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

Project: Faux Diamonds & Baseball Highlights: The Dice Game

Designers: Ian Sebastian Bach, Mike Fitzgerald (Baseball Highlights: 2042, Diamonds: Second Edition, Mystery Rummy: Jack the Ripper)

Artists: William Bricker (Baseball Highlights: 2045, Diamonds: Second Edition, Kanban: Driver’s Edition, Tiny Epic Galaxies), Alex Colby (Faux Diamonds), Garrett Kaida (Football Highlights 2045, Return to Dark Tower, Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition), Franz Vohwinkel (6 nimmt!, Amun-Re, Baseball Highlights: 2045, Beyond the Sun, Blue Moon City, Bohanza, Catan, Catan Card Game, Chinatown, Clank! In! Space!: A Deck-Building Adventure, Domaine, Dominion: Intrigue, Egizia, Exit: The Game – The Abandoned Cabin, Exit: The Game – The Pharoah’s Tomb, Exit: The Game – The Secret Lab, Finca, Francis Drake, A Game of Thrones: The Card Game, Genoa, Lords of Vegas, Lost Cities, Louis XIV, Magic: The Gathering, Maharaja: The Game of Palace Building in India, Medici, Mexica, The Palaces of Carrara, The Princes of Florence, Puerto Rico, The Quest for El Dorado, Ra, Richochet Robots, RoboRally, Samurai, San Juan, Taj Mahal, Targi, Tichu, Tikal, Torres, Tsuro, Union Pacific, Web of Power, Winner’s Circle, Wizard, Yedo)

Publisher: Eagle-Gryphon Games (Age of Steam, Baseball Highlights: 2045, Brass: Birmingham, Brass: Lancashire, Can’t Stop, Carson City, Defenders of the Realm, Diamant, Empires: Age of Discovery, Escape Plan, Fleet, Fleet: The Dice Game, For Sale, Francis Drake, The Gallerist, High Society, Kanban EV, Lisboa, On Mars, Railways of the World, Rococo, Roll Through the Ages: The Bronze Age, Santiago de Cuba, Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization, Through the Ages: A Story of Civilization, Struggle of Empires, Tumblin-Dice, Vinhos Deluxe Edition)

Genre/Mechanisms: dice rolling, paper-and-pencil, roll-and-write, sports, solo/solitaire game (Baseball Highlights: The Dice Game); card game, trick-taking (Faux Diamonds)

Player Count: 1-4 (Baseball Highlights: The Dice Game); 2-6 (Faux Diamonds)

Solo Mode: yes (Baseball Highlights: The Dice Game); no (Faux Diamonds)

Complexity: medium-light (Baseball HIghlights: The Dice Game); light (Faux Diamonds)

Risk: low

Summary: “Faux Diamonds is a 4-suit trick-taking game in which players sell their cards (diamonds) on value tracks that change after each sale. After a series of hands, the winner is the player who has accumulated the most wealth.”

“Baseball Highlights: The Dice Game takes all the excitement of Baseball Highlights: 2045 and turns it into a thrilling dice game. Score the most runs by drafting the best dice and stringing together powerful combos. Slowly set up the base runners with singles, and then hit a grand slam, or steal bases to sneak your runners home. The rolls of the dice make each round a whole new ball game. Everyone gets to play even when it’s not their turn, so the strategic thinking never ends. Dust off home plate, get out your leather glove, and play ball.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $32, one game only

All-In (w/shipping): $63, both games plus Football Highlights: The Dice Game

Campaign Ends: 3/26

Game Ships: Dec. 2021

Funding Status: Currently at 84% with 13 days to go.

Project: Stellaris Infinite Legacy

Designer: Gunter Eickert (Conflict of Heroes: Awakening the Bear! – Operation Barbarossa 1941 Second Edition, Conflict of Heroes: Guadalcanal – The Pacific 1942, Conflict of Heroes: Storms of Steel! – Kursk 1943)

Artist: Jarek Nocoń (1775: Rebellion, 1812: The Invasion of Canada, 878 Vikings: Invasions of England, Coup, Fief: France 1429, Freedom: The Underground Railroad, K2, Morels, The Resistance)

Publisher: Academy Games (1775: Rebellion, 1812: The Invasion of Canada, 878 Vikings: Invasions of England, Conflict of Heroes: Awakening the Bear! – Operation Barbarossa 1941 Second Edition, Conflict of Heroes: Awakening the Bear! – Russia 1941-42, Conflict of Heroes: Storms of Steel! – Kursk 1943, Fief: France 1429, Freedom: The Underground Railroad, Mare Nostrum: Empires,

Genre/Mechanisms: 4x, adventure, area majority/influence, area movement, campiagn games, civilization, exploration, legacy, modular board, science fiction, simultaneous action selection, space exploration, territory building, trading, variable phase order, variable player powers, video game theme,

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-heavy

Risk: medium-high

Summary: “Academy Games introduces the 4X board game based on the hit video game Stellaris. Experience everything you love about Stellaris in a fast paced 2 hour board game. Stellaris: Infinite Legacy is the first of Academy Games’ series of Infinite Legacy titles. An Infinite Legacy game develops and progresses from game to game like traditional legacy games but with the following key differences: an Infinite Legacy game can be replayed any number of times like a traditional board game; an Infinite Legacy game tracks changes in the game through non-destructive methods that allow the game to be completely reset to its beginning state if one wishes; an Infinite Legacy game leads players through a storyline where the players’ choices impact how the direction of the story progresses. This results in thousands of combined story paths and a unique narrative in each game.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $140

All-In (w/shipping): $205

Campaign Ends: 4/5

Game Ships: Apr. 2021

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 2964% with 23 days to go.