This week has seen the launch of a Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign for one of the more unique possibly virtual reality (VR) compatible videogames in recent memory. That videogame is Tumbleweed Express, a steampunk train combat title from indie developer Dirigiballers. The campaign is looking for $24,000 USD to help fund its development on PC, Mac, and Linux, with support for the Oculus Rift VR head-mounted display (HMD) teased, though yet to be confirmed.

Tumbleweed Express is an intriguing on-rails combat experience set in an alternate Wild West that has been monopolised by an airship empire controlling the skies. Players control the Tumbleweed Express, an armed and armoured steam engine that delivers supplies to those living on the surface while fending off attacks from the empire and bandits. This is done with the player operating a range of turrets mounted to the train.

Crucially, players are granted full customisation options to the Tumbleweed Express, adding different types of turrets and extra cars to help them withstand increasingly aggressive attacks. Players can even interact with switches in the environment to change their overall course and more. Those interested can sample a demo of the experience running on the title’s official website throughout the campaign.

Tumbleweed Express is also running a Steam Greenlight campaign to have the title approved for sale on Valve’s digital store come full launch. It’s here that Dirigiballers has teased support for the Oculus Rift; while no mention of the device is made on Kickstarter, the Oculus VR logo appears in the thumbnail image for the Steam Greenlight campaign, as does an Android one. It’s quite likely, then, that support for the device is currently locked behind one of the hidden stretch goals on the Kickstarter campaign, which currently only shows a $30,000 goal for in-game developer commentary.

Tumbleweed Express will run its campaign until 2nd October 2014. Those interested can currently back $10 to secure a copy of the title for its planned release in 2015. VRFocus will continue to follow Tumbleweed Express going forward, reporting back with anymore updates to the title.