the project being the co-designer of the Mega Man franchise. Fans of the latter franchise were hyped when this project got announced, and rightfully so. Unfortunately for them, the project was met with multiple delays and graphical downgrades.
As many of us now know, the game did not come anywhere close to living up to the initial hype. Not only was it bland and at times broken, the marketing for the game was also notoriously bad which drove off anyone who might have been interested.
12 GREAT: FTL
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FTL or Faster Than Light was seemingly a small project when it was first added to Kickstarter, but to the surprise of the developers, not only did it meet the goal of $10000, the support went all the way to $200000. Though it might seem like an unreasonably large amount of money for a game that looks simple at first glance, anyone who has played FTL can attest that it deserved it. Although difficult at first, it is a highly addictive and rewarding game that keeps us coming back for more.
If you love games with space ships, difficult but fair combat, randomized playthroughs, and decision making, then FTL is the game for you!
10 TERRIBLE: Godus
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Godus was a project by the very well-known game designer and programmer Peter Molyneux in which the player would play as a god, overlooking a civilization of people and their development. The Kickstarter goal was met and passed, yet many of the promises that Molyneux made about the game were not met, such as Linux support or stable multiplayer. As time went on it became more apparent that most of the time was spent on developing the mobile version of the game.
Unfortunately, this project did not help Molyneux’s reputation, strengthening the notion that most of his promises are empty. This is precisely why Godus faded into obscurity soon after its release.
8 GREAT: Divinity: Original Sin II
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After the success that was the first Divinity: Original Sin, which was a project backed by Kickstarter as well, the sequel was backed by fans quickly, and Divinity: Original Sin II came to be. Met with even better reviews than the original, Divinity: Original Sin II is often referred to as one of the best RPG games ever made because of its interesting story, solid mechanics, and the freedom to approach any given situation in an endless variety of ways.
If you ever wanted to play a video game that comes extremely close to feeling like Dungeons & Dragons, just without the dice rolls and needing to imagine every detail, then look no further.
