Village Gamer

In development over at Last Pick Productions, iBeg is a mobile game for the iOS and Android platforms that simulates the life of a homeless person living on the streets of Vancouver. Players step into the shoes of a homeless avatar and have to beg for money in order to survive. The game’s creators hope the game will raise awareness of the issue in our city, as well as around the world while providing an avenue for players to support organizations that help the homeless. The game has a projected release window of Spring 2013.

The KickStarter campaign ends in 34 hours (as of posting time) and has raised $ 8 172.00 of its $ 15 000.00 goal. Here is a breakdown of their budget:

• Audio Designer: $2,000 – We need audio equally as beautiful as our pixel art. None of our current team members are experienced in audio design so will need to contract this task out. This includes both sound effects and music.
• Additional Pixel Artist: $3,000 – We have completed approximately 20% of the artwork for the game.  If we are going to ship this game by spring 2013, we will need to hire a contract pixel artist to help us out.
• Licenses: $1500 – In order to offer iBeg on both the iOS and Android platforms, we need a Unity Android license for development.  We have been focusing on the iOS version of the game so far, but would like to get started on the Android version as soon as possible.
• Legal Fees: $500 – We want to make sure that we do everything correctly with the legalities of the project.  We have been lucky enough to have a lawyer who believes in the project helping us out, but paperwork still costs money.
• Rewards: $5,000 – The rewards we are giving away aren’t cheap! We are producing high quality products as rewards for this campaign, so a significant portion of our funds will go towards covering those expenses. We hope this helps you feel as though you are receiving fair payment from us for your donations.
• Kickstarter & Amazon Payments: $1,500
• Taxes: $1,500

Total Goal : $15,000

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DYId4mEaI4]

The game was conceived by Chris Worboys in January 2012.  He felt moved to create a game on the issue of homelessness, having witnessed many representatives of Vancouver’s homeless population during his daily commute.  Inspired to build a new experience for the mobile gamers of today, he developed an idea where players would be put in the shoes of someone down on their luck, so they could experience the struggles of life on the streets.  Chris approached two coworkers with the concept, and soon gained a programmer and an artist to bring the game to life.