Monte Cook Games is following up its successful Numenera RPG (see "'Numenera' B&M Promotion") with another Kickstarter campaign, this time for a sci-fi world-hopping game titled The Strange.  The Kickstarter, which features two retailer-only levels, achieved its $40,000 funding goal less than 24 hours into launch and is trending toward a much larger number.
 
The Strange is written and designed by veteran designers Bruce Cordell (D&D 2E, 3E & 4E) and Monte Cook.  Like Numenera, the game will run on the Cypher System game engine.  "We have a really strong vision for this game," said Cordell. "Combined with the great concept art by Matt Stawicki and the very high standard for production values we set with Numenera, we think it’s going to be very successful."
 
Expected fulfillment for backers isn’t until August 2014, but the packages include receiving merchandise ahead of street date (which MCG told ICv2 will hopefully be later in the same month), special promotional materials, promotions through Monte Cook Games’ Website, and even store visits by Cook and Cordell.
 
"We recognize that a Kickstarter project with a long lead time ahead of street date ties up valuable cash for a retailer," said MCG COO Charles Ryan.  "On the other hand, shops that participated in the Numenera Kickstarter, particularly at the store visit level, saw a very strong return.  We wanted to create retail backer levels that are worth the investment. Kickstarter is a great way to launch our games, but retail is critical to their long-term success."
 
Ryan recently weighed in on the Kickstarter retailer debate in response to Scott Thorne’s ICv2  Rolling for Initiative column "Rolling for Initiative--Five Reasons I Skip Kickstarter Retailer Levels"  (see " Charles Ryan of Monte Cook Games on Kickstarter").