(after a long weekend at Dice Tower West, here’s a list of what launched from 2/26-2/29 that might deserve a closer look)

Project:  Astroforce the Dice Game

Designer: Carl White (Star Trek: The Dice Game, Star Trek: The Dice Game – Away Team)

Artists:  Ben Milnes, Rob Butler (Air Flix, Pocket Landship)

Publisher:  Word Forge Games (D-Day Dice, Devil’s Run: Route 666, Pocket Landship)

Genre/Mechanisms:  2 players, dice rolling, solo/solitaire game, worker placement

Player Count:  1-2

Solo Mode:  yes

Complexity:  light

Risk:  medium-high

Summary:  “Astroforce: The Dice Game is a reimplementation of Carl White’s award winning print and play game Star Trek: The Dice Game.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping):  $60

All-In (w/shipping):  $271, includes vanity rewards

Campaign Ends:  3/16

Game Ships:  Nov. 2020

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 160%, with 13 days to go.

Project:  Circus Corgis

Designer:  Amelie Le-Roche (Art-ish, Dino Dig: Risky Sites, Synchronized)

Artist:  Amelie Le-Roche (Dino Dig: Risky Sites, Synchronized)

Publisher:  Zerua Games (Art-ish, Dino Dig: Risky Sites, Synchronized)

Genre/Mechanisms:  auction/bidding, take that, trick-taking

Player Count:  2-4

Solo Mode:  no

Complexity:  light

Risk:  HIGH

Summary:  “A trick-taking game of corgis at the circus.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping):  $19

All-In (w/shipping):  $38

Campaign Ends:  3/25

Game Ships:  Oct. 2020

Funding Status: Currently at 24%, with 21 days to go.

Project:  Erune

Designers:  Quentin Deleau, Adrien Smondack

Artists:  Quentin Deleau, Kevin Roger

Publisher:  Arkada Studio

Genre/Mechanisms:  action points, dice rolling, dungeon crawler, exploration, miniatures, modular board, paper-and-pencil, role-playing, team-based game

Player Count:  2-5

Solo Mode:  no

Complexity:  medium-heavy

Risk:  HIGH

Summary:  “A modern homage to the classics of the 90’s such as Heroquest,” and more recent games like Descent and Claustrophobia.

Base Pledge (w/shipping):  $115

All-In (w/shipping):  $174

Campaign Ends:  3/19

Game Ships:  Apr. 2021

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 189%, with 15 days to go.

Project:  Eschaton: Metal Round Marker & Fourth Printing

Designers: Diha (Nexus Infernum), Petras Vaznelis (Nexus Infernum), Adam Watts (Deathfear, Kill Ball, Nexus Infernum)

Artists:  Tracy Burnham (Deathfear, Shindig Machine: Bits & Pieces), Diha (Nexus Infernum, Shindig Machine: Bits & Pieces), Adam Watts (Deathfear, Kill Ball, Shindig Machine)

Publisher:  Archon Games (Nexus Infernum)

Genre/Mechanisms:  area majority/influence, card drafting, card game, deck building, hand management, territory building

Player Count:  2-6

Solo Mode:  no

Complexity:  medium-light

Risk:  medium-low

Summary:  “A strategy game driven by a deck-building mechanic,” where “players seek to lead the most favored cult in the final days before Armageddon.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping):  $72

All-In (w/shipping):  $678, includes elaborate extras

Campaign Ends:  3/28

Game Ships:  July 2020

Funding Status: Currently at 75%, with 24 days to go.

Project:  Fate of Venterra

Designers:  Nathan Ball (Struggle and Strife), Zach Kuntz (Struggle and Strife)

Artist:  Jeff Porter (Dastardly Dirigibles, Era of Kingdoms, Xenofera)

Publisher:  Korrosive Games (Struggle and Strife)

Genre/Mechanisms:  action/event, card play conflict resolution, civilization, end game bonuses, force commitment, hexagon grid, modular board, moving multiple units, multiple maps, simultaneous action selection, tech trees/tech tracks, turn order: auction, variable player powers, war-game

Player Count:  2-5

Solo Mode:  no

Complexity:  medium-light

Risk:  HIGH

Summary:  “Fate of Venterra is a war game set in the fictional land of Venterram, a highly strategic territory control game with very few random elements.  Lead one of 5 different factions, as you build structures and recruit units on your path to victory.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping):  $69

All-In (w/shipping):  $79

Campaign Ends:  4/4

Game Ships:  Dec. 2020

Funding Status: Currently at 19%, with 31 days to go.

Project:  Goetia: Nine Kings of Solomon

Designer: Kristian Karlberg

Artist:  Andrzej Masianis

Publisher:  Demonic Games

Genre/Mechanisms:  end game bonuses, horror, modular board, variable player powers, variable setup, worker placement

Player Count:  2-4

Solo Mode:  no

Complexity:  medium-heavy

Risk:  medium-high

Summary:  “A worker placement & resource management game where players try to contact, conjure and worship goetic demons.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping):  $66

All-In (w/shipping):  $66, same as above

Campaign Ends:  3/19

Game Ships:  Jan. 2021

Funding Status: Currently at 76%, with 15 days to go.

Project:  Lost Heroics 1 – Hero: Tales of the Tomes

Designer:  Jimmy Ellerth

Artist:  Jimmy Ellerth

Publisher:  Jimmy Ellerth

Genre/Mechanisms:  card game, hand management, player elimination, take that

Player Count:  2-5

Solo Mode:  no

Complexity:  medium-light

Risk:  HIGH

Summary:  “A multiplayer card game in which each of the players takes the role of a legendary hero and battles it out until only one is left standing.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping):  $17

All-In (w/shipping):  $773, includes elaborate extras

Campaign Ends:  3/28

Game Ships:  Sep. 2020

Funding Status: Currently at 92%, with 24 days to go.

Project:  Lost in Valhalla

Designer:  Sam Milham (Fairy God Plumber, Spaceship Zoo)

Artist:  Sam Milham (Fairy God Plumber, Spaceship Zoo)

Publisher:  Sam Milham (Fairy God Plumber, Spaceship Zoo)

Genre/Mechanisms:  card game, hand management

Player Count:  2-6

Solo Mode:  no

Complexity:  medium-light

Risk:  medium-high

Summary:  “Lost in Valhalla is a survival card game with fighting, crafting and scavenging. You play as a modern soul accidentally sent to an ancient afterlife – Valhalla. Be the first player to escape Valhalla by finding resurrection runes – all while scavenging for supplies and fighting off dangerous foes with mighty weapons!”

Base Pledge (w/shipping):  $23

All-In (w/shipping):  $45

Campaign Ends:  3/26

Game Ships:  Aug. 2020

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 636%, with 22 days to go.

Project:  Merlin Deluxe Big Box

Designers: Stefan Feld (Amerigo, Aquasphere, Bora Bora, Bruges, Carpe Diem, The Castles of Burgundy, The Castles of Burgundy: The Card Game, In the Year of the Dragon, La Isla, Luna, Macao, Notre Dame, The Oracle of Delphi, Rialto, The Speicherstadt, Strasburg, Trajan), Michael Rieneck (Cuba, The Pillars of the Earth, Santiago de Cuba, World Without End)

Artist:  Dennis Lohausen (Aquasphere, Camel Up, Carcassonne: South Seas, Coal Baron, Crown of Emara, Dominion: Intrigue, A Feast for Odin, Fields of Arle, Gaia Project, Glass Road, Hansa Teutonica, Hawaii, Luxor, No Thanks!, The Quacks of Quedlinburg, Rajas of the Ganges, The Taverns of Tiefenthal, Terra Mystica, Village, The Voyages of Marco Polo)

Publisher:  Queen Games (Alhambra, Amerigo, Chicago Express, Escape: The Curse of the Temple, Fresco, Kingdom Builder, Lancaster, Luxor, Shogun, Thebes, Wallenstein)

Genre/Mechanisms:  area majority/influence, roll/spin and move, rondel, set collection, worker placement

Player Count:  2-4

Solo Mode:  no

Complexity:  medium-heavy

Risk:  medium-low

Summary:  The Merlin Big Box includes the new expansions, the previous two expansions, and the base game.

“In Merlin, players move their knights or Merlin with the help of dice around the action ring to get the most desired actions. While the knights are only moved by the corresponding player, Merlin can be moved by all players, which makes integrating Merlin in one’s plan a tricky endeavor.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping):  $50

All-In (w/shipping):  $154

Campaign Ends:  3/12

Game Ships:  Nov. 2020

Funding Status: Currently at 1254%, with 8 days to go.

Project:  Xtronaut 2.0

Designers:  Dante Lauretta (Constellations, Downlink: The Game of Planetary Explorations, Xtronaut: The Game of Solar System Exploration)

Artist:  Benjamin Shulman (Herbaceous; Heroes of Land, Air & Sea; Tiny Epic Galaxies; Tiny Epic Quest; Tiny Epic Zombies)

Publisher:  Xtronaut Enterprises (Constellations, Downlink: The Game of Planetary Explorations, Xtronaut: The Game of Solar System Exploration)

Genre/Mechanisms:  card game, hand management, set collection, space exploration, take that, trading

Player Count:  2-4

Solo Mode:  no

Complexity:  light

Risk:  HIGH

Summary:  “XTRONAUT 2.0: The Game of Solar System Exploration captures the real-world thrill and challenges of planetary exploration.  The game is a revision to XTRONAUT, our hit board-game launched in 2015. We added new actions, new spacecraft, improved game mechanics benefiting from the feedback of our many customers, more actions inspired by real-life, additional space missions, and support for six players. The game is based on real planetary missions and rocket science. It contains elements of politics and strategy that are inspired by the situations that space missions face.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping):  $22, upgrade pack for the first edition

All-In (w/shipping):  $70

Campaign Ends:  4/2

Game Ships:  Sep. 2020

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 106%, with 30 days to go.