Dogtreat Studios is creating, Fat Cheeks, a hand painted game for the iPhone and Android systems using HTML5 and Javascript libraries.
Basic Information
Players: 1
Ages: 12+ (Our estimate)
Time: Unlimited
Estimated Delivery: November 2014
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Game overview
Forum: Fat Cheeks Game
From the Campaign
Fat Cheeks “The Cannonball” is a hand painted 2D endless runner for IPhone and Android! The objective is to stay alive by collecting battery power, dodging obstacles, punching enemies, and collecting acorns to help unlock upgrades. Controls will be easy to use with only two options. Tap to use battery power to fly, and swipe to punch. Both are limited by meters.
Gear can be upgraded in the in app store with acorns (in game currency). Acorns can be either gained in game by playing or also purchased in the In App store. We are writing the game logic and game engine in javascript and using PIXI.js as a rendering library which supports HTML5 canvas as well as WebGL. Then we will use CocoonJS to pack and deploy to android and iOS. We will also be hosting a free version on our website and in the chrome store!
Opinion
The advent of HTML5 and new Javascript libraries to take advantage of its functionality, opened the world to a whole new set of potential applications. One of the most exciting possibilities is the creation of fully web enabled games that use absolutely no proprietary software. This method of game development makes such games easily accessible to a large group of platforms, including, possibly, ones not specifically thought of during the production of the game. I am excited for that reason alone, to see a crowd funded game taking advantage of this technology.
Campaign Specifics
Goal: $6,500
Pledge Tiers: 15 tiers ranging from $1 to $1,000
End Date: May 4 2014 1:11 PM EDT
Funding Type: Fixed
Chances of success
Something that is really important to ensure a campaign is a success is feedback. An update within the first couple of days is really important to keep current backers engaged and to bring in new backers. Unfortunately the Fat Cheek campaign is lacking in that and so the starting momentum has been reduced.
This doesn’t mean that with some intelligent advertising and engagement by the project creators that the campaign can’t see a revival of momentum. Indeed, based on the response time when directly contacting Dogtreat Studios, the team is watching the campaign.
They must just not be too familiar with the update and comment features of Kickstarter, something I’ve found to be true in a few other cases when I have brought it to the attention of similar project creators. I think that may be the case here given that they posted to their Facebook page within the first 24 hours to thank those who have backed so far.
On a positive note, Dogtreat Studios has included solid rewards for every pledge level, including the $1 tier. An ad free game for $1? Sounds good to me! I think campaigns that give every backer something as a thank you for taking an interest in the campaign. A last note regarding making the campaign successful would be to release a demo app for the game since the prototype animation provided on the campaign page already looks interesting.