Update: The developers have reduced the project's funding goal to $500.
We would like to confirm the goal $5k on IndieGoGo was a mistake. It was originally wanted it to be $500. Thanks Again! June 27, 2014
Original: Rock Simulator 2014, then. That it exists is seemingly joke enough, but now its developers are asking that people help support its development. A new IndieGoGo campaign has appeared, asking crowdfunders for $5,000 . Hilarious, right?
As much as I usually love the sillier aspects of our hobby, there's an important point to raise before we continue: coverage is not endorsement. That this is happening strikes me as noteworthy—especially as questions are increasingly being asked about the quality of games making it onto popular distribution channels, and the risk and tension that surrounds Kickstarter and Early Access. You are, of course, free to spend your money however you please, but, in this case, I certainly wouldn't advise it. For one thing, I'm yet to see how the joke will extend past this image .
The campaign is using IndieGoGo's Flexible Funding option, meaning any money raised will go to the developers—whether they reach the $5,000 total or not. The campaign page says the money will go towards licensing the software, and that all funds will "go directly toward the game", but beyond that, they're not entirely clear about what that entails.
It's all a bit strange, but also hopefully means we're fast approaching the end of this "deliberately bad simulator" joke. There have been some good things to come out of it—Surgeon Simulator standing out as a particular high—but now we seem locked into a race to rock-bottom. I know; I'm sorry. I had to get that in somewhere.
Beyond the campaign itself, Rock Simulator 2014 will be "free to play". Hopefully, by that, the devs actually mean free—unless they've got plans for some pegmatite DLC.
