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

Project:  Bristol 1530

Designer:  Travis Hancock (Deadwood 1876, Salem 1692, Tortuga 1667)

Artists:  Holly Hancock (Deadwood 1876, Salem 1692, Tortuga 1667), Sarah Keele (Deadwood 1876, Salem 1692, Tortuga 1667)

Publisher:  Facade Games (Deadwood 1876, Salem 1692, Tortuga 1667)

Genre/Mechanisms:  deduction, dice rolling, different dice movement, hidden roles, party game, player elimination, racing, semi-cooperative game

Player Count:  2-9

Solo Mode:  no

Complexity:  light

Risk:  medium-low

Summary:  “The dreaded Black Death has descended upon the town of Bristol. You are racing down the streets, desperate to escape into the safety of the countryside. Some villagers on your cart may secretly already have the plague. If you leave town with a plagued villager on your cart, you will catch the plague and lose! What will you do to make sure that doesn’t happen? And who will you trust (or betray) along the way?”

Base Pledge (w/shipping):  $27

All-In (w/shipping):  $967, includes other games & vanity items

Campaign Ends:  6/25

Game Ships:  Apr. 2021

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 465%, with 29 days to go.

Project:  Chai: High Tea

Designers:  Dan Kazmaeir (Chai), Connie Kazmaeir (Chai)

Artists:  Mary Haasdyk (Chai), Sahana VJ (Chai)

Publisher:  Steeped Games (Chai)

Genre/Mechanisms:  card drafting, card game, economic, expansion, set collection

Player Count:  1-5

Solo Mode:  yes

Complexity:  light

Risk:  medium-high

Summary:  With Chai, “step into the shoes of a tea merchant, combining tea flavours to make a perfect blend. Specializing in either rooibos, green, oolong, black or white tea, you will buy and collect ingredients to fulfill your customers’ orders.” Chai: High Tea is “an expansion for Chai Merchants to spice up their teahouses with new player powers, featuring afternoon tea to refreshing horchata, or a sip of yerba mate. This expansion includes 6 ability boards with 12 unique abilities, in addition to 2 transparent dice. Additional rules make the expansion compatible with Chai’s solo and co-op gameplay.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping):  $20

All-In (w/shipping):  $465, includes the base game, extras, and vanity rewards

Campaign Ends:  6/24

Game Ships:  Dec. 2020

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 119%, with 27 days to go.

Project:  Dice Miner

Designers:  Joshua DeBonis (Isle of Monsters), Nikola Risteski (Isle of Monsters)

Artists:  Lil Chan, Grzegorz Pedrycz (Apocrypha Adventure Card Game: Box One – The World, Clockwork Wars, Draconis Invasion)

Publisher:  Atlas Games (Cthulhu Gloom, Gloom, Once Upon a Time: The Storytelling Card Game)

Genre/Mechanisms:  dice rolling, drafting, push your luck

Player Count:  1-4

Solo Mode:  yes

Complexity:  light

Risk:  medium-high

Summary:  “A game about drafting the dice you covet, adding them to your hoard, and pushing your luck to build massive combos and score as many points as you can.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping):  $38

All-In (w/shipping):  $59

Campaign Ends:  6/23

Game Ships:  Jan. 2021

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 158%, with 26 days to go.

Project:  Food Chain Island

Designer:  Scott Almes (Heroes of Land, Air & Sea; Tiny Epic Galaxies; Tiny Epic Quest; Tiny Epic Zombies)

Artist:  Annie Wilkinson

Publisher:  Button Shy (Circle the Wagons, Sprawlopolis, Tussie Mussie)

Genre/Mechanisms:  chaining, network and route building, solo/solitaire game

Player Count:  1

Solo Mode:  yes

Complexity:  light

Risk:  medium-low

Summary:  “A solo game of whittling down the animal kingdom.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping):  $14

All-In (w/shipping):  $45, includes other games

Campaign Ends:  6/6

Game Ships:  Aug. 2020

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 772%, with 9 days to go.

Project:  Good Cop Bad Cop: Promoted

Designers:  Brian Henk (Good Cop Bad Cop, Leaders of Euphoria: Choose a Better Oppressor, New Salem), Clayton Skancke (Good Cop Bad Cop, Leaders of Euphoria: Choose a Better Oppressor, New Salem)

Artist:  Dwayne Biddix (Good Cop Bad Cop)

Publisher:  Pull the Pin Games (Good Cop Bad Cop)

Genre/Mechanisms:  bluffing, campaign/battle card driven, card game, deduction, expansion, hidden roles, memory, party game, player elimination, team-based game, traitor game

Player Count:  4-8

Solo Mode:  no

Complexity:  light

Risk:  medium-low

Summary:  In Good Cop Bad Cop, “you’re a cop in a corrupt police district where you have to figure out who’s on your side and who’s not, with the ultimate goal of eliminating the leader of the opposing team.” In the Promoted expansion, “you play a series of games and earn medals for your heroism during the game. Those medals are used to get promotions in the next game, which provide a unique action you can take that no one else can take.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping):  $18

All-In (w/shipping):  $79, includes the base game, extras, and vanity rewards

Campaign Ends:  6/25

Game Ships:  Jan. 2021

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 279%, with 28 days to go.

Project:  Kemet: Blood and Sand

Designers:  Jacques Bariot (Give Me Five, Kemet, Nefertiti), Guillaume Montiage (Death Wears White, Kemet, Nefertiti)

Artists:  Arnaud Boudiron (Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood of Venice, Bloodborne: The Card Game), Pierre Santamaria (Unlock! The Formula, Unlock! The House on the Hill, Unlock! In Pursuit of Cabrakan)

Publisher:  Matagot (13 Days: The Cuban Missile Crisis, Aeon’s End, Aquasphere, Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig, Captain Sonar, Charterstone, Concordia Venus, Crown of Emara, Cyclades, Dice Town, Everdell, Fields of Green, Herbaceous, Inis, Istanbul, Istanbul: The Dice Game, Jump Drive, Kemet, Lanterns: The Harvest Festival, Meeple Circus, Modern Art, My Little Scythe, The Oracle of Delphi, Orleans, Race for the Galaxy, Parks, Port Royal, Raptor, Root, Sagrada, Scythe, Shadow Hunters, Takenoko, Tapestry, Tigris & Euphrates, Treasure Island, Viticulture Essential Edition, Western Legends, Wingspan)

Genre/Mechanisms:  action points, area majority/influence, area movement, card drafting, fighting, hand management, miniatures

Player Count:  2-5

Solo Mode:  no

Complexity:  medium-heavy

Risk:  medium-high

Summary:  “Play one of the Egyptian gods, aiming to stamp your dominance on the parched land. Build pyramids and combine godly powers to create powerful asymmetric combinations and lead your followers in glorious battles.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping):  $36, just the upgrade pack

All-In (w/shipping):  $91

Campaign Ends:  6/16

Game Ships:  Aug. 2021

Funding Status: Currently at 481%, with 19 days to go.

Project:  Salt & Bones

Designer:  David Cairho

Artists:  Duski, Saranit Klinklaykun

Publisher:  The Pen & Dragon

Genre/Mechanisms:  2 players, advantage token, card drafting, card game, grid coverage, hand management, interrupts, map reduction, square grid, take that, zone of control

Player Count:  2

Solo Mode:  no

Complexity:  medium-light

Risk:  HIGH

Summary:  “A 2-player dueling game with a nautical fantasy setting. You are a captain locked in a duel on the deck during a boarding action. Conquer your opponent by out-thinking and out-maneuvering them on an ever-shrinking battlefield.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping):  $37, early bird price

All-In (w/shipping):  $41

Campaign Ends:  6/25

Game Ships:  Dec. 2020

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 129%, with 28 days to go.

Project:  Sugar Heist

Designers:  Alex Clark, Zach Craley

Artist:  Alex Clark

Publisher:  Alex Clark, Studio71 (The Binding of Isaac: Four Souls, Half Truth, Tapeworm)

Genre/Mechanisms:  hand management, push your luck, set collection, take that

Player Count:  2-4, 2-6 with expansion

Solo Mode:  no

Complexity:  light

Risk:  HIGH

Summary:  “A card game where players collect, trade, and steal candy cards. Dominate your opponents and strategically heist their sweets as you battle it out for the biggest stash of candy.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping):  $27

All-In (w/shipping):  $97, includes extras & vanity rewards

Campaign Ends:  6/25

Game Ships:  Dec. 2020

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 377%, with 29 days to go.