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

Project: The Great Wall Reprint

Designers: Kamil ‘Sanex’ Cieśla (Bees: The Secret Kingdom, SiegeStorm: SiegeMode), Robert Plesowicz (Tamashii: Chronicle of Ascend), Łukasz Włodarczyk (Flick of Faith)

Artist: Piotr Gacek (Lords of Hellas, Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon, This War of Mine: The Board Game)

Publisher: Awaken Realms (Etherfields, Lords of Hellas, Nemesis, Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon, This War of Mine: The Board Game)

Genre/Mechanisms: command cards, economic, income, investement, secret unit deployment, territory building, turn order: claim action, worker placement, worker placement with different worker types

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: heavy

Risk: low

Summary: “In The Great Wall, the players take the role of Generals defending the Wall against the Mongol Horde. The game is played over a series of turns called Years, each divided into 4 parts called Seasons. During Spring, new barbaric hordes invade the fields in front of the Great Wall and prepare to launch their assault. Summer is the time when generals prepare for the assault and mobilize their forces. During Fall, players take their turns, playing Command cards, resolving their effects and Activating Locations to gain various benefits. In Winter, the last layer of Defense is activated, then, the hordes try to assault the Walls. During the course of the game, players will create their own unique engines based on their clan strength as well as interact with other players during all phases of the game, trying to get the most Honor points, which can be gained in a lot of different ways.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $150

All-In (w/shipping): $403

Campaign Ends: 5/6

Game Ships: May 2023

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 750% with 11 days to go.

Project: Hydroracers – The Schneider Trophy Epic (on Gamefound)

Designer: Emmanuel Albisser

Artists: Elena Degl’Innocenti (Feralis: Obscure Land), Hideaki Ozawa

Publisher: Platypus Game (The Great Race)

Genre/Mechanisms: aviation / flight, deck building, grid movement, race, racing

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A game of fast races interspersed with preparation phases where each nation improves its aircraft. The game alternates between development and racing phases. When racing, each player takes a turn to play a card from his hand and move forward on the circuit. In development, the player picks chips from a bag of the player’s color. When a chip is drawn, the player chooses which development they want to invest. The number of phases is defined according to the duration desired by the players. The game ends with a final race phase. The winner of the Schneider Trophy is the one who has accumulated the most victory points during the races.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $90

All-In (w/shipping): $322

Campaign Ends: 5/12

Game Ships: Apr. 2023

Funding Status: Currently at 42% with 18 days to go.

Project: Morels: 10th Anniversary

Designer: Brent Povis (Agility)

Artists: Vince Dorse (Agility), Jarek Nocoń (1775: Rebellion, Coup, Freedom: The Underground Railroad, K2, The Resistance), Brent Povis

Publisher: Two Lanterns Games (Agility)

Genre/Mechanisms: 2 player only games, card game, educational, hand management, open drafting, set collection

Player Count: 2

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A strategic card game for two players, using two decks: a Day Deck (of 84 cards), that includes ten different types of mushrooms as well as baskets, cider, butter, pans, and moons; and a smaller Night Deck (of 8 cards) of mushrooms to be foraged by moonlight. Each mushroom card has two values: one for selling and one for cooking. Selling two or more like mushrooms grants foraging sticks that expand your options in the forest (that is, the running tableau of eight face-up cards on the table), enabling offensive or defensive plays that change with every game played. Cooking sets of three or more like mushrooms – sizzling in butter or cider if the set is large enough – earns points toward winning the game. With poisonous mushrooms wielding their wrath and a hand-size limit to manage, card selection is a tricky proposition at every turn. Following each turn, one card from the forest moves into a decay pile that is available for only a short time. The Day Deck then refills the forest from the back, creating the effect of a walk in the woods in which some strategic morsels are collected, some are passed by, and others lay ahead.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $20

All-In (w/shipping): $25

Campaign Ends: 5/6

Game Ships: June 2022

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 880% with 13 days to go.

Project: Xola – a Domination Card Game

Designer: Ivan Mendez

Artists: public domain art

Publisher: Kursed Games

Genre/Mechanisms: card game, civilization, modular board, open drafting

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A competitive game of domination where players take control of the mighty Aztec Empire in the height of its power. Players have access to a wide variety of cards in order to impose their presence on the different cities surrounding the grand Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan. Using a shared 100 card deck, players take turns and place cards on Aztec cities, increasing their power and dominance on the map. After a round ends, new cities become available for the players to claim. The game ends when all cities on the map have been claimed. The player that has the strongest presence in the region wins the game.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $42

All-In (w/shipping): $42, same as above

Campaign Ends: 5/21

Game Ships: Apr. 2023

Funding Status: Currently at 4% with 27 days to go.