Designers:  Hani Chang (Shaolia: Warring States), Gunho Kim (Shaolia: Warring States)

Artist: Sophia Kang (Shaolia: Warring States)

Publisher:  Bad Comet (Shaolia: Warring States)

Genre/Mechanisms: civilization, dice rolling, expansion, territory-building, worker placement

Funding Status: At the time of this posting, Shaolia is already fully-funded. Pledges currently total more than 3x the initial funding goal with less than 2 days to go on the campaign.

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: medium-high

What It’s About: “A fast-paced dueling game of fantasy kingdom-building with dice-based tactics.” The new Great Houses expansion adds “tons of new and unique cards, 6+ new game modes, and an entire new game system.”

How It Works: “A game of Shaolia ends in 2 ways: by dealing 12 points of damage to your opponents palace, destroying it; or by achieving a culture score of 18.” Shaolia is played over multiple rounds of 3 phases each: Purchase, Building, and Action.

During the Purchase Phase, each player can purchase 4 items from among the Level 1 cards, Level 2 cards, extra dice, and Officers, as long as they have all of the required resources to do so. During the Building Phase, players can pay the Building Cost to build Buildings, pay 3 Gold to open a locked space, and Demolish a constructed card at no cost. Finally, during the Action Phase, the player rolls 3 dice and then activate card abilities with the results.

Rinse and repeat until either end game condition is met. The base game comes with 7 different Game Modes/Scenarios for use with various player counts from 1 to 4. The new Great Houses expansion comes with 6 more Game Modes as well as more of everything: new quests, 120+ new cards, and a pure solo mode.

Comparisons: Since the essence of Shaolia lies in its tableau-building, engine-building, and competitive play between players, it seems closest to 51st State: Master Set, Imperial Settlers, and Machi Koro.

What Should I Pledge?:
$25 Serpens Tier: includes the new Shaolia: Great Houses expansion, the Promo Pack, the Warring States Balance Patch Cards, and all unlocked stretch goals.
$34 Kenta Tier: includes everything in the Serpens Tier, plus a premium big box.
$56 Porcus Tier: includes the Shaolia: Warring States Deluxe Version (only available via Kickstarter) only.
$80 Tigris Tier: includes the Shaolia: Warring States Deluxe Version (only available via Kickstarter), the new Shaolia: Great Houses expansion, the Promo Pack, and all unlocked stretch goals.
$89 Dragon Tier: includes everything in the Tigris Tier, plus a premium big box.

Add-Ons:
$1.80 Pack of (50) sleeves; 90 microns, 46 x 70mm
$7 Pack of (160) sleeves; 90 microns, 72 x 72mm
The Kickstarter also lists the amount needed for sleeves for each individual pledge level:
$8.80 Serpens & Kenta
$14 Porcus
$15.80 Tigris & Dracon

KS Exclusives
Shaolia: Warring States Deluxe Edition remains a Kickstarter Exclusive, and contains the following components not included in the Retail Edition: Metal Coins; upgrade Blockage, Life, and Attack Tokens; and the Mountain People Game Mode and Character Cards. The Promo Pack is also a Kickstarter Exclusive..

All-In Total: In the continental U.S., you’re looking at $99 for the Dragon Tier plus $12 in shipping for a total of $111.

Shaolia 2nd print & Expansion completes its Kickstarter on Friday, October 23rd and tentatively ships in June 2021.