The rule about working in the gaming press is that you’re supposed to maintain a façade of impartiality about games — though that standard has faded recently as people realize that the folks covering games all just people, too, and we carry the same biases and preferences as any other human. Still, even in this new age of relaxed subjectivity, the rise of Kickstarter raises all kinds of tricky questions. At what point does coverage of an appealing Kickstarter project become advocacy? If we contribute to a Kickstarter to fund a game, have we abandoned our claim to objectivity? The fact that most Kickstarters are attached to individuals — many of whom are acquainted with the folks covering their projects — makes it all even muddier. Where do we begin to draw the line?
I can’t even begin to unravel the answers to these questions myself. However, after watching a number of interesting Kickstarters come and go over the past few months (some successfully, some not), I’d rather not just sit on my hands and watch as an impartial observer. Camouflaj’s freshman venture, Republique, looks intriguing and fun. With less than 24 hours left before the project’s deadline, it’s inching ever closer to the $500,000 goal that initially seemed so unreachable. I want the game to succeed, so I’ve contributed to its Kickstarter. Does that invalidate my writing about the game? Maybe, but my desire to play what Camouflaj is putting together outweighs my determination to play a passive, detached role.
