Meriwether, an ambitious exploration RPG, nears Kickstarter goal

Here's an intriguing concept: an RPG that combines resource management, exploration, survival and its main character's inherent melancholy. That's the pitch for Meriwether , a game based on the historic Lewis and Clark expedition to the Pacific Coast. It's in the final days of its Kickstarter bid, and is just $1,049 short of its modest $35,000 goal.

Don't let the rough edges of the Kickstarter video's game footage put you off. As the team details the planned features and depth they hope to include, the full scope of the project becomes fascinating. As the Kickstarter pitch puts it: "Though your mission is one of friendship, scientific discovery, and commerce, it will be fraught with life and death choices throughout."

"You will battle the elements, hunger, thirst, exposure, mighty rivers and towering mountains over the course of your 8,000 mile round-trip voyage ... Failure will come quickly to those who act before they think. You will only have one opportunity to make a first impression with the Native Americans who hold your fate in their hands."

The game will feature two level types: handcrafted "Lewis" levels, in which you take Meriwether Lewis through hand-crafted levels to conduct trade, diplomacy and go hunting, and Travel levels that see the entire Corps of Discovery attempt to complete the next leg of their journey.

You can see more details about the game at their Kickstarter site . At the very least, it's bound to be better than Assassin's Creed 3's god-awful Homestead crafting thing.