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

Project:  Crimson Company – Ragnarok

Designers:  Fabian Fischer (Crimson Company, Crimson Company: The Other Side), Dario Reinhardt (Crimson Company, Crimson Company: The Other Side)

Artist:  Janna Sophia (Crimson Company, Crimson Company: The Other Side)

Publisher:  Crimson Company (Crimson Company, Crimson Company: The Other Side)

Genre/Mechanisms:  auction/bidding, card drafting, card game, expansion

Player Count:  1-4

Solo Mode:  yes

Complexity:  medium-light

Risk:  medium-high

Summary:  In Crimson Company, “players take on the roles of adventurous noblemen in a cut-throat fantasy world. In a battle of wits, they assemble armies of sellswords, from hardened warriors and shady merchants to mythical creatures as old as time. Your goal in a match of Crimson Company is to conquer two of the three castles in the center. The Ragnarok expansion adds a set of viking-themed sellswords to the game. Among them are a number of ‘norse god’ cards that feature the new ‘passive’ keyword and add their own unique rules and twists to the battlefield whenever they’re in play.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping):  $43

All-In (w/shipping):  $81

Campaign Ends:  6/4

Game Ships:  Nov. 2020

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 205%, with 21 days to go.

Project:  Doublehead Kids

Designer:  Joerg Trojan

Artist:  Joerg Trojan

Publisher:  Studio Trojan

Genre/Mechanisms:  card drafting, card game, children’s game, team-based game

Player Count:  4-6

Solo Mode:  no

Complexity:  light

Risk:  HIGH

Summary:  “Popular German trick-taking card game Doppelkopf newly interpreted in a family-friendly version.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping):  $18

All-In (w/shipping):  $38

Campaign Ends:  6/2

Game Ships:  June 2020

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 562%, with 19 days to go.

Project:  Forest Guardians

Designers:  Jhao-Ru Chen (Frontline Defence, Ocean Crisis, Ocean Crisis: Catastrophe), Lee Wei Hsuan (Rangers of the Protection Forest, Strange Vending Machine, UFO Tumble), Hsien Pu Jan (Frontline Defence, Ocean Crisis, Ocean Crisis: Catastrophe), Chi Wei Lin (Adventurer’s Kit, Ocean Crisis, Paleolithic)

Artist:  Meng-Jung Yang (Numeracy Legends and the Rainbow Unicorn, Ocean Crisis, Paleolithic)

Publisher:  Shepherd Kit, Inc. (Numeracy Legends and the Rainbow Unicorn, Ocean Crisis, Paleolithic)

Genre/Mechanisms:  area majority/influence, hexagon grid, map addition, tile placement

Player Count:  2-4

Solo Mode:  no

Complexity:  medium-light

Risk:  medium-high

Summary:  “Forest Guardians is a tile-placement game where players draw and place tiles of the mountain landscape and natural wonders of Taiwan. While exploring the wilderness, your main mission as a ranger is to work on reforestation, rescue wildlife, and respond to any threats to the forest. Throughout the game, players may develop ranger skills, protect the wildlife, and strive to become the true guardian of the forest.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping):  $52

All-In (w/shipping):  $125, includes other games

Campaign Ends:  6/2

Game Ships:  Nov. 2020

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 192%, with 19 days to go.

Project: Frenemy Pastry Party

Designer:  Jesse Li (The Flow of History, Guns & Steel, Ponzi Scheme)

Artists:  Lazy Cat Amix, Sherry Huang

Publisher:  Solis Game Studio (Pocket Paragons)

Genre/Mechanisms:  bluffing, card drafting, card game, children’s game

Player Count:  3-6

Solo Mode:  no

Complexity:  light

Risk:  HIGH

Summary:  “A family card game about baking cakes with your animal friends.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping):  $25

All-In (w/shipping):  $80, includes playmat & t-shirts

Campaign Ends:  6/11

Game Ships:  Sep. 2020

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 103%, with 28 days to go.

Project: HEL: The Last Saga

Designer:  David Rakoto (Cold War: CIA vs KGB, Star Wars: Empire vs. Rebellion, The World of SMOG: Rise of Moloch)

Artists:  David Demaret (Batman: Gotham City Chronicles, Claustrophobia 1643, Mythic Battles: Pantheon), Christophe Madura (Battlore, Dogs of War, Mission: Red Planet, Wiz-War Eighth Edition)

Publisher:  Mythic Games (Mythic Battles: Pantheon, Reichbusters: Project Vril, Time of Legends: Joan of Arc)

Genre/Mechanisms:  cooperative game, exploration, horror

Player Count:  1-4

Solo Mode:  yes

Complexity:  medium-heavy

Risk:  medium-high

Summary:  “A cooperative, survival-horror, viking-themed board game, HEL: The Last Saga is highly narrative, with chapters to read according to what the players accomplish. The game mechanisms mix exploration and tactical combat with a bit of resource management.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping):  $163

All-In (w/shipping):  $163, same as above

Campaign Ends:  5/26

Game Ships:  June 2021

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 382%, with 12 days to go.

Project: Out Style

Designer:  Dominic Michael H. (Castle Dukes, Shake Up, Sweet Spot)

Artist:  Leo Aquino

Publisher:  Medieval Lords (Castle Dukes, Shake Up, Sweet Spot)

Genre/Mechanisms:  betting & bluffing, bluffing, hand management, push your luck, sports

Player Count:  1-2, 4

Solo Mode:  yes

Complexity:  medium-light

Risk:  medium-low

Summary:  “A crazy fast game of streetball– basketball, but focused heavily on pure showmanship and individual skill display.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping):  $18

All-In (w/shipping):  $18, same as above

Campaign Ends:  5/29

Game Ships:  Jan. 2021

Funding Status: Currently at 60%, with 15 days to go.

Project:  Power Rangers: Heroes of the Grid Rise of the Psycho Rangers

Designer:  Jonathan Ying (Bargain Quest, DOOM: The Board Game, Star Wars: Imperial Assault)

Artist:  Daniel Mora

Publisher:  Renegade Game Studios (Altiplano, Arboretum, Architects of the West Kingdom, Clank! A Deck-Building Adventure, Clank! In! Space!, Clank! Legacy: Acquisitions Incorporated, Ex Libris, Explorers of the North Sea, The Fox in the Forest, FUSE, Honshu, Lanterns: The Harvest Festival, Paladins of the West Kingdom, Raiders of the North Sea, Snow Tails, Trajan, Wendake, World’s Fair 1893)

Genre/Mechanisms:  action points, cooperative game, dice rolling, fighting, hand management, variable player powers

Player Count:  2-5

Solo Mode:  no

Complexity:  medium-heavy

Risk:  medium-low

Summary:  “A pair of new Power Rangers: Heroes of the Grid products: the new Rise of the Psycho Rangers expansion and the new Villain Pack #2: Machine Empire, plus the ability to pledge for everything else published to-date.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping):  $50, just Villain Pack #2: Machine Empire

All-In (w/shipping):  $635

Campaign Ends:  5/26

Game Ships:  Sep. 2020

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 739%, with 13 days to go.

Project:  Railroad Ink Challenge

Designers:  Hjalmar Hach (Dragon Castle, Photosynthesis, Railroad Ink: Blazing Red Edition, Railroad Ink: Deep Blue Edition), Lorenzo Silva (Dragon Castle, Dungeon Fighter, Potion Explosion, Railroad Ink: Blazing Red Edition, Railroad Ink: Deep Blue Edition, Steam Park)

Artist:  Marta Tranquilli (Railroad Ink: Blazing Red Edition, Railroad Ink: Deep Blue Edition)

Publisher:  Horrible Guild (Dragon Castle, Dungeon Fighter, Potion Explosion, Railroad Ink: Blazing Red Edition, Railroad Ink: Deep Blue Edition, Steam Park)

Genre/Mechanisms:  dice rolling, line drawing, network and route building, paper-and-pencil, roll-and-write, solo/solitaire game

Player Count:  1-4

Solo Mode:  yes

Complexity:  light

Risk:  medium-high

Summary:  These two new editions in the Railroad Ink series are “quick-playing roll-and-write games featuring an all-new focus on player interaction thanks to in-game goals. Each edition of Railroad Ink Challenge includes one expansion with an additional dice set that adds new special rules.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping):  $30

All-In (w/shipping):  $101

Campaign Ends:  6/3

Game Ships:  Dec. 2020

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 1224%, with 20 days to go.