Dark Lands launches Kickstarter project to support growth, Windows Phone version to be free (Updated)

By George Ponder
published

Dark Lands is a popular fantasy game for Windows Phone.  It combines elements of an endless runner game with a dash of a role-playing combat game.  As the game approaches the 800K download mark, the developers are looking to expand.

To help fund the cost of development the developer is set to start a Kickstarter campaign on January 28th.  Additionally, while we have seen special free offers for Dark Lands in the past, the developer is planning to permanently set the game price at free.

The game expansion will include campaign and multi-player modes.  You will also have a survival mode, which is basically how the game plays now.  While keeping Windows Phone as the mother platform, the developers also want to port the game to iOS, Android, Windows 8, Steam and Wii U platforms.

Dark Lands

Kickstarter contributions begin at $3 Canadian and will earn you a thank you email from the developer and max out at $5,000 Canadian that will earn you a trip to Prague to visit the developers, signed artwork from the game, a t-shirt, your face silhouette on enemies in the game, and more.

Again, the Kickstarter campaign will not launch until January 28th but you can read all the fine print and register for notifications now at the Dark Lands’ Kickstarter Page (opens in new tab) (no longer active, see update).  Look for the pricing change to take effect on the 28th as well.

If you cannot wait until January 28th to give Dark Lands a try, there is currently a free trial version available.  Dark Lands is currently running $.99 and is available for Windows Phone 8 and 7.x devices.  You can find Dark Lands here (opens in new tab) in the Windows Phone Store.

Update: The Kickstarter campaign launched earlier this morning and the official Dark Lands Kickstarter page can be found here (opens in new tab).  Additionally, the pricing change also took effect earlier today making the Windows Phone game free.

QR: Dark Lands

George Ponder
George Ponder

George is the Reviews Editor at Windows Central, concentrating on Windows 10 PC and Mobile apps. He's been a supporter of the platform since the days of Windows CE and uses his current Windows 10 Mobile phone daily to keep up with life and enjoy a game during down time.

67 Comments
  • Love this game, would support the devs if they need more support. Hope they make more good games as well Posted with WPCentral for Android on Asus Transformer Pad
  • They made €800.000 on windows phone wtf!!!!!
  • I guess microsoft got a share of that 800k, plus taxes :P
  • Lol
  • Microsoft has 20 % after taxes
  • We wish!!! We would not do Kickstarter if this is true haha. Most of those downloads are free.
  • Uninstalled this game due to asphalt 8 :( now there is no interest to play again :( lost everything that i unlocked in game.
  • I really hope with WP8.1 that we get some kind of cloud storage or better backup solution. With games being as big as some are (like GTA: SA), needing more space is crucial but deleting a game will also wipe your save file.
  • Better local backup solution should be the priority, instead of having to rely on devs to implement their own cloud storage.
  • Agree 100% I'm debating on purchasing GTA San Andreas for this very same reason. Xbox Live and cloud support are needed for every well made game in the store.
  • xbox live support is useles, stop complaining
  • We allready do. Some games have save game state using (fake)facebook account. Like Troll Wars for example.
  • Agreed, upgrading from 7.5 to 8 I lost all saves on games that appear on both. Ridiculous limitation considering how sandboxed apps are.
  • We are sorry for that, we are working with cloud saving now and write us mail, we will help you when update with cloud is ready to boost game, so you don't feel you lost progress. darklands@mingle-games.com . It was just initial release, we had no idea game will be this popular :-). Now we working on everything to be perfect, thus Kickstarter campaign as well.
  • Great game.please deliver more games of this caliber and u could be a top developer like rovio or miniclip.
  • Thanks for replying for my comment :) and by the way, i am waiting for GDR3+black update that is why i uninstalled all games. I am planning to install this game again :) because it is the only best runner game with combat unlike any other games.
  • Now that is support, i love your and look forward to the cloud support. Id love if more games had cloud saves. Can you shed some light on the process and how much time to implement? Is MS giving access to Azure.
  • We are now super busy with Kickstarter campaign, so can't say for sure. We already tested cloud saving and work perfect, but we are preparing bigger update with it, so we will deliver all together. Hopefully first release with udpate will be in beggining of March, but don't take it as granted please :-) We still don't know how much exhausting Kickstarter campaign will be, we are doing it first time.
  • Please tell me you'll add Xbox Live support for your game. I've already purchased it however I will definately contribute to your Kickstarter if you make it happen.
  • We would LOVE to support Xbox Live, but it is very hard to get certification. Check companies that support it are usually huge companies as Rovia, Disney etc. Microsoft promissed to change this more Indie friendly and as soon as possible we will support it!
  • Thank you very much for that last sentence. Gives a little glimpse of hope for XBL on WP.
  • Thanks for the hope :-)
  • Did MS really promise that? Wow! Can't wait for it to happen. My Ativ S demands some XBL love!
  • Add Xbox Live to this and all your games on Windows Phone and I will support/purchase them all (: I know it is not your (or any developer's) fault, but maybe you all, huge companies and indies aswell should push Microsoft and help us, the Xbox users, to let them know we LOVE Xbox on our phones and they should do something about the certification process asap! Thanks for answering and giving us hope!!
  • Too bad i don't have credit card,that is why i cant buy and support this game.
  • It's been offered for free like 3 times already!!!!
  • Why don't make Dark Lands a free movement game.. get really bored with endless running games..
  • NO!
  • Yeah, I don't see the appeal of endless runners. I've tried a lot, including this one, and just they don't interest me for very long. Too much 'twitch' gameplay instead of solving puzzles or using strategy
  • 'Others' is killing me .
  • What is kickstar campaign
  • https://www.kickstarter.com/help/faq/kickstarter%20basics
  • Its currently free in india
  • I love how this game is also on WP 7.8. Great devs. /hugs
  • No space after installing asp8
  • I really love this game!! im waiting the BIG update!! hope u reach the maximun goal!! :D
  • Thank you! It is warming to hear comments like this! More goals we reach, better game we will make.
  • Live this game but the none stop space shuffling is getting old on this L925 we just need more than 16gb
  • Why Wii U?
  • Why not? Also PS VITA, Steam, Windows 8, iOS, android, OS X... whatever is interesting :-). But main thing is huge content update.
  • its great to hear that you guys are doing so well. i have enjoyed your game and would definitely try it out on say my Win 8.1 tablet. I also wanted to suggest supporting the Xbox One as well if possible. I know they have thier indie program up and running, so maybe you guys can join that. it would be great to see what you guys could do with that platform. Things like Smartglass or even Kinect might offer some unique oppurtunities. Maybe you could add that as a stretch goal on your kickstarter.
  • why can't I find the game in the windows store? Is it because it isn't available in portugal?
  • Should be available in portugal, but you have to have 512+ MB device.
  • thanks for the hard work
  • I had no interest in this game but seeing the support the developer is giving to the game and replying to comments personally, I'm now going to download it and try it out.
  • After seeing money dumped into VLC kickstarter for windows and seeing ten times the effort for an unfunded iOS version at the same time, anything asking for money for a project that is "primarily" for us Windows suckers but will also be for iOS and/or Android just sounds like a bad idea. Sorry. I know you guys didn't do it, but just makes me cautious.
  • Don't worry, Windows Phone will stay our mother platform. We have huge player base here, so why would we abandon it? It is no brainer. 
  • Alright....anyone that takes the time and effort to seek out a Windows Community site and talk with us, deserves that much credit. I'll head over later tonight to the listed site, and donate. Thanks for the responce.
  • Help,error ..not able to follow the link
  • Yes, because campaign is live, that was preview link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1859462116/dark-lands
  • M getting the error "805a0194"
    Plssss help
  • Ahoj kluci, great to see such cool stuff coming from our little corner of the world ^_^ bought the day it debuted and promoted among all my WP friends. Now it's time to go even further ^_^
  • Ahoj kluci? :D
  • apparently the devs are from Prague, Czech republic, so yeah :)
  • You used Google translate?
  • nope, I'm Czech myself :P
  • Tak načo hovoríme medzi sebou po anglicky :D Ja som slovák :D pekné stretnúť brata na eng stránke :)
  • fancy seeing You here ;) ne, kecam, je tu Cechu vic i na forech. Obecne v cesku Lumiku vidim cim dal vic.
  • :D Zaujimave, na svk prevláda Android a ios ale wp tiež začína rásť jeho popularita :)
  • Zdravim! :-)
  • dobra prace! Ja si rikal, ze tym co zacne exkluzivne na WP musi byt srdcari :) Postavu jsem dohral na max, tesim se na novej content.
  • Čo? Developeri sú cesi ? :O Veľká gratulácia k úspechu hry! ;)
  • I just love the fact how developers are constantly replying to posts here at WP Central, it's really nice to know that the users' wishes and opinions are considered :)
  • Its weird that when im trying to update, nothing happens. Not even updating.
  • This is issue of windows store, restarting phone usually fix this issue. Try that.
  • Can't get it to update either, keep getting an error code. Lumia 800 7.8
  • Same as before, try to restart phone. This thing is issue of windows phone.