Now that we’re all collectively celebrating the launch of Kickstarter support for projects seeking funding in Canadian dollars, let’s take a look at six projects that have taken advantage of this new aspect of Kickstarter’s service. (As always, caveat emptor!)
Nix Color Sensor [Toronto]
The Nix color sensor is a simple little device available for “pretail” for $69 CAD if backers act fast. There are only 3 units available at that pledge level before the price jumps to $99 CAD. The Nix promises to be a personal color picker that pairs to any iOS phone and allows the user to simply put the device over any surface in order to get the color. The idea came from a noble cause, too… helping burn victims and people with skin disorders get a perfect match of their natural skin pigment.
Le Gouffre – Animated Short Film [Montreal]
Le Gouffre is an animated short film crowdfunding on Kickstarter that promises an “inspiring tale about friendship, sacrifice and conquering the impossible.” The approximately 8-minute-long film is the brainchild of three animators who just recently graduated from school together. I have to be honest that I was pretty amazed at the pitch video, which appears to contain some footage from the film. It’s not quite Pixar quality, but there is something about the feel of the animation in this example that I really love.
River City Ransom: Underground [Ottawa]
River City Ransom: Underground is a throwback video game done in traditional 8 bit graphics, and the gameplay examples are taking me back to a simpler, NES-dominated time. This is to be a fully-licensed follow up to the original River City Ransom, which was a fighting game for the original Super Nintendo. The team has turned to Kickstarter in order to gain funding for mission-critical steps like internationalizing the gameplay and simply executing what the team calls a “very large vision” they have for the game.
The COLT: Engineering A Better Hockey Stick [Toronto]
I mean, come on… we had to have at least one hockey-related project for Canada’s launch day, right? The COLT is a canadian, hand-crafted hockey stick coated in a high-tech nanomaterial called PowerMetal. The sticks also feature a composite layer below the PowerMetal layer. PowerMetal is a proprietary nanomaterial that offers big-time strength thanks in part to a tighter molecular structure in the metal itself. In short, these promise to be some seriously light and seriously tough hockey sticks, and the project creators promise these sticks will outlast traditional sticks on the market today. The sticks are available for preorder to early backers starting from $150 CAD.
sandblox – reimagining sand play [Toronto]
sandblox are the creation of Colin Drylie, who came up with the idea to create these sand sculpting toys after becoming an uncle. sandblox are sand brick creating and extruding toys that basically allow kids of all ages to create sand bricks for creating sandcastles. There are various geometric shapes available, and using these shapes in varying quantities actually seems to yield some pretty awesome results. They’re specifically meant to “unleash creativity rather than mask it.” Drylie has tested the product with local kids and is ready to take things to the next level with Kickstarter’s help. Sets can be reserved for as little as $41 CAD. Delivery is estimated by the end of this year.
Road/Kill Ultimate Car Combat – Tabletop Strategy Game [Ottawa]
Tabletop games are a huge part of the world of Kickstarter, so we’re excited to see a tabletop game on Canada’s launch day. Road/Kill Ultimate Car Combat is a “tabletop miniatures strategy game where horsepower meets firepower.” The game can be played in under an hour, but don’t think the campaign is all about the game. As with many of these games, this is just as much about the collectible miniature game pieces that can be claimed as rewards. Backers can claim the game starting at the $70 CAD pledge level, but they can claim more cars by increasing their pledge.
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