Techpocalypse Kickstarter

Techpocalypse Kickstarter, a survival game based on the real world, entering its final week

Following the multi-million dollar success of the Double Fine and Wasteland Kickstarers, developers asking for a little bit less (for equally exciting projects) may be getting overlooked.

One of these is the Techpocalypse Kickstarter, with the developer, Anomaly Labs, looking for pledges to fund the final piece of their project – setting a $50,000 goal to tidy up final parts of the game, and to launch Techpocalypse without publisher involvement.

If you don’t help them get funded, they may have to look to publishers, who will force them to include vampires, tanks, corn, pretty ponies. and a hat box in the game. Like their video explains, this would be bad – obviously. The vampires will probably sparkle too.

So what is so interesting about Techpocalypse? Well, firstly, the setting seems in vogue – nine million people watched The Walking Dead last Sunday, after all. However, instead of zombies, Techpocalypse sees the world devastated by a machine uprising, with the remaining people banding together, cooperatively as tribes, to stay alive – and wipe out other tribes.

Apart from the setting, the more interesting facet of the game it that it uses real-world map data to build locations in the game, meaning if know the layout of a location particularly well in real life, you can use that to your advantage in the game.

The developers probably explain it best:

 Our technology slurps up real-world map data, squishes it around with top-secret digestive juices, and spits out the gooey debris of what a post-apocalyptic dystopia would look like. The process is kind of gross actually, but the result is fantastic.

You know that grocery store down the street? It’s there in the Techpocalypse world, too. Need fuel? Head to a gas station – you already know where it is. And just imagine what you can do with the supplies you find at the local hardware store.

Like all Kickstarters, there are multiple pledge levels, with a small $10 granting you early beta access to the game – should the Kickstarter succeed. Higher pledges give you more in-game items and perks, with the highest pledges seeing you included in the game in various ways for your generosity.

The Kickstarter is to get the Facebook version of the game up and running, although if Facebook gaming is not your thing, then maybe it is still worth a pledge, as it is an interesting idea that could expand to other platforms if it does well.

If you’re interested in helping the developers during their homestretch, head over to their Kickstarter page. Don’t let the vile hat box win.