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

Project: Buurn

Designers: David Simiand, Pierre Voye

Artist: Gorobei (The Crusoe Crew, Hocus & Pocus: L’épreuve des Fabulins)

Publisher: Morning (Colorku, Gobbit, Gobbit Angry Birds)

Genre/Mechanisms: action/dexterity, auction/bidding, card game, collectible components, end game bonuses, humor, mafia, party game, real-time, set collection, victory points as a resource

Player Count: 3-5

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: medium-high

Summary: “El Gobernador is bored to tears. Always seeking new thrills and challenges, he decides to organize an unforgettable event during the “Fiesta Nacional,” a competition open to all wannabe-chefs in the world to cook for him the most intense hot sauce possible. Whoever wins the contest will receive enough money to open their own restaurant. In order to be able to cook their sauce, though, the participants in Buurn have to get the best ingredients in ruthless auctions called “top-downs.” Cooks will collect different ingredients sold at these auctions to create the hottest sauce ever created. Everything is allowed in this savage contest. Trying to obtain the best ingredients by being friends with the organization or even stealing ingredients from your rivals are classic ways to win the prize. At the end of the contest, El Gobernador’s jury will taste all the hot sauces, then assign victory points to each cook, based on the type of ingredients they used and the bonuses they obtained.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $44

All-In (w/shipping): $80

Campaign Ends: 6/10

Game Ships: Dec. 2021

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 236% with 28 days to go.

Project: Castle Panic Deluxe Collection

Designer: Justin De Witt (Castle Panic, Hotshots, Star Trek Panic)

Artists: Davi Cao (Sea of Legends), Justin Chan (Century: Golem Edition, Video Game High School, The Walking Dead: Something to Fear), Anthony Cournoyer (City of Gears; Crisis; Rattle, Battle, Grab the Loot), Grigory Krasnoperov, Chad Hoverter (Heroes of Land, Air & Sea; Mice and Mystics; Specter Ops), Matt Paquette (Mariposas), Tad Lambert (Castle Panic)

Publisher: Fireside Games (Castle Panic, Hotshots, Star Trek Panic)

Genre/Mechanisms: campaign/battle card driven, cooperative game, dice rolling, expansion, fantasy, fighting, hand management, medieval, mythology, solo/solitaire game, tower defense, trading, variable player powers

Player Count: 1-6

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “The Castle Panic Deluxe Collection is the long-awaited, ultimate, deluxe edition of Castle Panic and all of it’s expansions. This giant box contains 5 games in their limited edition, deluxe versions including: Castle Panic, The Wizard’s Tower, The Dark Titan, Engines of War, and the brand new expansion Crowns and Quests. Castle Panic is a cooperative game where everyone is working together to defend the castle from monsters coming in from the forest. The players must make it through all 49 Monster tokens and have at least 1 tower still standing in order to win the game. If the monsters destroy all 6 towers, the game ends and the monsters win.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $70

All-In (w/shipping): $375

Campaign Ends: 6/3

Game Ships: May 2022

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 330% with 22 days to go.

Project: Hoplomachus: Victorum

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: dice, solo/solitaire game

Player Count: 1

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: light

Risk: low

Summary: “Hoplomachus: Victorum is a standalone title from Chip Theory Games. It uses CTG’s acclaimed combat system from the Hoplomachus games, adding new twists with a focus on heroes and campaign play. Victorum is a solo-only experience, offering an in-depth, rewarding adventure with deep strategic decisions and exciting combat. Set in the more epic and mythical world of Hoplomachus: Victorum, this edition will pair the combat mechanisms fans know and love with beautiful updated lore, art and design.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $105

All-In (w/shipping): $265

Campaign Ends: 5/20

Game Ships: Mar. 2022

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 1107% with 8 days to go.

Project: The Market

Designer: G. Wesley Cone

Artist: @bananas_boxes

Publisher: G. Wesley Cone

Genre/Mechanisms: action/event, card game, economic, market, push your luck

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “In The Market, you are a citizen of Plaka building up permanent resources that provide Hope for a better tomorrow. In this quick 18 card game, you acquire rich igneous compost from the edging of the volcanic flux, gather fiddleheads which have become a staple vegetation in future Plaka, and synthesize photonic light energy. Then, it all comes back to the Market where you trade in your temporary resources for permanent ones that also provide Hope. Gather temporary resources, Explore the Market, and Purchase permanent resources as you aspire to attain Hope for the win.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $16

All-In (w/shipping): $54

Campaign Ends: 6/2

Game Ships: Dec. 2021

Funding Status: Currently at 30% with 20 days to go.

Project: Mosaic – A Story of Civilization

Designer: Glenn Drover (Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery, Empires: Age of Discovery, Railways of the World)

Artists: Jared Blando (1830: Railways & Robber Barons, Cloudspire, Legacy of Dragonholt, Steam), Hendrik Noack (Feed the Kraken) Glen More II: Chronicles, Jacoby O’Connor, Grzegorz Pedrycz (Clockwork Wars, Draconis Invasion, DinoGenics), Jessica Riola (Tesla vs. Edison: War of Currents), Erica Rossi, Annie Stegg (Lizard Wizard, Raccoon Tycoon)

Publisher: Forbidden Games (Extraordinary Adventures: Pirates, Raccoon Tycoon, Railroad Rivals)

Genre/Mechanisms: action queue, area majority/influence, card drafting, civilization, hand management

Player Count: 2-6

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: heavy

Risk: medium-low

Summary: “An action-selection board game where you guide an ancient Civilization from its founding to its ultimate fate in history. On your turn, you will perform one of seven actions: Learn a New Technology; Found a New City or Town, or Build a Project; Build a Wonder; Recruit or Move Military Units; Increase your civilization’s Population; Produce Key Currencies, and Trade or Tax to raise Money. As the game goes on and your Civilization grows, scoring cards are eventually revealed from the four decks. Each time a scoring card is revealed, your Civilization will score for each region that you dominate with your cities and military units. After the third scoring card is revealed, there is one final turn and the game ends. You will then score for your cities and towns, your wonders, projects, and golden ages, and for all of your cards that score for your unique Civilization Components.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $88

All-In (w/shipping): $164

Campaign Ends: 6/9

Game Ships: Jan. 2022

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 244% with 28 days to go.

Project: Unicorn Stew

Designer: Brian Knudson (Encounters: Bravest Warriors, Encounters: Shadowrun, Kittens in a Blender)

Artist: Burr Johnson (Finger Guns at High Noon, Scape Goat)

Publisher: Red Shift Games (Cosmocracy, Kittens in a Blender)

Genre/Mechanisms: card game, fantasy, matching, simultaneous action selection, take that

Player Count: 3-6

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “Each round a King’s Menu card is revealed, detailing what he is in the mood for. Each player selects an order card from their hand hoping it matches closer than the other players. All Order cards are revealed simultaneously, and the winner claims the Menu card. Doubles always cancel, and Unicorn stew will usually win but watch out for sabotage cards from other chefs. Clan three Menu cards of the same ingredient or 5 of the same fining option to win.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $15

All-In (w/shipping): $38

Campaign Ends: 6/2

Game Ships: July 2021

Funding Status: Funded: currently at 181% with 20 days to go.

Project: Vengeance: Roll & Fight

Designers: Gordon Calleja (Excavation Earth, Posthuman, Vengeance), Noralie Lubbers, Dávid Turczi (Anachrony, Kitchen Rush, Tekhenu: Obelisk of the Sun)

Artist: Axel Torvenius (Vengeance)

Publisher: Mighty Boards (Days of Ire: Budapest 1956, Petrichor, Posthuman)

Genre/Mechanisms: dice, real-time, roll-and-write

Player Count: 1-8

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-heavy

Risk: medium-low

Summary: “The aim of Vengeance: Roll & Fight is to infiltrate a gang den, carve your way through it’s rooms and killing the Boss, while completing side objectives printed on the dens themselves. The game is split into three parts: planning, fighting and montage. In the planning phase players roll and re-roll 4 dice in real time, aiming to roll a combination of dice that match an ability they wish to trigger in the upcoming, fight phase. Assigning dice to an ability allows players to fill their hand back to 4 dice from a large, common pool and repeat the process as quickly as they can manage. Once the dice pool is depleted, the fighting proper begins. Here players take a set of dice assigned to an ability and execute that ability, moving their piece through rooms full of enemies, and crossing them out when they are hit with the multitude of available abilities. Finally, players heal and upgrade their characters, bring new abilities and items into play to help them on their road to vengeance.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $41

All-In (w/shipping): $121

Campaign Ends: 5/31

Game Ships: Feb. 2022

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 353% with 19 days to go.