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

Project: Arcane Arena

Designer: Chris Tourloukis

Artist: Keith Prossick

Publisher: Evgenios Entertainment

Genre/Mechanisms: card game, deck building, delayed purchase, fantasy, fighting, grid movement, hand management

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “Play as an aspiring gladiator seeking to win the Tournament of Champions in the Arcane Arena. The Arcane Arena is a secret temple where fighting techniques are practiced, magical spells are taught and martial arts tournaments are held. Spend the time before the big event training in your favorite combat tactics and competing in satellite tournaments to test your mettle and gain the approval of the temple’s caretakers. In Arcane Arena, players start with a small deck of simple cards. Over the course of 3 rounds of play they add new cards to their deck and compete in simulated combat on a tactics board.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $37

All-In (w/shipping): $407, includes vanity reward

Campaign Ends: 9/23

Game Ships: Sep. 2022

Funding Status: Currently at 41% with 29 days to go.

Project: Backyard Chickens

Designers: Don Gilstrap, Adrian Gilstrap

Artist: Mac Hillier (Dragon Brew, Treasure Mountain)

Publisher: August Games (Dragon Brew, Order Up, Treasure Mountain)

Genre/Mechanisms: animals, deck building, drafting, farming

Player Count: 2-5

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “Backyard Chickens is a deck-building game in which you and your neighbors compete to raise the best flock on the block. During your turn, you collect eggs, purchase supplies, and care for your chickens. Failing to feed and water your chickens will make them unhappy. Unhappy chickens produce fewer eggs, are worth fewer victory points and may run away. Play continues until a player’s flock is worth ten or more points.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $47

All-In (w/shipping): $47, same as above

Campaign Ends: 9/14

Game Ships: Feb. 2022

Funding Status: Currently at 61% with 19 days to go.

Project: Black Rose Wars: Rebirth

Designers: Diego Fonseca (Dungeonology: The Expedition), Marco Montanaro (Black Rose Wars)

Artists: Fernando Armentano (Barbarians: The Invasion, Black Rose Wars, Village Attacks), Andrea Colleti, Tommaso Incecchi (Black Rose Wars, The Faceless, Dungeonology: The Expedition), Giovanni Pirrotta (Black Rose Wars, Dungeonology: The Expedition, Sine Tempore), Paolo Scippo (Black Rose Wars, Dungeonology: The Expedition, Nova Aetas)

Publisher: Ludus Magnus Studio (Black Rose Wars, Dungeonology: The Expedition, Sine Tempore)

Genre/Mechanisms: card game, card play conflict resolution, deck building, fantasy, hand management, scenario/mission/campaign game, simultaneous action selection, variable player powers

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: heavy

Risk: medium-high

Summary: “A competitive fantasy game of deck-building, strategy, and combat set in the hectic universe of Nova Aetas in Italy. Black Rose Wars: Rebirth is the second chapter in the Black Rose Wars series. Each player is one of the powerful mages of the Black Rose Order who aspires to become the new Supreme Magister, acquiring the mighty power of the Black Rose Artifact and the Forgotten Magic. Mages must fight, fulfill Black Rose desires, and gain strength with their spells until their power reaches the containment threshold of the prison where they are exiled, finally freeing themselves. Each mage has at their disposal six schools of magic, each one with its own strategy to annihilate their opponents and increase their power.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $185

All-In (w/shipping): $185, same as above

Campaign Ends: 9/9

Game Ships: Sep. 2022

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 744% with 15 days to go.

Project: Earth Rising: 20 Years to Transform Our World

Designer: Laurie Blake (Pugs in Mugs)

Artist: Rob Ingle (Pugs in Mugs)

Publisher: Stop, Drop and Roll Games (Pugs in Mugs)

Genre/Mechanisms: action/event, area majority/influence, civilization, cooperative game, economic, educational, environmental, modular board, time track, variable player powers

Player Count: 1-6

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A cooperative board game about saving the world. Earth Rising isn’t about vanquishing evil or undoing some terrible plot… instead, up to six players must work together to bring the world into sustainable harmony. Balancing the needs of people with the limits of our planets biosphere, it’ll take strong co-operation and careful planning to reverse the damage done and transform our society into sustainability.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $77

All-In (w/shipping): $77, same as above

Campaign Ends: 9/25

Game Ships: Feb. 2022

Funding Status: Currently at 60% with 31 days to go.

Project: Everyone Else Thinks This Game is Awesome

Designer: Matt Fantastic (Before There Were Stars…, Team3 Green, Team3 Pink)

Artist: Zach Weinersmith

Publisher: Erasmus Fox Games

Genre/Mechanisms: betting and bluffing, party game, trivia

Player Count: 3-8

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “With meticulously-researched, and specifically not easy questions across a variety of scientific, historical, and just really weird topics, Everyone Else Thinks this Game is Awesome will not only challenge your knowledge of the universe, but may explode scientific ‘truths’ you think you know. The game consists of turns where you are all asked trivia questions, simultaneously write down answers, and then assign grad students to different locations based on who, if anyone, you think wrote down a correct answer. Based on how well you predicted answers, including your own, you earn (or lose) citation points. Eventually, someone will climb their way up the academic ladder, win the game, and retire as an Emeritus Professor.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $51

All-In (w/shipping): $116, includes vanity reward

Campaign Ends: 9/23

Game Ships: July 2022

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 373% with 28 days to go.

Project: The Gardens – Take a Walk in the Park!

Designers: Matthew Dunstan (Adventure Games: The Dungeon, Elysium, The Gardens, Pioneer Days), Brett J. Gilbert (Chocolate Factory, Elysium, The Gardens, Mandala), David Harding (Elevenses, Matcha, One Zero One, A Walk in the Park)

Artist: Kerri Aitken (Boomerang: Australia, Boomerang: USA, The Gardens, Tichu, A Walk in the Park)

Publisher: Grail Games (Medici, Stephenson’s Rocket, Yellow & Yangtze)

Genre/Mechanisms: card drafting, card game, modular board, point to point movement, set collection, tile placement (The Gardens); animals, connections, dice, dice rolling, network and route building, paper-and-pencil, solo / solitaire game (A Walk in the Park)

Player Count: 2-4 (The Gardens); 1-99 (A Walk in the Park)

Solo Mode: no (The Gardens); yes (A Walk in the Park)

Complexity: light

Risk: medium-high

Summary: “In The Gardens, players draft cards depicting different features of the Gardens, using them to build their own portion of it in front of themselves. Players then score points based on what their visitors see as they walk past the Gardens’ various flower beds, ponds, native trees, and statues. The tableau you build will have three rows — waterside, grass, and cityside — and you add one card a turn until the area is filled.

A Walk in the Park is a stroll-and-write game. Each turn, a die will be rolled to show players what feature they must draw in their park. Players will race to different sightseeing spots while trying to find the best way to explore the parklands. The player with the most points (depending on which scoring methods they have unlocked) will win.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $38

All-In (w/shipping): $56, also includes A Walk in the Park

Campaign Ends: 9/14

Game Ships: Aug. 2022

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 176% with 19 days to go.

Project: Starship Shuffle

Designers: Curtis Arends, Kyle Arends

Artists: not credited

Publisher: A-Games

Genre/Mechanisms: abstract strategy, action/event, aviation/flight, card game, connections, cooperative game, deduction, game system, humor, industry/manufacturing, memory, ownership, push your luck, simulation, space exploration, stacking and balancing, tech trees/tech tracks, time track

Player Count: 1-5

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “The game starts with the Build Phase. Each player is dealt a starting hand of Rocket Cards facing AWAY from them. Players take turns playing one unseen card from their hand onto the field, trying to match it with the Starship’s blueprints. Alternatively, a player can choose to give a hint to a teammate since players can see their teammate’s hands. Players must use memory tactics to manage their turn’s action with overall team strategy. Successful plays of Rocket Cards reward players with Development Cards which can be used to increase the rocket’s chance of a successful launch. If the players successfully build the Starship in time, they move to the Launch Phase. The launch consists of different stages that must be successfully passed. To pass each launch stage players take turns randomly drawing from a special hand of cards that is determined by the Development Cards acquired during the Build Phase. The game is won if players successfully launch and land their rockets during the Launch Phase. The game is lost if the rocket explodes during launch, or if too many construction accidents happen during the Build Phase.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $36

All-In (w/shipping): $36, same as above

Campaign Ends: 9/21

Game Ships: Nov. 2021

Funding Status: Currently at 27% with 26 days to go.

Project: Super Truffle Pigs

Designer: Jason Corace (Lords & Ladies)

Artists: not credited

Publisher: Games by Bicycle (The Alpha, Exchange, Tattoo Stories)

Genre/Mechanisms: animals, humor, grid movement, hidden victory points, humor, player elimination, programmed movement, variable set-up

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “Outsmart the wolves, power up your pigs, and get ready for a truffle-hunting adventure. Navigate your way to victory as you use your super powers to dig for truffles and complete missions before the wolf pack reaches you.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $50

All-In (w/shipping): $76

Campaign Ends: 9/10

Game Ships: June 2022

Funding Status: Currently at 85% with 15 days to go.