Honey, I shrunk the personal videogame development cost

Last month, I had an opportunity toget some time in withSCALE, and it impressed me more than I expected. That’s saying quite a bit, considering the pitch alone got my hopes up: explore a colorful world and do some puzzle platforming with the help of a tool that lets you shrink or grow objects at will. Some of the ideas exhibited in that small slice of gameplay were extremely clever, and I’ve had my eyes on the title’s development since.

Today, developer Steve Swink launched aKickstarter campaignforSCALE, with a goal of $87,000. After only a few hours into the month-long drive, the project has already raised more than $5,000. Backers who put up a little more than the minimum can also get the game’s original soundtrack, which is being composed and produced byFTL‘sBen PruntyandSuper Meat Boy‘sDanny Baranowsky. Voice talent for the game includes Sarah Elmaleh ofGone Homeand Ashly Burch ofBorderlands 2.

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The first few stretch goals are pretty standard, with Oculus Rift support being added at $100,000 and a new animator added to the team at $50,000. What really excites me is the stretch goal for hitting $175,000: a level editor. I can only imagine what awesome stuff the community could come up with (once we get past the obligatory World 1-1, of course).

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