After his first big break into the online gaming world with “Coma” and “Skinny,” Thomas Brush, a Greenville video game developer, has hit it big with a Kickstarter page to finish his new 2-D adventure game, “Pinstripe.”
Within a day of going up, the crowdfunding page exceeded Brush’s original goal of $28,000 for final funding of the game. Brush said he was hesitant to begin a Kickstarter because of the negative stigmas associated with it, but “it was either start a Kickstarter page or let it fizzle out.”
Now, two months after its creation, the Kickstarter page has tripled and has over $95,000 pledged by over 3,000 backers who will receive rewards for their contributions. Funding for specific amounts raised is broken up into different tiers such as a bonus level for reaching $38,000 and a mobile version of the game for reaching $75,000, among others.
“I always feared if I wanted to do something great I would have to move to Seattle or San Francisco, but what I’ve learned is, nowadays you can do anything remotely and people really love the idea of a small-town kid making something from his heart,” Brush said.
It all started when Brush was watching cartoons as a child. He would try to figure out how to recreate animations from his favorite show and prove to his older brothers that he could do it. He soon began illustrating and working with animation programming as a sixth-grader.
“I had always wanted to do film and direct movies, write scripts, whether that was through film, animation or games,” he said.
Brush continued to make small games and animations that won small awards. As a high school senior, he created “Coma,” and saw great success. Within the first month, the game went viral and got 10 million plays, he said.
Brush continued his journey at Clemson to pursue a graphic communications degree. During those years, he spent most of his time in his room making games, while also attending school full-time and having a full-time job, he said.
That’s when he began working on “Pinstripe,” the game that would eventually allow him to start working full-time from home. Brush’s third adventure game is about an ex-minister who goes to Hell in search of his daughter. However, the primary focus of the game is the emotion, he said. “It’s a blank canvas for players to express themselves … a very deep emotional story in a playful adventure game.”
He said his influences for the storytelling element of “Pinstripe” came from movie director David Lynch’s abstract and emotional style. For illustration detail, he pulled from Tim Burton’s unique visual style. Musically, Brush said he drew a lot of inspiration from classical music such as Chopin and Claude Debussy, and the “Legend of Zelda” games melodies.
Brush believes there were many factors involved in the success of the “Pinstripe” Kickstarter project. After the game was featured on Game Grumps, a YouTube channel edited by Brush’s former coworker, the Kickstarter gained momentum, Brush said. “The channel was the fuel.”
“Pinstripe” has received award nominations at IndieCade’s E3 Showcase and SXSW 2016, among others, according to the Kickstarter page. The game for PC and Mac platforms is expected to release late this summer, and months after for iOS and Android.
