Homestuck is a webcomic that takes full advantage of tools the internet can offer. Or perhaps it is a piece of internet that takes full advantage of what comics have to offer.
Either way, it's an epic project that's got more than a few fans. Homestuck has been running since 2009, and over the past three years has evolved into a robust parody of a certain kind of game, using music, animation, and reader suggestions to enhance its story. As its creator, Andrew Hussie, explains:
Creating it was a lot like being the Dungeon Master of an RPG involving thousands of people, dealing with a similar balance of planning and improvisation. Readers have had a lot of influence on the way the story unfolded, in more ways than just submitting commands. The story is really a kind of dialogue between the readers and author. There is always a sense that the story is aware of the individual reader, and the readership overall. Much the way an adventure game tends to be cognizant of the player.
Somehow, the evolution of a comic making fun of adventure games into an actual playable adventure game seems exactly correct. And just as the original story of Homestuck used crowdsourcing for ideas, so too the game of Homestuck is using crowdsourcing for money. The Kickstarter campaign is off to a rollicking start: its end goal is $700,000 and fans have pledged over $275,000 in just the first day of the drive.
Less than twenty-four hours after launching the campaign, and over one-third funded? It looks like Homestuck fans are even more eager than ever to be involved.
Homestuck Adventure Game [Kickstarter]