Monster-raising adventure Legend of Lumina is Square Enix’s next crowdfunding nominee

It’s time for some more monster husbandry.

Publisher Square Enix’s Collective program has introduced the independently developed monster-raising role-playing adventure Legend of Lumina. As with all Collective projects, the Final Fantasy publisher is inviting fans to vote on whether or not they would back it on a crowdfunding site like Kickstarter or IndieGogo that enable fans to put capital toward the production of a game. If Legend of Lumina gets enough support, Square Enix will throw money into the game as well as helping it with distribution and marketing.

Crowdfunding is a relatively young method of funding game development. It is a system where developers present prototype ideas to fans and ask for cash to complete the game for a retail release. It has enabled studios to ship hits like FTL: Faster Than Light, Chivalry: Medieval Warfare, and Kentucky Route Zero. But some projects are hit with multiple delays that prevent them from getting to backers for years, and yet others, like Mega Man successor Mighty No. 9, disappoint the people that helped pay for production.

Legend of Lumina puts you in control of a warrior who must collect and tame more than 500 monsters. To successfully accomplish that, you’ll need to grow crops and earn cash to attract various creatures. On top of that, you’ll need to craft, fish, log, mine, and more in order to come across all the resources you need to domesticate your critters and to expand your village.

To expedite the monster-taming process, Legend of Lumina includes a four-player cooperative mode as well. This enables you and your friends to divide tasks up to more efficiently get the results that you want.

The Legend of Lumina team started production nine months ago, and it says it wants to use Collective to provide feedback before it goes to crowdfunding.

Square Enix Collective introduces a new project weekly. That goes back to the first game, Long Gone Days, which is a dystopian sci-fi RPG that more 94 percent of Square Enix Collective members said they would back with crowdfunding. When Long Gone Days hit IndieGogo, it generated nearly $22,000, which was 107 percent of its goal.