The Spirit of Kickstarter

Kickstarter has changed a lot over the years. Observe this video game project from 2012… and then observe this one from 2018.

Go on. I’ll wait.

In 2012, a tiny independent game studio could launch a campaign without so much as a video trailer and net $150,000 in funding. Meanwhile, in 2018, established studios learned they could repackage their old releases, toss them onto Kickstarter with some collectors’ items, and fund a successful campaign literally overnight.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved the Myst games. But I can’t help but feel that’s not really what Kickstarter is for, ya know?

Some people have told me that we shouldn’t be launching a Kickstarter campaign. “You aren’t a big studio with an established audience.” “Your graphics aren’t very good yet.” “You don’t have gobs of marketing dollars.” All of those things are true. I certainly wish inspiration had struck back in 2012, when those weren’t necessities — we might have surged past our funding goal a long time ago.

But instead of looking at the cards we weren’t dealt, let’s look at the ones we were:

  • An innovative concept in an underserved niche. I truly believe that enough people exist who would be excited enough about Spycursion to back it, as long as we are able to find that audience. (Not always an easy task!) When and where we have found that audience, we’ve received a lot of praise. (And a handful of naysayers, usually related to one of the “cards we weren’t dealt” above.)
  • Secret alien technology. We haven’t played up Lisp too much as an advantage, partly because it’s still largely uncharted territory for game development. But both Mauricio and I have often been surprised by how easy it makes certain things. If When Spycursion happens, I won’t say it was only because of our choice of programming language… but I will say that that choice probably helped.
  • A small, but enthusiastic, fan base. That’s you! And, it turns out, you may be the most important part of this whole equation…

It’s important to realize that indie studios like us are no longer competing against the likes of Starlight Inception for visibility on Kickstarter. We’re competing against Myst, and if we try to compete on traditional grounds, we’ll get creamed every time. We’ve done our best so far to put those first two advantages above to good use, but the third one is mostly out of our hands. That’s where you come in.

And yes, this is the part of the blog post where we shamelessly ask you to share Spycursion with all of your family, friends, enemies, acquaintances, ex-lovers, and every random person with whom you make eye contact but don’t click the Back button yet because there are good reasons why you should do so!

If you’ve spent any amount of time browsing Kickstarter, you’ve probably seen those projects from very non-startup companies with high-budget videos and suspiciously low funding goals. You know, the ones using spammy crowdfunding agencies, the ones that make you think to yourself: “This entire campaign is solely for publicity, isn’t it?”

Well, we’re the antithesis of that. We’re just a couple of people with some ideas and skills who came together to bring a game to life. As a brand new, zero-budget studio, we’re using Kickstarter for its original intended purpose — to “kickstart” a creative project! Kickstarter is, and always has been, our Plan A. (There are contingency plans — all of which have significant downsides — but those are better off in another post.) Sadly, that also means we’re facing some headwinds that we arguably shouldn’t have to face. That’s why your support (financial and/or social) is crucial to our success.

Do you love the concept of Spycursion and the long-term vision we have for it? Splendid! Share. This. Game.

Do you love the concept of Spycursion but hate how the graphics look right now? Excellent! Share. This. Game. With the support of you and all your family/friends/enemies/etc., we can afford some better art and all of the graphical bling-bling you can handle.

Do you love the concept of Spycursion but are skeptical that we can actually pull it off? Glad to hear it! Share. This. Game. With the enough support, we will pull it off, and if for some reason we don’t, we’ll be open-sourcing the whole shebang for you to try pulling it off yourself. (See the “Risks and Challenges” section of our Kickstarter page.)

Do you hate the concept of Spycursion altogether? Cool beans! Share. This. Game. You never know who else might enjoy it in your stead.

Did you come from /r/lisp or Hacker News and you just want a Lisp game to point to when people trash your favorite language? Superb! Share. This. Game.

Share our Kickstarter page. Share our trailer. Share this blog post. Share it on Facebook. Share it on Twitter. Share it on Reddit, or Mastodon, or Pinterest, or whatever your favorite social networks are. Share it on 4chan just kidding please don’t do that. Share it on your blog. Share it on a postcard. Share it at parties. Share it especially with people you know who happen to be in media and/or very rich. Share. This. Game.

With enough sharing (and broken records), we can bring Spycursion to life. That, in my opinion, is what the spirit of Kickstarter is all about. Thank you for your support!