Don’t Starve is one of the most popular survival games on Steam. Now the developers want to release the title as a board game for the living room and fans are backing the crowdfunding campaign.
What kind of game is this? Don’t Starve is one of the absolute classics of survival games and has been captivating players since 2013. With a rating of 96%, the title is rated “Very Positive” on Steam. Despite its release over 12 years ago, the game still attracts over 2,000 players simultaneously at peak times daily (via SteamDB)
In the game, the player character is thrown into a randomly generated world that must be survived in a mix of action-adventure and roguelike. The typical survival process is present – gathering, crafting, maintaining health, upgrading gear, and of course, surviving dangers.
The game has a unique comic-like art style that resembles the works of Tim Burton and is hardly like any other game. Don’t Starve is intentionally difficult and created without aids for the player, as making mistakes and learning from them is part of the experience. This also adds to the appeal of the title. Now the developers want to release a new version and are counting on their fans.
You can see the co-op spin-off Don’t Starve Together here in the trailer:
Don’t Starve in the Living Room
What are the developers planning? The developers of Don’t Starve already have a co-op version called “Don’t Starve Together,” which allows for the familiar gameplay experience with friends in multiplayer mode.
Now, however, the developers want to bring the hit in the form of a board game into the living room. To see if their idea resonates and for the funding of the board game, the developers are using Kickstarter. The crowdfunding platform offers a multi-tiered process where players can unlock additional benefits of the game after funding through additional goals.
This way, the developers can collect more money for development and players receive an increasingly better product as more funds accumulate. However, with Don’t Starve, the developers likely underestimated how many players are interested in a board game.
How is the board game being received? Instead of the original goal of $50,000 (about €42,000), supporters have already funded more than $4 million (about $3.5 million) just 3 days before the end. That’s so much money that the developers have had to continually add new goals to provide something for players to unlock again.
In the meantime, the developers have added more than 60 additional goals, of which only 2 remain open just before the funding phase ends. Additionally, players have also been able to unlock further goals through social media interaction, which they have already accomplished.
That Don’t Starve is one of the most popular survival games on Steam is beyond question. Nevertheless, the success of the board game is significant and certainly not a given, especially considering the large number of additional goals that have already been completed. Why the survival game is so well-received is explained by MeinMMO editor Dariusz Müller: A survival game on Steam is so good that I am embarrassed to have only paid €1.49 for it
