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

Project:  Arcane Alley: Moonstruck Market

Designer:  Corwin Riddle (Arcane Alley)

Artist:  Janette Ramos (Arcane Alley)

Publisher:  Strange Space Games (Arcane Alley)

Genre/Mechanisms:  card drafting, deck building, economic, hand management, hidden roles, race, solo/solitaire game, space exploration

Player Count:  2-6

Solo Mode:  no

Complexity:  light

Risk:  HIGH

Summary:  “Arcane Alley is a tableau-building and set collection game where each player takes the role of a wizard, creating and selling sets of outlawed magical items from their secret storehouse. Moonstruck Market is the first expansion for Arcane Alley, introducing the werewolf Madame Moonstruck and her traveling market, new wizards, new items, and more.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping):  $25

All-In (w/shipping):  $319, include vanity items & future games

Campaign Ends:  2/12

Game Ships:  Oct. 2020

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 102%, with 14 days to go.

Project:  Battle Babies

Designer:  Brandon Seeger

Artist:  Gabby Watson

Publisher:  Stuffed Horse Games

Genre/Mechanisms:  card drafting, deck building, fighting, hand management, player elimination

Player Count:  2-4

Solo Mode:  no

Complexity:  light

Risk:  HIGH

Summary:  “In Battle Babies, you take part in the never-ending baby war, where you command your own army of babies. The Villain, Special, Warrior, and Ugly babies were factions born from the early days of the great baby war. Take down each army one by one. Create temporary alliances. Then double-cross those alliances. Trust no one and eliminate all. From humble beginnings, take your shrimp sized army and expand it to a forceful empire.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping):  $29

All-In (w/shipping):  $39

Campaign Ends:  2/26

Game Ships:  Aug. 2020

Funding Status: Currently at 30%, with 28 days to go.

Project:  Big Bad Fables

Designer:  Raymond Serra

Artist:  April Borchelt

Publisher:  Raymond Serra

Genre/Mechanisms:  card game, deck building

Player Count:  1-4

Solo Mode:  yes

Complexity:  light

Risk:  HIGH

Summary:  “Big Bad Fables is a fairy tale themed deckbuilding game intended for new players to the genre. There are 4 variations of the game, 3 competitive that slowly introduce players to deck-building mechanics, and 1 cooperative version that can be played solo. Your goal is to build straw, wood, or brick houses to earn victory points. The game has two currencies; Cheese for persuading fable characters to join your side, and Hammers for building houses.”

Base Pledge (w/ free shipping):  $25

All-In (w/ free shipping):  $75

Campaign Ends:  2/27

Game Ships:  Nov. 2020

Funding Status: Currently at 10%, with 29 days to go.

Project:  Canosa

Designers:  Bob Craig (Monster Highway, Sheep Boom Bah), Ryan Craig (Monster Highway, Sheep Boom Bah)

Artist:  Three Gryphons Carving Studio

Publisher:  One Day West Games (Monster Highway, Sheep Boom Bah)

Genre/Mechanisms:  2 players, abstract strategy

Player Count:  2

Solo Mode:  no

Complexity:  medium-light

Risk:  HIGH

Summary:  “Canosa is a 2-player abstract strategy game where players are Sirens trying to capture shipwrecked sailors. Using rings acting as your voice, you influence the sailors and move them towards your island on the board to score them. The first player with 4 captured sailors wins the game.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping):  $145

All-In (w/shipping):  $145, same as above

Campaign Ends:  2/26

Game Ships:  Oct. 2020

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 109%, with 28 days to go.

Project:  D.E.I. – Divide et Impera

Designer:  Tommaso Batista (Barrage)

Artists:  Fernando Armentano (Black Rose Wars, The Faceless, Village Attacks), Giovanni Pirrotta (Black Rose Wars, Dungeonology: The Expedition, Nova Aetas), Simone de Paolis (Dungeonology: The Expedition, Sine Tempore), Tommaso Incecchi (Black Rose Wars, Dungeonology: The Expedition, The Faceless)

Publisher:  Ludus Magnus Studio (Black Rose Wars, Dungeonology: The Expedition, Sine Tempore)

Genre/Mechanisms:  area majority/influence, area movement, card drafting, hand management, miniatures, modular board, worker placement

Player Count:  1-4

Solo Mode:  yes

Complexity:  heavy

Risk:  HIGH

Summary:  “A competitive game of exploration and survival, based on conquests of resources, and set in a world devastated by a New Ice Age. Control one of the four bands of Survivors, competing with each other for the wealthiest loot to trade with the Pure Caste. Explore London on two levels, between the streets and on the roofs of the old buildings, and find the precious resources of the past era coveted by the Pure Ones: Technologies and Energy cells.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping):  $98

All-In (w/shipping):  $171

Campaign Ends:  2/6

Game Ships:  Jan. 2021

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 205%, with 8 days to go.

Project:  Fury of Gozmar

Designer:  Julio Sanchez Roldan

Artists:  Nerdgore, Ralph Niese

Publisher:  Julio Sanchez Roldan

Genre/Mechanisms:  2 players, action points, auction: dexterity, grid movement, hexagon grid, miniatures, moving multiple units, territory building, tile placement, worker placement

Player Count:  2

Solo Mode:  no

Complexity:  medium-light

Risk:  HIGH

Summary:  “In Fury of Gozmar, each player takes control of a group of ruthless and greedy goblins who, with the help of their pickaxe and sword, are fighting to be crowned lords of the underground world. On your way to victory, you will have to collect valuable gems, train goblins to prepare them for battle, conquer enemy zones, cast powerful spells and make irresistible offerings to calm the fury of Gozmar, a frightening demon living in the heart of the caverns.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping):  $79

All-In (w/shipping):  $85

Campaign Ends:  2/28

Game Ships:  July 2020

Funding Status: Currently at 40%, with 30 days to go.

Project:  Genotype: A Mendelian Genetics Game

Designers:  John Coveyou (Cytosis: A Cell Biology Board Game, Periodic: A Game of the Elements, Subatomic: An Atom Building Game), Paul Salomon (Honey Buzz, Periodic: A Game of the Elements, Virulence: An Infectious Card Game), Ian Zang (Constellations, Curio: The Lost Temple)

Artist:  Tomasz Bogusz (Cytosis: A Cell Biology Board Game, Periodic: A Game of the Elements, Subatomic: An Atom Building Game)

Publisher:  Genius Games (Cytosis: A Cell Biology Board Game, Periodic: A Game of the Elements, Subatomic: An Atom Building Game)

Genre/Mechanisms:  dice rolling, drafting, set collection, simulation, tech trees/tech tracks, worker placement

Player Count:  2-5

Solo Mode:  no

Complexity:  medium-light

Risk:  medium-high

Summary:  “A worker placement, dice-drafting game set in St. Thomas’ Abbey, where Gregor Mendel performed his paradigm-shifting experiments. 1-5 players take the roles of research scientists competing to collect and validate experimental data on pea plants. Players will spend time working on the monastery grounds, simulate plant breeding with dice and Punnett Squares, and use funding to further their research opportunities.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping):  $46

All-In (w/shipping):  $64

Campaign Ends:  2/27

Game Ships:  Oct. 2020

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 381%, with 28 days to go.

Project:  It’s a Wonderful World Ascension

Designer:  Frederic Guerard (Clash of Rage, Ilos, It’s a Wonderful World)

Artist:  Anthony Wolff (King of Tokyo, It’s a Wonderful World, Zombie 15′)

Publisher:  La Boite de Jeu (It’s a Wonderful World, Neta-Tanka: Deluxe Edition, Outlive)

Genre/Mechanisms:  card drafting, card game, civilization, drafting

Player Count:  1-6

Solo Mode:  yes

Complexity:  medium-light

Risk:  medium-low

Summary:  It’s a Wonderful World is a card drafting and engine building game where players draft 7 cards and then choose which ones to recycle (to immediately acquire Resources) and which ones to keep (for Construction, producing Resources and/or gaining victory points each round). Ascension cards introduce new ways to play, most notably through pair scoring and corruption, and also allows play with up to 6 players.

Base Pledge (w/shipping):  $33, just the new expansion

All-In (w/shipping):  $111, also include the base game, Heritage version

Campaign Ends:  2/13

Game Ships:  Nov. 2020

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 680%, with 15 days to go.

Project:  QE and On Tour

Designer:  Gavin Birnbaum (Carreau, JamSumo, Q.E.), Chad DeShon (On Tour)

Artist:  Anca Gavril (Bites, Loot of Lima, On Tour, Q.E.), Gavin Birnbaum (Carreau, Chopsticks, Q.E.)

Publisher:  BoardGameTables.com (On Tour, Miscellaneous Game Accessory, Q.E.)

Genre/Mechanisms:  auction/bidding, economic (Q.E.); dice rolling, line drawing, network and route building, paper-and-pencil, push your luck (On Tour)

Player Count:  3-5 (Q.E.); 1-4 (On Tour)

Solo Mode:  no (Q.E.); yes (On Tour)

Complexity:  light

Risk:  HIGH

Summary:  “In Q.E., a term that stands for ‘quantitative easing,’ you play the role of a central bank. Bid on different sized companies to accumulate various levels of victory points. The amount bid is unlimited since you are the central bank and you own the printing press! After the initial ‘open’ bid by the lead player, the other players bid in secret. After the sixteen companies have been ‘bailed out,’ bonus victory points are awarded for company sets of nationalization, monopolization, and diversification.”

“In On Tour, you’re living the dream. You’re in a band and they’re about to go on tour. It’s your job to schedule the band’s stops over your 100-day tour, visiting as many states as possible. Each turn in On Tour, two ten-sided dice are rolled to make two two-digit numbers. For example, a roll of 3 and 7 creates the numbers 37 and 73. All players write each of those numbers in a state on their map. The regions they can write in are restricted by three cards turned up in the middle of the table. At the end of the game, each player draws a route on their map, starting with a low number and visiting adjacent states with higher and higher numbers. Players get a point for every state they visit.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping):  $23, On Tour European Expansion only

All-In (w/shipping):  $126, includes Bites with Double Bites Expansion, Loot of Lima, On Tour, & Q.E.

Campaign Ends:  2/20

Game Ships:  July 2020

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 469%, with 22 days to go.

Project:  The Rival Networks

Designer:  Gil Hova (Battle Merchants, The Networks, Wordsy)

Artists:  Heiko Gunther (Burgle Bros., Can’t Stop, Glory to Rome, The Networks), Travis Kinchy (The Networks)

Publisher:  Formal Ferret Games (Bad Medicine, The Networks, Wordsy)

Genre/Mechanisms:  2 players, area majority/influence, card drafting, card game, economic, set collection

Player Count:  2

Solo Mode:  no

Complexity:  medium-light

Risk:  medium-low

Summary:  “The Rival Networks is a standalone two-player version of The Networks. You and your opponent are new television networks, and you need new programming. For this, you’ll need Shows, Stars, and Ads. Finally, shows age and viewers lose interest, so you have to keep your line-up fresh by canceling shows and sending them into reruns. Fortunately, you can get viewers from your reruns, and you’ll get bonuses if you get a lot of shows of the same genre throughout the game. ”

Base Pledge (w/shipping):  $34

All-In (w/shipping):  $159, includes vanity rewards

Campaign Ends:  2/14

Game Ships:  Dec. 2020

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 107%, with 16 days to go.

Project:  Vigilante

Designer:  Reed Mascola

Artists:  Alvaro Calvo Ecudero (Doomtown: Reloaded, The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game), Patrick Turner (Days of Steam, The Republic of Rome), Tan Ho Sim (The Silver River)

Publisher:  Paranoia Rising Games

Genre/Mechanisms:  action points, adventure, cooperative game, deck building, deduction, storytelling, team-based game, variable player powers

Player Count:  3-6

Solo Mode:  no

Complexity:  medium-light

Risk:  HIGH

Summary:  “Lead a team of heroes to imprison the various villains running free in the city. There are a variety of game modes depending on player preferences. The game plays in rounds; players have 4 actions to fight (and imprison) villains, recruit new heroes, search for equipment and one-time use cards, or heal. Afterwards, players secretly roll their dice and contribute one of them, which sometimes will help the group but usually hinders them.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping):  $60

All-In (w/shipping):  $60, same as above

Campaign Ends:  2/27

Game Ships:  Nov. 2020

Funding Status: Currently at 7%, with 29 days to go.