Back to Back: indie RPGs to fund

Greetings backers, would-be backers, and silent gawkers!

News out of the crowdfunding dimension is unusually good this week: since we last visited, CivCraft: Legends of Ellaria, Exoplanet: First Contact, Overfall, Pauldron: Shield of the King, and Trial By Viking have all succeeded; none have failed!

Will this trend continue? Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhh…probably not. There are a lot of projects that look like they’re going to succeed, but as we’ll see, a 100% success rate probably isn’t in the cards:

Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan – we’ve covered Aurion before, and even had it on Back to Back almost exactly two years ago! A fantasy action RPG set in Africa, Aurion has some pretty swell art that helps sell the setting. While its earlier crowdfunding effort failed, this one actually seems on track to succeed, with $13,200 already raised out of its $45,372 goal; 29 days remain for Aurion to raise the other 2/3rds.

Battle Chasers: Nightwar – this polished-looking 3D jRPG with real-time, isometric dungeon exploration is no longer chasing its $500,000 goal, and has moved on to chasing stretch goals with 18 days left.

Crossfate – this anime sci-fi RPG seems to be laboring under something of a star-crossed fate of its own, as it has raised no money (and possibly even lost a bit?) since we last looked in on it. With less than 5% of its $90,000 funding goal raised and 8 days on the clock, this one’s currently a heck of a long shot.

Divinity: Original Sin 2 – Larian has now officially raised more than 3 times its $500,000 funding goal for this wRPG sequel, and the campaign still has 8 more days to go! ‘Nuff said.

For the King – do you fancy the idea of going on a roguelike adventure just because some crusty monarch told you to? Maybe not, but I bet you’ll like this game’s graphical style, which is frankly pretty superb. Other people certainly do: For the King has already surpassed its $30,210 funding goal by roughly $22,000, with 24 days for it to accrue more.

A House of Many Doors – this 2D, exploration-heavy RPG with a surreal setting has now doubled its $6,158 funding goal; 10 days remain if you want to bolster it further.

MegaMagic: Wizards of the Neon Age – an isometric action RPG set in an alternate universe 1980s (hence, the “Neon Age” bit) with a soundtrack to match. You can summon and command any monster you’ve previously encountered, thus giving the game some de facto RTS mechanics. MegaMagic has raised about $3,350 out of its $20,000 funding goal, and has 23 days to make up the difference.

Omnis – The Erias Line – this sci-fi jRPG is struggling, with a little over $1,000 raised out of its $28,877 goal. A little less than 2 days remain.

Psypher – a sci-fi TCG that looks shockingly similar to Hearthstone, but it has a few weak RPG elements, so they’re calling it an RPG hybrid. Its prospects look a little grim, frankly, as it’s raised only $5,000 out of a whopping $188,440 funding goal. There are 13 days left for Psypher.

Severed Winds – what would Back to Back be without an RPG Maker jRPG? This one’s seeking $30,000 for its first episode, with 50% of the budget allocated to new art assets. So far it has raised $80. The campaign ends in 29 days.

Tears of Avia – a strategy RPG where you command a handful of near-identical anime girls. The game will have 5 character classes and a focus on “build crafting” (which seems to mean putting together skill loadouts for your characters). It’s raised $1,185 so far out of $105,612; there are another 29 days for it to raise the remainder.