Around the early 2010s, the process of crowdfunding independent video game projects really came into full swing.
While there were independently-made games before then, it was through sites like Kickstarter that ambitious design teams could develop games that they couldn’t afford to otherwise.
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Admittedly, there were a lot of misfires during this process – some projects couldn’t meet their goals, some got their funding then vanished into the ether, and others managed a release to underwhelming reviews.
In spite of all that, it would not be hyperbolic to say that some of the most beloved and influential indie games of the last decade arose from crowdfunding.
10Darkest Dungeon
Loved Even Before Release
Darkest Dungeon
The crowdfunding campaign forDarkest Dungeonlaunched in March 2014 with a funding goal of $75,000.
It exceeded that goal spectacularly, ultimately raising over $313,000 by the end of its campaign.
A little less than a year later, the game launched on Steam in an Early Access state, carefully incorporating feedback from a steadily growing playerbase.
The game’s initial burst of popularity, especially in the streaming scene thanks to its punishing difficulty, gave the devs plenty to work with.
Eventually, Darkest Dungeon launched in full at the start of 2016, continuing its earned acclaim.
9Shovel Knight
Put Yacht Club On The Map
Shovel Knight
Shovel Knightwas originally a rather modest project for an action platformer game reminiscent of NES classics likeMega ManandDucktales.
Its Kickstarter campaign launched in 2013 with a realistic goal of $75,000, but ultimately smashed multiple stretch goals before settling at over $310,000.
The game was released to positive reviews about a year later.
However, thanks to the considerable funds from the campaign, not to mention the game’s subsequent success, Yacht Club Games were able to continuously update and iterate upon it.
The game eventually received three additional campaigns and a multiplayer battle mode, not to mention two spin-offs.
Shovel Knighthas long served as an icon of crowdfunding success, makingappearances in numerous other games, big and small.
8A Hat In Time
Cuteness Always Wins
A Hat in Time
In 2013, Danish game studio Gears for Breakfast launched their Kickstarter forA Hat in Time, a loving send-up to the collect-a-thon platformers of ages past.
The initial funding goal was just $30,000, an amount that was doubled in the campaign’s first two days thanks to considerable hype.
The campaign ultimately raised over $296,000 and qualified for a self-published release on Steam.
Thanks to reaching multiple stretch goals, the game received numerous content updates, including full voice acting, additional levels, and modding support.
The original release on Mac and PC was handled by Gears for Breakfast, while the console ports were handled by Humble Bundle.
7Hollow Knight
Goodwill DLC
Hollow Knight
Team Cherry’s magnum opus,Hollow Knight, launched its Kickstarter campaign at the tail end of 2014, seeking out A$35,00 in funding.
The project met and exceeded that goal, ultimately raising over A$57,000 by the end of the campaign.
Following the game’s full release in 2017, it gradually received four DLC packs of varying scope.
All four of these packs were given to all playerscompletely gratis, as opposed to being sold separately.
Technically, there were supposed to be five DLCs, but it was decided that the final pack would be spun off into its own game,Hollow Knight: Silksong.
6Undertale
Small Game, Big Impact
On an unassuming day in mid-2013, a Kickstarter campaign was launched by romhacking enthusiast Toby Fox for his first original game project,Undertale.
The campaign had a relatively tiny goal of just $5,000, which was ultimately exceeded by ten times, settling at over $50,000.
You don’t really need us to tell you what happened next – following the game’s release in 2015,Undertalebecame the biggest thing since sliced bread, to put it mildly.
Despite being a fairly simple game made in Game Maker Studio,Undertalehas become one of the tentpole games of the indie scene, propelling Toby Fox into rockstar status in the industry.
5Outer Wilds
Award-Winning Student Project
Outer Wilds
Outer Wildswas originally conceived as a student project, specifically as a thesis project by the game’s director, Alex Beachum.
After winning awards at the Independent Games Festival in 2015, Beachum put a team together to turn the project into a viable product.
The subsequent Fig campaign raised over $126,000, beating the funding goal by a slim margin.
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The campaign used equity crowdfunding, which meant backers were buying a direct stake in the game’s development.
During subsequent development, the game’s rights and its equity stake were purchased by Annapurna Interactive, which ultimately published it in 2019.
4Bloodstained: Ritual Of The Night
IGA’s Big Comeback
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
In 2015, one of the leads in the beloved gameCastlevania: Symphony of the Night, announced that he was creating his own take on the Metroidvania genre from scratch.
This game,Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, launched its Kickstarter campaign with a goal of $500,000.
That goal was broken by several orders of magnitude, eventually raising over $5,500,000, swiftly building a fledgling game into a small empire overnight.
The campaign’s many stretch goals were gradually integrated into the game following its release in 2019, such as additional campaigns and characters, acameo from IGA himself, and entire spin-off games.
Bloodstainedheld the record for highest-funded Kickstarter game for about a month until it wassucceeded byShenmue III.
Made In A Week
In 2013, a small team of developers createdSuperhotas part of the 7 Day FPS Challenge, a development event that challenged participants to make a game in a week.
Positive reception to the prototypical game prompted the team to launch a Kickstarter campaign the following year with a goal of $100,000.
The campaign more than doubled that goal, ultimately raising over $250,000.
The game was released for PC, Mac, and Linux in 2016, followed by a retooling for VR headsets that same year.
Superhotdid well enough for itself to be ported to all the home consoles of the time, as well as earn a small sequel in the form ofSuperhot: Mind Control Delete.
2Hypnospace Outlaw
The Future Is The Past
Hypnospace Outlaw
Hypnospace Outlawlaunched as a Kickstarter project in 2016, immediately drawing interest for its faithful and loving parody of the late 90s internet scene.
The project’s original goal was $28,000, but it eventually managed to raise nearly $36,000 by the end of the campaign.
During development, the game was a finalist for the Seumas McNally Grand Prize for the 2019 Independent Game Festival.
Several months later,Hypnospace Outlawwas released to positive reception on PC, Mac, and Linux, and was eventually ported to consoles a year later.
The game received a spinoff in the form ofFPS Slayers X, and has a sequel titledDreamsettlercurrently in the pipeline.
1Monster Prom
Just Silly Enough To Work
Monster Prom
In 2016, Barcelona-based studio Beautiful Glitch launched its Kickstarter forMonster Prom, a lovably bizarre combination of adating sim and a four-player board game.
The initial funding goal was a modest €8,000, but the campaign ultimately managed to raise quadruple that to over €32,000.
Thanks to stretch goals, the game received additional endings, playable (and dateable) characters, and other wacky modifiers.
The game released to positive reviews in 2018, then received a substantial content update in 2020 titled Second Term.
Monster Promhas gone on to become a series, with the original being followed byMonster Prom 2: Monster Camp,Monster Prom 3: Monster Roadtrip, and the currently-in-developmentMonster Prom 4: Monster Con.
