Police Quest spiritual successor Precinct has been removed from Kickstarter by its creator, who is instead running an intriguing variation on the crowdfunding model via his own site.

Former California Highway Patrol officer and Sierra developer Jim Walls was hoping to raise US$500,000 (NZ$633,500) on Kickstarter for Precinct, a first-person police adventure title for Windows PC and Mac.

However, with a third of the campaign remaining he had only managed to gather just over 15 per cent (US$85,756) of his goal.

A new staged campaign will deliver “solid accountability, more funding flexibility, and true collaboration between Precinct Backers and the Precinct game development team,” reads a post on the game’s official site.

“Instead of reaching a single funding goal and then asking our backers to simply wait and see what they get, our staged funding approach allows our Backers to weigh in heavily during the entire development cycle,” it reads.

“Precinct backers are NOT charged for a pledge unless the next funding goal is reached.”

The four stages are a proof of concept at US$25,000, a “more comprehensive example of the Precinct experience” at US$90,000, a playable demo at US$250,000, and the full game at US$400,000.

All backers will receive access to the community area and a digital download of the finished game regardless of the size of their contribution.

“We maintain a persistent dialog with our backers, constantly seeking their opinions, suggestions, and feedback through forums, web chats, and online polls,” reads the site.

A decision to do away with "costly reward tiers" allowed the funding goal to shrink by approximately US$100,000, it adds.

According to the site, Precinct will take players on a police adventure as Officer Maxwell Jones through the mean streets of Fraser Canyon, California. Players will move up the ranks and face “adrenaline charged scenarios and conduct real police procedures while solving crimes and arresting perpetrators”.

Precinct has raised US$6,881 so far.