Today, during an Independent Games Summit talk at GDC 2011, the Indie Fund team announced three projects it's currently funding: Monaco, by Andy Schatz (Pocketwatch Games), Shadow Physics by Steve Swink (Enemy Airship) and Cube by Daniel Da Rocha (Toxic Games).
As reported by PC Gamer, Schatz described Monaco, a top-down co-operative stealth game, as "Pac Man meets Hitman". Up to four players can take part in Monaco’s heists, either locally or online, with each player assuming a different class within the team.
Shadow Physics is a collaboration between programmers Scott Anderson and Steve Swink. the 2D platformer is described by its creators as being "similar to Mario" and takes place in a world of shadows cast by 3D objects.
The final game to receive funding is Quick Understanding of Block Extrusion, abbreviated to Q.U.B.E, a striking-looking first-person puzzle game that requires block manipulation to progress.
The fund is curated by members of 2D Boy (World of Goo), Number None (Braid) and thatgamecompany (Flow) and aims to both support independent game developers in production of their game, as well as provide support when negotiating with publishers.
Developers that are selected to receive Indie Fund money maintain ownership of the IP. If their game fails to recoup costs following its release, then the debt is waived after three years.
The fund's FAQ (http://indie-fund.com/apply/) states that applicant budgets should be around the range of 120k to 180k, so you can start your guestimation there at least. It would be interesting to get more concrete numbers, though.
"Developers that are selected to receive Indie Fund money maintain ownership of the IP. If their game fails to recoup costs following its release, then the debt is waived after three years."
This is very honorable.
Thanks Indie Fund!