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

Project: 6 Below the game

Designer: Johnathon Shrader

Artist: Johnathon Shrader

Publisher: Johnathon Shrader

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

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “The object of the game is to kill off your opposing players then bury them by placing 6 or more cards on top of them while they are in their graveyard.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $50

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

Campaign Ends: 11/30

Game Ships: Nov. 2022

Funding Status: Currently at 1% with 28 days to go.

Project: Bamberg

Designer: Wilfredo Casas

Artist: Danilo Alvarez

Publisher: Witch Hunt Games

Genre/Mechanisms: deduction, party game, renaissance

Player Count: 5-10

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A social deduction game based on the witch trials of 17th century Europe. At the beginning of the game, you will receive a secret role which can be Child, Villager, Witch or Familiar. Children and Villagers belong to The Town team, whereas Witches and Familiars belong to The Coven team. At first, you will not know who is on your team and who is against you, but as the game progresses, the event cards will help you discover more about each player’s identity. At the end of each round, players will vote anonymously for whom to burn at the stake, and the player that receives most votes dies. Only Children and Witches reveal their role when they die. If all Witches die, The Town wins the game. If all Children die, The Coven wins the game.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $46

All-In (w/shipping): $46, same as above

Campaign Ends: 11/30

Game Ships: Dec. 2021

Funding Status: Currently at 42% with 28 days to go.

Project: Crossroads Inn: The Board Game

Designer: Piotr Milewski

Artists: not credited

Publisher: Klabater

Genre/Mechanisms: economic, fantasy, humor, income, medieval, square grid, territory building, tile placement, turn order: pass order, variable set-up

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “Players build an inn from scratch and prepare unique meals, all to meet the expectations of guests from various social classes. It doesn’t matter if it’s simple and folksy, distressed or sublime, and capricious representatives of the nobility – everyone wants to drink and eat well. The gameplay will be based on predicting – and blocking! – the actions of the rest of the bastard siblings who run the competing taverns. The one who unscrupulously uses the gold, rumors, and weaknesses of their opponents, will win. The game offers many ways of achieving this goal. Buying new furniture, getting unique recipes and ingredients for dishes, well-trained employees – everything can help the player achieve the final victory. And if that’s not enough, seductive Vedetas and silver-tongued bards will take care of the needs of even the most demanding guests. The player who will have the most prestige points at the end wins. However, it can only happen if they’ll cover all of his space on Player’s Inn Board.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $58

All-In (w/shipping): $139

Campaign Ends: 11/30

Game Ships: Nov. 2022

Funding Status: Currently at 49% with 28 days to go.

Project: Don’t Turn Off The Lights

Designer: Billy Coldwell

Artist: Billy Coldwell

Publisher: Trashman Studio

Genre/Mechanisms: card drafting, card game, player elimination

Player Count: 2-6

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “Every player must have the required number of lights on to keep monsters from attacking them that round, if not they will take one of your lives. Deflect monsters onto other players by turning off their lights or drawing and playing a card that will have a unique effect on the game. Win simply by having every other player lose all of their lives.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $31

All-In (w/shipping): $31, same as above

Campaign Ends: 11/28

Game Ships: Apr. 2022

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

Project: GRIM INC

Designers: Christopher Hume, Katie Riddell, Mark Taylor

Artists: Christopher Hume, Katie Riddell

Publisher: Terror Toad

Genre/Mechanisms: acting, action timer, card drafting, card game, dice rolling, highest-lowest scoring, humor, order counters, party game, storytelling

Player Count: 3-8

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “Get your elevator pitches ready and be prepared to impress against a one minute sand timer in order to become employee of the month in this deadly new game. Can you come up with a murderous plot? Or be forced to think on your feet? Could you dispose of a chicken farmer on a volcano with a whisk? Or a medium on a cruise ship with a light bulb? How can you exterminate a patronizing life coach, at that place where he goes to forget his family, with a sweaty sock at your disposal? The manager picks their favorite pitch and awards a card of recognition. The game ends when an employee has received 3 cards of recognition, has become employee of the month, and has won the game.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $55

All-In (w/shipping): $82

Campaign Ends: 11/30

Game Ships: Dec. 2021

Funding Status: Currently at 32% with 28 days to go.

Project: Karigar-e-Taj

Designer: Amit Ghadge (Indus 2500 BCE, Last Starfleet)

Artists: Rakesh Maurya, Chandrasekhar Poudyal, Oshin Vijayraj

Publisher: Dice Toy Labs (Indus 2500 BCE)

Genre/Mechanisms: city building, tile placement, worker placement

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “You will play the role of a Karigar (Artisan) and strategically place your workers to gather the material you need in an ever-changing Bazaar (Market). And you are not alone. Rival artisans seek the Emperor’s favour too. Gather goods and mohurs (coins), optimise your resources to fulfil your secret blueprint objectives and use your resources wisely to build the Taj level by level to earn bakshish (gifts) and Taj points from the Emperor. Earn your place by the Emperor’s side at the end of the game, and marvel at the moonlight caressing the stone of the Taj Mahal as the River Yamuna cradles the gently shifting reflection of her minarets.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $50

All-In (w/shipping): $75

Campaign Ends: 11/30

Game Ships: May 2022

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 114% with 28 days to go.

Project: Snake – The Board Game

Designer: Maarten Krijgsman

Artist: Anica Smiljkovic

Publisher: Maarten Krijgsman

Genre/Mechanisms: abstract strategy, grid movement, pattern movement, pattern recognition, square grid, video game theme

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “Snake – The Board Game is the tabletop version of the 45 years old classic video game Snake. The result is that you get to see a strategic, tactical side of Snake that you never have. In Snake – The Board Game, you need to plan out every move, growing in a way that is going to block your opponent from doing the same. The basic premise hasn’t changed. You are still trying to eat apples (or dots, depending on how far back you go in the game’s history) to get longer and longer. Simply by shifting the speed downward, Snake morphs into something that forces you to think ahead and get much more creative.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $54

All-In (w/shipping): $70

Campaign Ends: 11/28

Game Ships: May 2022

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 169% with 26 days to go.

Project: Thor’s Cliff

Designer: Timo Zett

Artist: Timo Zett

Publisher: Timo Zett

Genre/Mechanisms: adventure, dice rolling, fantasy, grid movement, miniatures, mythology, wargame

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “In this non-cooperative game, players try to earn the love of Thor’s Daughter by gifting her amber and gemstones. Each player follows their own strategy according to their Hero’s individual abilities. By earning silver, fighting trolls, recruiting new warriors, and buying various items for their Heroes, players battle each other in this strategic adventure game. The game includes a 3-part introduction narrating the epic backstory which lets players learn the rules step by step with every chapter.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $99

All-In (w/shipping): $133

Campaign Ends: 11/30

Game Ships: Oct. 2022

Funding Status: Currently at 19% with 29 days to go.

Project: The Vampire! A Retro Horror Card Game

Designer: Samuel Stenard

Artists: not credited

Publisher: Severed Hand

Genre/Mechanisms: card drafting, card game, pattern building, renaissance, set collection

Player Count: 3-7

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “The Vampire! A Retro Horror Card Game is a hidden role game in which 3-7 players assume the roles of small town Locals. Most are who they appear… but one is secretly the Vampire. The Locals must work together to identify the Vampire. But unlike other hidden role games, the game doesn’t end there– the Locals must then bring the Vampire to 1 hit point and kill it with a Wooden Stake card. All the while, the Vampire has access to special abilities– like Bite, Feed, and Turn– to kill the Locals, and raise them from the dead as Vampire Fledglings. Inspired by Mafia, The Twilight Zone, and classic horror movies, The Vampire! pairs the drama of the hidden role genre with the crunch of traditional card games.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $24

All-In (w/shipping): $105

Campaign Ends: 11/21

Game Ships: Apr. 2022

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 119% with 19 days to go.