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

Project: Borders Europe

Designer: Christian Morgan

Artists: Christian Morgan, Kim Rio

Publisher: Rounded Kids

Genre/Mechanisms: card game, chaining, children’s game, connections, cooperative game, educational, exploration, hand management, map addition, memory, pieces as map, solo / solitaire game, square grid, tile placement, travel

Player Count: 1-6

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “Borders: Europe is the game about discovering the countries of Europe and how they fit together. As an owner of a set of Borders cards you and your family can play many different games. The main ‘Make the Map’ game, players use the connections between countries to play out cards from their hand whilst building a map of Europe. There are other games which kids can play solitaire or in groups, there are rules to balance games between different ages and skill levels, there are co-operative games and competitive games. Through all the different game modes, players incidentally learn about the flags and countries of Europe, their connections, their capital cities and more.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $17

All-In (w/shipping): $17, same as above

Campaign Ends: 5/6

Game Ships: Nov. 2022

Funding Status: Currently at 76% with 29 days to go.

Project: “Fujiyama with Ajisai”

Designers: nanatsumu

Artists: nanatsumu

Publisher: nanatsumu

Genre/Mechanisms: abstract strategy, area majority / influence, children’s game, enclosure, tile placement (Ajisai); abstract strategy, children’s game, closed drafting, cooperative game, semi-cooperative game, set collection, tile placement (Fujiyama)

Player Count: 2-5 (Ajisai); 2-3 (Fujiyama)

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “In the Othello-esque game Ajisai, players strive to change the color of a hydrangea to their own colors. Depending on the amount of players, decide which colors will belong to each player. During a turn, players place a flower piece of one of their colors onto the hydrangea. When the hydrangea mat is completely covered in colored pieces, the game is over. The player with the most flower pieces of their own colors on the hydrangea mat wins the game. There are Color Transfer actions which allow players to change the colors of pieces already played onto the mat. For example, depending on the Color Rotation Chart, certain colors have established relationships. When placed next to each other, these colors will change based on the chart. The placement rules guarantee the color of the hydrangea will be constantly in flux throughout the game.

Build Fujiyama through the seasons and fill it with wildlife. Each player is trying to build the best Fujiyama. Through 9 rounds, players place tiles to match season set collection for points. However, the tiles that each player places each round comes from both their left and right neighbor. Upon receiving 2 tiles, the player will choose 1 to place and the other to give away the next round. And if your neighbor uses your tile instead of the tile from his/her other neighbor, you will get a wildlife token from them for end game scoring. So do you give them a nice tile to help them and yourself, or do you pass on a tile that they may not desire in hopes of limiting their options or maybe getting it back next round?”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $41, just Ajisai

All-In (w/shipping): $65, both games

Campaign Ends: 5/3

Game Ships: Dec. 2022

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 1894% with 25 days to go.

Project: Keep’em Rolling to the Rhine

Designers: Jaro Andruszkiewicz (1944: Race to the Rhine, Hannibal & Hamilcar, The Magnates: A Game of Power), Waldek Gumienny, (1941: Race to Moscow, 1944: Race to the Rhine, The Magnates: A Game of Power)Yves Roig

Artists: Bartek Jędrzejewski (Dominant Species, Hannibal & Hamilcar, Nanty Narking), Piotr Słaby (Hannibal & Hamilcar, Hannibal: Rome vs. Carthage, Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island)

Publisher: Phalanx (Hannibal & Hamilcar, Nanty Narking, UBOOT: The Board Game)

Genre/Mechanisms: action points, dice rolling, movement points, pick-up and deliver, race, simulation, solo / solitaire game, transportation, wargame, world war II

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-heavy

Risk: medium-low

Summary: “Keep’em Rolling contains the updated version of 1944: Race to the Rhine game and Anvil, a modular expansion for the base game taking it to 4 players. The fourth player takes on the role of Generals Jacob L. Devers and Alexander M. Patch, commanders of the Allied landing operation and invasion of Provence in Southern France in the late summer of 1944. He has to face new challenges and threats, including the withdrawal of undermanned and under-equipped but still very formidable German Army Group G and the alteration of operational goals with the joint Franco-American liberation of Alsace in mind. The module also contains new intermediate goals for the three original commanders. In These Are My Credentials, an independent solo game played on a separate board, the player takes on the role of General Troy Middleton, commander of the U.S. VIII Corps. His race is not to the Rhine, but to the ports of Brittany, to capture them before Germans can fortify their positions and destroy the harbor facilities. Heavily fortified cities of Brest, Lorient, Saint-Malo, and Saint Nazaire will not be easy to overcome, and the mobile and dangerous German Kampfgruppe won’t just stand idly in the face of an American advance into Brittany. Fortunately, the French Resistance is nearby to render its assistance. OB West, a bot-based solitaire variant for the base game that reacts to player actions poses a challenge to even the most skilled players. Red Ball Express, a mini-expansion that reduces randomness in the gameplay, introduces new elements to the game: bad weather and the much-feared threat of a German counteroffensive.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $76

All-In (w/shipping): $76, same as above

Campaign Ends: 5/5

Game Ships: Dec. 2022

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 135% with 8 days to go.

Project: Martial Art: Battlefields (Reprint)

Designers: Adrian Marrs (Gangster Dice, Martial Art), Jonathan Ruland (Gangster Dice, Martial Art)

Artist: Danielle Barnett (Gangster Dice, Martial Art)

Publisher: Spider-Goat Games (Gangster Dice, Martial Art)

Genre/Mechanisms: card game, expansion, hand management, medieval, simultaneous action selection

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: medium-high

Summary: “The battle continues for feudal Japan in this expansion to Martial Art. Battlefields introduces two new mechanics: terrain and weather. Terrain cards may be played before battle to augment your battle card and affect the outcome. Because terrain is played before battle but the effects don’t happen until later, other players may guess your intention and act accordingly. Alternatively, terrain may be used as a feint to trick your opponents before you surprise them with an unexpected battle card. Weather cards are shuffled into the land deck at the start of the game. When a weather card is drawn, its effect continues until a new weather is drawn to replace it. Weather will affect the battles in unpredictable ways, forcing you to adapt your strategy to what the battlefield is giving you. Charge your troops through the snow to capture a valuable bridge? Send your troops to battle during a severe drought? It’s up to you to decide if the risk is worth the reward.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $12

All-In (w/shipping): $54

Campaign Ends: 5/6

Game Ships: Oct. 2022

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 125% with 28 days to go.