Kickstarter’s 10 most funded projects

Electronic Specifier takes a close look at the top ten.

At #10… Fidget Cube - $6,465,690 pledged
Essentially the Fidget Cube does exactly what is says on the tin. Designed as a desk toy for anyone who likes to fidget, it includes six different things to play with – one for each side of the cube. These include a clicker button, gliding joystick, flipper, a face designed on traditional worry stones to ease anxiety, roller and a spinning dial. The Fidget Cube is available in ten different colours.

Fidgeting is more often than not spoken of as a negative trait, one that’s annoying, anti-social and even unprofessional. However, designers of the Fidget Cube have cited numerous resources that suggest fidgeting can have a positive impact on real life applications.

At #9… The Everyday Backpack - $6,565,782 pledged
Design by Peak Design this range of backpacks, totes and slings is based on the design of a camera bags but are aimed for everyone to use.

At #8… OUYA - $8,596,474 pledged
Created for lovers of playing games on TV, OUYA is designed to bring the most creative, innovative and engaging games back to the living room. Any developer—big or small, experienced or new can build games for the big screen all in 1,080p.

With an OUYA anyone can make a game because every OUYA console is a dev kit. There is no need to purchase a license or an expensive SDK. It’s built on Android and supports multiple engines. So far over 1,000 games have been created.

At #7… Exploding Kittens - $8,782,571 pledged
Exploding Kittens is a strategic kitty-powered version of Russian Roulette. Players take turns drawing cards until someone draws an exploding kitten and loses the game. The deck is made up of cards that let you avoid exploding by peeking at cards before you draw, forcing your opponent to draw multiple cards, or shuffling the deck.

The game gets more and more intense with each card you draw because fewer cards left in the deck means a greater chance of drawing the kitten and exploding in a fiery ball of feline hyperbole.

The game was created by Elan Lee (Xbox, ARGs), Matthew Inman (The Oatmeal), and Shane Small (Xbox, Marvel).

At #6… Travel Jacket - $9,192,055 pledged
This jacket, available in several different styles, is available with several features including a built-in neck pillow, eye mask, gloves, earphone holders, drink pocket and tech pockets.

At #5… Pebble: E-Paper watch for iPhone and Android - $10,266,845 pledged
Pebble is a customisable watch built for the 21st century and includes downloadable watchfaces and internet connected apps. Pebble connects to iPhone and Android smartphones using Bluetooth, alerting the user with a silent vibration to incoming calls, emails and messages. Designers have created several apps for the Pebble aimed at runners, cyclists, music control and golfers.

At #4… Kingdom Death: Monster 1.5 - $12,393,139 pledged
Kingdom Death Monster is a cooperative board game about survival in a nightmare-horror world. Survivors fight for their lives against an onslaught of bizarre and fearsome creatures. They will use the fruits of these battles to build a fragile civilisation in a place where humans are at the bottom of a monstrous ecology.

At #3… Pebble 2, Time 2 plus the all-new Pebble Core - $12,779,843 pledged
Two heart rate-enabled smartwatches and a hackable, 3G wearable for phone-free running with GPS, music and Amazon Alexa. The ethos of this device is why choose between a fitness tracker and a smartwatch when you can have both in one?

Pebble 2 and Time 2 come standard with multi-day battery life, water resistance down to 30 metres, and e-paper displays that make them readable indoors and out. Pebble 2 and Time 2 work with both iOS and Android smartphones.

At #2… COOLEST Cooler - $13,285,226 pledged
This is a cooler with a difference. As well as a 60 quarts of capacity the COOLEST (above right) also comes with a variety of integrated tech features including an 18V battery powered rechargeable blender, removable waterproof Bluetooth speaker, USB charger, LED lid light, gear tie-down, cooler divider/cutting board, wide easy rolling tyres, integrated storage and bottle opener.

And at #1… Pebble Time - $20,338,986 pledged
The colour e-paper display of this smartwatch is easy to read and always-on. It is well suited for displaying incoming notifications and the user’s favourite watchface. Compared with display technology like LCD or OLED, power consumption is minimised, enabling Pebble Time to achieve a battery life of up to seven days.

Pebble Time's microphone lets users send voice replies to incoming notifications or take short voice notes. Water resistance enables users to swim or surf with Pebble Time.