Welcome!

If you want to help us without giving us money, please scroll all the way to the bottom. There is a lot that you can do for us. And there are some things that we can do for you as well.

Buffalo Bill's Great Show is coming up soon!

And Buffalo Bill himself is out to recruit only the greatest names he can find. Those who are famous - or infamous - for their outstanding abilities and achievements.

You are dreaming to be a part of the show since you were a little boy. Now a feeling in your guts is telling you - this is the time to finally put your name on the top of the list.

You can't wait to show that you are the best shooter and gambler, to win the ladies' hearts, find gold and treasures, and become rich and famous.

Game Basics
Bust'em Bandits is an HTML5 based pinball game for mobile devices. It has a 2D game engine and a top down pseudo 3D view.

The theme of the game is the old wild west. The story starts in the streets of a small old west town. From there it will lead the player to various scenarios on different subtables.

We aim to create a modern pinball game with 2d illustrations, 3d animated gameplay elements, and various effects like particles. It will still have the flair of a traditional mechanical machine in respect to sound and table elements. To make it appealing to a wider group of players there will also be options to activate or deactivate certain features.

* An asterisk for the iOS version. We plan to publish the game for iOS in a second step shortly after Android.

11.000 € - Initial Game Version

If we reach our initial funding goal you will get the basic version of the game which contains three settings: the VILLAGE (maintable), the SALOON, & the  PRAIRIE.

14.000 € (or more)

ONLINE HIGH SCORE TABLE - This first stretch goal will give you a free and unlimited subscription to our online high score table that resembles an old wild west newspaper and contains all your game events. The best players will make the biggest headlines and the most interesting stories. Don't miss out on the next issue!

17.000 € (or more)

New scenario: the JAIL - Some bandits are asking for your help! They were arrested by the sheriff and are now rotting in an . By helping us to reach the above amount you will be able to sneak into the building and free them. But be aware not to be arrested yourself!

20.000 € (or more)

New scenario: the BANK - If you ever wanted to rob a bank then this your chance! If you help us to reach the above amount we will grant you access to this highly protected area.

23.500 € (or more)

A FIGURINE for your desktop or shelf - At this point we will start producing our first real figurine. This amount will cover only the production costs. We will sell them (at a fair price) through our online store.

We haven't decided yet which of the characters will be the first. Actually our idea is to let YOU decide. Not now, but at some later time, when we know more.

After reaching all these goals we still have enough on our minds.

Please come back again to check for updates.

Our characters are a vital part of the game as they tell big parts of the story and interact with the player. You will get to know them better in the game. Until then we will give you brief introductions on a regular basis.

After the initial set of three key characters we are going to publish one additional character per week. So don't forget to come back to get to know them as early as possible!

NEW characters are showing up EVERY SATURDAY!

Listen to the Sheriff!

Listen to Blaze!

Listen to Shirley Star!

I'll talk to you later, boss!

Come visit our village to hear me.

Will try to speak for some dollars!

I'm no man of big words.

Words are smoke and mirrors.

Caramba! Talk to you in town...

State of the Art 2D Illustrations and 3D Animations
The cartoonish graphical style consists of hand drawn 2D and rendered 3D elements. The design of the machine contains many animations, effects, and illustrations. What you see here is a preview of the characters. There will be many more story related objects and background elements in the same style.

Screen and Controls
As tables might be higher than device screens a scrolling game field is the default setting. This can be configured to play with a smaller non-scrolling view.
The game has a very simple touch interface just as you probably know it from other pinball games.

Our target resolution for the game is defined to give you a great picture even on HD devices. This might be a performance issue depending on your device. Please see a bit more info on this down in section "risks and challenges".

Real Physics Simulation
For a realistic ball movement and collisions we use the Box2D physics engine. Multiball will not only be a feature, but also an important element of the gameplay.

If the ball gets stuck during the game or ends up in a place where it doesn't move anymore the player can push the device to get the game going again.

Additional Effects
To enhance the feedback there are also animations in the large DMD (Dot-matrix display) on the top of the screen.

The Game
The goal of this campaign is to make sure Bust'em Bandits can be finished and published in a reasonable time and great quality. Most of the perks we offer will give you the game for free as soon as it is published.

Our schedule currently targets a release date

for the initial version in October 2014.

The Goodies
Apart from the pinball game itself there will also be some other cool things for you to look forward to.

• Cool stickers (make sure to collect all of them)
  
• T-Shirt (in different sizes)
• Set of High Quality Poker Playing Cards
  

Depending on your perk you will either get stickers, playing cards, T-shirts, or combinations thereof. Many packages also include a certificate that proves your contribution.
The pinball game itself is of course always in the focus of our project so please excuse if it might take some time until we are ready to send everything to you.

All items include FREE worldwide shipping.

Please acknowledge that the images below are not 100% like the final items.

If the campaign is a success there will be other items as well in the future. Please check out the stretch goals.

To be able to finish this game in a reasonable time and in the way we imagine it, we need every bit of financial support that we can get. This crowdfunding campaign doesn't aim to cover 100 percent of our costs. We still invest our own money, but every contribution that you make makes a huge difference.

How we will use the money

1. First of all more money will give us the opportunity to stop working on other projects until this game is finished. This means we can publish and provide it to you earlier.
2. Secondly we will be able to pay other professionals to do parts of the game where we feel it is useful. Like for voiceovers, (some) story & texts, additional graphical content, and programming. All of this means we will achieve higher overall quality in at least the same time.
   
3. We will also need some more software and hardware for development and (internal) testing.
   
4. The goodies - if you like them - may also be a reason for you to support us. Even if the pinball game itself is not for you.
   

As we are not a company yet, all your contributions will first go to Mig Marn, who will then use it for everything listed above.

We are a group of people with - combined - more than 30 years of experience in the games and creative (graphics & advertising) industry with close ties to the game development scene in Austria and Germany.

• Mig Marn, responsible for coding, and putting it all together
  
• Andi Timmelmayer, illustrations, graphical and other creative work
  
• Tim Roedl, working on sounds and pinball game design.

Currently we are in the process of getting our own business started. While working on other projects that make money for the butter on our bread, we always try to follow our own ideas. Bust'em Bandits is one of them.

Some of our history
We have been working on many different games in the past. While years of experience alone don't mean a lot, they were full of interesting and also nameworthy projects.
All of the following games have been published and sold. Some of them got very positive feedback and reviews.

• The Nations 2
• Pusher & Itch! (puzzle games)
• Neighbours from Hell series (part 1,2,console version)
• Seven Million MMO
  
• Flash games for local corporate customers like T-mobile (AT), BIPA, etc.
  
• Multiplayer online games for different well known web platforms
  

As usual with projects of this kind there are technical and administrative challenges.

• There is a possibility that we are going to see some performance issues on mobile devices, especially those from previous generations.
  
• Another risk is that of bugs in the game code. We are of course going to test as much as we can with different devices.
  
• Time & schedule problems might come up if we can not gather enough money to hire some external professionals.
  
• Publishing on iOS or any other mobile platform than Android might be more effort than expected, as we don't have experience with them yet. We plan to do this in a separate second step.
  

You can help us even without giving any money. These are a few suggestions that came to our mind.

• Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BustemBandits
  
• Visit us on our webpage: http://www.lifeofpinball.com
• Give us feedback: Write to feedback@lifeofpinball.com
  
• Include our URI on your webpage: http://www.lifeofpinball.com
  
• Write about us in your Blog: We can provide you with images and other material from Bust'em Bandits.
  
• Sweepstakes or community action: If you want items as giveaways or prizes for your community please write to contact@lifeofpinball.com
• Talk about us: Tell your friends of this upcoming game Bust'em Bandits.

Thank you!