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

Project: Dragonbond: Lords of Vaala

Designers: Jack Caesar (Highlander: The Board Game, Pacific Rim: Extinction, Terminator: Dark Fate – The Card Game), Alessio Cavatore (Bolt Action, Mordheim: City of the Damned, Warhammer 40,000 Fifth Edition)

Artists: Irene Aretia (TerroriXico, Tricksters), Tom Babbey (Deadline), Aldo Domínguez, Steve Prescott (Dungeons & Dragons: The Legend of Drizzt Board Game, Magic: The Gathering, Vampire: The Eternal Struggle), Adam Wesierski

Publisher: Draco Studios (Dodos Riding Dinos, War For Chicken Island)

Genre/Mechanisms: action/event, area majority/influence, command cards, critical hits and failures, dice rolling, fantasy, hand management, miniatures, novel-based, programmed movement, semi-cooperative game, variable player powers, victory points as a resource

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-heavy

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A game of power based in the universe of Dragonbond. Raid as a dragon or raise armies as a general, destroy your enemies, and cast mighty spells, all to collect power. Once you have collected 10 power tokens, you win the game immediately. During the game, a general and a dragon in the same region have a chance of becoming Dragonbonded and playing as a team, sharing their power resource to cast spells and gaining a special ability, however, in order to win, both players require to collect 20 power in total. In the planning phase players secretly play action cards in a face-down pile to program their actions across the board until one player passes; in the resolution phase, actions are resolved in order. Dragons and generals play entirely different in strategy and actions. And all characters in the game have a unique deck of spells.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $64

All-In (w/shipping): $335

Campaign Ends: 8/26

Game Ships: June 2022

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 198% with 22 days to go.

Project: Dustbiters

Designers: Robbie Fraser, Jan Willem Nijman

Artist: Terri Vellman

Publisher: Dustbiters Team

Genre/Mechanisms: 2 players, action points, card game, fighting, racing, relative movement, resource to move, sudden death ending, variable set-up

Player Count: 2

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A quick and furious card game about rival car gangs racing to outrun a giant dust storm. Dustbiters is a two player card game where each player controls several cars in a convoy. The goal is to destroy (or outlast) all of your opponents cars. During a turn the player has 3 actions that can be spent in several ways, each costing one action: draw a new car into your hand; place a new car at the front of the convoy; drive a car one space forward or one space backward; and use a car power. Each car is unique, has different abilities, and affects the cars around it in different ways. But beware, at the end of each turn the car at the back is destroyed by the dust storm!”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $31

All-In (w/shipping): $68

Campaign Ends: 9/1

Game Ships: Nov. 2021

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 133% with 28 days to go.

Project: Photographic World

Designer: Juliet Smith

Artists: Ana Reyes

Publisher: Bright Beetle Games

Genre/Mechanisms: animals, children’s game, dice rolling, educational, point to point movement, roll/spin and move, set collection, track movement, travel

Player Count: 2-5

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “In Photographic World, you are wildlife photographers. Your job is to travel the world, capturing exceptional photos of animals in their natural habitats. Every unique photo you take increases your fame and renown. On their turn, a player rolls the dice. If they roll a 1, they move 1 space on the board. Rolling two 1’s triggers the travel rule and lets you move to any space on the board and take a picture there (draw a card from that Continents deck). If you roll a camera, take a picture. If you roll a shopping cart, buy from or sell to the Market. If you roll a question mark, decide if you want it to be a 1, and camera, or a shopping cart. The game ends when all the Best in Class certificates are gone. You earn these by collecting photos of 3 unique animals in the class depicted on the certificates. There are 6 Best in Class certificates to be awarded. For a shorter game, play until 3 certificates have been taken.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $49

All-In (w/shipping): $5,010, includes “countless” donated games

Campaign Ends: 9/1

Game Ships: Aug. 2022

Funding Status: Currently at 9% with 29 days to go.

Project: Velodrome

Designer: Gavin Birnbaum (Carreau, JamSumo, Q.E.)

Artist: Gavin Birnbaum (Carreau, Q.E.)

Publisher: Cubiko Games (Carreau, JamSumo, Q.E.)

Genre/Mechanisms: action/dexterity, racing, sports

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: medium-high

Summary: “Velodrome is a game about indoor cycle racing. Each turn, every player selects a speed for his bike – will he wait out the others and save his energy, or start to race for the finish line? Passing the line gives a number of points according to a cube drawn – but the next pass may be much more valuable. Furthermore, the used speed tiles are passed to your opponents.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $103

All-In (w/shipping): $103, same as above

Campaign Ends: 8/16

Game Ships: July 2022

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 876% with 12 days to go.