January Kickstarter Compass

Holy shitballs, it’s been ages since I’ve done one of these, so welcome to new faces and old! I wonder how many campaigns have spawned, succeeded (or failed), and shriveled away in the past half a year. OH WELL.

In the interest of time, I won’t be doing a ton of digging on each campaign, but I will point out connections and issues as I see them.

Hold that wallet tightly closed, and let’s dive in!

Watchlist (Carried along each month)

Quick blitz update from our last Compass, back in June:

• Lumora failed funding.
• As One We Survive (successful on both IndieGoGo & Kickstarter, still accepting backers)
• The Wings of Dawn kinda seems like it turned into some big drama thing and ended up with no progress in over two years, and weirdly many of the social platforms seemed to fall silent a few months after it was funded. Huh.
• Aftershock (supposedly being built by a 12-year old?) failed funding.
• SURVIVALIST: The Board Game – Still hasn’t launched. I haven’t given up hope (yet), because they supposedly did debut it at Origins Game Fair in Columbus, OH. So it exists, maybe?
• Lost Legions– Campaign still hasn’t launched, according to their Discord they’ll have news on that front this month? You can check out the Steam page for the game here. Kinda feels like you threw ASKA and Medieval Dynasty in a bag and added a dash of Roman zest.
• WILDLANDS– There’s been pretty much dick all for communication from this team in the year (or two) I’ve been in their Discord. The latest news as of October 2025 is “it’s being worked on” – so take that as you will.
• The Signal – I’ve had hands-on time with the alpha/playtest, not my cup of tea, but it seemed to have supporters building. Apparently the Kickstarter did launch and pulled in roughly a third of the goal and then the developer canceled the campaign? I’m assuming they’re going to pick up a publisher at some point, but we’ll see!

New Shit

WHY AM I HERE – Y’know what, fuck it. I seldom do this, but I’m gonna bang the drum and see if I can get folks to back this. I don’t know why – it looks adorable and just kind of tugs at my nonexistent heartstrings. Ten days left to back it, so I’ll do some hunting around to see if I spot any red flags, but for right now? Fuck it. I’m in.

The Pocket Ark: : The Offline Survival Database – So, this isn’t game related, but it was one of the first “survival” labeled campaigns to pop up, and I was intrigued. In a nutshell, the idea is that it’s a crowdsourced, locally stored survival database designed to work with zero internet access. Once knowledge is saved to your device, it stays there. (No servers. No cloud dependency. No subscriptions. No signal required.) I’m totally down with this! Save the info! Water purification and sourcing! Food identification, storage, and preparation!
…okay, it just seems weird to assume we aren’t going to have access to things made easier by electricity – like keeping food cold or purifying water – but we can keep our phones charged?

25 Klicks – Hmm, why do I feel like I’ve seen this header image before on another campaign? Mystery! In their own words, the game “…will be a highly social, post-apocalyptic, world-building game. It will take a sharp left turn from the usual ‘survival game’ in the sense that if you and your allies collaborate well enough, you won’t be working to just ‘survive’; you’ll be working to rebuild a civilization.” (We’ve heard this a dozen times in 2025 alone.) They’re asking for over $55,000, with only 8 days left. The rest of the campaign reads very much like “we’ll do all the things,” with promises of private player housing, vehicles, expeditions, social and political gameplay, and more.
This is dead in the water.

Only One Lives – This is honestly just a giant fucking question mark to me. Like…the trailer AND the $128 dollar goal?

Alkebulan: Survival – An “…extraction multiplayer survival game set in a reimagined ancient Africa” sounds interesting on paper, but the video trailer is sadly all over the place. I really feel like this would have benefited from forming a Discord, attracting some bodies/eyeballs via TikTok and YouTube videos, and then trying for a Patreon while pushing the KS campaign down the line. They’re asking for a little over $58,000, and I don’t see it happening.

Survive Nuclear Apocalypse! – Sometimes I sneak some non–video game campaigns into the article! This actually looks really fucking fun, and I’m debating it.

Funded but allows Late Pledges

Pangea: Dawn – New ARPG PC Game – 100% admit that I’m surprised this was fully funded. It looks like another stab at the ARK “just give them dinos” playbook, and the footage is pretty rough. (It’s actually even more shocking that two people backed at the $1,200 tier, and one backed at $2,500?! At that price, it better come with a dino.)

Aetheria: Build, Sail, Survive – If you’re fond of voxel survival-crafting games where you build bases, sail ships, and explore…here’s another one.

Scrap Core: Where Survival Gives Life – I feel like, deep down, there’s a whole slew of developers who were deeply touched by WALL-E, because this isn’t the first, third, or seventh game I’ve seen with this “robot on a ruined world” premise.

Upcoming Shit

These pages have zero information beyond the blurb, so if you wanna back them, you’re doing it on name and vibes alone!

Lost Viking: Kingdom of Women – You’re Ragnald, the last Viking saved by a wolf. Explore the unknown, craft, hunt, and fight to survive & to save your loved one.

Survival Frontiers – Survive to escape with your friends from a dangerous planet after your spaceship crashes. (I have so so so many questions, since the ‘dangerous planet’ pictured is like some… sleepy mountain town??)

Look Alive – It’s time to look alive and get to safety. Drive, scavenge, eat, and crush ragdoll zombies as you try to survive this vast world. (Tbh, this is so generic-looking I almost didn’t include it, but Crytivo (the publisher) does bang out a lot of successful Kickstarters, so here we are.)

Survival Bunker – Build and manage an underground bunker to survive apocalyptic events. Make critical decisions for your community.

Farkeep, a Multiplayer Survival Town-builder – Build an ancient Roman town, create the infrastructure, attract proficient civilians, defend against barbarians and challenge the gods.

PlanetSmith – Explore spherical voxel planets! Build spaceships and venture across your procedurally generated solar system with your friends.

Dino Age: Survive the Eras – Start in the Triassic, survive to the Jurassic. Hatch companions, craft gear, and restore the timeline in this multi-era Survival RPG.

Blackwater Cove: A Age of Piracy Survival game – Blackwater Cove is a historically accurate survival simulation set during the Golden Age of Piracy (1650-1730).

Under the Rooftop : Vertical Survival Craft – Third-person survival craft game inspired by survival horror genre. Explore vertically, floor by floor, from rooftops to underground. (Looks like this is the second time the developer has taken a crack at funding the game.)

Penguin Survival RPG – Action-RPG game with Survival Logic, Mining/Crafting, Monster Taming, more! Lifelong Gamer making games based on my favorites! (If nothing else, please click this just to see the picture.)

Drownlight – A city-building survival simulator set in a flooded world. Build and expand your city around a lighthouse. (I am 1000% fucking backing this game.)