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

Project: 2 Kings

Designers: Roberto Bucciarelli, Fabrizio Piccini, Roberto Piccini

Artist: Lim Jiat Jun

Publisher: Jocaranda Games

Genre/Mechanisms: 2 players, abstract strategy, dice, wargame

Player Count: 2

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A 2-player strategic combat game, fully portable in a transforming game box. With a setting broadly inspired by Clash Royale, the inside of the box is a diorama of a battlefield, complete with towers, meadows and a river that divides the two opposing factions.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $34

All-In (w/shipping): $58, also include Poo Poo Fighting

Campaign Ends: 11/26

Game Ships: Mar. 2021

Funding Status: Currently at 17% with 28 days to go.

Project: Asking for Trobils & Expansions

Designers: Erin McDonald (Asking for Trobils, Evil Intent), Christian Strain (Asking for Trobils, Evil Intent)

Artist: Christian Strain (Asking for Trobils, Campaign Trail, Evil Intent)

Publisher: Breaking Games (Letter Tycoon, Joking Hazard, Rise of Tribes)

Genre/Mechanisms: expansion, pick-up and deliver, worker placement

Player Count: 2-7

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: medium-high

Summary: “A worker-placement boardgame where the player is trying their best to rid the star system of Trobils (space pests). Trobil Makers adds a new Location to the board called the Sagan Colony. The expansion also adds new Trobil cards, purple Shard resources, Trobot tokens, and a small board. The eighth Ship that was promised with an extra punchboard in the original game will also be provided.” Asking for Trobils: Companions adds “Companion cards, which are randomly paired with a Shard card and placed in a new player board that includes a Dial. The Dial helps show players where to place Shards and points to the active Quirk of the Companion.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $49, the 2 new expansions only

All-In (w/shipping): $130

Campaign Ends: 11/26

Game Ships: Mar. 2021

Funding Status: Currently at 76% with 22 days to go.

Project: B Movies

Designers: Yann and Clem (Heroes of Normandie, Shadows Over Normandie: Achtung! Cthluhu, Warhammer 40,000: Heroes of Black Reach)

Artists: not credited

Publisher: Kolossal Games (Mezo, Omen: A Reign of War, Western Legends)

Genre/Mechanisms: horror, party game, storytelling, voting

Player Count: 3-6

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: medium-high

Summary: “A highly thematic party game drawing inspiration from the classic low budget sci-fi films. With its unique art style, variable ways to play, and engaging gameplay, B Movies brings everyone to the table. Is your script good enough to become a cult classic?”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $19

All-In (w/shipping): $19, same as above

Campaign Ends: 11/10

Game Ships: July 2021

Funding Status: Currently at 60% with 13 days to go.

Project: Brick & Mortar

Designer: Nicholas J. McCollum

Artist: Tristam Rossin (Cosmic Colonies, Kingswood, Tranquility)

Publisher: Octoraffe Games

Genre/Mechanisms: auction/bidding, commodity speculation, economic, hand management, simultaneous action selection

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A game of narrow margins, quirky stores, and strategic market manipulation. Manage a collection of stores trying to maximize profits, build equity, and undercut the competition amid a fickle market that can change at the whim of their opponents.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $68

All-In (w/shipping): $68, same as above

Campaign Ends: 11/20

Game Ships: Aug 2021

Funding Status: Currently at 78% with 23 days to go.

Project: Crimson Woods

Designer: Joshua P Bryan

Artist: James Hayball (The Refuge: Terror from the Deep)

Publisher: Red Clover Games (Legions of Steel)

Genre/Mechanisms: adventure, card game, dice rolling, exploration, horror, memory, modular board, player elimination

Player Count: 2-6

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-heavy

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A co-operative survival horror game where you are trying to find an escape route out of camp before you fall victim to the killer or are lost in the woods forever.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $50

All-In (w/shipping): $165, includes vanity reward

Campaign Ends: 11/26

Game Ships: Aug. 2021

Funding Status: Currently at 37% with 28 days to go.

Project: Dark Venture – Battle of the Ancients

Designer: Rob Lemon (Dark Venture)

Artist: Rob Lemon (Dark Venture)

Publisher: Gilded Skull Games (Dark Venture)

Genre/Mechanisms: cooperative game, dice rolling, fighting, grid movement, scenario/mission/campaign game, solo/solitaire game, variable player powers

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A tactical strategy game set in the Dark Venture universe where players control asymmetric factions engaging in brutal conflict.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $52

All-In (w/shipping): $94, also includes both expansions

Campaign Ends: 11/24

Game Ships: Oct. 2021

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 144% with 26 days to go.

Project: Dire Alliance: Horror

Designers: Trevor Benjamin (Mandala, Undaunted: Normandy, War Chest), Adam Sadler (Descent: Journeys in the Dark Second Edition, Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Game – The Force Awakens Core Set, Warhammer Quest: The Adventure Card Game), Brady Sadler (Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Game – The Force Awakens Core Set, Street Masters, Warhammer Quest: The Adventure Card Game), David Thompson (Pavlov’s House, Undaunted: Normandy, War Chest)

Artist: Chris Doughman

Publisher: Blacklist Games (Altar Quest, Brook City, Street Masters)

Genre/Mechanisms: cooperative game, deck building, dice rolling, horror, miniatures

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: medium-low

Summary: “Set in a world of classical horror and the first title in the Dire Alliance series of cross-compatible games, Dire Alliance: Horror is a game of tactical deck-building. Players use a hand of cards to make their fighters move, battle, gain new cards, and perform special abilities, and can only win by accomplishing the goal as described on the chosen scenario sheet. Battle Mode lets 2 players go head-to-head, and Raid Mode allows 1 to 4 players to work together to take down an A.I. controlled enemy and its minions before they achieve their nefarious goals.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $66

All-In (w/shipping): $133

Campaign Ends: 11/17

Game Ships: Nov. 2021

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 226% with 19 days to go.

Project: Endless Winter – Paleoamericans

Designers: Stan Kordonskiy (Dice Hospital, Lockup: A Roll Player Tale, Rurik: Dawn of Kiev), Jonny Pac (Coloma, A Fistful of Meeples, Sierra West), Drake Villareal (Merchants Cove)

Artists: Mihajlo Dimitrievski (Architects of the West Kingdom, Explorers of the North Sea, Paladins of the West Kingdom, Raiders of the North Sea, Valeria: Card Kingdoms), Yoma (Gearworks, Planet Unknown, Rurik: Dawn of Kiev)

Publisher: Fantasia Games

Genre/Mechanisms: area majority/influence, deck building, end game bonuses, hand management, modular board, set collection, simultaneous action selection, solo/solitaire game, tableau building, territory building, worker placement

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-heavy

Risk: medium-high

Summary: “Endless Winter: Paleoamericans takes place in North America, around 10,000 BCE. Players guide the development of their tribes across several generations—from nomadic hunter-gatherers to prosperous tribal societies. Over the course of the game, tribes migrate and settle new lands, establish cultural traditions, hunt paleolithic megafauna, and build everlasting megalithic structures. Endless Winter is a euro-style game that combines worker placement and deck building in an innovative way. Each round, players send their tribe members to various action spaces, and pay for the actions by playing cards and spending resources.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $78

All-In (w/shipping): $146

Campaign Ends: 11/17

Game Ships: Dec. 2021

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 787% with 19 days to go.

Project: Fiveaside

Designer: James Dexter

Artist: James Dexter

Publisher: Slam Dunk Games

Genre/Mechanisms: card game, hand management, set collection, sports, turn order: pass order

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “Try and build your best 5-a-side team from a deck of current and classic players and score goals/points by having the team that totals the most stars at ‘Kick-off’.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $29

All-In (w/shipping): $29, same as above

Campaign Ends: 11/19

Game Ships: Feb. 2021

Funding Status: Currently at 89% with 21 days to go.

Project: Hunting Me, Hunting You

Designer: Daniel Jamie Williams

Artist: Daniel Jamie Williams

Publisher: Daniel Jamie Williams

Genre/Mechanisms: bluffing, card game, deduction, hidden roles, horror, party game, role playing, traitor game

Player Count: 4-8

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A secretive social deduction tabletop battle game in which everyone’s hunting and everyone’s being hunted. The first person to take out their target and identify their attacker wins the round. The game leans less towards an ‘impostor vs the good guys’ game-play but blends that feeling of suspicion with a more battle-based focus. It uses player position as an important mechanic to make players have to adapt but also to give clues along the way.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $33

All-In (w/shipping): $85, includes vanity reward

Campaign Ends: 11/20

Game Ships: Mar. 2021

Funding Status: Currently at 55% with 22 days to go.

Project: The King’s Armory

Designer: John Wrot! (A.D.A.P.T., The King’s Armory)

Artists: Matt Bulahao (The King’s Armory), Jason D. Kingsley (Dead Men Tell No Tales, Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion, Lanterns: The Harvest Festival, Machi Koro, Wasteland Express Delivery Service, World’s Fair 1893), Angel Lopez (The King’s Armory), Greg May (Anomaly, Planetarium), Adelson Tavares (A.D.A.P.T., The King’s Armory)

Publisher: Gate Keeper Games (A.D.A.P.T., The King’s Armory)

Genre/Mechanisms: action points, cooperative game, dice rolling, grid movement, modular board, network and route building, solo/solitaire game, tower defense, variable player powers

Player Count: 1-7

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-heavy

Risk: medium-high

Summary: The new 7th Anniversary Edition is “fully remastered with upgraded components, minis, art, balance, and 5 new beautifully illustrated expansions. At the start of each game you’ll build your own map, choose your own Hero, and then battle ferociously against waves of oncoming monsters. Defeat every monster, on every wave, including their epic boss, and we all win. But should you let the Castle Gate fall, the enemies will use the powerful Armory Weapon against you.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $77

All-In (w/shipping): $218

Campaign Ends: 11/27

Game Ships: Sep. 2021

Funding Status: Currently at 51% with 29 days to go.

Project: The Longest Trench

Designers: Arno Maesen (Treasure Lair), Fréderic Moyersoen (Ninja: Legend of the Scorpion Clan, Nuns on the Run, Saboteur)

Artist: Karsten Schulman (Human Punishment: Social Deduction 2.0)

Publisher: Udo Grebe Gamedesign (Dominant Species; Here I Stand; Labyrinth: The War on Terror, 2001 – ?; Paths of Glory; Twilight Struggle)

Genre/Mechanisms: campaign/battle card driven, card game, dice rolling, educational, wargame

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A two-player card game recreating World War I in a historical series of land and sea battles. The Central Powers (Germany and her allies) are opposed to the Entente (Great Britain, France, Russia and their allies).”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $42

All-In (w/shipping): $54

Campaign Ends: 11/19

Game Ships: June 2021

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 111% with 21 days to go.

Project: Neo-Morphosis: Infestation

Designer: Filippo Chirico (The Order of Vampire Hunters)

Artist: Alexei Popovici (The Order of Vampire Hunters)

Publisher: Dark Gate Games (The Order of Vampire Hunters)

Genre/Mechanisms: area movement, cooperative game, exploration, fighting, miniatures, modular board, solo/solitaire game, variable player powers

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “You and your colleagues must preserve the integrity of the research station from the alien creatures that overrun it while completing scenario objectives.  In campaign mode, you play through several connected scenarios while attempting to reach the truck located at the other side of the research station and escape from the creatures that infested it.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $124

All-In (w/shipping): $169, same as above

Campaign Ends: 11/19

Game Ships: Dec. 2021

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 330% with 21 days to go.

Project: Reckless Sloths

Designers: Sindri Levi, Amelia Prizginaite

Artists: Sindri Levi, Sylvia Vinjars

Publisher: Reckless Games

Genre/Mechanisms: card game party game

Player Count: 2-5

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “You must save these adorable sloths from crazy dangers, by using ridiculous items such as A Taco Fishing ppole, Helpful Batcat, Wonderful Pink Unicorn, and a Depressed Rain Cloud.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $26

All-In (w/shipping): $43

Campaign Ends: 11/20

Game Ships: May 2021

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 140% with 23 days to go.

Project: Sakura Arms

Designer: BakaFire (Code of Nine, Sakura Arms, Tragedy Looper)

Artist: Tokiame (Sakura Arms)

Publisher: Raybox Games (Argent: The Consortium, BattleCON: Devastation of Indines, BattleCON: War of Indines, Millennium Blades)

Genre/Mechanisms: 2 players, card game, deck construction, fighting, hand management, interrupts

Player Count: 2

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-heavy

Risk: medium-low

Summary: “A stylish dueling card game from Japan that combines gorgeous art, deep tactics, and huge variety to minimalist duels. Choose two goddesses and combine their powers to form your own unique deck. Challenge your opponent to a fast, tactical, elegant duel beneath the sakura.” Each of the 3 new boxes includes 6 different characters, for a total of 18.

Base Pledge (w/free shipping): $9

All-In (w/shipping): $173, includes all 3 boxes plus extras

Campaign Ends: 11/19

Game Ships: Aug. 2021

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 128% with 22 days to go.

Project: Samurai Brothers Ninja Battle Game

Designers: Kerry King, Craig Morris

Artist: Dave Quindoy

Publisher: Moon Rock Games

Genre/Mechanisms: campaign/battle card driven, fighting, hand management

Player Count: 2-6

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “Samurai Brothers features hand, tableau management, set collection, and 3 ways to win.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $38

All-In (w/shipping): $38, same as above

Campaign Ends: 11/20

Game Ships: Oct. 2021

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 104% with 23 days to go.

Project: Shogun no Katana

Designers: P.S. Martensen (Radetzky: Milano 1848), Federico Randazzo

Artists: Alan D’Amico (Blitzkrieg!: World War Two in 20 Minutes, Wendake, Whitehall Mystery), Giorgia Lanza, Paolo Vallerga (Florenza, Kepler-3042, Wendake)

Publisher: Post Scriptum (Florenza, Kepler-3042, Wendake)

Genre/Mechanisms: end game bonuses; industry/manufacturing; market; miniatures; solo/solitaire game; turn order: claim action; turn order: progressive; worker placement; worker placement, different worker types

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: heavy

Risk: medium-high

Summary: “Use your workers to choose which swords to make, among those requested by the powerful local Daimyo. Collect resources to improve your craft, and request your artists to create breathtaking decorations. Have your family members admitted to the most strategic rooms of the Shogun’s palace to obtain the privileges of their rank. And finally, create the most beautiful Shogun no Katana.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $81

All-In (w/shipping): $117

Campaign Ends: 11/19

Game Ships: Sep. 2021

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 109% with 21 days to go.

Project: Skeptics

Designer: Jonathan Usiak

Artist: Jonathan Usiak (Coma Ward)

Publisher: Usiak Games and Designs

Genre/Mechanisms: cooperative game, dice rolling, horror, murder/mystery, time track

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A cooperative, dice rolling game, where players explore potentially haunted locations to prove the existence of ghosts. Players take on the role of Investigators gathering evidence of the paranormal.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $66

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

Campaign Ends: 11/26

Game Ships: Aug. 2021

Funding Status: Currently at 17% with 28 days to go.

Project: Vendarla

Designer: Hameed Moore

Artist: Mike F. Miller

Publisher: Moore Games LLC

Genre/Mechanisms: auction/bidding, card game, hand management, push your luck

Player Count: 2-5

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “Collect materials to craft weapons and armor for the Queen’s army while avoiding the threats that reside in the city of Vendarla.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $29

All-In (w/shipping): $29, same as above

Campaign Ends: 11/26

Game Ships: Sep. 2021

Funding Status: Currently at 10% with 28 days to go.