(or here’s a list of what launched yesterday that might deserve a closer look)

Project: Deal Damage

Designer: Corey Matthews

Artist: Corey Matthews

Publisher: Corey Matthews

Genre/Mechanisms: card game, card play conflict resolution, fantasy, fighting

Player Count: 2-5

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “In Deal Damage, players use cards from their hand to attack other players and reduce their health points. The player with the most damage dealt at the end of the game wins. The game includes over 100 cards featuring simple and clean illustrations.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $25

All-In (w/shipping): $35

Campaign Ends: 3/31

Game Ships: December 2023

Funding Status: Currently at 3% with 28 days to go.

Project: The Demise of Doctor Frankenstein

Designer: Mark Hanny (Levitation: Master of Magic)

Artists: not credited

Publisher: Joe Magic Games (Levitation: Master of Magic)

Genre/Mechanisms: dice rolling, Frankenstein, horror, mad science / mad scientist, monsters, novel-based, variable player powers, worker placement

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “In the Demise of Dr. Frankenstein you roll a number of dice, then those dice are placed on different action options based on the numbers rolled. The number one lets a player influence Igor, number two lets a player take body parts from the graveyard and so on. That allows players to influence different village members and accomplish different tasks on their way to building a Frankenstein Monster. After players use the clinician to study, the trader to get goods, bribe officers to look the other way as they construct different contraptions, and visit the curator, the villagers reach their anger boiling point and put an end to it all by buring down the doctors’ efforts. Victory points are scored and then it’s on to the next round until all players have had a chance to go first one time.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $33

All-In (w/shipping): $37

Campaign Ends: 3/31

Game Ships: August 2023

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 2,592% with 28 days to go.

Project: Hellbringer

Designer: Maxime Gauthier

Artist: Maxime Gauthier

Publisher: Les Éditions Smash

Genre/Mechanisms: action points, adventure, card game, cooperative game, deck building, dice rolling, dungeon crawler, fantasy, horror, line of sight, open drafting, role playing, solo / solitaire game, variable player powers

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A solo/cooperative dark fantasy roguelike card and dice game where you play as a hero venturing into the darkness of a dungeon to slay its mighty demon. As you venture deeper and deeper in the dungeon, you will equip items, learn skills, and earn attributes points by eliminating monsters, making you even more powerful.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $48

All-In (w/shipping): $136

Campaign Ends: 3/21

Game Ships: December 2024

Funding Status: Currently at 58% with 18 days to go.

Project: Scholars of the South Tigris

Designers: S J Macdonald (Architects of the West Kingdom, Circadians: First Light, Paladins of the West Kingdom, Viscounts of the West Kingdom, Wayfarers of the South Tigris), Shem Phillips (Architects of the West Kingdom, Paladins of the West Kingdom, Raiders of the North Sea, Raiders of Scythia, Viscounts of the West Kingdom)

Artist: Mihajlo Dimitrievski (Architects of the West Kingdom, Endless Winter: Paleoamericans, Paladins of the West Kingdom, Raiders of the North Sea, Viscounts of the West Kingdom)

Publisher: Garphill Games (Architects of the West Kingdom, Hadrian’s Wall, Paladins of the West Kingdom, Raiders of the North Sea, Viscounts of the West Kingdom)

Genre/Mechanisms: arabian, area majority / influence, deck building, dice, dice rolling, hand management, medieval, rondel, tech trees / tech tracks, worker placement with dice workers

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: heavy

Risk: low

Summary: “Scholars of the South Tigris is set during the height of the Abbasid Caliphate, circa 830 AD. The Caliph has called upon the keenest minds to acquire scientific manuscripts from all over the known world. Players will need to increase their influence in the House of Wisdom, and hire skilled linguists to translate the foreign scrolls into Arabic. In this Golden Age of wisdom and knowledge, be mindful not to neglect one in pursuit of the other. Points are gained by translating scrolls, increasing knowledge in various areas of science and mathematics, influencing the 3 guilds, and by retiring translators after their years of faithful service. The game end is triggered once all 4 caliph cards have been revealed.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $57

All-In (w/shipping): $113

Campaign Ends: 3/15

Game Ships: November 2023

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 1,812% with 13 days to go.

Project: Star Tycoon

Designer: Peter Sanderson (Mothership: Tabletop Combat)

Artist: Michael Dickinson

Publisher: Warp Core Games (Mothership: Tabletop Combat)

Genre/Mechanisms: auction / bidding, economic, end game bonuses, events, income, industry / manufacturing, market, science fiction, set collection, turn order: progressive

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: medium-high

Summary: “In Star Tycoon, players will take on the role of an interstellar business with the goal of out-performing their business rivals by the last round. Each player gains Victory Points by claiming sets of planets and developing them with production facilities and other buildings. Central to Star Tycoon is the Galactic Exchange, a fluctuating market that reacts supply and demand. Knowing when to buy and when to sell is key creating a profitable business.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $46

All-In (w/shipping): $90

Campaign Ends: 3/30

Game Ships: February 2024

Funding Status: Currently at 58% with 28 days to go.

Project: Sweet Deals

Designer: Shawn Patton

Artist: Tanya Wellington

Publisher: Surprisingly Fun Games

Genre/Mechanisms: auction / bidding, card game, cookies, donuts, ice cream & gelato

Player Count: 2-8

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “In this sweet dessert-themed card bidding game players manage their hand of cards, bid on others’ cards, and try to get multiples of the same type of dessert, as well as a high value of coins. On your turn you offer a dessert for others to bid on. The first person to get 6 of a kind, or Sweet Six, triggers the end of the game.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $5

All-In (w/shipping): $25

Campaign Ends: 3/31

Game Ships: July 2023

Funding Status: Currently at 96% with 29 days to go.

Project: Wards of Stonefall – Chapter 1

Designer: McKay Anderson (Snack Time)

Artist: Eden Sanders

Publisher: Backfire Game Studio (Snack Time)

Genre/Mechanisms: dice, dice rolling, fantasy, narrative choice / paragraph, open drafting, print & play, puzzle

Player Count: 1-6

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A competitive print & play roll-and-write campaign game that offers robust narrative and gameplay. All you need is a printer and some 6-sided dice. You can even use the digital print files to play on your smart device. Each chapter comes with 3 different game maps (1 for each act). 4 more chapters are currently planned. Each act is an evolution of the previous game narrative with deeper rules and story points. Players roll and draft dice to determine what kind of Guardians they can place to defend each of the 6 stones housed in protective sanctums. Remaining dice determine the type of creature (called Whims) that will be attacking. Players then roll another die to determine which sanctum each Whim will attack. The goals of each act in Chapter 1 are for survival, to protect the stones from destruction. Future chapters may have different but similar style of gameplay following the narrative as the story delves deeper into the mystery behind the onslaught of Whims.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $7

All-In (w/shipping): $10

Campaign Ends: 3/30

Game Ships: April 2023

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 294% with 28 days to go.