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

Project: Alien Exiles

Designers: Georgios Loukopoulos, Faye Panousopoulou

Artist: Faye Panousopoulou

Publisher: Dwarven Guild Games

Genre/Mechanisms: card game, hand management, humor, hot potato, interrupts, party game, player elimination, science fiction, take that

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “Alien Exiles is a quick card game, where players, as members of a planetary government, try to avoid occupation by aliens while scheming and plotting, using or abusing their power to send aliens to other “friendly” planets to eliminate them. Last man standing is the winner! A player must perform two actions on each of their turn and each action can be either play a card or draw a card. Players are trying avoid being occupied by aliens by either using government cover ups, sending them back to their planet (draw pile) or using “custom” travel papers to send them to other players. The number of aliens needed for a player to be eliminated depends on the number of players. The game ends once all other players are eliminated and only one is standing.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $37

All-In (w/shipping): $37, same as above

Campaign Ends: 6/28

Game Ships: Dec. 2021

Funding Status: Currently at 12% with 18 days to go.

Project: Book of Villainy

Designer: Fertessa Allyse

Artists: Melissa Douglas, Alisha Volkman (Adventure Tactics: Domianne’s Tower, Parkies, Underlings of Underwing)

Publisher: Gold Seal Games (Honey Wars, Kōhaku, Tricky Tides)

Genre/Mechanisms: rondel, set collection

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-heavy

Risk: medium-high

Summary: “You’re a villain, but not very good at it — so you’re writing a book about being a villain instead! Travel around the city hiring dastardly henchman, building outrageous gadgets, and hatching nefarious schemes. Most importantly, record your deeds in your book. May the best… errr… worst villain win! In Book of Villainy, you move around various locations in rondel fashion, collecting sets of henchman to complete pages for your book. You score points by collecting pages of certain colors and arranging the pages in your book in ascending order. Once any player completes their book, the game ends.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $38

All-In (w/shipping): $38, same as above

Campaign Ends: 7/1

Game Ships: July 2022

Funding Status: Currently at 79% with 22 days to go.

Project: Heroes of Barcadia

Designer: Madison O’Neil

Artists: Madison O’Neil

Publisher: Rollacrit

Genre/Mechanisms: card game, drinking game, tile placement

Player Count: 2-6

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “Heroes of Barcadia is a 2-6 player tile-based, dungeon-crawling tabletop party game with a liquid twist: your character’s health is measured by the drink in your glass.  Build out your dungeon, fight monsters, collect Power-Ups to advance your character’s abilities, and use Loot Cards to stop your opponents from reaching the Grand Drink Guardian first. Nice guys finish last in this fast-paced, ever-changing, pun-tastic party game, so come ready to rum-ble and bring your thirst for adventure!”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $50

All-In (w/shipping): $1515, includes vanity reward

Campaign Ends: 7/7

Game Ships: Mar. 2022

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 318% with 28 days to go.

Project: Lonely Undead

Designer: Shelby Matussak

Artist: Shelby Matussak

Publisher: Dead Lemon Games

Genre/Mechanisms: action drafting, action/event, adventure, area movement, card play conflict resolution, die icon resolution, grid movement, hand management, humor, kill steal, pieces as map, roles with asymmetric information, stat check resolution, zombies

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “Lonely Undead is a survival board game that pits (very recently infected) zombies (Zs) head-to-head against a small-town of wannabe heroes, innocent bystanders, and other freshly turned Zs. Each player embodies a different Z with its own distinct set of special abilities and styles fitting to their character. If the characters can be harnessed effectively depends on a number of factors, for this is no push over town and you’re not the only one out seeking friends. Plan and navigate your way about town and find some people to bite. Whilst doing so, look for supplies to aid your cause, but be careful who you walk up on. You might not always enjoy who you discover. Your targets are The Living and are revealed upon engagement. Each Living has its own set of attributes and bonuses that you have to try to beat. If they’re stronger than you, hope that chance is on your side.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $70

All-In (w/shipping): $70, same as above

Campaign Ends: 7/6

Game Ships: June 2022

Funding Status: Currently at 20% with 26 days to go.