Once a month we'll be bringing you a look at some of the best local Kickstarter campaigns in order to let you know what's getting ready to be unleashed through the help of small investors.
I'm an infomercial junkie, which is why I lock my wallet in the car at night. I don't need another slap chop. What I do need is a god damn Snable! Seriously, watch that video and punch the next scientist you see for not thinking of this sooner. The tiny little hub of gates and spools is a necessity in an era where your average family has multiple phones and tablets, and is especially attractive to someone like me who owns multiple gaming consoles but can only have two of them connected to the TV at a time. Just hang the Snable on the wall and say goodbye to digging around behind the flatscreen looking for the PS2 cables.
The basic $12 buy in nets you three Snables, which is honestly as much as any regular man needs. Oh, and the Snable can also stick on the back of an iPhone to prop it up for viewing. I think we can all agree that this is more necessary than you would think.
Goal: $16,850 by March 25
This is the second attempt by Kraken Games to get Evil Geniuses off the ground, and it looks likes it might actually happen this time. The board game lets you choose your own supervillain, and attempt to outdo other supervillains in taking over the world. Along the way you'll also have to deal with secret agents that pursue you, bribe government officials, kidnap scientists. Basically the classic Cobra Commander/Kim Jong-il stuff that all-powerful megalomaniacs get to do that you don't.
Getting your money's worth costs you $45, which isn't bad for a game of this depth and caliber. Especially when it includes free shipping within the US. Like most game Kickstarters you can get some incredible perks if you buy in higher. The $120 level gets you a sweet 10-inch figurine of the villain Natasha Petrova that is beautifully done, and above that you get to be in the game on cards.
Goal: $25,000 by March 13.
Hannah Joseph-Alvarado is looking to explore the way we experience critical, catastrophic illness through an installation piece at the Houston Arts Alliance. Interior and exterior films and photographs with reveal the layers of pain and faith that make up a person stricken with grievous disease. It looks to be a pretty powerful piece that will touch the hearts of anyone that has brushed up against death in a hospital room.
She's finished much of the project, but needs a little extra to complete it. The perks are quite nice. Even a $5 buy in will get you an autographed poem on linen paper, and a blu-ray DVD of the whole installation is only $30. Below that are various prints of the photographs used in the work. If you really want to get involved $1,300 will net you a kit to install the work wherever you want!
Goal: $2,000 by March 6.
