1849 is a sim-builder set during the US gold rush which was released not long ago on GOG. In a recent article on Gamasutra, one of the dev explains the dilemna of starting a Kickstarter or not for their first game and how they came up with a solution. Interesting read:
http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/MatthewViglione/20140701/220024/How_we_learned_to_stop_worrying_and_love_early_access.php

Good read\!

Interesting article. I'm not completely opposed to the idea of early access, but I think the industry is still figuring out how to do it without alienating the players (and flooding the market with cruddy games that will, quite frankly, never live up to their original promise). I would say that a healthier way to view early access would be as a pre-order with bonus optional beta access, with the caveat that the beta version, however incomplete, could become the final version at any point (but I guess there's always a risk even when pre-ordering an AAA game that it will be an incomplete mess.)

Also, despite 1849 not getting great reviews it does looks sort of interesting. I'm playing the original Tropico right now and judging by the screenshots 1849 almost nails that art style (although the terrain is more boring). Might be worth a try if it shows up in a bundle sometime. :)

This is an interesting article. You read stories about people who have basically bankrupted themselves in order to fulfill rewards, and late rewards are commonplace, because campaigns underestimate the demand or the time it takes to fulfill the pledges. They can become victims of their own success. So, the qualms SomaSim had about a Kickstarter were justified.
Look at the success of SoulSaga. The designer had contracted out some of the artwork, but when the artists heard about the success of the Kickstarter, they demanded a lot more money than the previously agreed sum.
In the end, DisasterCake chose not to use any of the designs and thus had to find time to sign up some more honourable and ethical artists, taking time away from actually working on his game.
A thoughtful article on the pros and cons of launching a game on Kickstarter.
Thank you, catpower1980, for posting the link.