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

Project: Bantam West

Designer: Ike Brunicardi

Artists: Felipe Ferreira, Mitch Mueller, One Pixel Brush, Thanh Tuan

Publisher: Bantam Planet

Genre/Mechanisms: action points, adventure, american west, dice rolling, events, exploration, fighting, hand management, line of sight, market, miniatures, modular board, role playing, variable player powers, variable set-up, worker placement

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-heavy

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “An immersive sim adventure board game set in the wild frontier. Brawl, loot, burn, and trade as one of four deadly strangers in this open-world sandbox. As you wake each day, you must form a plan and play on your character’s unique strengths, weaknesses, and personality to outperform the competition. Whether you live the life of a powerful merchant, an agile gunslinger, a malicious arsonist, or a stealthy thief, there is a unique way for you to come out on top. To win, you must gain Notoriety in town. You accomplish this by completing tasks, rolling dice, managing cards, and deciding how to spend your action points. Eventually, you will build small-time enterprises into corporations operating deep in the frontier. Along the way, be on the lookout for enemies and rival players who are aiming to fight you, burn your cabins down, and steal your hard-earned wealth!”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $113

All-In (w/shipping): $166

Campaign Ends: 8/12

Game Ships: Dec. 2022

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 424% with 28 days to go.

Project: Flicking Finches

Designer: Yves Tourigny (Arkham Noir Case #1 – The Witch Cult Murders, Blueprints, Expedition: Northwest Passage)

Artist: Yves Tourigny (Arkham Noir Case #1 – The Witch Cult Murders, Blueprints, Expedition: Northwest Passage)

Publisher: Meridae Games (Garden Dice)

Genre/Mechanisms: action/dexterity, exploration, finger flicking games, flicking

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “Players can ‘evolve’ their finch discs by changing their characteristics, such as beak size, body size, or body markings. The players then flick their finches across the playmat as close as possible to the Darwin figure, who awards them seeds based on the characteristics he’s currently studying. After sketching a finch, Charlie moves to the next island in the Galapagos, with the finches giving chase. The player with the most seeds when Darwin’s sketchbook is filled wins the game.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $50

All-In (w/shipping): $50, same as above

Campaign Ends: 7/30

Game Ships: June 2022

Funding Status: Currently at 9% with 16 days to go.

Project: Guardians of Fire

Designers: Iman Tadayon, Anka Sep, Carlos Hernandez Ramiro, Dai Nguyen, Nin Jacksonn

Artists: Andres Martinez (Flicky Spaceships, Miremarsh), Jakub Wisz

Publisher: Magical Miniature Game

Genre/Mechanisms: action/event, dice rolling, dungeon crawler, fantasy, miniatures, mythology, scenario/mission/campaign game, team-based game

Player Count: 2-5

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-heavy

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “An immersive combat exploration game fset in mythological ancient Persia, challenging 4 Heroes in chronicled adventures against the Angra Mainyu, the source of all evil. The game system is an RPG / Dungeon-Crawl. There are six missions, and after each event, each player can improve their abilities and get more gifts. At the end of each chronicle, one of two events will take place depending on which side wins the game. Each game involves an action-packed fight where two sides face off. One of the players assumes the role of the dark side and controls the army of Ahriman. The remaining players take control of the Heroes, who must work together as a team to stop the darkness. Each side takes turns, pitting their strategies against each other in order to achieve their objectives.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $196

All-In (w/shipping): $338

Campaign Ends: 8/3

Game Ships: July 2022

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 246% with 20 days to go.

Project: Hype Tag

Designer: Jesse Howard

Artist: Megan Spaniol

Publisher: Clothespin Games

Genre/Mechanisms: card game, humor, hand management, take that

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “To win, be the first player to get up to 10 on your hype meter, flip it over, and then go back down to 1. You gotta GET HYPED by making impressive tags and creating mischief on the playground… but then you need to have enough self-control to SIMMER DOWN and go back to class. Hype Tag features the unique interaction of two different decks of cards. The HYPE deck has the strategic depth of a trading card game while the TAG deck has the simple fun of a classic card game.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $42

All-In (w/shipping): $42, same as above

Campaign Ends: 8/12

Game Ships: Mar. 2022

Funding Status: Currently at 53% with 28 days to go.

Project: I’m Right You’re Wrong

Designer: Derek Lam

Artist: Will Heldt

Publisher: Jab Publishing

Genre/Mechanisms: card game, hand management, humor, party game, player elimination, push your luck, secret unit deployment, take that

Player Count: 2-5

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “I’m Right You’re Wrong is any petty argument in the form of a card battle. Take turns dishing out petty insults, traps or take the highroad. Then deal with the consequences. Win by robbing your opponents of all their arguments. If you run out of comebacks/cards, you lose. Because, having the last word is sweeter than being right. The twist– there are a lot of unhelpful cards. Choosing the least worst option is all part of winning.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $28

All-In (w/shipping): $208, includes vanity rewards

Campaign Ends: 8/3

Game Ships: Mar. 2022

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 173% with 19 days to go.

Project: Méthodologie: The Murder on the Links

Designer: Justin Waggle (Wu Wei: Journey of the Changing Path)

Artist: Lea Segarra (Eternal Dynasty, Hero Brigade)

Publisher: Gray Wolf Games (Wu Wei: Journey of the Changing Path)

Genre/Mechanisms: deduction, hand management, murder/mystery, novel-based

Player Count: 3-6

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “The game of Méthodologie is played in two distinct phases: the Investigation Phase and the Accusation Phase. In the Investigation Phase, the players reveal cards from their hands, then interrogate each other in order to eliminate leads. This sequence continues until each player has only one character, one location, and one object left in hand. In the Accusation Phase, the players will place target tokens to make accusations about the remaining cards in each other’s hands. Any cards not correctly identified by majority accusation will be scored when the game ends.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $45

All-In (w/shipping): $95

Campaign Ends: 7/30

Game Ships: July 2021

Funding Status: Currently at 52% with 15 days to go.

Project: Rat Queens: To the Slaughter

Designers: Erica Bouyouris (Bosk, Kodama 3D, Roar: King of the Pride), Sen-Foong Lim (Akrotiri, Belfort, Junk Art)

Artists: Owen Gieni, Megan Lara, Priscilla Petraites, Stjepan Sejic, Roc Upchurch

Publisher: Deep Water Games (Fantastic Factories, Hanamikoji, Welcome To…)

Genre/Mechanisms: adventure, cooperative game, deck building, deck construction, dice rolling, fantasy, fighting, miniatures, solo/solitaire game

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: medium-high

Summary: “Forge Friendships and find your family, as you take on the role of the rat queens. Choose from 4 (5 with Braga Expansion) Rat Queens, each with asymmetical and unique playstyles, in order to save Palisade from total destruction. Power up your queen with new abilities and friendship as you take on hordes of monsters. Each queen comes packed with upgraded abilities you’ll have to spend gold to learn. Customize your queen differently each game to fit what the party needs. Players will spend the first half of the game defeating monsters to earn rewards they’ll use to upgrade their ability deck and stats in order to save Palisade from a devastating foe and darkness looming in the background. Manage your friendships and upgrade your abilities to ensure your beloved home isn’t doomed. Combat is a simplified version of RPG combat with easy to learn dice checks for attacks and abilities.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $61

All-In (w/shipping): $154

Campaign Ends: 8/4

Game Ships: May 2022

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 245% with 20 days to go.

Project: Solutions: The Game

Designer: Samuel Levac-Levey

Artists: Angie Creativist, Samuel Levac-Levey, Richard Stevenson

Publisher: Solutionary Games

Genre/Mechanisms: cooperative game, educational, environmental, events

Player Count: 1-8

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A collaborative, discussion-based game. The solutions in this game are based on Project Drawdown: a framework of climate solutions, developed by a collaboration of over 200 scientists. Project Drawdown shows a path forward to how we can beat climate change by the year 2050. They have ranked 76 climate solutions based on how much impact they can realistically have between 2020-2050, based on technology trends, adoption trends, economics, carbon lifecycle analysis, and more.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $32

All-In (w/shipping): $40

Campaign Ends: 8/17

Game Ships: Jan. 2022

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 109% with 33 days to go.

Project: Taelmoor

Designers: Eli Delventhal, Willem Delventhal, Zac Delventhal

Artists: Brendan Milos, Paola Bonacina, Dattan Porto

Publisher: Delve Bros

Genre/Mechanisms: adventure, cooperative game, exploration, fantasy, map addition, modular board, narrative choice/paragraph, scenario/mission/campaign game

Player Count: 1-6

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A cooperative dungeon crawling and storytelling game that ties together physical boards, cards, and standees with a smartphone app using scan-and-play technology. Each scenario typically involves a combination of exploration, puzzle solving, storytelling, and combat in a classic sword and sorcery setting. Games of Taelmoor begin with players selecting an archetypal class (i.e wizard or rogue), and forming a party by joining the host’s game with their smartphone or mobile device. Players then take turns exploring and interacting with the game world. New rooms are laid out tile by tile as they are explored, and each may include unique elements like NPCs to talk to, puzzles to solve, or combat. The story is relayed simultaneously to all players via the app, though players are encouraged to read new passages aloud as they are discovered. Combat features simplified deck construction elements. Each class has unique strengths and weaknesses, and can build a custom combat deck as they level up throughout a scenario. Strategy between players is emphasized as many attacks become more powerful when combined with others. Attacks are played by scanning the physical card and then discarding.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $73

All-In (w/shipping): $93

Campaign Ends: 8/12

Game Ships: June 2022

Funding Status: Currently at 72% with 29 days to go.

Project: Top Pop

Designers: Mark McGee (Kintsugi), Joshua J Mills (Big Easy Busking, Rocky Road à la Mode)

Artists: James Churchill (Feed the Kraken, Legacies, Public Market), Christina Pittre (On the Rocks)

Publisher: Talon Strikes Studios (House of Borgia, Vinyl, Winterborne)

Genre/Mechanisms: territory building, set collection

Player Count: 2-5

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: medium-low

Summary: “A card game in which players are placing city cards onto the table and stacking bottle caps (which represent the company’s influence) onto the played cities on the table. At the start of a player’s turn, if their bottle cap is on a higher stack than the other players on a city card, that player collects that city; if not, they continue to try to gain dominance on city cards where they can. Each city comes in two types: day and night. Day city cards are played face-up on the table for all to see. Night city cards are played face down and only the player who played the card and whoever it is in front of can see it. At the end of the game, players earn points for majority control in a city and sets of cities collected. In the advanced version of the game, cities also have powers that are earned when a city is collected. A player continues to maintain their power until another player has collected the associated city, at which the power is then transferred.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $33

All-In (w/shipping): $58

Campaign Ends: 8/7

Game Ships: July 2022

Funding Status: Currently at 33% with 23 days to go.

Project: Warcaster: The Thousand Worlds

Designers: Will Hungerford, Jason Soles (Hordes, Warmachine Prime Mk II, Warmachine Prime Mk III), Matt Wilson (Monsterpocalypse, Warmachine, Warmachine Prime Mk II)

Artists: Marcel Mercado (Disney Shadowed Kingdom, Tyrants of the Underdark), Vincent Ptitvinc (Soul Raiders), Roman Likholob, Andrea Uderzo (Hordes Primal Mk III, Warmachine Prime Mk II, Warmachine Prime Mk III), Mike Vaillancourt (Apochrypha Adventure Card Game: Box One – The World, Level 7 [Omega Protocol], Warmachine Prime Mk III)

Publisher: Privateer Press (Level 7 [Omega Protocol], Warmachine, Warmachine Prime Mk II)

Genre/Mechanisms: 2 players, deck building, dice rolling, miniatures, science fiction, simulation, variable player powers, wargame

Player Count: 2

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: medium-high

Summary: “Warcaster: The Thousand Worlds introduces a host of new models to each of the four Factions of Warcaster, along with The Thousand Worlds source-book and extras. Warcaster: Neo-Mechanika is a high-speed hobby miniatures game for two players who each take on the role of a powerful Warcaster in command of a formidable battle force. Players assemble and customize a force of 20–30 models and fight a scenario-driven battle using dice and cards to control their mighty units and to cast epic cyphers. The game is played using an alternating-activation turn sequence with a round tracker that governs scoring opportunities and the duration of ongoing effects. Players take turns activating units one at a time and using their rack of cyphers, reality-warping spells that can be used to enhance their troops and warjacks or to devastate their opponent’s forces. While the Warcaster is not physically present on the battlefield, their presence is always felt. A Warcaster coordinates and supports their forces from a sophisticated command and control center called a rack, located aboard a massive battle carrier that transports the Warcaster’s troops and warjacks. In the game, the rack is represented by a deck of cards—the spell-like cyphers—that players customize prior to the game based on the powers and abilities they wish to wield as a Warcaster.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $63

All-In (w/shipping): $663

Campaign Ends: 7/29

Game Ships: Jan. 2022

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 191% with 15 days to go.