Kickstarter is a great way to raise money to fund projects such as video games. Because of this developers often use the site as a way to get the ball rolling for their latest title. Throughout the past few months, several Scottish developers have proven crowd funding is still a viable option for smaller developers.
In the last few weeks Tapeworm Disco Puzzle, Strange Sickness and Date of the Dead have all successfully hit their goals and are now in development.
Strange Sickness
Strange Sickness is a historically accurate game set in plague era Aberdeen. The development is led by Drs Hepburn and Armstrong of Aberdeen University, using Aberdeen’s historical records, from 1398 to 1511, to create a compelling and accurate depiction of plague life in the North-East during the medieval period.
The game enables players to make decisions that can shape the story and impact the lives of the characters around them. Additionally, gamers will be exploring the Granite City and uncovering truths from its past.
All profits from the game will go to the Lord Provost’s Charitable Trust and go directly to charities that have been helping people throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Campaign closed on 17th December, raising £6,611 from 220 backers.
Date of the Dead
Dream Daddy meets Undertale is the best way to describe this upcoming title. This game sees you travelling through the underworld, meeting monsters… and dating them.
Date of the Dead is a dating sim with a charming hand-drawn art style. The game’s locations and 7 romanceable characters have been drawn by Katriona Gillon, the game’s designer. In addition to this, gamers will have the option to date whoever they like regardless of gender. On the Date of the Dead‘s Itch.io page, it is proudly stated that there are LGBTQ+ options. This makes the game open to all gamers and allows players to act in whichever way they choose.
Reaching its Kickstarter goal on 11th December with 291 backers pledging £7,687. There is currently a demo available for Date of the Dead on the game’s Itch.io page.
Tapeworm Disco Puzzle
Finally, we have Tapeworm Disco Puzzle from Lowtek Games. A charmingly retro project that you still – just – have time to back over on Kickstarter. This old-school puzzler comes from the developers of Flea, an equally old-school platformer (another successful Kickstarter campaign).
Complimenting its visuals, the game will see an NES and Dreamcast versions as well as the more conventional Steam release. Describing this game feels like recounting a weird fever dream. Essentially, you’ll take control of the titular, headphone-wearing Tapeworm as you solve puzzles while listening to a chiptune disco soundtrack that would have felt right at home blasting out of an arcade cabinet in the 80s. The game’s developers describe the gameplay as ‘a mix between Snake, Anteater and Lolo‘. However, the best way to understand this game is to play the demo.
Tapeworm Disco Puzzle smashed its Kickstarter goal in 12 hours. Furthermore, the campaign has already doubled its goal of £6,000 with 251 people donating over £13,000. If you would like to secure an NES cartridge or a Dreamcast disc the Kickstarter still has three days before it closes.
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