Top Ten Upcoming PC Games Funded with Kickstarter

Kickstarter changed the world when it allowed developers to get directly in touch with backers that weren't big name publishers, but the consumers themselves. Over $676 million dollars have been raised via Kickstarter since 2009. Once a funding goal has been reached, stretch goals can be made to further develop a game beyond the original scope.

Here are the top ten games funded by the community. Each one promises to highly desired because the community made them happen.

With no further ado, the top ten.

Dark Age of Camelot (DAoC) was heralded as one of the best Realm vs Realm PVP experiences ever in a video game. Mark Jacobs, designer of DAoC, has his heart set on designing the spiritual successor, Camelot Unchained.

Camelot Unchained raised $2.23 million with Kickstarter.

Camelot Unchained will be based around three pillars: RVR, Crafting, and Housing. There will be a lack of PVE, allowing to focus on the richest PVP possible.

• There will be three unique factions in RVR.
• Rock, Paper, Scissors design for class design. There will be the holy trinity of classes (Tanks, Healers, DPS).
• No loot or tokens from NPC. Items will be generated by crafters. Crafters will have their own class that can also build traps and turrets in pvp. Crafters will also build structures and housing.
• RVR Dungeons such as mines and great forges offering bonuses for crafters that can get to them.

With $2.28 million in funding from Kickstarter, HEX is attempting to combine the features of a MMO (massive multiplayer online) with those of a TCG (trading card game).

The developer Cryptozoic built and balanced World of Warcraft's TCG. In a digital universe they can build features that just can't be done on paper noted below.

KEY FEATURES:

• Digital Trading Card Experience – There will be unique double back cards. Flipping it once will show you its back. Flipping it again will show its double back.
• Socketed Cards – With collectable gems you can use them to customize the cards allowing for even more possibilities.
• Transforming Cards – Similar to magic's morph feature, cards can change in mid game as you play.
• PvP and PvE Gameplay – Play in a variety of different ways against friends! PvE dungeons will include hundreds of Booster Pack cards and customizable character cards.
• Online Play Sessions - With dozens of daily tournaments, on demand 8-player drafts and real cash prizes, HEX: Shards of Fate is poised to be the definitive professional online TCG.

With over 350 different cards in their first set HEX promises to have a lot of great deck building and unique strategy to implement.

Hex: Shards of Fate is set to release in Fall of 2013.

Ever play Total Annihilation back in 1997? Total Annihilation made an innovative leap forward in the RTS genre with line of sight weaponry and an in-game radar that saw through fog of war.

10 years later Supreme Commander scaled the gameplay into the future, allowing you to build your armies and march them all over a planet. I suppose it's only to be expected that the next evolution would be planetary warfare.

At spot number eight, raising $2.33 million, Planetary Annihilation brings that familiar macro-styled combat under a mech commander to a new reality. Planetary Annihilation will feature support for 40 players to battle each other across a solar system. Planets can be assaulted by mech forces or even destroyed using asteroids as weaponry.

The game is set to release Dec. 15, 2013.

The fifth game ever to raise a seven figure number is Homestuck with $2,485,506.

Homestuck originated as an illustrated quasi-animated webcomic that parodied the adventure game format. The story kept evolving over the years and because massively popular with over a million unique hits a day on its website.

The video game will be a self contained spin-off story with rpg-like elements by Andrew Hussie. The game is expected to release in 2014.

Coming in at spot six with $2,717,778 raised, Elite: Dangerous is the fourth installment of the Elite game series.

With only a bit of money and one of the 25 available space ships, your journey begins as you venture into the depths of space. Over time you will customize your ship to reflect your play style. Your ships will take realistic damage. Hull breaches could leak cargo into space, weaponry can be taken offline, etc.

The world will be shaped by the players themselves. Cities can be converted from peaceful residents to feuding anarchists. There will be space trade, player cooperation, and of course pvp combat.

One of the developers, David Braben, has indicated they wish to expand the game over time featuring the ability to get out of your ship as you visit planets and better planet detail at the ground level.

It is estimated to release in 2014.

You have probably heard of the popular Fallout series. Well those games were spawned by a game called Wasteland back in 1988.

With over $3 million raised, Obsidian and InXile Entertainment are finally bringing us Wasteland 2.

Wasteland 2 will feature a semi overhead view with a rotatable camera. The combat will be tactical and turn based similar to x-com. The game will feature heavily customized characters. You will travel in a group of four and explore the post apocalyptic nuclear aftermath of an impact event gone terribly wrong.

Estimated to come out this year, you can view a gameplay video below.

Legendary Tim Schafer, designer of world acclaimed Grim Fandango, and part of the Double Fine Studios, pitched to Kickstarter. Check it out here.

Turns out he's a pretty funny guy. Well he didn't just raise $400,000 for a new adventure game. He brought in over $3.45 million.

The game took shape into what is now Broken Age. A point and click adventure game based upon a boy and a girl trying to make a change for themselves.

To get a bit of a flavor of the game they have released a teaser trailer. It's time for adventure fans to get excited. Hopefully it will be successful enough that publishers will take note that every game doesn't have to be an FPS.

I'm still holding my breath for Psychonauts 2. Unfortunately Double Fine is asking for 18 million to develop it; too much for once interested Minecraft developer, Notch, to support.

Obsidian Entertainment, makers of Fallout 1 & 2 & New Vegas, Icewind Dale, Balder's Gate, etc. is working on a new mature theme gamed. A fantasy RPG with theme's perhaps so mature that it wouldn't get published under normal means.

Enter Project Eternity.

With $4.16 million in funding, Project Eternity reaches our #3 spot. It broke the record of the all time highest funded video game via kickstarter of it's time.

The game looks absolutely beautiful from the leaked screenshots. It will feature an isometric overhead view with hand drawn backdrops.

The party will support up to 5 characters, the main character being very customizable.

Lastly, in the video below is a very cool tech demo of the 2D environment. It shows a dynamic lighting test, movement within the scene like wind through trees and bushes, and water that can raise and lower its elevation.

InXile Entertainment's team is wrapping up Wasteland 2. Its next project is Torment: Tides of Numenera. Project Eternity may have set the record of its time, but records are made to be broken as Torment reeled in a whopping $4.2 million from kickstarter alone.

Torment: Tides of Numenera is the spiritual successor to Planescape: Torment.

The gameplay will be primarily story driven. The world looks fantastically rich with detail. Like Project Eternity, Torment is another 2D game brought to life with the Unity engine from an isometric perspective.

There will be morality choices throughout the game defining your character with what abilities or weaponry they may use ala kotor (Knights of the Old Republic).

If you are a fan of story driven RPGs. This looks like one that will be hard to miss.

And last but not least, at the #1 spot with over $13 million in community funding (including nearly $9 million in paypal donations) from over 200,000 people comes one of the games I'm looking forward to most.

Star Citizen is the ultimate space game you have ever dreamed about. Imagine EVE without a monthly fee, a fully controllable customized ship, top of the line graphics with virtual reality headset support, and a scale of unimaginable size.

Imagine Star Citizen.

• Ever expanding space gives unlimited opportunity for space exploration, trading, and battling.
• Play alongside friends and strangers alike.
• User generating content and modding support.
• Ships of various size, allowing your friends to come aboard and man your turrets or repair systems.
• Real physics bring the space simulation to life, including real time combat and the effects certain damage would have.
• Advanced CryEngine 3 technology.
• Revolutionary immersion with virtual reality (oculus rift) tracking.

Star Citizen is set to release late 2014.

As always I welcome your comments below. Hopefully you enjoyed learning about some of the games kickstarter is going to bring us and just how strong the power of community funding can be.

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