Indie game developer Curiomatic has been gradually unveiling their new Sonic the Hedgehog spiritual successor, Rollin’ Rascal, since their Kickstarter campaign began in February 2024. Due to being an indie developer group, progress has been slow, but Curiomatic’s support from its fanbase is evident through the massive success of its crowdfunding endeavors.
The initial funding goal set by Curiomatic to have the game made was $50,000; however, fan excitement was already through the roof after footage of the rough, mid-development gameplay was revealed to the public. Their base crowdfunding goal was reached within approximately 12 hours, and as the campaign continued running forward into funding stretch goals, they managed to ultimately end their Kickstarter with $239,950 by March 2024. The campaign managed to hit 15 of their 21+ planned stretch goals. Some goals met include A second playable character named Q.T., hard mode, a slew of alternate character outfits for extra customization, a Nintendo Switch, PS5, and Xbox port, as well as more animations for cutscenes.
Though the Kickstarter campaign for Rollin’ Rascal has ended, new stretch goals are still being reached. As detailed in their Rollin’ Rascal Rundown video presentation from late August, Fans can become a playtester, voice actor, and character designer for the game, allowing them to have a direct impact on the development process by continuing to back the project on Pledgebox. Becoming playtester is not a prerequisite to trying the game out for yourself, however, as the free demo is available on Steam and has recently received brand new updates as of this past August. Though it is just a free demo, Curiomatic has gone all out in making sure they give their backers and fans a massive helping of their heavily anticipated game, as the demo includes 6 expansive levels to explore and race through, either online or offline. The levels featured in this demo include Buccaneer’s Beach, Wild Waste, Ship N’ Slide, Donut Derby, Cloudtop Circuit, and Slide Show Shuffle.
At the end of their Rollin’ Rascal Rundown video presentation in late August, bite-sized portions of the story are planned to be released in a chapter format to allow players to get their hands on the game sooner rather than later. For those who pre-ordered the digital game from the Kickstarter campaign, each story chapter will be rolled out upon its completion; however, there is an option for those who did not purchase the full game to purchase the chapters individually. The first chapter of many, Corsair Coast, will be released in early 2026.