Say what you will about Assassin’s Creed 3, and we said a lot, the setting was inspired. Colonial American has not gotten a lot of love over the years in games. In fact, it is only the second game I’ve ever played set in the time period. The first, 1996s Conquest of the New World, was a Civ-style strategy game in which you choose one European power and battle the others for colonial supremacy. It ruled.

Now, blazing the trail along with AC3, and I use the cliche deliberately, is Meriwether. It’s an action role-playing game that puts you in the breeches of Meriwether Lewis, one half of the famous exploring duo, along with Clark. The game, from the Brooklyn indie studio Sortasoft, is currently a sixth of the way to its $35,000 funding goal at Kickstarter. Check it out:

In addition to the setting, I find the idea of making a game about famous explorers really clever. Many of us play games for the sense of exploration and discovery, and I think Meriwether has the chance to be not just a fine game (and teaching tool), but also a comment on the reasons we play in the first place. 

At the very least, this should be my second favorite piece of Lewis and Clark entertainment ever made.