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

Project: Built for War

Designer: Travis Meredith

Artist: Marco Primo (Automobiles, Carcassonne: The City, Police Precinct)

Publisher: Mr. B Games (Days of Ire: Budapest 1956, Perudo, Posthuman)

Genre/Mechanisms: action drafting, card drafting, command cards, critical hits and failures, cube tower, solo/solitaire game, take that, turn order: claim action, variable player powers, world war II

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: medium-high

Summary: “What if YOU controlled your country’s tank design process? What if YOU could determine the outcome of the war? Built for War puts you in charge of designing the main battle tank for one of the 4 major combatants in the war. Will you design a behemoth to top the vaunted King Tiger at the expense of agility and speed? Or, will you pursue faster, more nimble tanks to take down your enemies’ support troops knowing they are vulnerable to the big guns your enemies may be developing in secret? These are the hard choices that you will have to make. You decide. You design. But whatever you choose, do it well. Your country is counting on you.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $54

All-In (w/shipping): $54, same as above

Campaign Ends: 4/6

Game Ships: Aug. 2022

Funding Status: Funding; currently at 104% with 21 days to go.

Project: Death Valley

Designer: Kevin Ellenburg

Artist: Fachri Maulana

Publisher: Button Shy (Circle the Wagons, Spralopolis, Tussie Mussie)

Genre/Mechanisms: card game, print and play, push your luck, solo/solitaire game

Player Count: 1-2

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: light

Risk: medium-low

Summary: “Death Valley is a pocket-sized, push-your-luck, tableau building game with each traveler striving to assemble the best mix of cards in their Journey and Scrapbook in order to win the game. Each turn, players will choose whether to assign a card to their Journey or move cards from their Journey to their Scrapbook. Cards feature stars (points), special abilities (affect the value and position of cards), and some interesting facts about Death Valley. Each card also has a hazard (Heat, Terrain, Flood or Animals) listed. Having 3 of the same Hazard visible in their tableau will cause the player to bust and lose all the progress in their Journey. At the end of the game, the player with the most stars in their Journey plus any additional points from card abilities is the winner.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $15

All-In (w/shipping): $35, also includes the expansion and 2 additional games

Campaign Ends: 3/27

Game Ships: July 2021

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 1678% with 9 days to go.

Project: Dracula: Walpurgis Night

Designer: Alberto Cano (Ambar, Castlecards, Cthulhu Crusades)

Artist: David G. Forés (Frankenstein)

Publisher: Invedars (Ambar, Big Bang 13.7, Frankenstein)

Genre/Mechanisms: card game, hand management, horror, novel-based, set collection

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “Transport as many passengers in your coach as you can to their chosen destination. They will give you coins for your services and provide food for the vampires. You will need coins to discreetly transport the coffins on your coach and to buy protections for your journeys. Whenever you drop off guests at their chosen destination, they will leave blood tokens which the vampires (coffins) in the local castle will feed on… but so, too, will any werewolf in that area. When Count Dracula appears (end of the round), the werewolves and vampires will feed on the innocent travelers. The more blood tokens there are in an area, the more more food there will be for the vampires, and the more victory points you will gain.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $54

All-In (w/shipping): $82

Campaign Ends: 4/12

Game Ships: Jan. 2022

Funding Status: Currently at 97% with 26 days to go.

Project: Dungeon Date

Designer: Michael Addison

Artists: Michael Addison, Mikayla Buan, Leigh Luna, Tan Ganguly

Publisher: Nerdy Pup Games

Genre/Mechanisms: advantage token, card game, card play conflict resolution, humor, set collection, simultaneous action selection, variable set-up

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “Each turn, players choose and reveal action cards, visiting one of four dungeon doors to encounter monsters in the dungeon. Romance, befriend, or slay the monster you encounter by matching the style symbols for that action on the monster card. Plan carefully around the other adventurers in the dungeon — if you visit the same door, you must fight, comparing fight values from your current action card plus the card you played on the previous turn. Visit the stylomancer to enchant your outfit with additional style symbols and claim a personal style. At the end of the dungeon season, score renown from sets of monsters collected and for in-fashion style symbols in your final outfit. Most renown wins!”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $38

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

Campaign Ends: 4/6

Game Ships: Oct. 2021

Funding Status: Currently at 47% with 19 days to go.

Project: Ghost Writer

Designers: Mary Flanagan (Mechanica, Monarch, Visitor in Blackwood Grove), Max Seidman (Mechanica, Monarch, Visitor in Blackwood Grove)

Artist: Spring Yu (Mechanica)

Publisher: Resonym (Mechanica, Monarch, Visitor in Blackwood Grove)

Genre/Mechanisms: communication limits, deduction, party game, puzzle, word game

Player Count: 4-8

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: medium-high

Summary: “Renowned Mediums are competing to figure out a Secret Object and prove they can connect with the World Beyond. The first team to figure out the Secret Object wins! The Sun team and the Moon team each have 1 Spirit and up to 3 Mediums. Mediums pass question cards, like “What color is it?” or “If it was a musical instrument, what would it be?” to their Spirit. Spirits know the Secret Object, and answer the questions in order to provide Clues to help their Mediums guess the Object. There’s a catch: the other team doesn’t see what question you asked, but they do see the answer. Mediums call “Silencio” when they know the Clue their Spirit is writing, to make it hard for the other team to learn anything from the Clue.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $25

All-In (w/shipping): $60, includes vanity reward

Campaign Ends: 4/15

Game Ships: Aug. 2021

Funding Status: Currently at 31% with 29 days to go.

Project: Mage Noir

Designers: Constantin Dedeyan, Vincent Vimont

Artists: Geoffrey Amesse, Nicolas Camiade, Camille Fourcade, Johann Goutard, Jessica Heran, Jeffrey Jeanson, Charles Ouvrard

Publisher: Mage Noir

Genre/Mechanisms: 2 players, card game, collectible components, deck building, fantasy, hand management, single loser game

Player Count: 2

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “Become a Mage, craft your spells by picking Mana from a shared Mana pool, ascend and unlock new powers. In this dueling game, players become true Mages and fight each other with the power of the elements. The game is focused on crafting spells and is packed with fireballs, crashing waves, devastating tornadoes and powerful magical abilities, held in the palm of your hand.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $69

All-In (w/shipping): $84

Campaign Ends: 4/15

Game Ships: Dec. 2021

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 245% with 28 days to go.

Project: Mixtape Massacre: Director’s Cut

Designers: Freddie Carlini (Mixtape Massacre), Matt Corrado (Mixtape Massacre), Merrijoy Vicente (Mixtape Massacre)

Artist: Matt Corrado (Mixtape Massacre)

Publisher: Bright Light Media (Mixtape Massacre)

Genre/Mechanisms: area movement, card drafting, dice rolling, horror, humor, movies/tv/radio theme, music, player elimination, point to point movement, roll/spin and move

Player Count: 2-6

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: medium-high

Summary: “The 2nd Edition of Mixtape Massacre with updated mechanics and components, plus a new expansion, and minis. Play as horror film archetypes and compete in a fictional 1986 killing spree to be remembered. Players travel the streets of Tall Oaks visiting different town locations, vying for a chance to draw a card from the “Killer Scenes, Dude” deck (cards decorated like VHS tapes of old), providing an opportunity to slay victims and collect souvenirs. Claim your prize by rolling the action dice marked in knives, fists, and pentagrams to the amount required on your card. Along the way, take your chances with the “Bonus Tracks” cards (decorated like your favorite dusty mix-tape) or engage in Brawls, where players can battle it out and eliminate one another from the game. To win the game, be the first to rack up a body count of 10 or be the last player left alive. With tons of jokes and references to all of your favorite 1980’s music, films, and pop-culture icons.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $43

All-In (w/shipping): $118, includes vanity rewards

Campaign Ends: 4/8

Game Ships: Dec. 2021

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 176% with 21 days to go.