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

Project: Backwoods: Cooperative Survival Adventure

Designer: Ryan K. Williams

Artist: Ryan K. Williams

Publisher: Most High Design

Genre/Mechanisms: bag building, cooperative game, dice rolling, grid movement, push your luck, solo/solitaire game

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “You are a pioneer in a forest of choice and consequence. Achieve the expedition’s goals and get to the fort, or die trying.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $45

All-In (w/shipping): $55

Campaign Ends: 8/10

Game Ships: May 2021

Funding Status: Currently at 71%, with 18 days to go.

Project: Fort (not on Kickstarter; up for pre-order at Leder Games)

Designer: Grant Rodiak (Cry Havoc, Farmageddon, Hocus)

Artist: Kyle Ferrin (Oath: Chronicles of Empire and Exile, Root, Vast: The Crystal Caverns)

Publisher: Leder Games (Root, Vast: The Crystal Caverns, Vast: The Mysterious Manor)

Genre/Mechanisms: card game, deck building, follow, hand management

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: low

Summary: “In Fort, you’re a kid! And like many kids, you want to grow your circle of friends, collect pizza and toys, and build the coolest fort.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $40

All-In (w/shipping): $40, same as above

Campaign Ends: probably 8/2-ish (pre-orders ship beginning 8/3)

Game Ships: Aug. 2020

Funding Status: N/A; the game is already Funded, deep in production, and will ship on August 3rd, 2020.

Project: The Fuzzies

Designers: Alex Hague (Monikers, Monikers: The Shut Up & Sit Down Nonsense Box, Wavelength), Justin Vickers (Monikers, Monikers: The Shut Up & Sit Down Nonsense Box, Wavelength), Wolfgang Warsch (The Mind, The Quacks of Quedlinburg, Taverns of Tiefenthal, That’s Pretty Clever, Twice as Clever, Wavelength)

Artists: not credited

Publisher: Palm Court (Monikers, Monikers: The Shut Up & Sit Down Nonsense Box, Wavelength)

Genre/Mechanisms: dexterity, take that

Player Count: 2-4+

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: medium-low

Summary: “The Fuzzies is a game about creating impossible, gravity-defying towers out of fuzzy little balls… then knocking them over like a big clumsy oaf.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $19

All-In (w/shipping): $99, also includes Wavelength, Monikers, and 3 Monikers expansions

Campaign Ends: 8/21

Game Ships: Dec. 2020

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 305%, with 29 days to go.

Project: Kleos

Designer: Jim Kavanaugh

Artist: Enggar Ajar Adirasa

Publisher: Azure Horizon Games

Genre/Mechanisms: dice rolling, hand management, hexagon grid, miniatures, take that

Player Count: 1-5

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A lightly asymmetrical, strategic card game with tactical hex-based combat and area control.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $62

All-In (w/shipping): $62, same as above

Campaign Ends: 8/13

Game Ships: July 2021

Funding Status: Currently at 64%, with 21 days to go.

Project: Spirits of the Forest: Moonlight

Designers: Pierpaolo Paoletti, Michael Schacht (China, Coloretto, Hansa, Web of Power, Zooloretto)

Artist: Natalie Dombois (Kiwetin, Spirits of the Forest)

Publisher: ThunderGryph Games (Spirits of the Forest, Tang Garden, Tao Long: The Way of the Dragon)

Genre/Mechanisms: abstract strategy, card drafting, cooperative game, expansion, set collection, solo/solitaire game

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: light

Risk: medium-low

Summary: “Cooperative and multiplayer scenario-based expansion for Spirits of the Forest.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $30, just the new expansion, cardboard edition

All-In (w/shipping): $88, wooden edition, also includes the base game

Campaign Ends: 8/5

Game Ships: May 2021

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 355%, with 13 days to go.

Project: Token Terrors Battlegrounds

Designers: John de Campos, Phillip Doccolo

Artist: John de Campos

Publisher: Terrible Games

Genre/Mechanisms: 2 players, action points, dice rolling, fighting, grid movement, miniatures, variable player powers, wargame

Player Count: 2

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A 1 VS 1 semi-abstract battle game, starring versatile, dice-sized mini-monsters that complement trading card games and tabletop RPGs.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $16

All-In (w/shipping): $306, includes extras

Campaign Ends: 8/20

Game Ships: Apr. 2021

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 108%, with 28 days to go.

Project: Tokyo Sidekick

Designer: Yusuke Emi

Artists: Tomoko Hirabayashi, ikuyoan, Matsu, Misakanyumen, Nuda, Yamazaki Suhama, Shohei Tamura, Yuuru

Publisher: Japanime Games (Heart of Crown, Krosmaster: Arena, Tanto Cuore)

Genre/Mechanisms: action points, card game, cooperative game, deck building, fighting, hand management, point to point movement, variable player powers

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-heavy

Risk: medium-high

Summary: “A cooperative game that draws inspiration from superhero comics and Japanese pop culture. Each player controls a hero and sidekick, complete with their own unique backstories and special abilities.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $75

All-In (w/shipping): $225, includes extras

Campaign Ends: 8/6

Game Ships: Mar. 2021

Funding Status: Currently at 51%, with 15 days to go.

Project: Turris

Designer: Nikita Chigladze

Artists: Nele Diel (Battle for Rokugan, Machina Arcana, Machina Arcana Second Edition), Vincent Van Hoof (Dreary Hamlet), Renan Assunção , Naomi Robinson (Fields of Green, Hands in the Sea, Kanban: Driver’s Edition)

Publisher: AP Board Games

Genre/Mechanisms: miniatures, worker placement

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-heavy

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “Exiled from a once glorious city, tribes of scavengers are all that remains of a scientifically advanced humanity. Collect resources to complete Missions, build Tower rooms and score Prestige.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $91

All-In (w/shipping): $116

Campaign Ends: 8/13

Game Ships: June 2021

Funding Status: Currently at 74%, with 12 days to go.