No. They were not some unknown designers that went to Kickstarter because they heard of this crowdfunding thing. No. They were not first time publishers. And yes, the game looked like fun. But Legends of Sleepy Hollow turned into some kind of a ghost. The campaign ran two years ago. It was not delivered last year. And it will not be delivered a year late either. But they'll start developing now.
The latest update on Kickstarter says:
"As we read the storybook (the scenario manual for each chapter of the game) we reached a point where we had more questions than answers. The story elements weren’t adding up and the scenarios weren’t presenting the exciting and immersive experiences we were expecting. We worked with the lead developer to try to get answers, but ultimately we had to do a week of internal playing of the game to see if we could assess the errors and find out what was going on. Did we simply misunderstand something? Or were there truly issues with the game itself that needed resolved? (...) We approached the issues from as many angles as possible. We weighed all of the options we had at hand and finally decided that we could not in good conscience present the game in its current state to you, our loyal and patient backers. Greater Than Games takes great pride in every game that we produce, with a particular focus on highly-thematic and story-driven games. We truly believe in the potential of Legends of Sleepy Hollow and want to produce a game that will provide a compelling and immersive experience with elements of suspense, surprise, strategy, and enjoyment. In order to do this, we have taken the game from our external developer and have brought it in house, making it one of our highest priorities."
The "external developer" being their co-owner since the merger with Dice Hate Me Games (I was a bit confused by the wording, they meant "someone working in our other office").
There's a part of me that still wants to play this game. I even payed $39 for "EU friendly" shipping back then, as I didn't see how I would ever get to play this except through Kickstarter. And the game will still be made, and it will probably be good - now that they take their time for quality control and playtesting.
But I felt fooled that they started collecting funds for a game that turned out to be mainly a cool idea, so I let it go.
Greater Than Games is absolutely professional about refunding. You get 100% of what you payed, including the Kickstarter fees that they did not receive themselves. And they also pay this fee to anyone who's had a partial refund earlier. And so maybe I'll trust them to do some remodelling work in my house. After Legends of Sleepy Hollow has been delivered to backers near the end of 2020, as is their promise now.