See a more recent list of 31 million-dollar Kickstarters here.
1. Pebble E-Paper Watch
Total Raised: $10,226,845
Category: Product Design
My Take: Stands firm as the de-facto darling of crowdfunding. Still hasn’t shipped to those that preordered, but it is getting really close.
2. OUYA Android-powered Gaming Console
Total Raised: $8,596,474
Category: Video Games
My Take: Dev consoles have shipped and prospects are good. Ouya has a first rate management team. For anyone that values openness in their tech, this one makes you feel warm and fuzzy. Take your walled garden and stuff it.
3. Project Eternity
Total Raised: $3,986,929
Category: Video Games
My Take: Video games are prominent in this list. If you want to know how to keep your contributors in the loop after your raise, the Project Eternity team could write the guide. Check out their updates page.
4. Reaper Miniatures Bones
Total Raised: $3,429,235
Category: Games
My Take: The high tech stuff gets all the press, but it is kind of refreshing to see an analog game this high on the list. Makes me wonder what Kickstarter would have done for pogs.
5. Double Fine Adventure
Total Raised: $3,336,371
Category: Video Games
My Take: A DRM-free copy of this game for a $15 pledge and they still raised over $3 million. Enough said.
6. FORM 1 3D Printer
Total Raised: $2,945,885
Category: Technology
My Take: 3D printing is hot right now, so it is no surprise that this campaign had success. The design of the printer itself is very clean and sexy. Their pitch video was excellent, too. An MIT pedigree probably didn’t hurt.
7. Wasteland 2
Total Raised: $2,933,252
Category: Video Games
My Take: I’m not a gamer, but apparently Wasteland creator Brian Fargo put out v1 of this game in the late 80’s. Now crowdfunding has helped resurrect the title over two decades later.
8. Homestruck Adventure Game
Total Raised: $2,485,506
Category: Video Games
My Take: A video game based on a mockery of video games. Our species is so fantastic sometimes.
9. Oculus Rift
Total Raised: $2,437,429
Category: Technology
My Take: A virtual reality headset for video games? What isn’t cool about that? Games just keep getting more realistic, and this seems to be the obvious next step in that process.
10. Planetary Annihilation
Total Raised : $2,229,344
Category: Video Games
My Take: Now, I said I wasn’t much of a gamer… but I do love my real-time sims. I was a big Starcraft geek back in the day. This might be one I have to pick up one day if and when it wouldn’t likely cost me my business. It is impressive from a visual standpoint, too.
11. Star Citizen
Total Raised: $2,134,374
Category: Video Games
My Take: Visually stunning game. Star Citizen made a lot of waves this year in the media, and it seems to have paid off with their monster raise.
12. Shadowrun Returns
Total Raised: $1,836,447
Category: Video Games
My Take: A turn-based RPG. Think Lord of the Rings meets Bladerunner. The ability to play on tablets is a cool feature, and one that you’ll probably see more of in the future as iPads continue to take over the world.
13. Elevation Dock
Total Raised : $1,464,706
Category: Product Design
My Take: Sporting a nice Apple-esque design, this was the biggest raise ever for an iPhone accessory on Kickstarter. Unfortunately it was rendered moot for future versions of the iPhone thanks to the new lightning connector.
14. LIFX
Total Raised: $1,314,542
Category: Technology
My Take: An LED lightbulb you can control from your phone. You can even change the color on the fly. One case where the future is rapidly becoming the present. LED lightbulbs are a no-brainer.
15. The Order of the Stick Reprint Drive
Total Raised: $1,254,120
Category: Comics
My Take: This campaign had 64 pledge options for contributions of up to $5,000. 64 PLEDGE OPTIONS. All 64 received at least one backer. That. Is. Insane. This campaign broke the crowdfunding rules and won anyway.
16. SmartThings
Total Raised: $1,209,423
Category: Technology
My Take: WiFi-enabled home devices are becoming more prevalent, so no wonder a universal device for just such a thing made the list. There are probably more products like this coming.
17. Amanda Palmer’s Record, Art Book & Tour
Total Raised: $1,192,793
Category: Music
My Take: Another project that got a lot of press. Amanda is well known as member of the Dresden Dolls, so her fans were eager to back her Kickstarter campaign. Unfortunately this campaign is also famous for some delivery snafus.
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