IGW is a look at a few great games from a few great indie developers who are actively seeking funding. Think we missed a great project? Are you working on a game you think deserves a spot on the list? Email Cat (cat [at] qwerty cafe [dot] com)!
Storium by Stephen Hood
Collaborate with your friends to tell a story with Storium.
From their Kickstarter Page:
“Storium is a web-based online game that you play with friends. It works by turning writing into a multiplayer game. With just your computer, tablet, or smartphone, you can choose from a library of imaginary worlds to play in, or build your own. You create your story’s characters and decide what happens to them. You can tell any kind of story with Storium. The only limit is your imagination.
Storium uses familiar game concepts inspired by card games, role-playing games, video games, and more. In each Storium game, one player is the narrator, and everyone else takes on the role of a character in the story. The narrator creates dramatic challenges for the other players to overcome. In doing so, they move the story forward in a new direction. Everyone gets their turn at telling the story.
“Story and Game had a baby, and it’s Storium. This is vital stuff, equal parts revolutionary and fundamental — giving the old ways of storytelling a major digital upgrade.”— Chuck Wendig, novelist and screenwriter”
And check out the promotional video:
To back Storium, visit this link by or before May 8th, 2014.
Baffledazzle! by Rachel Happen
Baffledazzle! is a beautifully crafted puzzle game that’s more than just fitting a few oddly shaped pieces together.
From its Kickstarter Page:
“Every puzzle leads you to something real: a moment in history, a scientific discovery, a hidden culture, a tradition forgotten by time, an ancient joke. So there are endless ways to solve the puzzle. Most of what you need to get to the solution exists outside of the box.
Hundreds of wood, acrylic, or felt puzzle pieces start you off. You start to gather clues from the piece shapes and textures, from the images they form, from the words etched into their face. A cryptic printed riddle helps you along; it gives your efforts direction and nudges you back onto the trail when you get lost. Mysteries and gaps in information challenge you to look closely, think deeper, and search for sources that bring you closer to the solution. No two paths to the answer are exactly the same.
The puzzles
I’ve developed five puzzle series for this campaign. Each series comes with a number of physical puzzles, a written riddle, a hint in case you get stuck along the way, and the solution, so you can be sure you’ve solved it. The riddles are delivered by a guide that helps you navigate the clues, beautifully illustrated by the wonderful Jerel Dye.
The puzzles are cut from solid wood, acrylic, or 100% wool felt. The designs on the face of the puzzles are made by etching into the wood with a laser.”
Here’s the promotional video:
To back Baffledazzle!, visit this link by May 4, 2014.
Scratch Jr.: Coding for Young Kids by Mitchel Resnick
ScratchJr teaches young kids (aged 5-7) how to use a basic programming language.
From the Kickstarter Page:
“ScratchJr is an introductory programming language that enables young children (ages 5-7) to create their own interactive stories and games. Children snap together graphical programming blocks to make characters move, jump, dance, and sing. Children can modify characters in the paint editor, add their own voices and sounds, even insert photos of themselves – then use the programming blocks to make their characters come to life.
ScratchJr was inspired by the popular Scratch programming language, used by millions of young people (ages 8 and up) around the world. In creating ScratchJr, we redesigned the interface and programming language to make them developmentally appropriate for younger children, carefully designing features to match young children’s cognitive, personal, social, and emotional development.”
Here’s the promotional video:
To back ScratchJr, visit this link by April 30, 2014.