Australian Kickstarters kick off

Today, projects from Australian creators officially go live on Kickstarter. Check out some of the new projects from our amazing local creators.

Do you like Vikings? How about aliens? How about Vikings stopping an alien invasion? Australian illustrator Josh Vann and Italian comic artist Simone D'Armini are seeking funding for The Spider King, a tale set in the middle ages about the Viking Laxdale clan, which accidentally runs into an alien invasion and has to save the world. "More than just an excuse to swipe axes at aliens, The Spider King is a clash of genres," Vann wrote. "It takes all of the best aspects of medieval fantasy and science fiction and smashes them together to create an unexpected twist on two well worn stories." A minimum pledge of AU$15 will get you a digital download of the first graphic novel, and other rewards include badges, stickers, T-shirts and appearing in the comic as one of the characters. The estimated delivery date is June 2014.

This isn't just an object but an entire project you can make yourself. Each kit includes everything you need to make a concrete and silver ring shaped like a little house. There are two designs available, and you can add pigment to make the ring the colour of your choice. "The DIY Concrete House Ring is a statement piece, offering multiple narratives that are subject to each unique making and allow you to integrate your personal associations with the meaning of 'home'", creator Linda Bennett wrote. A minimum early bird pledge of AU$75 rewards you with the kit, with an estimated delivery date of April 2014.

Brisbane-based Defiant Development has created Hand of Fate, a combination between action-RPG and tabletop card gaming. Based on the roguelike style of gameplay, it involves using cards to "build" the game. The dealer creates a deck of monsters; you build a deck of moves. Both decks are then transformed into a dungeon, which you play through in an action RPG context. "Most roguelike games use randomness to increase game difficulty; Hand of Fate uses deck-building mechanics, so the player can completely customise and control their game experience, which is then randomly distributed as the dungeon level they delve into," the page says. A minimum pledge of just AU$15 gets you a digital download of the game, with other rewards including a physical deck of Hand of Fate cards and designing one of the in-game cards yourself. Estimated delivery is April 2014.

Ever seen a cool colour and thought, "Wow, I need to know what that colour is"? SwatchMate is a tool for artists, designers, home DIYers, photographers — anyone who's ever needed to capture a real-world colour. Consisting of an app and something called "the Cube", it allows you to hold the Cube to any surface to record its colour to your smartphone app, with partnerships in the works in Australia and New Zealand to match it to official paint colours. "We were tired of not being able to interact with beautiful colours from the world around us," the SwatchMate team wrote. "So we set out to design a simple and accurate way to capture moments of colour inspiration." A minimum early bird pledge of AU$75 nabs you the SwatchMate, with estimated delivery in June 2014.

Remember crowdfunded Aussie horror film The Tunnel? Its creator, Distracted Media, has returned to crowdfunding — with a stunning-looking three-part sci-fi series. "When a derelict ship docks with an isolated space station, Security Officer Jonah Wright is tasked with the investigation. He finds the crew murdered, and the ship's cargo, a destitute group of Sector Nine asylum seekers, hiding a deadly secret that threatens humanity itself," the team wrote. Like The Tunnel, Airlock will be available to watch, DRM free, for free; the team is going the same route as it did for The Tunnel, selling frames of the film to fund its production. Each dollar you spend gets you a frame, with a minimum spend of AU$5 and a maximum of 25 frames, but higher reward tiers get you DVDs with backer-exclusive behind-the-scenes footage, a digital comic, attendance at the premiere and even a role in the show. It's estimated to arrive in September next year.

Australia is home to some of the deadliest creatures on the planet. Why this has never been the basis of a video game before is kind of amazing, but Sydney-based indie studio Hermit Mode is on it. Huntsmen (which is a really cool name) is a first-person shooter role-playing game (FPSRPG) set in the post-apocalyptic Australian landscape, where all that deadly wildlife is constantly mutating and evolving. "Set in a post-apocalyptic vision of the remnants of a coastal Australian-inspired city, it will include densely packed urban areas scattered around a mixture of bushland, desert, beach and underwater landscapes," the team wrote. "The human population has decreased to a crisis point with the collapse of civil society, pitching the remainder of humanity in a constant battle for resources against the elements and each other. With this decline in human activity, previously assumed extinct animals have once again flourished and now roam the landscape at will." A minimum pledge of AU$25 gets you a digital copy of the game, with an estimated delivery date of January 2015.

Want to back more local creators? Visit the Australian projects Kickstarter portal here.