SpaceVenture Backer Release Issues: Two Guys From Andromeda's Crowdfunded Adventure Hits Softlocks
Background
SpaceVenture is the long-anticipated spiritual successor to Sierra’s Space Quest series from Scott Murphy and Mark Crowe, the veteran duo operating under the Two Guys From Andromeda banner.
The project launched on Kickstarter in 2012 and raised more than $530,000 from backers, with an initial estimated release planned for February 2013.
The project then entered a protracted development cycle, and in September 2022 the game began arriving in the hands of Kickstarter backers — not yet as a general retail release.
What backers found
Multiple reports from the community and coverage by industry historians have highlighted significant technical problems in the backer distribution.
Frank Cifaldi, founder of the Video Game History Foundation, reported that SpaceVenture can 'softlock' — a state where gameplay becomes uncompletable — on several occasions, including instances where players were following the official walkthrough.
He also noted that the game’s tutorial mode is not functioning correctly, leaving it unclear how players are meant to interact with or combine objects to solve puzzles.
Paraphrased commentary
Cifaldi emphasized that the problems are apparent to those who worked on the game and urged restraint from aggressive criticism.
He observed that the development team is aware the build is in a messy state, and that sustaining a crowdfunded project over a development cycle that stretched nearly a decade put substantial strain on resources.
In his words, the team overshot their original scope and encountered financial and logistical constraints as a result.
Context and next steps
SpaceVenture’s rocky backer release highlights common risks for long-running crowdfunded projects: extended timelines, scope creep, and the challenge of delivering a polished product to supporters after years in development.
The project’s creators and supporting team now have direct feedback from backers and industry observers to guide necessary fixes.
For players and coverage outlets tracking the title, the focus will be on whether post-release patches and updates can resolve the softlocks and tutorial issues before any wider public launch.
For fans of classic adventure design and the creators’ Space Quest lineage, SpaceVenture remains a notable example of both the promise and pitfalls of crowdfunded nostalgia-driven projects.
Readers who backed the project or have firsthand experience of the current build are encouraged to share confirmed, factual reports to help document the state of the release.
Background
SpaceVenture is the long-anticipated spiritual successor to Sierra’s Space Quest series from Scott Murphy and Mark Crowe, the veteran duo operating under the Two Guys From Andromeda banner.
The project launched on Kickstarter in 2012 and raised more than $530,000 from backers, with an initial estimated release planned for February 2013.
The project then entered a protracted development cycle, and in September 2022 the game began arriving in the hands of Kickstarter backers — not yet as a general retail release.
What backers found
Multiple reports from the community and coverage by industry historians have highlighted significant technical problems in the backer distribution.
Frank Cifaldi, founder of the Video Game History Foundation, reported that SpaceVenture can 'softlock' — a state where gameplay becomes uncompletable — on several occasions, including instances where players were following the official walkthrough.
He also noted that the game’s tutorial mode is not functioning correctly, leaving it unclear how players are meant to interact with or combine objects to solve puzzles.
Paraphrased commentary
Cifaldi emphasized that the problems are apparent to those who worked on the game and urged restraint from aggressive criticism.
He observed that the development team is aware the build is in a messy state, and that sustaining a crowdfunded project over a development cycle that stretched nearly a decade put substantial strain on resources.
In his words, the team overshot their original scope and encountered financial and logistical constraints as a result.
Context and next steps
SpaceVenture’s rocky backer release highlights common risks for long-running crowdfunded projects: extended timelines, scope creep, and the challenge of delivering a polished product to supporters after years in development.
The project’s creators and supporting team now have direct feedback from backers and industry observers to guide necessary fixes.
For players and coverage outlets tracking the title, the focus will be on whether post-release patches and updates can resolve the softlocks and tutorial issues before any wider public launch.
For fans of classic adventure design and the creators’ Space Quest lineage, SpaceVenture remains a notable example of both the promise and pitfalls of crowdfunded nostalgia-driven projects.
Readers who backed the project or have firsthand experience of the current build are encouraged to share confirmed, factual reports to help document the state of the release.