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

Project: Blazon

Designer: David Conklin

Artist: Ian O’Toole (Age of Steam, The Gallerist, Lisboa, On Mars, Vinhos Deluxe Edition)

Publisher: 25th Century Games (Kōhaku, Ra, Space Explorers)

Genre/Mechanisms: set collection

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: medium-low

Summary: “The widespread use of armorial bearings in the Middle Ages gave rise to a new occupation of herald. These heralds had the responsibility of learning and maintaining the rules and protocols governing the design and description, or blazoning of arms. Blazon allows you to become a herald, carefully selecting the right elements for your shield board, and earning distinctions through shrewd play. Earn your rank through the accumulation of prestige as you blazon your shield to distinguish yourself among your peers and be crowned the King of Arms. Heraldry refers to the design, display, and study of armorial bearings, a shield used to identify a person or family. To blazon arms means to describe them in the language of heraldry, a practice that dates back to the age of antiquity.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $48

All-In (w/shipping): $63

Campaign Ends: 1/19

Game Ships: Nov. 2022

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 157% with 14 days to go.

Project: Dom Pierre

Designers: Costa (6 Castles, Café, Yinzi), Rôla (6 Castles, Café, Yinzi)

Artists: Olivier Fagnère (Dream Factory, Excape, Pit), James Churchill (Feed the Kraken, Legacies, Public Market)

Publisher: R&R Games (Hanabi, Mombasa, Rajas of the Ganges, Time’s Up!, Time’s Up! Title Recall!)

Genre/Mechanisms: action points, contracts, economic, farming, variable player powers, worker placement

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: heavy

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “Throughout the 18th century, several ‘champagne houses’ — or Champagne Maisons — were founded, and a new business dynamic grew in the region. These houses replaced small farm and monastery production in leading the evolutionary process of champagne, and by planting more vineyards or buying grapes from other producers or both, they mastered the specialization. To promote their product, the houses hired sales agents to take samples of their champagne wines to the Royal Courts of Europe, a crucial factor in generating the glamorous fashion of drinking champagne. Despite production growth, improved quality, and increasing popularity, trade did not reach spectacular rates during the 19th century — which is why the game Dom Pierre is much more about winning prestige than earning money. In the game, you are responsible for one of the oldest Champagne Maisons, producing and selling wine all over Europe, not to mention the other side of the Atlantic. The local economy will be boosted, employment increased, and your brand will become universally recognized. To make all this happen will require a chain of actions that starts in your vineyard. You will need to look for continuous improvement, constantly react to your opponents, and optimize your choices to build the most prestigious Champagne Maison. In game terms, on a turn you move up a disc on the winery game board and perform an action, with the actions become more powerful as the game progresses. You will plant in the vineyards, harvest crops, buy grapes from neighbors, make wines in your cellar (some more valuable than others), allocate salespeople on four market routes and workers in the vineyard and cellar, and acquire the necessary accessories to improve production.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $63

All-In (w/shipping): $74

Campaign Ends: 1/16

Game Ships: May 2022

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 149% with 11 days to go.