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

Project: Age of Rome

Designers: Vangelis Efthimiou, Antonios Yannopoulos

Artist: Evan Scale

Publisher: Teetotem Game Studios

Genre/Mechanisms: ancient, area majority / influence, city-building, economic, end game bonuses, events, income, map deformation, modular board, open drafting, political, push your luck, set collection, solo / solitaire game, take that, victory points as a resource, worker placement

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-heavy

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “In Age of Rome, each player is assigned a hero with their respective player board, then are given secret quests and starting resources of Denarii, Followers, Scheme tokens, Legions, and Votes. Then they spend nine rounds competing on a rotating board to earn Glory Points. Each round consists of four phases: Scheme phase– an Event card is revealed and turn order is determined, then players activate Schemes in turn order; Building phase– players build structures in turn order; Action phase– players take actions by placing Followers in turn order; and Income phase– players receive Income and the Provinces board is adjusted. Players can earn Glory Points in various ways. They may build structures, place Followers to vote and win a majority, send Legions to conquer regions, trade or collect items, or even build a Pantheon. Completed secret quests also earn Glory Points. After the 9th round, the game ends. The final score is determined and the player with the most Glory Points is declared the new Emperor of Rome.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $97

All-In (w/shipping): $130

Campaign Ends: 4/15

Game Ships: Mar. 2023

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 243% with 15 days to go.

Project: Athanasia

Designer: Brandon Fitzpatrick

Artists: B-Gfx, Fantasy Factory, Fesvia, Franco Multides, Alex Ravlik, Emmanuel César Rubio

Publisher: Immortality Games

Genre/Mechanisms: action points, dice rolling, fantasy, grid movement, pick-up and deliver, player elimination, science fiction, wargame

Player Count: 2-7

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A Scifi/Fantasy competitive skirmish wargame where players engage in tactical conflict to secure the key to immortality. Players mobilize and strategically position their characters, leverage their surroundings to increase their power, and battle their rivals as they venture towards victory. Every character has a value that determines their health, movement, defense, and attack power as well as additional character abilities that increase their effectiveness on the battlefield. Each turn, a player is allotted 3 activation points for their civilization which they can use in a variety of ways to increase their own power as well as decrease their rival’s power as they carve their path towards victory. In a given turn a player may: Move their characters across the battlefield based on their allowed movement, collect and activate items that spawn dynamically, activate obelisks to increase their movement, defense, and attack power, activate character abilities to weaken their rivals, and attack or steal items from adjacent rivals using a D20 die to simulate battle. As in any battle, strength in numbers always helps you come out on top. When attacking or defending from rivals, you get additional D20 roll or defense bonuses by positionally linking your characters together. Securing the key to immortality first requires crafting it at the crafting table in the center of the battlefield using both the philosopher’s stone and antimatter which are spawned throughout the game. The race is then on for a civilization to secure the key and activate it at the battlefield’s exit point. The player that successfully activates the key at the exit point is the winner. Alternatively, you can win Athanasia by being the sole survivor after obliterating your rivals.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $51

All-In (w/shipping): $51, same as above

Campaign Ends: 4/26

Game Ships: Jan. 2023

Funding Status: Currently at 11% with 26 days to go.

Project: The Big Pig Game!

Designer: Evan Gibbs

Artist: Holly Fowler

Publisher: Evan’s Games

Genre/Mechanisms: action / event, animal, card game, children’s game, cooperative game, events, hand management, humor, solo / solitaire game

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “Each player picks a character and the team of players pick a meal based on difficulty (breakfast for easy, lunch for medium, and dinner for hard). Each meal is a different board with four foods displayed that the players must consume. Each of the foods has 16 tiles that are placed on top of them and each tile has a value. When playing the game, players munch foods and remove a total value of tiles equal to their character’s hunger. Each round a ‘bad things’ card is played. These are events that make the food harder to eat either by having a one time effect or an effect that lasts the whole round. Then players take their turns, one action at a time, going clockwise. Each character card has 4 actions. To take an action, place a ‘snack token’ on one of the four available actions that does not already have a snack token, and take the action described in that spot. These actions involve munching food, obtaining an item card for a bonus, or playing a card. When munching food, remove tiles from the food board and place them on your character card. The food tiles can be used to boost your action cards later. Each action card has a unique effect if it is boosted. After a player takes their turn by performing an action, that player draws action cards up to their hand size. Play continues until each player has performed their four actions for the turn. Then the car moves forward one space on the game board. If the car reaches the house, the family has returned and the feast ends. All of the players lose. If the players consume all of food tiles, the players immediately win.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $59

All-In (w/shipping): $73

Campaign Ends: 4/21

Game Ships: Jan. 2023

Funding Status: Currently at 79% with 21 days to go.

Project: Chronopia

Designer: Artur “Artmar” Marciniak

Artists: not credited

Publisher: Uhrwerk Verlag

Genre/Mechanisms: 2 player only games, action points, dice rolling, fantasy, miniatures, variable player powers, wargame

Player Count: 2

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: heavy

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A dynamic wargame that allows you to play small Hero skirmish battles or massive army battles set in a dark fantasy world. Using beautiful miniatures from Uhrwer-Verlag, you will once again fall into this world (the project is a re-implentation of 2002’s Chronopia: War in the Eternal Realm). In the dark fantasy universe of Chronopia there are eight mighty empires fighting for territory and dominance whilst demons from other realms try to enter the world and take it for themselves. You will take leadership of one of these empires and attempt to forge its destiny through glorious combat. The battles you fight will not only be friendly games but can also be reported to our headquarters where we will create a library of data. Every month we’ll inform players how their successes and failures have influenced the world of Chronopia. As time passes and borders change, through the sands of time will appear new factions.”

Base Pledge: $44 + shipping (no estimates provided)

All-In: $1,223 + shipping (no estimates provided)

Campaign Ends: 5/1

Game Ships: Dec. 2022

Funding Status: Currently at 57% with 31 days to go.

Project: Darkest Doom

Designer: Mario Zattini

Artists: Davide De Bellis, Denis Medri (Dead Man’s Cabal, Wiz War Eight Edition)

Publisher: Game Start Studio

Genre/Mechanisms: adventure, area movement, dice rolling, dungeon crawler, exploration, fantasy, fighting, hand management, miniatures, renaissance, role playing, solo / solitaire game, variable player powers

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-heavy

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A competitive strategy game with RPG elements, set in a dark fantasy world inspired by XVII century Europe and inhabited by anthropomorphic animals. Will you survive for the 9 days of the Eclipse as the Darkness tries to annihilate the region of Betel all the while competing with the other Guardians to complete one of the four paths to victory? The Darkest Doom boardgame puts you in charge of one of four formidable Guardians, each with unique abilities and traits. As you explore the areas of the region of Betel you’ll be able to take advantage of each different terrain and use its unique characteristics. You’ll increase your Guardian’s statistics by completing quests assigned to you by Vicar Percival, adjusting your strategy and attitude towards the game based on the stats you choose to upgrade. During your exploration, you’ll also stumble onto ancient relics which will help you satisfy one of four victory conditions. You’ll be able to declare Alliances with Citadels in order to gain advantages over other Guardians and battle the Darkness which is slowly bringing the whole region to collapse. Each new round is a new Dawn, and thanks to the Citadel restock you’ll always have some help as you replenish the cards in your hand, choosing them from different decks: Equipment, Spells and Traps. The same card has different effects depending on the player using it and the stats they’ve chosen to increase. Whenever you’re required to roll dice, High Priestess Elaine grants you and all other players the power of the Crimsonfate – the Amulet of the Elders – which will let you modify the result of the dice with a result of your choice from the Citadels Supplies cards in your hand. Play by yourself with the Bot Guardians mode, allowing you to play with up to three automated Guardians, or prove yourself by challenging three other players in this dark fantasy adventure combining elements of roleplay, exploration, handicap management and traditional boardgames.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $132

All-In (w/shipping): $185

Campaign Ends: 4/12

Game Ships: Aug. 2023

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 497% with 12 days to go.

Project: Dead by Daylight™: The Board Game

Designer: D. Brad Talton, Jr. (BattleCON: Devastation of Indines, BattleCON: War of Indines, Millennium Blades)

Artist: Davy Wagnarok (Before the Earth Explodes, Bullet, Somnia: Rise of Laputa)

Publisher: Level 99 Games (Argent: The Consortium, BattleCON: Devastation of Indines, BattleCON: War of Indines, Millennium Blades)

Genre/Mechanisms: dice rolling, exploration, horror, simultaneous action selection, team-based game, variable player powers, video game theme

Player Count: 3-5

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: medium-low

Summary: “A team of four resourceful Survivors face off against a single supernatural Killer in a high-stakes game of cat-and-mouse. As one of four Survivors, explore the trial grounds, discover props, and utilize your unique perks as you work to uncover and repair generators. Repair four generators and open the exit games to escape and win. As a Killer, hunt down the survivors, wound them, and place them on sacrificial hooks to summon a sinister force. With enough sacrifices, you are able to appease The Entity and win. Each turn, players will plan their moves by secretly selecting paths on the board to move along. Each time a player moves, they will reveal new features of the board, called props, which they can interact with to further their objectives or to hinder their opponents. Survivors are able to utilize many different props to aid in their survival and navigation of the trial. Killers can make use of fewer props—instead, they interact with the Survivors using their attack or their unique power. Each Killer has a different power that will completely change the way the game plays. Both Killers and Survivors have perks which grant them special abilities. Experienced players can customize their characters with various perk configurations, offering even more replayability.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $64

All-In (w/shipping): $123

Campaign Ends: 4/21

Game Ships: Oct. 2022

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 165% with 21 days to go.

Project: DiceWar: The New Way to Roll

Designer: Pat Gillen

Artists: not credited

Publisher: Cherry Bomb Table Games

Genre/Mechanisms: card game, dice, dice rolling party game, take that, trick-taking, wargame

Player Count: 2-5

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A round-by-round competition to be the first player to reach 6 points. To have any chance at the win, players must balance strong dice-rolling with strategic action card playing. 2-5 players are given 3 rolls per round to achieve familiar dice combinations like Large Straight, 4-of-a-kind, and Full House. The player with the best roll at the end of a round wins a point AND and action card. With 10 different action card types, players can use cards to steal dice from their opponents, skip their opponents’ turn, and even make their opponent ‘respect the ones.'”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $19

All-In (w/shipping): $39

Campaign Ends: 4/28

Game Ships: Sep. 2022

Funding Status: Currently at 83% with 28 days to go.

Project: Feralis: Obscure Land

Designer: Luca Vincitore

Artists: Davide De Bellis, Gaia Degl’Innocenti, Giovanni Lazzari, Giovanni Panarello, Pietro Bastas

Publisher: Deer Games Studio

Genre/Mechanisms: card game, card play conflict resolution, deck construction, fantasy, fighting, open drafting, team-based game

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A deck construction card game for battle 1vs1 and 2vs2. The ultimate goal is to kill your opponents, to do so you have to recall your creatures, mutate them, and use them to slay the creatures that stand in the opponent’s area or go directly to the head of their leader. In Feralis, the players have a deck of creatures, an Aesyr that impersonates, and a series of Godlike Skills assigned to the god. The creature cards have 2 sides, a ‘Call’ side and an ‘Awakening’ one. To put them on the battlefield you have to wait for their waiting cost in turns. Once your creatures on the ‘Call’ side are defeated they will come back in the ‘Awakening’ form. You can also play them directly in the ‘Awakening’ form but you will miss the opportunity to see their ‘Call’ form. Your main resource is time, you have to put the creature at the right moment to create a powerful combo between your creature. You can reduce the time cost with a limited resource the Catalyst. You have a short amount that you can use also during your opponent’s turn to unlock your creature in the Incubator area. You can support your creatures with your Godlike skills, powerful events that need time to be ready but they can turn the tide of battle. This Skills will recharge once used. Use all these resources wisely and have no mercy, your opponents will not.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $69

All-In (w/shipping): $166

Campaign Ends: 4/21

Game Ships: May 2023

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 252% with 21 days to go.

Project: Kazuni

Designers: Andy Litteral, Rob St. Louis

Artists: not credited

Publisher: Whaleback Games

Genre/Mechanisms: economic, events, exploration, industry / manufacturing, modular board, pick-up and deliver, point to point movement, race, transportation

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “Players begin by building factories that are used to produce supply crates for a starving city. These crates are delivered as player explore a dynamic, mystery board and purchase the transportation needed to move those crates. Players are faced with economic challenges while also handling the randomness of an Opportunity Deck that furthers their chains or inhibits their opponents. Players collect their income for the turn, then take two actions which can be map exploration, supply chain construction, and/or drawing a card from the deck. After performing their actions, any supply crates that currently exist within a player’s supply chain will move according to their capacity. After cargo crates have moved along the supply line, players end their turn by building additional supply crates at any and all factories the player has constructed. Once a player has successfully delivered 25 crates from their factories to the center tile (City tile) they win the game.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $73

All-In (w/shipping): $94

Campaign Ends: 4/28

Game Ships: Jan. 2023

Funding Status: Currently at 13% with 28 days to go.

Project: Nightbreak

Designer: Eric Fairchild

Artists: Paige Baxter, Darien Allen Hamilton, Jeff Menges (Legend of the Five Rings, Magic: The Gathering, Mythos), Jeff Yoon

Publisher: Lancaster Gaming Co.

Genre/Mechanisms: card game, fantasy, push your luck, team-based game, take that

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A competitive, hero-based fantasy card game featuring a fixed turn count, a day/night resource system, spatial positioning mechanics, and push your luck mechanics. Players choose three Heroes from their faction and enter a battle with a duration of two in-game days. During each player’s turn, that player gains at least one Blessing Point from their Goddess. Blessing Points are resources used to activate Hero powers. These resources also allow Heroes to escape from the battle undetected, or allow Heroes to pray to their Goddess for further blessings on a future turn. As the battle progresses, Heroes take damage and eventually become overwhelmed forcing them to temporarily retire from the battle. When a Hero becomes overwhelmed, a new Hero from that player’s Hero deck arrives to the battle. The player who overwhelms an opposing Hero gains favor from their Goddess. At the end of the two-day battle, the player that earned the most favor from their Goddess is the winner.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $48

All-In (w/shipping): $58

Campaign Ends: 4/28

Game Ships: July 2023

Funding Status: Currently at 47% with 28 days to go.

Project: Nightmare Cathedral (on Gamefound)

Designer: Błażej Kubacki (Chronicles of Frost, Mistfall, Mistfall: Heart of the Mists)

Artists: Franek Wolski, Zdzisław Beksiński

Publisher: Board&Dice (The Networks, Tekhenu: Obelisk of the Sun, Teotihuacan: City of Gods, Trismegistus: The Ultimate Formula)

Genre/Mechanisms: area majority / influence, follow, horror, miniatures, moving multiple units, solo / solitaire game, track movement, variable set-up, worker placement

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: heavy

Risk: medium-low

Summary: “Victory is gained by controlling the map, managing resources, following objectives and selecting when to engage in fast and furious conflicts to gain strategic advantage. Over the course of the game, you will perform actions — and follow the actions of other players — to produce units, build fortifications, maneuver around the map, and spend your followers to climb the ritual track. Throughout the game, a haunting Cathedral will grow in the center of the board, and once it is completed, you will face — and gain the ability to control! — the physical manifestations of nightmares that are released upon the world. Nightmare Cathedral is a game of both strategy and tactics, where finding clever ways to follow your objectives and combining different strategies is the ultimate route to victory. Each player has a set of Action cards. These Action cards display various effects that may be activated either on that player’s own turn, or as a reaction when other players perform that action. When you are the Active Player, you will move your Dreamer to a Day space that is not adjacent to its current Night space and perform the Action associated with that Day space, as outlined on your own Action card. Inactive Players may react to your chosen Day Action. The game is divided into two stages. During the first stage, the titular Nightmare Cathedral is built, piece by piece, as the game progresses. Once the final Cathedral piece is placed on the main board, the Nightmare Cathedral is finished, at which point the game transitions to the second stage. From this moment on, Nightmares, powerful beings channeling the presence of the completed Cathedral, enter the game board, Devouring Units in their path. However, as a player, you may also take actions to control a Nightmare, Commanding it to do your bidding. The game end is triggered in one of the following ways: the Time marker reaches a certain space on the Time track; a single player reaches the final step of the Ritual track; or a certain number of Units have been devoured.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $113

All-In (w/shipping): $113, same as above

Campaign Ends: 4/14

Game Ships: May 2023

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 296% with 14 days to go.

Project: Riot Quest — Board Game Edition

Designers: Will Hungerford, Matt Wilson (Warmachine, Warmachine Prime Mk II, Monsterapocalypse)

Artists: Carlos Cabrera, Nestor Ossandon (Level 7 [Omega Protocol], Hordes Primal Mk III, Warmachine Prime Mk III), Andrea Uderzo (Hordes Primal Mk III, Warmachine Prime Mk II, Warmachine Prime Mk III)

Publisher: Privateer Press (Level 7 [Omega Protocol], Warmachine, Warmachine Prime Mk II)

Genre/Mechanisms: dice rolling, fantasy, fighting, grid movement, miniatures, variable player powers

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: medium-high

Summary: “A fast-moving, highly unpredictable skirmish board game using hobby miniatures. First released in 2019 using hobby miniatures, Riot Quest has enjoyed three years of expansion and growth. The new board game edition will include 48 pre-assembled plastic miniatures and all the dice and accessories needed to play the game with up to four players.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $40

All-In (w/shipping): $134

Campaign Ends: 4/14

Game Ships: June 2023

Funding Status: Currently at 24% with 14 days to go.

Project: ROVE: Expansion Collection

Designers: Dustin Dobson (Skulls of Sedlec, ROVE: Results-Oriented Versatile Explorer), Milan Zivkovic (ROVE: Results-Oriented Versatile Explorer)

Artists: Dustin Dobson (ROVE: Results-Oriented Versatile Explorer), Milan Zivkovic (ROVE: Results-Oriented Versatile Explorer)

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

Genre/Mechanisms: card game, expansion, grid movement, pattern recognition, science fiction, space exploration, solo / solitaire game, square grid

Player Count: 1

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: light

Risk: medium-low

Summary: “This wallet collection contains three 6-card Mission Pack expansions for ROVE: Results-Oriented Versatile Explorer: Alien Activities, Cosmic Crisis, and Icy Incidents. Follow setup from the base game, but shuffle the cards from one or more Mission Packs into the deck of Mission/Movement cards before drawing your starting hand.

ROVE is a solo spatial puzzle game. In each game of ROVE, the player will face a series of mishaps that can only be solved by arranging the 6 module cards in a specific pattern. Moving a module requires Movement Points gained by discarding cards from hand for the listed amount. Players may gain additional Points if their current module layout matches the pattern shown on the discarded card. Each module costs 1 Movement Point per activation and uses its own unique movement style, such as only moving diagonally or pushing other modules a single space. Modules also have powerful single-use abilities that can help get players out of a tight spot. Properly timing these abilities — as well as effectively using the limited number of Movement cards — will help the player complete ROVE’s mission successfully.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $17

All-In (w/shipping): $52

Campaign Ends: 4/9

Game Ships: June 2022

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 2593% with 9 days to go.

Project: Slash & Spells

Designers: Floyd Lu (Noises at Night, The Refuge: A Race for Survival, The Refuge: Terror From the Deep), Stephen Schwartz

Artist: Rob Bockholdt

Publisher: Burning Forge Games

Genre/Mechanisms: action drafting, action points, adventure, area movement, command cards, fantasy, fighting, hand management, hexagon grid, once-per-game abilities, resource to move, tech trees / tech tracks, turn order: stat based, variable player powers

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “Embody your Legendary Hero and unlock your unique ability tokens using magical Relics across the realm. Command clever card play and take ever-evolving heroic actions. Slash & Spells is an epic duel using action selection, variable player powers, and hero tech trees tied into your relic choices. Players control unique Heroes drawn into an epic battle during your turn you take 6 basic actions to grow in power, attack, move, play cards from your unique hero deck, and ultimately knock down your enemies by reducing their health to zero. The battle takes place via attack actions and playing cards from your hand. Each card that resolves deals their base Dmg and card effects to their target. Once a card has been played its card effect becomes an available action for your hero to take. Victory is yours when you claim the most Knockdowns by the end of rounds and can claim your true destiny.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $70

All-In (w/shipping): $105

Campaign Ends: 4/28

Game Ships: Apr. 2023

Funding Status: Currently at 39% with 28 days to go.