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Curious to know is the overall experience with people when it comes to backing video/computer game kickstarters?

Overall it seems to have a very poor track record from what I can gather over the past 2 years. Of course, I have always found negative reviews overshadow good.

I've never backed a KS for a computer game wondering if I should be walking on egg shells compared to backing board/card/mini games?

Game I am interested in is Dex

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dreadlocks/dex-cyberpunk-2d-rpg

It's cyberpunk and I fahkin love cyberpunk. And the style reminds my of a SNES (my favorite system).

With such a small (or it appears) funding goal it that remotely a realistic goal to even produce the game?

I haven't backed anything that should have arrived yet so I cant really say.

I backed wasteland 2 but sadly missed out on Planescape Torment.

Shadow Run Returns turned out to be a solid game.

Chances are they have already completed a lot of the game and are looking for the last push to finish off add things to it and get it distributed.

At the end of the day you have to consider Kick-starter to be a gamble. You giving money to help something you want to be produced. Its a small amount for a game that looks very good. If you can afford to lose the £7 and its worth the risk to you go for it. Never put money on kickstarter you cant afford to lose.

None of the games that I have backed have so far been released, in fairness its a bit too early to see just how well the various big name kickstarter projects will turn out. Those that have been released have been just like other games, some were good and some were bad.

For that particular game is it only $7 so you wouldn't be risking much and the low target presumably reflects the simplicity of the game. The other thing to bear in mind is that the kickstarter is used to gather development funds, developers hope to make a lot more money once the game has actually been released.

All in all if it looks interesting to you and the 'proof of game' (screenshots, in game footage etc) are strong enough that you think that the game may live up to its claims then you don;t risk much by pledging.So far I have pledged for 6 games, probably about $150 in all and none of them are ready for release (although Wasteland 2 isn't far away : )

The alpha for Elite is due out soon. That is the only computer game I have backed.

In all fairness this game has video showing how the game so its pretty close to completion I think.

Yeah, don't think anything that I backed is out yet...


Though the planetary annihilation beta is chugging along well.

Gianna Sisters went well. Everything else is still in production. It has been 14 months since Project Eternity was funded so hopefully it will be released soon.

 Ahtman wrote:
Gianna Sisters went well. Everything else is still in production. It has been 14 months since Project Eternity was funded so hopefully it will be released soon.

Indeed, I am looking forward to PE. I don't remember a hard estimated time, but seemed like it was going to be late 2014.

@Piston Honda

I have backed a few video games on kickstarter. I have been only kinda burnt by one. I do back allot of projects however...

1. Be picky about who and what you are backing.
2. Ask Questions - If someone is not willing to divulge information about the project a project you are paying towards. Redact your pledge.
3. Go with your gut - For what ever reason your gut feeling is giving you a bad feeling about a project. Don't back the project.

If the project is successful you can buy it at a later date.

Hope that I helped.

I do not back Videogames over Kickstarter, too many bad stories. I usually follow Kickstarter Projects until they hit Steam Early Access/Greenlight or bring out any form of Demo I can test. Its just the amount of "Progress" I demand from a Game before it gets my money. Too many kickstarter prjects are "Ifs" and "Maybe" and usually they promise ridicolous amounts of stuff.

However, from watching some KS-Prjoects, those are the following points i'd check before backing:

1. Is the project reasonable?

Basically, a lot of Kickstarter projects function based on the thought: "The more stuff I promise, the more money I get." This means that sometimes they will try to eat more than they can chew. Usually a bit of common sense suffices to pick reasonable projects. "Too good to be true" is a saying i'd keep in mind for KS.

2. Did the Person/Group you want to fund have previous projects, either in KS or in the general industry?

A lot of people dont do this. Check the Background of the people you fund. Are they well known Dev's of previous Games you liked? Or is it some no name Company/Dude with no references of note? Did the guy run Kickstarter-Fundraisers before? etc.

3. Check for a schedule.

This is just personal advice. Check if the Project has a Schedule or Calendar that estimates or guruantees certain progressions in a set timeframe. This is usually a good sign, and also ensures that you have something to insist upon if gak goes south.

Otherwise, you have stuff like Castle Story, where the Dev's take your money and then sit around doing a whole lot of nothing for a while.

Generally, i'd advise against using Kickstarter for Videogames. It promotes some bad practices and the Videogaming Industry has more than enough of those.

Backed a few things but most of them have started to release (Beta) have released or aren't coming out for a long time.
They mostly seem okay, nothing gone horrendously wrong.

Backed: Take 2's game. I forget the name, but it's Tim Schaefer so I was willing to gamble. No regrets.
Backed: Wasteland 2. Game is in beta, but I'm purposefully avoiding it until launch. Have heard good things though.
Backed: Shadowrun Returns. Good game, played the crap out of it and can't wait for the first expansion.
Backed: Valdis Story; Abyssal City. They sent me a code, but I haven't tried it yet so that's on me.
Backed: Project Pheonix, or whatever the massive JRPG is called. Not released yet.
Backed: Banner Saga; supposedly releasing soon.
Backed: Shroud of the Avatar; didn't realize it was slated as an MMO when I backed, but will still play because Ultima.
Backed: Mages Initiation; have heard 0 since the KS finished but it's old Sierra folks making an adventure game. Still, not hearing anything makes me think that if I'm going to get burned somehwere, it will be here.

Overall I'm happy with my backings. I spent probably waaaaay too much money backing since I tend to go for the glitzy collector's editions and such. Shadowrun I went in for the t-shirt, DocWagon card, USB dogtags, and whatever else was at that level. Craziness, but I love me some Shadowrun.

I backed Elite Dangerous. I have been getting email updates, but the game is not out for a while and the backing for Alpha test play (which it is at now) was really expensive.

My backing of it only gets me digital stuff (a digital copy of the game, alternative start location and ship, reserved character name) so haven't got anything physical.

To add: I didn't back it, but bought it on release but Gianna Sisters turned out well; the music is especially great (one of the best done concepts and executions with great tunes in any videogame in general to date IMO)