Iron Circus teams up with Indiepocalypse to crowdfund video games

Comic book writer and entrepreneur C. Spike Trotman doesn't like to take things the easy way. She founded her company, Iron Circus Comics, through crowdfunding, when at the time crowdfunding was considered the equivalent of raising money through a begging bowl. After more than 40 successful projects, she runs one of the largest independent comic book publishers remaining. A few years ago, she branched out into animation with a project called Lackadaisy, which is now a big hit. So it's no surprise that Iron Circus has announced that they're partnering with game creators Indiepocalypse to launch a series of video games that bring together comic book writers and developers under a new banner called Iron Circus Games.

“Making video games has been an ambition I've had for years, even though I never really knew how to go about it,” Trotman says. “I'm used to doing things myself, so I've tried to teach myself to code and put in countless hours of time that I really don't have, but my ambition always outstripped my abilities.” She says that when Indiepocalypse founder Andrew Bale (aka Pizzapranks) reached out to her about a possible partnership, she jumped at the chance.

“Starting in 2020, I've been releasing a monthly anthology of alternative indie games called Indiepocalypse,” says Bailey. “Each month, Indiepocalypse features games from 10 developers, nine of which are public submissions and one new commission. There's also a companion zine that's primarily intended as a 'demo' for the anthology, with pages for each game, postmortems, and covers by artists who work outside of games. I started Indiepocalypse with the goal of supporting and showcasing developers making games in the independent, self-published, no-budget space, and I can't think of a better partner for this project than Iron Circus. “

The project, which launches today on BackerKit, is looking to raise at least $10,000 to develop a short, casual desktop video game in collaboration with Iron Circus comics creators.

“These kinds of games feature a unique level of creativity that's hard to capture in big corporate-style projects,” Trottman says, “and it's the same with the comics we work on. In both camps, the most interesting stuff is being created in the indie world.”

According to the announcement, the following titles will be part of the BackerKit campaign and will be available to project backers at the $30 level. All of them are collaborations between manga artists and game developers.

· Clown Angel DragonBy Emily Koonce and Paloma Dawkins

· History of Interactive Communication and Interactive Softwarea curated retrospective collection by PIZZAPRANKS and John-Charles Holmes, features a series of short games that tell the fictional history of Coumpuvations and Interactive Software, famous game companies that never actually existed but are beloved by devoted fans to this day.

· Spellbound: Magical MysteryA magical organization and puzzle game with hidden mysteries by Robin and Eleflav

· narrator, A young apprentice must save his cursed storytelling teacher in this story-driven, exploration-based 3D adventure from Jess M and Ferbs that blurs the line between picture book and video game.

· Teething begins, Kel MacDonald and Ren's tale of young werewolf parenthood. If they don't make their house puppy-proof before the next full moon, they'll be in big trouble!

· Voluntary Initiativesby Evan Dahm and exodrifter: You've been forced into a strange facility against your will and under questionable circumstances. While evading the guards' surveillance, meet and befriend other interesting characters and escape the facility for good!

Iron Circus says additional rewards will be available at various levels of the campaign.

“There are lots of different ways to approach these collaborations,” Trotman explains, but behind the effort is Iron Circus' long track record of successfully crowdfunding projects, including some big-ticket, ambitious endeavors like: Laziness. “We set deadlines and fire anyone who can't meet them. I won't slow down my work for someone who can't meet a deadline.”

When asked if generative AI will play any role in game development, Trotman said, “Absolutely not.”

For fans of offbeat video games, comics, and general low-key creative writing, Iron Circus' approach and success are encouraging. “I've had so many conversations with people outside of the publishing industry who want to do something different, but it always ends up being just lip service,” Trotman says.

“The success of Iron Circus Animation, starring Tracy Butler and director Fable Siegel, Laziness Animation was made possible thanks in large part to our shared obsession with doing things our own way, and it's the same ethos as our Indiepocalypse projects. These aren't corporate games. We're not chasing a four-quadrant audience. We're making weird, beautiful games that we want to play ourselves, and inviting the Iron Circus family along on the journey.”