Get your own private Spaceteam in new funding 'experiment'

The developer of Spaceteam is creating a funding club, of sorts, for fans sucked in by the game's exuberant blend of starship management and verbal gibberish. The iOS and Android hit hinges on loud cooperation, with players getting just a section of the ship's control panel on their screens and bellowing orders that would barely make sense on Star Trek. That bold spirit of cooperation is being sought for the "Spaceteam Admiral's Club," a Kickstarter that seeks to ensure a year's worth of free games.

Dubbed an "experiment" by Spaceteam designer Henry Smith, the Admiral's Club is asking for $80,000 CAD to create several free games – for everyone, not just backers. "I want to continue making interesting, accessible games but I don't want to charge money for them," Smith says. "I want them to be free, for everyone. By joining the club, you're making it possible for me to keep working on free games for a whole year."

Smith proposes two games to start with: a locally cooperative treasure-hunting game called Blabyrinth, and another spaceship game, Shipshape, in which players pilot ships crafted from modular components. Those will take up the first year, alongside a few upgrades to Spaceteam, like additional languages and adjustable difficulty.

There are several Kickstarter reward tiers, as usual, but these are strongly focused around Spaceteam merchandise, like embroidered patches, and customizations of the game itself. Smith is offering not only custom commands ("Incentivize core competency!"), but a fully personalized, private Spaceteam made from the graphics, words and sounds you send over. After you send $5,000 CAD over, that is.