As one would expect, this is the god genre updated for the 21st century. It begins in single-player mode, where you can strike the fear of your god into your land's denizens, before expanding into multiplayer, where you can strike the fear of your god into other people's denizens.
It'll be cross-platform too, taking in Android, iOS and Mac, as well as good ol' Windows. It's an interesting concept, but Molyneux will have to work hard to convince a modern audience that there's still room for the god genre. Ubisoft's From Dust – the most recent deity sim – didn't exactly set the world on fire, even if you could so do in-game. It'll also be Molyneux's first big project outside a major studio for ages. Lets hope his ego is reined in by his teammates.
3. Wasteland 2
Developer: inXile entertainment
Goal: $900,000
Pledges: $2,933,252
Culturally, the 1980s were so obsessed with all things apocalyptic that one could be forgiven for thinking the end of all things actually occurred during the decade. While big screens showed the likes of Mad Max, The Terminator and Akira, gamers got a slice of the dystopian action with Wasteland on the Apple II. The 2087-set game dealt with a group of rangers investigating the hostile remnants of the American Southwest, stumbling across pockets of people who'd survived the nuclear war of 1998 (ahem).
If it all sounds a little familiar it's because Fallout was its spiritual successor, though the two are separate entities due to EA's reluctance to give up the rights. Original developer Brian Fargo bought the rights to Wasteland from Konami, and began the Kickstarter campaign with a $900,000 goal, pledging $100,000 of his own money to meet the required £1 million.
It overshot the original goal by a whopping $2 million, which was enough to get Fallout and Neverwinter Nights developer Chris Avellone on board.
Wasteland 2 may sound a little redundant given the fact that we've already got a perfectly decent set of Fallout games, but the developers promise a return to the stripped-down premise of the original. "It's turn-based, tactical, with a storyline that will be deeper and broader," says Fargo.
4. Project Eternity
Developer: Obsidian Entertainment
Goal: $1,100,000
Pledges: $3,986,929
Wasteland 2 isn't the only Kickstarter project Chris Avellone has a hand in; he's also working on Project Eternity with his employer Obsidian Entertainment. This is an old-school isometric RPG that cites Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale and Planescape: Torment as influences - all of which Obsidian's staff have worked on in the past.
Project Eternity is a party-based RPG, so you and a handful of cohorts will explore an all-new fantasy world and engage with its inhabitants. It promises a tactical real-time combat system in which you can pause the action, reposition your party and then unleash a devastating attack, which does sound rather cool.
It probably won't be called Project Eternity - that's just its working title - and its reception will determine whether it turns into a franchise. Obsidian went well over its original goal, and is now adding extra features, classes and translations, including an in-game commentary We have high hopes for Project Eternity. Obsidian is a developer that's a little too independent for its own good, and Alpha Protocol and Dungeon Siege 3 both seemed like good games restrained by the meddling of big publishers. Project Eternity's Kickstarter funding could give the developer the freedom it needs.
5. Star Citizen
Developer: Cloud Imperium Games Corporation
Goal: $500,000
Pledges: $2,134,374
Games funded on Kickstarter seem to be united by an almost nepotistic interest from industry legends called Chris. Star Citizen's Chris - of the Roberts variety - has himself backed Elite: Dangerous with his own cash, despite seemingly creating a competing game, which is set up to be a continuation of his own Freelancer and Wing Commander series.
