Brand-new independent studio Mob Rules is trying some different tactics to draw fans and funding to itself. The studio, comprised of Cryptic Studios co-founder Rick Dakan, former Cryptic programmer Jonathan Willis, and graphics designer Austin McKinley, has reached out to fans on crowd-funding site Kickstarter to help choose and fund its first project.
The Kickstarter drive will end on Thanksgiving Day, at which point the funding will be combined with funding from Open Game Labs, a new non-profit dedicated to create new business models for game development. Mob Rules will then produce a prototype version of the chosen title with an aim to create a full retail title for PC, Mac, Linux, and iOS. The concepts include:
- Guerrilla Gorilla: A turn-based strategy game about ape revolutionaries fighting The Man. You must plan carefully and use ambush and tricky maneuvers to overcome The Man’s enthralled legions with your small but zealous band of simian guerrillas.
- Haunts: A head to head haunted house game, where one side plays the brave explorers and the other side plays the supernatural entities that want them gone. Light and shadow, bravery and brains all come into play in this deadly game of hide and seek.
- The Last Second: You play Zeta Cervantez, a pulp-era super-scientist whose latest invention can freeze time. In a city beset by criminal mad men, she must use her few stolen seconds to alter the scene of the crime that’s about to happen, turning the bad guys against themselves and pulling the innocents out of harm’s way.
“Our company values are rooted in transparency, what we describe as being open, honest, inventive and fun,” said Dakan, co-founder and designer at Mob Rules. “That’s the inspiration behind launching by instantly building our community and giving them a voice.”
“We have visions for each of these games,” he said. “Part of our vision is to get some wisdom from our crowd of voters.”
