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

Project: Innomination ECG

Designer: John Lee

Artist: Stephanie Szabo

Publisher: John Lee

Genre/Mechanisms: action points, card game, card play conflict resolution, deck construction, hand management, once-per-game abilities

Player Count: 2

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-heavy

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “Set in a world of Science Fantasy, select a Nation of various humans, lizardman, or giant insects, pick a leader, make a deck, and battle with another player. This is a one-versus-one game where you win by defeating your opponent. The language on cards does allow play with more than two players (but the game isn’t competitively balanced around this). Innomination is a customizable card game with deck-building elements. It similar play structure to games like Magic: The Gathering with elements from Yu-Gi-Oh!, Force of Will TCG, and the Pokemon TCG. Digital card games like Hearthstone and Shadowverse were also in mind. If you’ve played any of these, Innomination may feel familiar to you. Every turn, you will set a Source card into play. Source cards produce Aether, the main resource used to play cards in your hand. The better the card is, the more Aether it costs. Unlike most games, the Source cards are in their own deck, and you get to choose which card you put into play every turn. There are six nations, each one with their own people, culture, and each specializing in an archetype, like aggro (win early with cheap, efficient cards), midrange (playing progressively stronger cards), and control (hold on until the late game and win with powerful, expensive cards). The Named Deck is the main mechanic of Innomination. Use the Named Deck to name (evolving) your nameless cards in the Main Deck into upgraded versions. You can only do this as a player action once per turn, but there are many Nations that have ways to do this multiple times. Innomination is not a trading card game (TCG). Innomination’s intent is to be sold as a complete game right out of a box, like a board game. You’ll get a full playset of every card. No rarities, no booster packs, no time spend scouring the secondary market for singles… open the box knowing you have a complete card game.”

Base Pledge: $40 + shipping (with no shipping estimates provided)

All-In: $200 + shipping (with no shipping estimates provided)

Campaign Ends: 7/1

Game Ships: July 2024

Funding Status: Currently at 1% with 26 days to go.