Typically, Kickstarters have a major uphill climb in which the project starters must sell their idea with some early concepts and a pretty video presentation. Maybe if we're lucky, there's a basic demo as well. Lunarch Studios' Prismata, however, is already a near-complete game that has attracted a sizeable following — it's the most upvoted game story on reddit's /r/bestof and more than 6000 players have entered the alpha.
So then, what's the point of the Prismata Kickstarter? Yes, the game is essentially complete, but the developers believe they can grow the game even further with extra polish, like additional single-player campaign missions and such. It'll be a free-to-play title, but if it were to be handed to a traditional publisher, that publisher might want to employ the typical nickle-and-diming FTP strategies that have poisoned such games in the past. No, Lunarch wants to do this its own way.
What is Prismata, anyway? It's a real-time strategy game akin to StarCraft but with a bit of Hearthstone or Magic: The Gathering mixed in. Unlike other card games, though, there are no decks here. You build your units in much the same way you would in other RTSes: by developing technologies and spending resources. You can watch the short primer above, or you can visit the Kickstarter page to learn more.
The Kickstarter was launched last month and there's less than a day remaining. Thankfully, the main goal has already been met, so feel free to chip in any extra funds in these last few hours. And if you want to sample the action for yourself, try the offline demo.
