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

Project: Pacific Rails Inc.

Designer: Dean Morris

Artist: Damien Mammoliti (Brass: Birmingham, Brass: Lancashire, Edge of Darkness)

Publisher:   Vesuvius Media (Dwar7s Fall, Dwar7s Winter, Centauri Saga)

Genre/Mechanisms: connections, economic, grid movement, network and route building, worker placement

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-heavy

Risk: medium-low

Summary: “Pacific Rails Inc is an engine building, resource management, worker placement, network/route building game for 2 to 4 players.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $50

All-In (w/shipping): $75

Campaign Ends: 1/27

Game Ships: Sep. 2020

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 174%, with 13 days to go.

Project: Crusader Kingdoms: War for the Holy Land

Designer: Jesus Peralta Garcia

Artist: Jesus Peralta Garcia

Publisher:  Worthington Publishing

Genre/Mechanisms: hand management, war game

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-heavy

Risk: medium-low

Summary: “Crusader Kingdoms is a game for 1-4 players set in the era of the Crusades, where each player controls one of Outremer’s main Christian or Muslim kingdoms, with the goal of expanding it through intrigue and conquest.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $76

All-In (w/shipping): $76, same as above

Campaign Ends: 2/1

Game Ships: Sep. 2020

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 379%, with 18 days to go.

Project: Minigolf Designer Board Game

Designer: Alban Nanty

Artist: Gul E. Raana

Publisher:  Thematic Games

Genre/Mechanisms: tile placement, set collection

Player Count: 1-5

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “In Minigolf Designer, players will compete to collect tiles representing sections of minigolf holes, and arrange them the way they want to form a 9 holes miniature golf course. However, in the end the players will gain more or less victory points depending on certain aspects of their minigolf, and also depending on the number of people drawn on their minigolf.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $55

All-In (w/shipping): $68

Campaign Ends: 2/10

Game Ships: July 2020

Funding Status: Currently at 25%, with 28 days to go.

Project: Shifting Realms: Darkness Revealed

Designers: Craig Van Ness (Heroscape Master Set: Rise of the Valkyrie, Horoscope Master Set: Swarm of the Marro, Risk: Star Wars Edition, Star Wars: The Queen’s Gambit), Jeff Van Ness (Shifting Realms, Pirate Tricks)

Artists: JJ Ariosa (Evolution, Mice and Mystics, Roll Player, Summoner Wars, Summoner Wars: Guild Dwarves vs Cave Goblins, Summoner Wars: Master Set, Summoner Wars: Phoenix Elves vs Tundra Orcs), Conceptopolis (Nightfall, Smash Up, Smash Up: Awesome Level 9000)

Publisher:  Soaring Rhino (Shifting Realms, Pirate Tricks)

Genre/Mechanisms: area majority/influence, city building, drafting, grid movement, modular board, variable setup

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: An expansion to Shifting Realms, a fantasy-themed city building game where each session uses 3 of the base game’s 5 realms, adds two new realms to the mix, Knossos and Gehenna. “Each realm comes with a board, structures, story cards, and task cards. The new realms introduce new synergies, mechanisms, and components to the base game.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $25, just the new expansion

All-In (w/shipping): $60, also includes the base game

Campaign Ends: 2/11

Game Ships: May 2020

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 202%, with 28 days to go.