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

Project: Florence

Designer: Dean Morris (Pacific Rails Inc.)

Artist: Dann May (Black Orchestra, Everdell, Nothing Personal)

Publisher: Braincrack Games (Dead & Breakfast, Ragusa, Venice)

Genre/Mechanisms: action points, area majority/influence, area movement, end game bonuses, hand management, hidden victory points, network and route building, pattern building, point to point movement, resource to move, set collection, solo/solitaire game, turn order: pass order, variable setup, worker placement, worker placement with different worker types

Player Count: 1-5

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: heavy

Risk: medium-low

Summary: “Set in the titular city, Florence tasks players with elevating the status of their family and navigating the city on the night of a grand Carnevale to set up meetings with the ruling Medici figureheads: Cosimo, Giovanni, and Contessina. Florence is a Euro-style area control game in which the regions you want to hold change each round as the Medici move around the city attending various functions. Over nine rounds, each player dispatches family members to attend parties, give gifts, brag about their achievements, engage in spurious gossip, and muscle their way through crowds to get some valuable face-time with the Medici. The chief resource in Florence is time: as the Carnevale moves into full swing and the streets fill with revelers, they will become harder to navigate, and you will need to be cautious of which actions you ask your various scions to complete. Includes a solo mode by Dávid Turczi.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $73

All-In (w/shipping): $189, also includes Ragusa and Venice

Campaign Ends: 5/20

Game Ships: Jan. 2022

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 139% with 28 days to go.