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

Project: 5 More Minutes

Designers: Alvaro G. Echave, Carlos Gutiérrez

Artist: Alvaro G. Echave

Publisher: Tembo Games (Kaboom Universe)

Genre/Mechanisms: animals, card game

Player Count: 2-6

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “In a very, very remote jungle a group of sloths have gathered under the light of the full moon for the great dream party. During this celebration they will share an intense nap in which these experienced dreamers will perceive and handle 3 types of energy: Pink Energy – helps you to fall asleep and dreaming without interruptions; Yellow Energy – allows you to control your dreams and / or alter those of others; and Blue Energy – it goes beyond the dream itself. It makes you wake up happy and refreshed. Only those who manage to master these energies through the different stages of the dream cycle can aspire to become the next Master.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $24

All-In (w/shipping): $24, same as above

Campaign Ends: 7/1

Game Ships: Oct. 2022

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 130% with 15 days to go.

Project: All-Aboard Games Wave 5

Designers: Dave Berry (18GB: The Railways of Great Britain), Jonas Jones (21Moon), Ken Kuhn (1822 PNW), Pierre Leboeuf (18NY), Örjan Wennman (18SJ: Railways in the Frozen North)

Artists: Jonas Jones (21Moon), Christopher Stenseth (18SJ: Railways in the Frozen North)

Publisher: All-Aboard Games (1817, 1849: The Game of Sicilian Railways, 18Chesapeake)

Genre/Mechanisms: 18xx, auction / bidding, economic, market, network and route building, stock holding, tile placement, trains, transportation

Player Count: 3-5 (1822 PNW, 21Moon); 2-6 (18GB: The Railways of Great Britain, 18SJ: Railways in the Frozen North, 18NY)

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: heavy (1822 PNW)

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “All-Aboard Games Wave 5 is here with five exciting 18xx titles for mass production. These games were voted on and chosen by the 18xx community. Three of the games are new titles that have never been commercially produced, and two of the games were only handmade in small quantities. It’s an interesting mix of new and old, unique concepts, different strategies – and the first chance for these five games to get the great game production value they deserve.

18GB is a member of the 18xx family of games, set in Great Britain. Players invest in railway companies, which build routes and run trains, with the aim of ending the richest player. 18GB combines elements of 1825 and 1860 on the one hand with features of 1830 and its descendants on the other hand. When setting up the game, the railway companies are randomly grouped into two tiers, so each play will see the map develop differently. Players may buy up to 100% of ten-share companies and may sell any number of shares into the open market, even including the directors’ certificate. Each share sold depresses the stock price of that company, but the stock price will recover several places if the company’s income is double, triple, or four times its stock price.

18NY is an 18xx railroad game set in New York State and surrounding areas. The game is a stock, train, and track building game that uses the 18xx system. Two to six players compete to have the largest net worth in cash and stock at game end. Gameplay is divided into Stock Rounds and Operating Rounds. During Stock Rounds, players and share companies may buy or sell stock in minor and share companies, open new companies, or take over existing ones. During Operating Rounds, each minor and share company conducts business (laying track, placing stations, and buying trains). At first, stock and operating rounds alternate, but as the game progresses, the number of intervening operating rounds increases.

18SJ is a game in the 18xx-series set in the United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway and pits two to six players as investors in railroad corporations in the formative years of Nordic railways. It features a simple mechanism for the nationalization of public corporations and simulates the construction of the mainlines of Swedish rail. The nationalization means that each game will be completed with a varying number of corporations ultimately available. Shareholders need to be careful in stock investment and the timing of train purchases to maximize personal profit.

1822PNW builds upon previous games in the 1822 family by including a handful of community favorite private companies while adding in a variety of new regionally inspired private companies that give players a vast array of options to consider for end game route building. One of which is the addition of transporting lumber—a huge export from the region—that can’t be carried by E-trains, but by engineering the right 7-train route you can add a significant amount of revenue to your bottom line. Finally, one big departure from the ’22 family is that 1822PNW does away with concessions and instead features a merger mechanic that more closely mirrors the way in which the major companies staked their claim in the PNW.

In 21Moon, the year is 2117. Climate change has taken its toll on Earth and new resources are needed to fuel a very technically advanced society gathered into ever growing megacities around the globe. Research during the last 50 years has shown that the Moon has several very pure and effective mineral resources that are needed on Earth. This year, mining corporations has established bases on the Moon with the purpose of building a transportation network to mine valuable mineral resources. As these resources are of global interest, the top 20 nations on Earth have invested in a freight rocket ‘Future One’ scheduled to fly to the moon and transport minerals back to Earth.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $100

All-In (w/shipping): $450

Campaign Ends: 6/30

Game Ships: July 2023

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 156% with 14 days to go.

Project: Cheese Factory

Designer: Jason Anarchy (Drinking Quest, Drinking Quest: Journey Into Draught, Newfoundland Jam)

Artist: Alex Cohen

Publisher: Jason Anarchy Games (Drinking Quest, Drinking Quest: Journey Into Draught, Newfoundland Jam)

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

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “Casual engine-building game where you make different kinds of weird cheese in a custom cheese factory, sometimes starting cheese fires.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $30

All-In (w/shipping): $63

Campaign Ends: 7/14

Game Ships: May 2023

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 107% with 28 days to go.

Project: Clash of Galliformes

Designers: Kim Åberg, Kim Jansson

Artist: Kim Jansson

Publisher: Todys Games

Genre/Mechanisms: abstract strategy, ancient, animals, area movement, exploration, map addition, modular board, multiple maps, player elimination, point to point movement, tech trees / tech tracks, territory building, wargame

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “Explore, build and battle in this strategy and resource management game with ground-living birds set in an alternate timeline where birds work alongside tribal clans. As the clans have developed close to their feathery mounts, their cultures have been formed by their specific clan birds. Some have mastered the way of faster bird breeding while others have gone down a more warlike path. Now is the time to choose your bird and in so doing, your way of life. Players must expand their territory to find supplies and new technologies for their tribes. The threat from rival clans is also constant, so you have to adapt your strategies and think ahead of your opponents to survive.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $55

All-In (w/shipping): $95

Campaign Ends: 7/7

Game Ships: July 2023

Funding Status: Currently at 24% with 21 days to go.

Project: Compounded: Peer Reviewed AND Lab Notes: Roll-and-Write!

Designer: Darrell Louder (Bottom of the 9th, Compounded, Fate of the Elder Gods)

Artist: Darrell Louder (Compounded, Fate of the Elder Gods, Tiny Epic Kingdoms)

Publisher: Greater Than Games (Sentinels of the Multiverse, Spirit Island, Tak)

Genre/Mechanisms: chit-pull system, educational, hand management, trading, worker placement (Compounded: The Peer-Reviewed Edition); dice, dice rolling, educational, paper-and-pencil, puzzle, roll-and-write (Lab Notes)

Player Count: 2-5

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: medium-low

Summary: “Compounded is a game about building chemical compounds through careful management of elements, a fair bit of social play and trading, and just a bit of luck. Players take on the roles of lab managers, hastily competing to complete the most compounds before they are completed by others — or destroyed in an explosion. Some compounds are flammable and will grow more and more volatile over time; take too long to gather the necessary elements for those compounds, and a lot of hard work will soon be scattered across the lab. Although Compounded does involve a fair share of press-your-luck tension and certainly some strategic planning, the most successful scientists will often be those who strike a good trade with their fellow lab mates. Players are able to freely trade elements, laboratory tools, and even favors — if there is truly honor among chemists. Compounded: The Peer-Reviewed Edition is a game about scientists grappling for recognition on the edge of known chemistry and getting credit for their discoveries, all while competing for limited resources and striking deals with the competition to ensure their work gets done. Compounded: The Peer-Reviewed Edition features new compounds, new tool tiles and rules, revised lab fire interaction, redesigned lab benches, and more. Everything in this new build of Compounded has been tweaked in some way.

Lab Notes features the brain teaser challenge of putting together chemical bonds. Each round, a player rolls all the elemental dice for Hydrogen, Oxygen, Nitrogen, Carbon, or a useful but dangerous Bunsen Burner. The rolling player chooses their element first, leaving the rest of the table to scratch their heads to fit the remainder within their lab notes. Elements now in hand, the players choose where to keep their elements. They can notate in the research field or trash them for some added benefits later. Combine elements based on the real rules of chemistry. Double and triple bonds are worth more, but you can only bond with elements near each other and as they’re written. Don’t worry if you’re not sure about what bonds work where. There are handy-dandy notecards outlining real, actual chemicals you can make. The game ends when the first person fills up their sheet. Tally up all those points and see who’s top of the class.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $31

All-In (w/shipping): $96

Campaign Ends: 7/7

Game Ships: Apr. 2023

Funding Status: Currently at 89% with 21 days to go.

Project: Gathering Gloom: A Killer Co-op Game

Designers: Harvey Cornell, Carlie Cornell

Artists: Carlie Cornell, Teresa Guido

Publisher: Dragon Phoenix Games

Genre/Mechanisms: adventure, cooperative game, deck construction, hand management, horror, point to point movement, variable player powers, variable set-up

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A cooperative game in which the players take on the role of a Witch, a Mad Scientist, a Vampire, a Werewolf, a Zombie, or a Ghost and work to resolve a series of crises at their mansion and businesses. Each character has one or more special abilities and some have vulnerabilities. They use their own attributes as well as those of villagers they have beguiled into minions along with resources on their “Misdeed” cards to resolve 14-16 crises in order to win the game. Gloom gathers every turn based on events as well as from Evidence or Peril cards. If the gloom reaches 50 or more before resolving all the crises, the players lose. Also, if the fear that the villagers have about anyone player reaches twelve or more, the family is exposed and the players lose. The village has seven locations to visit along with three family locations on the board. There are many things to do on the map since each location has a unique action the player can take. There are also alternate buildings that can be selected at setup to add variety to play. On your turn, you roll dice to determine events. Then you can move to any location on the board, where you may activate an on-arrival action; you may use cards to perform other actions; you may resolve crises in family locations. Finally, you check to see if any villagers or stalkers are going to activate. You draw up for your next turn, and you are done.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $65

All-In (w/shipping): $105

Campaign Ends: 7/7

Game Ships: Sep. 2022

Funding Status: Currently at 14% with 21 days to go.

Project: Globetrotting

Designers: Jeff Chin (Afternova, Canvas, Crypt), Andrew Nerger (Afternova, Canvas, Crypt)

Artists: Gabo Duran, Luan Huynh (Canvas), Mohammad Javadi, Nilanjan Malakar, Susan Szecsi, Weiwei Xu

Publisher: Road to Infamy Games (Afternova, Canvas, Crypt)

Genre/Mechanisms: bingo, contracts, line drawing, network and route building, simultaneous action selection, travel

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: light

Risk: medium-high

Summary: “A game about traveling the world. Players plot three epic trips to take over the next year. It’ll take careful planning to achieve all your travel goals while staying under budget. Each round, three Destination cards are revealed. Each player simultaneously selects one Destination and adds it to one of their three trips by drawing the travel route on their own globe. The globe stands have a built-in circular ruler to measure the distance (and cost) of each flight. The further you fly, the more expensive the trip. Players score by accomplishing the objectives on their Bucket List cards. In addition, each player has shared Travel Buddy Goals with each neighboring player. Coordinate plans with your travel buddies to meet up in the same place at the same time to score. And everyone is racing to be the first to complete the Global Objectives. The player who checks off the most travel goals wins.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $58

All-In (w/shipping): $73

Campaign Ends: 7/12

Game Ships: Apr. 2023

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 128% with 27 days to go.

Project: Pagan – Fate of Roanoke (2nd Printrun)

Designers: Kasper Kjær Christiansen, Kåre Storgaard (Hospital Rush)

Artist: Maren Gutt (Drachensachen, Robin of Locksley)

Publishers: Wyrmgold Gmbh (Drachensachen, Robin of Locksley)

Genre/Mechanisms: 2 player only games, action points, adventure, area majority / influence, bluffing, card game, deck construction, deduction, fantasy, hand management, turn order: claim action, worker placement

Player Count: 2

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-heavy

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “An asymmetrical card game for 2 players taking on the roles of witch or witch hunter. The witch tries to carry out a ritual of renaturation before being exposed by the witch hunter and terminated. Nine villagers are under suspicion and only the Witch player knows who is the real witch. Each turn the two players use their action pawns on active villagers to draw cards, play cards, and gain influence. Moreover, the witch can brew powerful potions, improve their familiar, and cast enchantments and charms, while the witch hunter enlists allies, claim strategic locations, and ruthlessly investigates the villagers. As the Witch, your objective is to collect enough secrets to perform a ritual so potent, that the entire region will fall under your spell and Mother Nature will reclaim the Island. As the Hunter, you gather all the allies and support you can muster, to bring the Witch to justice before its fatal ritual comes to fruition. The prototype has already won the Danish design award Otto at the Fastaval for best game of show in 2018.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $25

All-In (w/shipping): $150

Campaign Ends: 7/9

Game Ships: Dec. 2022

Funding Status: Currently at 82% with 23 days to go.

Project: The Pit

Designer: Fabio Pè

Artists: Francesco Bonomini, Tiziano Invernici

Publisher: Dodo Corporation

Genre/Mechanisms: action points, adventure, card play conflict resolution, cooperative game, dice, dice rolling, dungeon crawler, events, fantasy, fighting, grid movement, miniatures, semi-cooperative game, variable player powers, variable set-up

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-heavy

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A semi-cooperative dungeon/arena-crawler where players act as legends who aim to obtain the absolute power contained in the depths of The Pit. You will not only have to fight for victory, but you will also have to work with your enemy to be able to destroy the seal of the Pit and defeat its guardian before the universe collapses and everything is swallowed in the nothingness. However, only ONE will be the winner. Through the first 4 rounds characters explore The Pit, which is filled randomly with events. In this phase, the characters will have to accumulate as much power as possible to enhance their abilities. During the next 4 rounds, The Pit seal is activated by summoning an ancient Nemesis (Boss) into the battlefield. Characters must defeat it before the end of this phase, or the universe will collapse and the power of The Pit destroy everything. The Pit offers a fully cooperative game mode, a solo mode, a boss rush mode and a sudden death mode more oriented towards PvP.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $120

All-In (w/shipping): $120, same as above

Campaign Ends: 6/29

Game Ships: July 2023

Funding Status: Currently at 14% with 13 days to go.

Project: Planting Evidence

Designers: James Staley, Adam Staley

Artists: not credited

Publisher: Tin Robot Games

Genre/Mechanisms: card game, mystery / crime, set collection

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A card game for 2-4 players that pits you against your criminal friends. Each round, players must choose between planting incriminating evidence on their fellow criminals or using similar evidence to build up their alibis. Build sets of cards to assemble fingerprints from partials, reconstruct DNA, build a car license plate profile, or submit weapons for review. Be careful not to trigger the end of the game unless you have the least evidence against you, or you lose.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $38

All-In (w/shipping): $38, same as above

Campaign Ends: 7/5

Game Ships: Dec. 2022

Funding Status: Currently at 27% with 19 days to go.

Project: Skyrise

Designers: Gavan Brown (Brass: Birmingham, JAB: Realtime Boxing, Super Motherload), Sébastien Pauchon (Jamaica, Jaipur, Metropolys, Yspahan), Adam Wyse (Gorilla Marketing, Head of Mousehold, Masque of the Red Death)

Artist: Andrew Bosley (Blood Bowl: Team Manager – The Card Game, Citadels, Everdell, Mission: Red Planet Second Editon, Tapestry)

Publishers: Roxley (Brass: Birmingham, Brass: Lancashire, Dice Throne: Season Two – Battle Chest, Radlands, Santorini)

Genre/Mechanisms: area majority / influence, auction / bidding, city building, end game bonuses, modular board, variable set-up

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: medium-low

Summary: “The Mayor has enlisted some of humanity’s greatest visionaries to help build Skyrise: a magnificent city in the sky, dedicated to art, science, and beauty. But only one artisan can be remembered as the greatest. Prove your genius by using a brilliant spatial auction system to win sites to build in, earning favor across Islands and factions, scoring secret and public objectives, courting mysterious Patrons, and building your own unique Wonder. Skyrise tells an interactive story of a growing cityscape, hard decisions, scarce resources, and ever-rising stakes that will keep you enthralled until the final scores are revealed. Skyrise is a brand new game inspired by Sebastien Pauchon’s 2008 Spiel Des Jahres nominated Metropolys.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $58

All-In (w/shipping): $83

Campaign Ends: 7/1

Game Ships: June 2023

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 405% with 15 days to go.