22 Cans has launched a Kickstarter for Godus, a "delightful reinvention" of the classic god game Populous.

One of Peter Molyneux's best-known games is Populous, the 1989 release widely regarded as the first-ever "god game." It gave players the power of a god and let them use it to lead their people to supremacy over a not-entirely-hospitable world and the unbelievers who worshiped a rival deity, and it was absolutely fantastic.

And now, if Molyneux can raise about $718,000 on Kickstarter, modern gamers will soon get their hands on an "innovative reinvention" of the game by way of Godus, the next project in the works at 22 Cans. Very little in the way of actual detail has been revealed at this point - "living world, accessible but deep, multiplayer the way it should be," that sort of thing - but the important bit is that it's a Populous remake coming from the guy who made the original game.

"I don't want to promise anything," Molyneux says in the Kickstarter pitch video, absolutely straight-faced and without any trace of irony whatsoever. "I just want to deliver the glory of the old days in the new format of today's world."

Godus will take an estimated seven to nine months to complete, according to the Kickstarter, but if the funding target is exceeded the team will add even more features, which could lead to a longer development time. And while the rancid stench of Curiosity continues to hang over the studio, it says it's learned a lot from that experience and will apply those lessons to Godus. (Why it doesn't apply what it's learned from Curiosity to Curiosity, I do not know.)

The Godus Kickstarter went live today and runs until December 21.