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

Project: 1961: A Cold War Card Game

Designer: Blake Propach

Artist: Michael Kuroda

Publisher: House Fish Balloon

Genre/Mechanisms: card game, wargame

Player Count: 2-6

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A Cold War themed card game where players take turns building their nation, spying on enemies, and launching missiles. As tensions build, the threat of nuclear war looms overhead, and players strive toward their preferred outcome: technological victory, world peace, or mutually assured destruction.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $30

All-In (w/shipping): $91

Campaign Ends: 12/17

Game Ships: Apr. 2021

Funding Status: Currently at 25% with 35 days to go.

Project: Bardsung

Designers: Mat Hart (Dark Souls: The Board Game, Guild Ball, Resident Evil 2: The Board Game), Sherwin Matthews (Horizon Zero Dawn: The Board Game, Resident Evil 2: The Board Game)

Artists: Russ Charles (Beyond the Gate of Antares: The Dice Game), Thomas Lishman (Android: Netrunner, Dark Souls: The Board Game, Descent: Journeys in the Dark), Doug Telford (Godtear, Guild Ball, Guild Ball: Kick Off!)

Publisher: Steamforged Games Ltd. (Dark Souls: The Board Game, Dark Souls: The Card Game, Guild Ball)

Genre/Mechanisms: action queue, action retrieval, adventure, campaign/battle card driven, cooperative game, critical hits and failures, deck construction, dice rolling, dungeon crawler, events, exploration, fighting, grid movement, map addition, miniatures, multi-use cards, narrative choice/paragraph, once-per-game abilities, role playing, solo/solitaire game, storytelling, variable player powers

Player Count: 1-5

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-heavy

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “Explore the dungeon in standalone sessions, or as part of a far-reaching narrative campaign that evolves based on your decisions. Bardsung is a game of choosing your path as you seek to inspire the bard’s songs and live your legend. From your physical passage through the dungeon to your journey of building your character into a fabled hero, your choices define your experience.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $134

All-In (w/shipping): $134, same as above

Campaign Ends: 11/27

Game Ships: May 2022

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 272% with 15 days to go.

Project: The Big Lockdown

Designers: David Cooper, Madeleine Frank

Artist: Madeleine Frank

Publisher: Porthos Games

Genre/Mechanisms: action event, card game, economic, hand management, highest-lowest scoring, push your luck, stock holding, sudden death ending, take that, trading

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A tongue-in-cheek card game inspired by people’s experiences whilst in Lockdown during the global pandemic. The game is filled with references to life in lockdown including toilet paper hoarding, home schooling, and work meetings conducted from the toilet. The aim is to build your stockpile of supplies whilst avoiding infection.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $24

All-In (w/shipping): $56, includes vanity reward

Campaign Ends: 12/3

Game Ships: Mar. 2021

Funding Status: Currently at 27% with 21 days to go.

Designers: Josh J. Carlson (Cloudspire, Too Many Bones, Too Many Bones: Undertow), Adam Carlson (Cloudspire, Too Many Bones, Too Many Bones: Undertow)

Artist: Anthony LeTourneau (Cloudspire, Too Many Bones, Too Many Bones: Undertow)

Publisher: Chip Theory Games (Cloudspire, Too Many Bones, Too Many Bones: Undertow)

Genre/Mechanisms: action points, action queue, adventure, exploration, cooperative game, dice rolling, die icon resolution, grid movement, modular board, moving multiple units, puzzle, resource to move, scenario/mission/campaign game, solo/solitaire game, spies/secret agents, tech trees/tech tracks, variable player powers, variable setup

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: heavy

Risk: low

Summary: “A puzzly infiltration game for 1-4 players, burncycle puts you in command of a team of robots in the far future. Their mission: taking down evil, human-run corporations responsible for subjugating AI under their heel. Key to this solo and cooperative experience is the idea of “creative action sequencing.” During each round of play, all players will contend with a randomly drawn set of programming directives, which tell them in what order their bots are allowed to take physical, digital and command actions.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $125

All-In (w/shipping): $305

Campaign Ends: 11/19

Game Ships: Aug. 2021

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 693% with 7 days to go.

Project: Clash of Armies: Medieval

Designer: Pablo Guevara

Artists: Pablo Guevara, Luis Rodriguez Llopis, Emmanuel Bou Roldán, Walter Bou

Publisher: Poncho Games Argentina

Genre/Mechanisms: deck construction, deck building

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “Fast-paced head to head medieval deck builder.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $34

All-In (w/shipping): $34, same as above

Campaign Ends: 12/10

Game Ships: May 2021

Funding Status: Currently at 28% with 20 days to go.

Project: Dirt Dog

Designers: Matt Shoemaker (Bee Lives: We Will Only Know Summer), Tamara Shoemaker

Artist: Nathanael Mortensen (Dwellings of Eldervale)

Publisher: Hit ‘Em With a Shoe (Bee Lives: We Will Only Know Summer)

Genre/Mechanisms: card drafting, card game, team-based game

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “Loosely based on the real world dog sport of Earth Dog, the game Dirt Dog has players leading their dog through underground burrows to try and track down quarry. Badgers, foxes, rabbits, and others are all things for your dog to chase.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $25

All-In (w/shipping): $25, same as above

Campaign Ends: 12/3

Game Ships: July 2021

Funding Status: Currently at 36% with 21 days to go.

Project: EETENKI – The Queen Himiko Chronicles – Reawakened

Designer: Keisuke Wada

Artist: Yuhei Ishihara

Publisher: Accent Circonflexe

Genre/Mechanisms: ancient, betting and bluffing, civilization, farming, memory, predictive bid, role playing, variable phase order, variable setup, victory points as a resource

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “Each player is a priestess-king who can master sorcery and skillfully read the changing weather. They perform rituals and direct agriculture to bring wealth and power to the nation they lead. Players race to get the most victory points by growing rice coins that represent rice plants.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $71

All-In (w/shipping): $91

Campaign Ends: 12/10

Game Ships: Aug. 2021

Funding Status: Currently at 33% with 28 days to go.

Project: Elements of the Gods

Designer: Jay Vowles

Artists: Apolline Etienne (Haunt the House, Muse, Wreck Raiders), Brigette Indelicato (18Chesapeake, Santa Monica, War Chest)

Publisher: Side Room Games (Black Sonata, Maquis, Orchard)

Genre/Mechanisms: action drafting, ancient, area majority/influence, end game bonuses, grid movement, pattern building, solo/solitaire game, square grid, tile placement

Player Count: 1-5

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: medium-high

Summary: “A strategy game of territory building and area influence. Use the power of the elements to cleverly maneuver worshipers on the board to match patterns on cards in your hand. Establish your influence by building monuments, then score points by planting gardens and performing rituals at the foot of those monuments. At the end of the game you will also score points from the worshipers that you have gathered into your domain.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $62

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

Campaign Ends: 12/6

Game Ships: Oct. 2021

Funding Status: Currently at 67% with 24 days to go.

Project: Evil Baby Overkill

Designer: Daniel Hayles

Artist: Daniel Hayles

Publisher: Stampede Games

Genre/Mechanisms: card drafting, horror, party game

Player Count: 2-12

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: medium-high

Summary: “Evil Baby Overkill is the most complete edition of the Evil Baby series so far, featuring fully remastered cards, the addition of new ‘Curse’ cards, specially designed for party and game nights, inflict unique restrictions on the player and must be obeyed until the game ends or the player draws a replacement ‘Curse.'”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $22

All-In (w/shipping): $42

Campaign Ends: 11/24

Game Ships: Mar. 2021

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 371% with 12 days to go.

Project: Factions: Battlegrounds

Designer: Peter Ferry

Artist: Jason Crayton

Publisher: Jason Crayton

Genre/Mechanisms: action points, alliances, area movement, card game, cooperative game, grid coverage, grid movement, miniatures, movement points, moving multiple units, multiple maps, once-per-game abilities, physical removal, pieces as map, point-to-point movement, real-time, team-based game, turn order: stat based, wargame

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A multiplayer fantasy combat boardgame representing diverse cultures & mythologies.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $50

All-In (w/shipping): $110

Campaign Ends: 12/10

Game Ships: May 2021

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 135% with 28 days to go.

Project: Four Humours

Designer: Charlie McCarron

Artist: Shirley Gong (Thrive)

Publisher: Adam’s Apple Games (Planet Unknown, Swordcrafters, Truck Off: The Food Truck Frenzy)

Genre/Mechanisms: area majority/influence, bluffing, deduction, humor, medical, modular board, network and route building, pattern building, variable setup, worker placement with different worker types

Player Count: 2-6

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: medium-high

Summary: “The kingdom — composed of six map tiles with various locations — is filled with all types of personalities, from choleric sorcerers to phlegmatic peasants. ​ Prove you’re the best medieval pharmacist by influencing citizens throughout the kingdom so they can live out their life’s ambitions… or lack thereof.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $30

All-In (w/shipping): $40

Campaign Ends: 12/4

Game Ships: Aug. 2021

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 102% with 22 days to go.

Project: Kapow!

Designers: Larry Bogucki (Warparty), Douglas Hettrick, Carl Van Ostrand (Merchants Cove, Obsidian 2350 CCG)

Artists: not credited

Publisher: White Wizard Games (Hero Realms, Star Realms, Star Realms: Colony Wars, Star Realms: Frontiers)

Genre/Mechanisms: dice rolling, hand management, simultaneous action selection, variable player powers

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: medium-low

Summary: “Kapow! uses buildable dice, allowing you to add and remove dice faces during the course of battle. This makes for a super-strategic dice-battling experience. With each roll, you decide how to attack, defend, and power up your character by choosing where to place your dice. The battles get more explosive with each roll and as you gain more dice and dice faces.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $63

All-In (w/shipping): $107

Campaign Ends: 12/3

Game Ships: Dec. 2021

Funding Status: Currently at 94% with 21 days to go.

Project: King of the Roll

Designer: Marcus Jargarden

Artist: Csaba Bernáth (Junk Orbit, Proving Grounds, Trekking the World)

Publisher: Gaard Games

Genre/Mechanisms: 2 players, card game, combat sports/martial arts, dice rolling, fighting, hand management, simultaneous action selection, sports

Player Count: 2

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “The game consists of more than 50 Brazilian Jiujitsu techniques and utilizes a combination of hand management, dice rolling and dice modification.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $41

All-In (w/shipping): $95

Campaign Ends: 12/7

Game Ships: July 2021

Funding Status: Currently at 57% with 25 days to go.

Project: The Pursuit of Happiness – Big Box and Nostalgia expansion

Designers: Adrian Abela, David Chircop (…and then we held hands., Petrichor)

Artist: Panayiotis Lyris (Lap Dance, Souvlaki Wars)

Publisher: Artipia Games (Among the Stars, Fields of Green, Kitchen Rush, The Pursuit of Happiness)

Genre/Mechanisms: drafting, economic, income, simulation, worker placement

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: medium-low

Summary: “The Pursuit of Happiness gets a Big Box, Deluxe components and a brand new Expansion. The Pursuit of Happiness is a game in which you take a character from birth and you live the life you always wanted. Using a worker-placement mechanism with time as your workers, you take on projects, you get jobs, you buy items, you establish relationships, you raise families. The possibilities are endless as you live the life you have always wanted.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $58, just the new stuff

All-In (w/shipping): $176

Campaign Ends: 12/4

Game Ships: Dec. 2021

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 943% with 22 days to go.

Project: Rescuing Robin Hood

Designer: Bryce Brown

Artist: Paul Vermeesch

Publisher: Castillo Games

Genre/Mechanisms: cooperative game, deck construction, drafting, events, finale ending, push your luck, role playing, scenario/mission/campaign game, variable player powers

Player Count: 1-5

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “As the leaders of the Merry Band you have only 5 days to come to his rescue, using all the Wit, Brawn and Stealth you can muster. Each turn you work together to rescue villagers captured by the Sheriff of Nottingham’s men. As more people are rescued new villagers join your side. Once you have built up your Merry Band you select your dream team, storm the castle, and fight one final battle to rescue Robin Hood in this collaborative deck-builder.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $40

All-In (w/shipping): $170, includes extras

Campaign Ends: 12/3

Game Ships: Aug. 2021

Funding Status: Currently at 44% with 21 days to go.

Project: The Transcontinental

Designer: Glen Dresser

Artist: Glen Dresser

Publisher: Wheelhouse Games

Genre/Mechanisms: auction/bidding, industry/manufacturing, pick-up and deliver, trains, transportation, worker placement

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-heavy

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A medium-weight, award-winning Euro-game with worker-placement and pick-up and deliver mechanisms about the development of the Canadian transcontinental railway.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $62

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

Campaign Ends: 12/10

Game Ships: July 2021

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 173% with 28 days to go.

Project: Wizards & Relics

Designer: Mike Bregel

Artist: Mike Bregel

Publisher: Eternal Realms

Genre/Mechanisms: card game, chaining, hand management, trick-taking

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A fast paced, magical multiplayer dueling card game.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $37

All-In (w/shipping): $52

Campaign Ends: 12/3

Game Ships: Oct. 2021

Funding Status: Currently at 41% with 21 days to go.