Making waves on Kickstarter

September edition! Michigan Level Up | IGDA2

Author

Corbin Reeves
September 19, 2025

Hello friends and fellow devs! We’re back with all the latest from all Michigan’s brightest creators. Looks like this month is shaping up to be something quite interesting! With special events at Stardock, Parhelion smashing milestones on Kickstarter, multiple game launches, and Nochi storming the Kickstarter scene again, let’s dive deep into this month in Michigan!

👾State of the Michigan Games Industry

While this month is shaping up to be something worth remembering, we have some awesome stuff that happened shortly after our last edition here in Michigan. We had David Carr, former Reddit Art Director, give a wonderful deep dive into art direction. Not only did the talk get tons of developers talking about their art direction, but it also got many questioning if they are maximizing their impact on players. The fun thing about being indie is that we need to fight for player attention. David turned out to be a wonderful resource on how to help your game stand out.

Fundraising is always a challenge. Some bootstrap, some find publishers, others seek Angel/VC investments, and some tackle Kickstarter; all these avenues can be opportunities for studios looking to fund their games. Parhelion, however, is running the gauntlet! After releasing multiple successful titles financed by various avenues, they have also now gone and launched a Kickstarter for Echoes of Astra, a TCG game they have developed here in Ann Arbor. This Kickstarter was funded in 20 minutes and is now over 500% funded with 19 days left to go.

They are not the only ones, however! Nochi Studios has long since shown that an incredible community is all it takes (and a ton of hard work) to launch game after game! With the launch of Lovebyte.exe, it’s already close to its funding goal!

We are so excited to see these two Michigan game teams take Kickstarter by storm.

🚀 Kickstarter & Fundraising Spotlight

lovebyte.exe by Nochi Studios (Become a Backer Today!)

A chat dating sim game inspired by Mystic Messenger, VTuber communities, and internet spam. Experience internet fandom cultures and parasocialism and discover who's real and who's not real in chat, eventually unveiling & romancing characters' irl-selves and unlocking media content in this PC game.

  • Support the project here!

  • Wishlist early on Steam!

  • Check out some bigger indie VTubers having a great time with it so far!

Echoes of Astra TCG by Parhelion Studio (Become a Backer Today!)

Echoes of Astra is a new trading card game that combines tactical elements with world-class illustrations from top anime illustrators around the globe. Developed locally by Parhelion Studio in Ann Arbor!

Pick It Up! by Evan Marcus (Vote 9/22!)

Pick It Up! is a cartoony multiplayer game about little robots competing to pick up the most trash to prove their worth to their vindictive human owners. You'll grab as much trash as you can carry and throw it in the bin before the other player throws it at you, nabbing power-ups along the way to get the leg up on your opponent. Whoever finishes the round with the most trash banked in their bin wins!

  • Check the Demo out here!

  • The Blue Ocean Games Rising Tide Challenge voting opens on September 22nd! Sign up here to be notified when public voting starts.

🎮 Game Launches (Michigan Devs)

Bearly Baking – Water Bears Interactive Arts

Bearly Baking is a cooking and relationship-building game where you play as a bear running an inn to feed animals for hibernation. You cook bread and muffins in small mini-games, and based on the quality, you build better relationships with your patrons and learn more about their stories.

Locally Sourced Anthology II: The Timeline

A collection of 5 experimental games from different indie devs that takes you on a journey through time!

All recently launched and ready to play. Congrats to these teams!
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🧪 Demos & Wishlists!

Check out these playable demos, send feedback if you have a chance!
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📅 Upcoming Events

  • IGDA Ann Arbor & Stardock - Special Stardock Game Development Meet-up! A panel talk hosted by IGDA Ann Arbor's Jerry, featuring a range of speakers from Stardock, with questions focused on their experiences in the industry, their work on various projects throughout their careers, and how they ended up at Stardock.

⚡ Stay Connected & Get Involved

A special thanks to every local team who’s building, demoing, and launching! Your hard work makes this community shine, and makes putting together supports like this worth it!

— Corbin John Reeves, IGDA Ann Arbor Co-organizer 🕹️

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