Designer: Tobias Hall (Betwixt and Between, Dicetopia)

Artist: Anthony Cournoyer (City of Gears; Crisis; Rattle, Battle, Grab the Loot)

Publisher: All or None Games (Betwixt and Between, Dicetopia)

Genre/Mechanisms: area control, betting, press your luck, tile placement, variable player powers

Funding Status: At the time of this posting, Goons is already fully-funded.  In fact, pledges currently total about 1.75x the initial funding goal, with 12 hours left to go on the campaign.

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: medium-high

What It’s About:  Players take on the role of struggling Henchmen looking for various Villain Schemes to Commit to and score points.

How It Works: Players take 4 turns each round over the course of 3 rounds. Each turn, players take an action cube from the central grid, either from a corner spot, or a space adjacent to a corner spot, then place that cube on an action spot on their player board. Then the player performs 2 actions correlating to the colors of the cube and the space. The red action allows the player to Work Out at the Dojo, taking a red cube from the Common Supply and adding it to their Personal Supply. The yellow action allows the player to Earn Extra at the Diner, taking 1 Money Token from the Common Supply and adding it to their Personal Supply. The green action allows the player to Get New Stuff at the Supermarket, buying one of the available Items and adding it to their Personal Supply. The blue action allows the player to Mix Things Up at the Nightclub, either moving an Action Cube or Junk Cube from one space to another on the game board, or move 2 of their Energy Markers from a Scheme to another. And finally, players may also take the Commit Action, moving up to 2 Energy Markers from their Personal Supply to a villain that matches the color of the Action used. At the end of each round, Villain Schemes containing Energy Markers are resolved clockwise, and the player with the most Energy Markers on each scheme, collecting money, Energy Markers, and/or victory points. At the end of the game, players score additional points for their Item Cards, 1 point for every $2, and 1 point for every 3 remaining Energy Markers. The player with the most points wins, with the tie-breaker going to the player with the most Items left, and then the player with the most money.

Comparisons:  The simplicity of the game, as well as the tableau of cubes, reminds me of a recent Kickstarter called Dungeon Drop. But that’s only visually, the two games central mechanics are very different. Mechanically, I’m not aware of too many similar games out there quite like this one, which is much of the reason it’s being recommended, along with the impressive and thematic art from Anthony Cournoyer.

What Should I Pledge?:
$42 Goon!: copy of Goons, including all stretch goals.
$57 Luxury Goon!: the Goon! pledge, plus 80 deluxe mini poker chips and a tote bag.

Add-Ons:
None.

KS Exclusives:
None.

All-In Total: In the continental U.S. you’re looking at $42 for the Goon! pledge (assuming you don’t want the poker chips & tote bag) plus $19 in shipping for a total of $61.

Goons completes its Kickstarter on Sunday, August 11th and tentatively ships in May 2020.