The Worst Reason to Pay for a Game Which Doesn't Exist Yet of the Year 2012: Nostalgia

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Remember the past? When everyone swanned around wearing ruffs and eating Werther's Originals? And there was children's telly. Proper children's telly, and videogames. Like arcades, but smaller, in your living room going "bleep" and "bloop." Brilliant, right? Like Gauntlet! I know if you think about it for a minute it seems like a punishing game built around exploitative mechanics designed to suck pocket money out of arcade kids' pockets, but "warrior needs food badly" remember? Brilliant. Elite! Dizzy! Populous! BRILLIANT.

Throw in an extra ten and I'll give you a T-shirt with a logo on or something. Just some tat, like there was tat back then. Because nobody's learned anything about game design in the last twenty years. With your help we can turn this Delorean around. Who needs progress? We're making something old school .

Yes, to all outside appearances Kickstarter might look like a fertile place for new innovative ideas to gain recognition and much needed financial support, but it turns out nostalgia is much easier to monetise. And I know a million dollars might seem like a lot, especially considering the fact we don't have a tech demo, or any art, or a proper name, or proposed mechanics. But just imagine a game in your head. An old one that has demons and goblins or spaceships or something. Yes! That's it. What you're seeing. That's what we're making, plus a second game maybe.

All I need are your bank details. And any cash you have on you. And your shoes. And that's a nice watch. Keep it coming...

Runners up: "Judy Garland Told Me to in a Dream", "I Trust Anybody with a Firm Handshake"

Tom Senior
Tom Senior

Part of the UK team, Tom was with PC Gamer at the very beginning of the website's launch—first as a news writer, and then as online editor until his departure in 2020. His specialties are strategy games, action RPGs, hack ‘n slash games, digital card games… basically anything that he can fit on a hard drive. His final boss form is Deckard Cain.