It’s always nice to see a promising game concept reach its crowdfunding goal. The sequel to the first-person sci-fi game Consortium, called The Tower, reached it’s funding goal on the crowdfunding site Fig. The Tower has made $305,389 at the time of writing this, with $225,000 from investors and $80,000 from regular donations. Fig is the same platform used by Tim Schafer for Psychonauts 2, where people can choose to donate or invest money in the game.
With the first goal of $300,000 reached, the game’s campaign page has revealed its first stretch goal. At $350,000 the developers will add “major upgrade to your PCU in The Tower that allows you to break down items you recycle into three types of material (Elements, Compounds, and Exotics) and then combine these materials with your equipment to apply various upgrades.” As someone who hasn’t played the first game, I don’t know what any of that means.
The Tower is being developed by Interdimensional Games Inc, a studio founded by BioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuk. The original Consortium is a narrative focused first-person sci-fi game. The game takes place on a spacecraft called the “Zenlil” and the player is open to interact with the crew however they want, shaping their own unique narrative as they play.
While it is supposed to be a sequel, The Tower can be played as a stand-alone game. The Tower is the second part of The Consortium Trilogy, where each game is a stand alone title but hints at a bigger story in the game’s universe. The Tower is being made using Unreal Engine 4, with all the assets from the first game getting an upgrade. The Tower is set in…well a tower, and has the same focus on creating your own narrative as the first game. As the game’s Fig page explains “imagine the original Duex Ex videogame, combined with the film Die Hard.” Although Consortium got only average review scores, it has gotten mostly positive feedback on Steam.
All the best luck to The Tower, and for those that are interested, the first Consortium is on sale on Steam.