Kickstarter game misses goal by $28

Kickstarter is all-or-nothing, and one developer felt the sting of that mandate this weekend. DreamQuest Games' crowd-funding campaign for Alpha Colony missed its $50,000 target by a mere $28 at the time of its conclusion yesterday. Thus, the project will not receive a penny, as Kickstarter's rules make clear that if a project does not reach its target within its stated timefame, it cannot claim any money.

Writing on the developer's Facebook page, the studio thanked fans, but lamented the shortcoming, noting that the team had already sunk tens of thousands into the project.

"Thank you all for your support, but I am afraid that we came up $28 short," reads a line from the statement. "Kickstarter is very strict about their terms and our project will not be funded. Obviously, we are very disappointed. We have invested 10 months and over $60,000 of our own money into this project. It is so frustrating to come so close, but clearly there simply isn't that much interest in building the kind of game I envisioned."

This is the second time Alpha Colony has failed to reach its Kickstarter funding goal. The first time came over the summer, when the company sought $500,000, but only attracted $101,472. The statement from DreamQuest Games teased the project may return to some day, but for now must "accept the reality of where we are at the moment and what the world wants."

Alpha Colony was to be a family-friendly exploration, building, and trading simulation game for PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone, and Android.