Steam's New Minecraft PC Rival Needs Your $1 Support

An upcoming Steam game, which can be seen as somewhat of a rival to Minecraft, adopts a very bold strategy to raise funds in its Kickstarter campaign.

For the most part, Kickstarter campaigns are used for new upstart companies to help, well, kickstart a new indie project. Whether it’s a video game, movie, board game, everyday life accessories and more.

Kickstarter backers can often get a product they’ve financially backed early, as well as exclusive stretch goals that are not available at retail. It’s pretty much a win-win scenario.

However, Kickstarter campaigns are not without risk, because while most projects come to fruition, some projects might not see the light of day for a variety of reasons, such as running out of funds or, on a rare occasion, dishonest projects.

New Minecraft Steam Rival Has a $1 Goal!

Bonobo Software is the indie team behind a Minecraft-inspired, crafting RPG called Taival, and the ambitious Kickstarter campaign in question.

“Play together on the couch or online - or both at once. Taival is a cosy co-op adventure where you and up to three friends explore a handcrafted world alongside your shapeshifting companion. Discover new forms, progress through narrative quests, and make the journey your own.”

Despite being Minecraft-inspired with its world-building and visuals, the graphics look oddly realistic, in its strange way. Kind of like those ultra-realistic mods and updates that we’ve seen over the years for Minecraft. Judging by the Taival gameplay trailer, it looks like it could be a lot of fun.

By the looks of its Steam page, Taival will launch on the PC digital store at some point. However, with this being an indie game, the Kickstarter campaign has not only been created to ensure the game happens, but the funds will be used to make the game even better than the developers hoped.

So, to get a lot of attention (and clearly it’s worked), its targeted fundraising goal is $1/£1. I’ve always had the impression that a lot of Kickstarter campaigns set a low goal, so the creators of the campaign can then promote how much the financial goal has been exceeded.

“Over 3,000 of you joined our playtest. We now have over 10,000 wishlists. In just 10 days, mind-blowing. We just did something our publisher told us not to do and launched a €1 Kickstarter goal - yeah, we went crazy!” reads an update on the Steam page. “The journey is real. Taival is real, and we want to build the game with you, our Steam community.”

“Every Steam community member, every playtester, every wishlister means something to this journey we call Taival - so if you believe in Taival, we encourage you to back us! To prove to platforms, press, and partners that Taival is real and this game is worth it.”

What Kickstarter Rewards Does the Taival Campaign Have?

You can donate $1/£1 purely for support. $20/£20 will get you a digital copy of the game, as well as being in the credits and an “exclusive” Discord role. The highest reward is $900/£900, and it will get you into the game, as well as other perks. There are also other rewards to check out.

If all goes well, the developers intend to release Taival on Steam early access sometime this year, with its full launch in “2027 or later”. There are also plans to eventually launch the game on PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo.

To keep up to date with the progress of Taival, you can wishlist it on Steam or follow its Kickstarter campaign (no need to back if you don’t want to, following is free).

READ MORE: Free RPG Deemed ‘Cosy Minecraft’, Available To Play On Steam