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

Project: Academy: The West Point Board Game

Designers: Samuel Brush, Zade Koch

Artist: Loïc Billiau (Ark Nova, Glen More, Spirit Island, Sprawlopolis, When I Dream)

Publisher: Trophy Point Games

Genre/Mechanisms: adventure, card game, dice, dice rolling, end game bonuses, hand management, simultaneous action selection, worker placement

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A family-friendly worker placement game with four rounds, each representing a year at West Point. During the game, players place their ‘Cadets’ around the West Point campus to conduct training and face off in competitions. The goal is to become the Valedictorian by scoring the most points in the three pillars of the Academy (Academic, Military, Physical). Just like at the real West Point, players must carefully manage their Competitions (e.g., IOCT or Term End Exams) with their Training (e.g., studying or doing duties). Drawing Training cards doesn’t score points, but players need Training cards to win Competitions. Remember that the most successful cadets play their cards well to graduate at the top of their class.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $60

All-In (w/shipping): $60, same as above

Campaign Ends: 2/28

Game Ships: Feb. 2023

Funding Status: Currently at 74% with 26 days to go.

Project: Broken Planet

Designers: Lenny Duwyn, Ben Michielsen, Robin Vandormael

Artists: Lenny Duwyn, Ben Michielsen, Robin Vandormael

Publisher: Pigeon Games

Genre/Mechanisms: action / event, area movement, betting and bluffing, deduction, fantasy, hidden movement, memory, modular board, role playing, simultaneous action selection

Player Count: 2-5

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “The Broken Planet is on the verge of destruction and the only force holding the planet together is the will of the Gods. The planet cannot give enough resources to sustain all living tribes. So the tribes will enter a trial to decide who will become the favored tribe. So, the goal of the game is to gain as much Godly favor as possible. Players are scavenging tribes that collect powerful gemstones during their turn on the floating islands of the Broken Planet. A player’s standard turn consists of movement and gemstone collection. Movement is performed by secretly choosing an island number on the game board with your compass and then keeping it hidden until all other tribes have chosen a location. Afterwards, everybody reveals their location and performs the movement at the same time. Tribes will find different temples on the islands, each displaying the gemstone type that can be collected there. After adding the collected gems to their hand, a new turn starts and players repeat these steps. Each round, one tribe will enter the ‘Offer Phase’ and may discard gemstones cards for special actions. These actions include building temples for unique effects, creating relics to gain Godly favor, or attacking other players with a divine strike. Each of these actions can gain favor in their own respective way. The offering player cannot move nor collect, but all other tribes can. The offering role is passed down clockwise each turn. The amount of discarded gemstones depends on the costs of the Offer Phase actions. The game ends after X turns depending on the amount of players. When the last round has been played, each player counts their favor. The player with the most favor wins the game.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $56

All-In (w/shipping): $74

Campaign Ends: 3/3

Game Ships: Dec. 2022

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 137% with 28 days to go.

Project: Captain’s Log

Designer: Maria Alcaraz

Artists: Maria Luisa Rufete

Publisher: Present Is Future Games

Genre/Mechanisms: action points, action / event, adventures, age of reason, area movement, bias, civilization, dice rolling, exploration, fighting, grid movement, hexagon grid, map addition, miniatures, modular board, nautical, pick-up and deliver, pirates, polyominoes, race, solo / solitaire game, transportation, variable set-up

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A sandbox board game where players are in charge of a ship from the colonial period, competing against other players to become the most famous captain of all. A unique aspect of this game is that you can set a lower Victory Point Limit for a shorter game or a higher Victory Point Limit for the complete experience based on your time allowance. Either way, you will find yourself immersed in your own epic adventure exploring the open ocean and encountering the many rewards and dangers that lie ahead. While exploring the map, you will start catching sight of other ships belonging to the different nations in the game. These are Spain, Holland, France, England, and pirates and corsairs. You will be able to decide if you want to side with any of these nations, giving you a variety of perks. However, nothing in this life is free, and your actions may make enemies of other nations.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $102

All-In (w/shipping): $108

Campaign Ends: 3/1

Game Ships: Nov. 2022

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 274% with 28 days to go.

Project: Chang’an

Designers: Carlo Camarotto (Murano: Light Masters), Nestore Mangone (Darwin’s Journey, Masters of Renaissance: Lorenzo il Magnifico – The Card Game, Newton)

Artist: Sergio Chaves (Dwellings of Eldervale, Rise of Tribes, Sanssouci)

Publisher: Deer Games (Momiji)

Genre/Mechanisms: ancient, card drafting, city building, civilization, hand management, variable player powers

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “During the Tang dynasty, Chang’an was one of the largest cities in the world. It was a cosmopolitan urban center with thousands of travelers exploring it. As an important urbanist, compete against other players to build the best districts of Chang’an and to get the favors of the court. Players will carefully project their plans by placing cards on the top part of their personal boards (the gates). Then they will move them into the city districts to build amazing buildings and to welcome influential characters in the neighborhood. Every new card built into the districts will provide players with different types of privileges and a certain number of victory points. During your turn, you perform only one of the three main actions: research, play and/or move cards on the gates to produce resources and activate character effects, or build. The game ends as soon as a player gets nine or more cards built in the districts of their City board (cards at the gates are not considered).”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $47

All-In (w/shipping): $67

Campaign Ends: 2/21

Game Ships: Dec. 2022

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 119% with 18 days to go.

Project: Dinamine

Designers: Aleksandr Pushai, Enu Roloc

Artist: Enu Roloc

Publisher: Ndeeh Games

Genre/Mechanisms: dice, dice rolling, dungeon crawler, end game bonuses, fantasy, tile placement

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A mine building strategy game. The goal is to build the most valuable mine in 10 rounds. Players must build tunnels and mine veins. The deeper the veins, the more valuable the gems that are mined from them. On each turn, a player will build one or more tunnels in their mine by obtaining tunnel tiles that add up to the number of points obtained from round token + dice roll. The tiles chosen must be of equal or lesser value, as long as the number of points acquired does not exceed the value of the tunnel tile(s). In some cases, players can perform an extra action depending on the tile type. After 10 rounds, the player with the most collective victory points from mine veins, altars, wells, rewards, items and missions is the winner.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $60

All-In (w/shipping): $90

Campaign Ends: 3/3

Game Ships: Feb. 2023

Funding Status: Currently at 10% with 28 days to go.

Project: Dinosaur Exhibit

Designer: Kristen Mott

Artist: Jerry Padilla (Mythalix)

Publisher: Kristen Mott

Genre/Mechanisms: animals, dice, dice rolling, set collection, tile placement

Player Count: 1-6

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A Spinosaurus skeleton has just been discovered in your area, and all the museums want it for their dinosaur exhibits. As a curator, you must roll for curation tools, expand your exhibit areas, manage storage rooms, and create impressive layouts of fossils in your dinosaur exhibit. The museum with the most curation points will receive the Spinosauruss skeleton for display. Players take turns rolling the curation dice, choosing their tools and shading their map, using pillar tokens, and displaying dinosaur fossils to create the best dinosaur exhibit. Place your fossil tiles just right to create more bonuses to increase your curation points score.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $32

All-In (w/shipping): $32, same as above

Campaign Ends: 3/1

Game Ships: Nov. 2022

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 147% with 26 days to go.

Project: I Guess This Is It

Designer: Cezar Capacle

Artist: Anastasia Khmelevska

Publisher: Button Shy (Circle the Wagons, Sprawlopolis, Tussie Mussie)

Genre/Mechanisms: two player only games, card game, cooperative game, hand management, print and play, role playing, square grid, storytelling

Player Count: 2

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: medium-low

Summary: “A two-player game about saying goodbye. Players take the role of two people once strongly connected standing before each other in the final minutes before their last goodbye. They will work together to try and say as much as they can before leaving, but being careful not to hurt each other’s feelings. The mechanics aim to emulate the emotions of the moment, in which there’s so much you want to say before they go, but you also don’t want to make the other person feel guilty or neglected. You know time won’t be enough and there will be things left unsaid. How do you make the most of this last instant together? When no story cards remain, it’s time to say goodbye. There’s no more time for stories. The person leaving says the words on the Goodbye card, then gets up and leaves. After a short break, get back together. Reveal the cards left on your hands. Those are the things left unsaid. Look at them together one by one, and silently reflect on their meaning, on how you wish you had just a little more time together. If you both had the same amount of cards in your hands, you at least feel you were on the same page, and your final conversation was in sync, like the good old days.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $15

All-In (w/shipping): $78

Campaign Ends: 2/12

Game Ships: Apr. 2022

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 876% with 9 days to go.

Project: Identity Theft

Designers: KJ Hoggan, Steven Hoggan, Jared Lambert, Tyrel Wilde

Artist: Hannah Aro

Publisher: Wild Lamb Hoggs Games

Genre/Mechanisms: deduction, dice, dice rolling, paper-and-pencil

Player Count: 3-5

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “As skilled digital hackers, attempt to infiltrate your opponents’ defenses and piece together their Identification Numbers. Use the Black Market to attack, defend, and engage in Risky Business. Use your hacking skills at the opportune moments and be careful who you trust. The first hacker to steal all other’s identities is the victor, so do whatever it takes to keep your own identity safe. Don’t forget to be vigilant. An Undercover Cop or White Hat Hacker can disrupt your schemes at any moment. If you can secure control of the elusive and adorable Botnet your chances for success skyrocket.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $42

All-In (w/shipping): $111

Campaign Ends: 3/3

Game Ships: Mar. 2023

Funding Status: Currently at 27% with 28 days to go.

Project: Kings of Serbia

Designer: Boris Ðurović

Artist: Danijela Stojić

Publisher: Brave Giant

Genre/Mechanisms: card game, deck bulding, economic, exploration, hand management, income, medieval, worker placement with different worker types

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “Each player begins with a Personal deck of cards, that represents their people (workers, explorers, soldiers) and a set of Action cards. Each round players place all the cards from their hand onto their Action cards to discover new territories, conquer discovered territories, produce resources, and later sell them at a higher price. Gold is used for adding cards to your deck, by buying new characters from the market and bringing them to your kingdom. Character cards have symbols that signify the character’s abilities. Each character can be placed on any Action card, but if the character’s symbol and action card match, bonus points are granted. Important aspect of the game is exploring and conquering territories which bring you needed resources and great abilities. What is also interesting about the game is the law of supply and demand of resources because the resource that is offered by more players has a lower price. The game ends with the round during which a certain number of Territory piles is used up, which depends on the number of players. Then the players count their points from their Personal deck and conquered territories. The player with the most points wins.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $60

All-In (w/shipping): $115

Campaign Ends: 3/3

Game Ships: Oct. 2022

Funding Status: Currently at 31% with 28 days to go.

Project: Last Resort Space Hotel Simulator

Designer: Oliver Brooks (Dance of the Fireflies)

Artists: Andrew Forster, Dann May (Black Orchestra, Everdell, A War of Whispers), Greg May (Anomaly, Fast & Furious: Full Throttle, Planetarium)

Publisher: Braincrack Games (Dead & Breakfast, Ragusa, Venice)

Genre/Mechanisms: deduciton, drating, end game bonuses, humor, multiple maps, science fiction, simultaneous action selection, solo / solitaire game, space exploration, tile placement, victory points as a resource

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: light

Risk: medium-low

Summary: “In Last Resort, each player is the proud new owner of a defunct space station, which they plan to turn into the galaxy’s trendiest space resort. Each round (or ‘season’) players select one of their four advert cards to play, broadcasting it across the galaxy to attract tourists. These advert cards also dictate which parts of your station guests can check out of (generating income) and what kind of tile you can build this round. But beware – playing the same advert as another station will generate interference, causing Malfunction tiles to crop up on both stations. When players are done checking out tourists and buying new tiles, rockets packed with new tourists will arrive. In the Arrivals phase, players draft tourists to visit their stations, with the players whose attractions and amenities most align with current trends getting to pick first (which usually means they will also get extra tourists, as arrival numbers are rarely an exact multiple of the player count.) If a player does not have a suitable spot for the type of tourist they wish to draft, the tourist is ejected into space, negatively affecting your station’s ratings. At the end of the game, the winner is the player with the most QUID – or Quantum Universal Intergalactic Denomination, the accepted currency of all space resorts. QUID is generated not only by checking out tourists, but also competing to be the highest in each of the four ‘Prestige’ categories – Thrills, Entertainment, Relaxation and Inspiration.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $44

All-In (w/shipping): $104

Campaign Ends: 2/21

Game Ships: Sep. 2022

Funding Status: Currently at 51% with 18 days to go.

Project: Monsters and the Things That Destroy Them!

Designers: Jeff Siadek (Battlestations, Battlestations: Second Edition, Lifeboat), Joey Vigour (Chaosmos, GROWL)

Artists: Kaiami (Cat Rescue, Cat Sudoku, Cleocatra)

Publisher: Vigour Games (GROWL)

Genre/Mechanisms: bluffing, card drafting, card game, deduction, hand management, horror, memory

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: medium-high

Summary: “A memory and bluffing game featuring monster cards from classic literature (plus some modern ones like ‘hunk vampire’ and ‘teen wolf’) and the neutralizer cards that can destroy them. Each monster has an ability such as triggering the top card of your discard pile. You don’t play cards from your hand; you take cards from a 4-card pool and trigger the card as you take it. At the end of the game players discard down to their best 2 cards. Neutralizers then destroy their corresponding monsters, and the player with the best surviving combination of cards wins.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $15

All-In (w/shipping): $45

Campaign Ends: 2/17

Game Ships: Mar. 2022

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 266% with 14 days to go.

Project: Not So Neighborly

Designer: Alice Hong

Artist: Jessica Hong

Publisher: Fambam Games

Genre/Mechanisms: card game, hand management, set collection, take that

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “In Not So Neighborly, your goal is to be the first to complete building a neighborhood by collecting a total of 10 build points. But, beware – the other players can prevent you from building your neighborhood by stealing buildings, destroying buildings, and more. So be not so neighborly in order to win.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $25

All-In (w/shipping): $25, same as above

Campaign Ends: 3/3

Game Ships: Oct. 2022

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 228% with 28 days to go.

Project: Rogue Angels – Legacy of the Burning Suns

Designer: Emil Larsen (Burning Rome, Burning Suns)

Artist: Dinulescu Alexandru, Linggar Bramanty, Przemek Kozlowski

Publisher: SunTzuGames (Burning Rome, Burning Suns)

Genre/Mechanisms: action points, action queue, adventure, campaign / battle card driven, cooperative game, dice rolling, grid movement, hand management, legacy game, mature / adult, movement points, multiple maps, narrative choice / paragraph, oce-per-game abilities, role playing, roles with asymmetric information, scenario / mission / campaign game, science fiction, solo / solitaire game, storytelling, turn order: random, variable player powers, variable set-up

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A character-driven solo or co-op sci-fi adventure blending engaging narrative with impactful choices leading to multiple paths through various missions and personal journeys. Rogue Angels merges tactical combat with fluent turns and action management with asymmetric abilities, where you fight behavior-driven enemies through combined card and dice play. Throughout your journey the decisions you make will permanently shape your character’s personality and their relationship with other individuals, opening and closing possible paths along the way. Rogue Angels offers individual difficulty settings allowing players an experience best suited for their level. Set in the Burning Suns universe, you will be traveling a diverse galaxy with various factions all vying for their way of life. You have the opportunity to become a hero, shield civilians from conflicts, defend your spaceship from boarding enemies, and help save the galaxy. But be careful, as your team will be tested in numerous scenarios and face difficult choices in and outside of combat, and you will not be offered a second chance. As a leader you must be willing to sacrifice everything and your legacy to bring peace to the many species of the Burning Suns.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $117

All-In (w/shipping): $147

Campaign Ends: 3/6

Game Ships: Dec. 2023

Funding Status: Currently at 8% with 31 days to go.

Project: Seas of Havoc

Designers: Sébastien Bernier-Wong, Peter Gorniak

Artist: Nabetse Zitro

Publisher: Rock Manor Games (Lawyer Up, Maximum Apocalypse, Set a Watch)

Genre/Mechanisms: deck building, hand management, nautical, pirates, worker placement

Player Count: 1-5

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: light

Risk: medium-low

Summary: “In Seas of Havoc, players take on the role of a unique captain of a ship in a naval combat game where players are competing for the most renown. Players can gain renown for discovering shipwreck and battling it out on the high seas. The game is split between a combat phase on the high seas and an island phase where players send out their skiffs to worker placements to gain resources, improve their decks, repair and upgrade their ship. During the combat phase, players will play out a hand of cards to maneuver their ship – navigating obstacles, searching shipwrecks and firing cannons at their opponents. Multi-use cards offer options as the battle unfolds and card bonuses reward smart play.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $77

All-In (w/shipping): $103

Campaign Ends: 2/25

Game Ships: Feb. 2023

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 330% with 22 days to go.

Project: Trekking Through History

Designer: Charlie Bink (Trekking the National Parks, Trekking the National Parks: Second Edition, Trekking the World)

Artist: Eric Hibbeler (Junk Orbit, Terror Below, Yukon Airways)

Publisher: Underdog Games (Coconuts, Trekking the National Parks: Second Edition, Trekking the World)

Genre/Mechanisms: adventure, card drafting, set collection, time track

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: medium-high

Summary: “In Trekking through History, you go on a 3-day tour of human history, traveling thousands of years in a time machine to experience great moments from our past. The game takes place over three rounds, each representing one day of your trip. Each day, you’ll visit a series of historical events, spending a different number of hours at each. On each turn, you’ll choose to visit one historical event, and spend a certain number of hours doing it. Doing so will yield benefits, like checking off items on your itinerary for points, and earning Time Crystals so you can bend the space-time continuum on future turns. Along the way, you’ll also score points for visiting historical events in chronological order. The player with the most points after three rounds wins.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $50

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

Campaign Ends: 2/28

Game Ships: Oct. 2022

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 523% with 25 days to go.