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

Project: Damnation: The Gothic Game

Designer: Kris Rees

Artists: Anca Albu (Skytear), Hueala Teodor

Publisher: Blackletter Games

Genre/Mechanisms: card game, dice, exploration, horror, mature/adult, team-based game

Player Count: 2-6

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “In this licensed version of the 1992 cult classic, The Gothic Game, players will once again compete to be the last survivor while exploring Dracula’s Castle. As each player is eliminated one by one, a ‘Deathknell’ card is drawn, introducing a brutal new rule to the game that dramatically increases the lethality of the castle. This limits the downtime eliminated players experience as the game naturally speeds up. Damnation: The Gothic Game includes four different game modes, including a classic mode that that closely resembles the original. Resurrection and team resurrection modes include rules that remove the player elimination mechanic, instead rewarding the first player/team to reach a certain number of kills.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $67

All-In (w/shipping): $122

Campaign Ends: 11/21

Game Ships: Aug. 2022

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 1206% with 24 days to go.

Project: DVG – Warfighter WWII North Africa and Mediterranean

Designers: Benjamin Chee (Warfighter: The WWII Mediterranean Combat Card Game, Warfighter: The WWII North African Combat Card Game), Brett Grimmond (Warfighter: The WWII Mediterranean Combat Card Game, Warfighter: The WWII North African Combat Card Game), Colin David Makin (Warfighter: The WWII North African Combat Card Game)

Artists: not credited

Publisher: Dan Verssen Games (Field Commander: Napoleon, Thunderbolt Apache Leader, Warfighter: The Special Forces Card Game)

Genre/Mechanisms: card game, cooperative game, dice rolling, hand management, simulation, solo/solitaire game, war game, world war II

Player Count: 1-6

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-heavy

Risk: medium-low

Summary: “Play solo or cooperatively with your friends against the system to complete World War II squad-level combat missions, set in the Mediterranean Theatre of Operations (MTO) in North Africa. The core game gives you a full team of British 8th Army Soldiers. Expansions then add to these sets. This includes the soldiers, weapons, equipment, and tactics used by each of those nations. Everything you need to create your own unique squad of soldiers! At the start of each mission, you each select one or more Player Soldiers, equip them with skills, weapons, and combat gear within the mission’s Resource limit. You then fight your way through hostile territory and engage enemy soldiers, as you attempt to reach and complete your mission objective. Every mission is a stand-alone game. You build your Soldiers, select your Gear, and then run your mission. Within 30 to 60 minutes you will have succeeded or failed.

Warfighter: The WWII Mediterranean Combat Card Game shifts the locale to Italy.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $80

All-In (w/shipping): $310

Campaign Ends: 11/17

Game Ships: June 2022

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 146% with 20 days to go.

Project: Hanamikoji: Geisha’s Road

Designers: Jerry Chiang, Eros Lin (Burano, Herbalism, Round House)

Artist: Maisherly (Hanamikoji, Shadows in Kyoto, Walking in Burano)

Publisher: Emperor S4 (Hanamikoji, Round House, Walking in Burano)

Genre/Mechanisms: 2 players, area majority/influence, area movement, card game, hand management

Player Count: 2

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: medium-high

Summary: “In Hanamikoji: Geisha’s Road, a competitive strategy game full of implicit intentions, veiled messages, and hidden actions, players represent rival but friendly patrons supporting Yoko, Tomoyo, and others along their journey from apprentice (maiko) to full geisha (artist) and perhaps even the owner (okaasan) of their own establishment. At the end of the game, the player who provides the most support to each geisha is recognized. The player who has supported the most prestigious group of geisha wins the game.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $31

All-In (w/shipping): $124

Campaign Ends: 11/30

Game Ships: May 2022

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 342% with 33 days to go.

Project: Kinghill

Designer: Petr Marek

Artists: Douglas Duarte (Anime Saga), Tan Ho Sim (DinoGenics, The Silver River)

Publisher: Petr Marek

Genre/Mechanisms: card game, card drafting, card play conflict resolution, economic, fantasy, increase value of unchosen resources, player elimination, team-based game, tile placement, worker placement with different worker types

Player Count: 1-2

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A modern card-battle for 2 players, driven by worker placement. You are tasked to gain dominance over your rival using units and spells. Send your peasants out to gather resources or promote them into specialists capable of unique actions and bonuses. The enemies walls are strong however. You will need to build your empire, expand your castle and task your mages to study powerful spells. And if the war’s outcome remains undecided for too long, mighty Powers enter the game, tearing the very continent apart!”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $40

All-In (w/shipping): $64

Campaign Ends: 11/22

Game Ships: Dec. 2022

Funding Status: Currently at 98% with 25 days to go.

Project: MonsDRAWsity: Unusual Suspects

Designers: Matt Lees, Eric Slauson (MonsDRAWsity, Tattoo Stories), Quintin Smith

Artists: various

Publisher: Deep Water Games (Fantastic Factories, Hanamikoji, Welcome To…)

Genre/Mechanisms: line drawing, party game

Player Count: 3-8

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: medium-low

Summary: “MonsDRAWsity is back with MonsDRAWsity: Unusual Suspects, a brand new, stand-alone edition. When Deep Water Games decided to make another version, it made perfect sense to collaborate with the brilliant weirdos at Shut Up and Sit Down, a group of people known for being hilarious, energetic, wonderfully bizarre, and original. MonsDRAWsity: Unusual Suspects features over 100 new monsters conjured up by Shut Up and Sit Down and illustrated by some of your favorite (or soon to be favorite) artists.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $29

All-In (w/shipping): 129

Campaign Ends: 11/23

Game Ships: June 2022

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 183% with 26 days to go.

Project: Ninja Cat Cucumber ATTACK!

Designers: Bonnie Meekins

Artist: Bonnie Meekins

Publisher: Bonnie Meekins

Genre/Mechanisms: card game, fighting, hand management, take that

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A slap-happy card game of weapon wielding ninja cats and cucumbers where you battle opponents to gain control of the deck.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $20

All-In (w/shipping): $20, same as above

Campaign Ends: 11/25

Game Ships: Dec. 2021

Funding Status: Currently at 39% with 28 days to go.

Project: Power Plants

Designer: Adam E. Daulton (K’uh Nah, Ninja Camp)

Artist: Apolline Etienne (Fossilis, Muse, Wreck Raiders)

Publisher: Kids Table BG (Fossilis, Problem Picnic: Attack of the Ants, Wreck Raiders)

Genre/Mechanisms: area majority/influence, fantasy, puzzle, solo/solitaire game, territory-building, tile placement

Player Count: 1-5

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-heavy

Risk: medium-low

Summary: “In Power Plants, you are a wizard growing a shared garden of magical plants with your rivals. Each turn, you choose one of the patch tiles from your hand and add it to the growing garden. You can activate the added tile for its dynamic ‘plant’ power or activate all the tiles it touches for their slightly weaker (but still very cool) ‘grow’ powers. As the fields expand, you strategically deploy your sprites to gain control of more and more of the fantastic flora. Will your magical horticulture skills pay off? Manipulate the garden’s growth, gather magical gems, and deploy your team of loyal sprites to repel your competition and be in control of the most valuable fields when the garden is complete!”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $44

All-In (w/shipping): $59

Campaign Ends: 11/18

Game Ships: Nov. 2022

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 116% with 21 days to go.

Project: Resident Evil™: The Board Game

Designer: Sherwin Matthews (Horizon Zero Dawn: The Board Game, Resident Evil 2: The Board Game, Resident Evil 3: The Board Game)

Artist: Doug Telford (Godtear, Guild Ball, Guild Ball: Kick Off!)

Publisher: Steamforged Games Ltd. (Dark Souls: The Board Game, Dark Souls: The Card Game, Guild Ball)

Genre/Mechanisms: adventure, cooperative game, exploration, solo/solitaire game, video game theme, zombies

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-heavy

Risk: medium-high

Summary: “Resident Evil: The Board Game is a campaign game playable over 27 hours, where every decision counts and has far-reaching consequences. Every resource must be managed, every bullet counted. Fighting isn’t the only way to survive. You’ll have to decide when to attack and when to flee. But you won’t always get a choice. As your campaign goes on, the mansion will evolve and the danger level will rise. The tension and encounter decks will change, adding mysterious new cards and altering the effects of old cards to make them even more dangerous. But effects don’t just happen over time. Tension cards can change enemy behaviors at any moment, making them more lethal from one turn to the next. Short on time? Each Resident Evil: The Board Game scenario is also playable as a 60-90 minute one-shot, for bite-sized nightmare sessions.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $123

All-In (w/shipping): $322

Campaign Ends: 11/11

Game Ships: Mar. 2023

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 756% with 14 days to go.

Project: Skulls of Sedlec Expansion Collection (and reprint)

Designer: Dustin Dobson (Skulls of Sedlec)

Artist: Marty Cobb (Antinomy, Skulls of Sedlec, SpaceShipped)

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

Genre/Mechanisms: card drafting, card game, pattern building, renaissance, set collection

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: light

Risk: medium-low

Summary: “You are novice monks, competing to create the best arrangement of skulls. Dig up graves from the graveyard to reveal cards, take cards into your hand to collect skulls, and arrange the cards from your hand into a stack. Whoever better honors the deceased’s last wishes will score more points. The Bone Collector will then judge each player’s completed stack and declare one as the most exceptional. Champions benefit from gathering followers alongside them for one last hurrah. Champions score points for connected skulls of a certain type, and want to be next to groups of their supporters. Merchants want to be next to Peasants but avoid criminals. Zealots want to have many Priests above or below them.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $15

All-In (w/shipping): $45

Campaign Ends: 11/6

Game Ships: Feb. 2022

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 2086% with 9 days to go.