Swords ‘n Magic and Stuff has reached its funding goal of $21,950 on Kickstarter, with roughly three weeks left in the campaign at the time of this writing.
This first ever campaign by Kindred Games is a 3D game with a flat, low-poly art style like we’ve seen on a lot of mobile games recently. Don’t be fooled though, this is no mobile game.
This is a complete online, cooperative open-world RPG with races, resources, swords, shields, crafts and quests.
The game takes a deliberately slower approach to the traditional standard RPGs, aiming to “bring the joy of discovery back to games”. Here, quests and improvements are not the focus or the only way to succeed, you can choose to explore at your own pace, relax and build a farm, decorate your house, craft, or pursue more adrenaline-based mechanics.
As mentioned in the video: “carve out your own destiny”.
The game also offers an interesting approach to multiplayer, with the ability to play and develop your character on your own and take it with you to a different server with other people, or open the doors of your world to your friends with a password-protected server.
Seattle-based Michael Kocha, the lead designer of the game, has been at this for over two years and started documenting his progress with streams on Twitch and his YouTube Channel.
The first announcement trailer was 10 months ago and they started making DevLog videos in May of last year.
In this period, they’ve managed to create a friendly and faithful community, with supporters helping in various ways: some in-game clothing and lore were created by the fans, and the logo is the work of community member Kitsunne.
The game is made in Unreal Engine, with Michael leading the project and looking after art and game design, his wife Janna (who recently came on board) handling finance and community management.
The Kickstarter funds will help partner with a programmer to build all the network features and hire a composer to create soundtracks.
The early-bird rewards are all gone now, but you can still grab a steam key for $20.
The game will be released for Early Access on Steam in September, it will be available on Windows and Mac.