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

Project: Bakufu: War or Peace?

Designer: Sam Eagers

Artist: Mary Kidd

Publisher: Nesshin Games

Genre/Mechanisms: card game, card play conflict resolution, turn order: claim action, victory points as a resource

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A Japanese themed strategic card game with multiple paths to victory. As a ‘Daimyo,’ you will have to adapt to your enemies attempts to become Shogun before you, by making choices on which cards to buy and how to play them. To win Bakufu, obtain either 3 Peace Victory Points or 3 War Victory Points. Enlightenment cards can be purchased to accumulate Peace Points, and War Points can be accumulated by successfully attacking other players with Soldier cards. Additionally, players can also boost their base/castle with building cards – or purchase and play character cards to help themselves or hinder their opponents.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $38

All-In (w/shipping): $80

Campaign Ends: 10/5

Game Ships: Dec. 2022

Funding Status: Currently at 64% with 13 days to go.

Project: Daybreak (on Backerkit)

Designers: Matt Leacock (Pandemic, Pandemic: Iberia, Pandemic Legacy: Season 0, Pandemic Legacy: Season 1, Pandemic Legacy: Season 2), Matteo Menapace

Artist: Mads Berg

Publisher: CMYK (The Fuzzies, Monikers, Monikers: More Monikers, Monikers: Serious Nonsense)

Genre/Mechanisms: cooperative game

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: medium-high

Summary: “A co-operative game about climate action. Each player controls a world power, deploying policies and technologies to both dismantle the engine of global heating and to build resilient societies that protect people from life-threatening crises. If the global temperature gets too high, or if too many people from any world power are in crisis, everyone loses. But if you work together to draw down global emissions to net-zero, you all win.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $60

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

Campaign Ends: 10/20

Game Ships: May 2023

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 226% with 29 days to go.

Project: Dungeon Brah

Designer: Louis du Pisani

Artist: Louis du Pisani

Publisher: Skycastle Studios

Genre/Mechanisms: deck building, dungeon crawler, fantasy

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A game you play with friends to test those friendships and hopefully share a laugh (sometimes haha, sometimes bwhahaha, usually muhahaha). Within the dungeon roams a terrible Cathulhian beast, Kevin. You are on a noble quest to steal the loot or be the sole survivor. With noble intentions you and your party members embark on this quest, which will very soon devolve into disarray as loot runs low. Avoid Kevin at all costs when you’re weak, and storm into glorious battle when you’re OP to claim the beast’s treasures.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $30

All-In (w/shipping): $45

Campaign Ends: 10/20

Game Ships: Sep. 2023

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 174% with 28 days to go.

Project: Dungeon Universalis New Challenges

Designer: Oscar Bribian (Dungeon Universalis)

Artists: Valerio Korax Carbone, Jose David Lanza Cebrian (Champions of Midgard, Hellboy: The Board Game, Rum & Bones: Second Tide), Daniel Comerci (Primal: The Awakening), Arber Dyrmishi, Víctor Manuel Leza Moreno (Dungeon Universalis, Encounters: Shadowrun, Miskatonic University: The Restricted Collection), Juanjo Gracia Rocher

Publisher: Ludic Dragon Games (Dungeon Universalis)

Genre/Mechanisms: action points, action queue, adventure, cooperative game, dice rolling, dungeon crawler, expansion, exploration, fantasy, miniatures, modular board, open drafting, role playing

Player Count: 1-6

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: heavy

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “The game includes many game modes, including a lone wolf one. Dungeon Universalis’ system merges its intuitive mechanics, card games, and the almost unlimited possibilities and options of an RPG. Dungeon Universalis includes a huge narrative campaign and several independent quests. It also allows you to design your own quests or simply to use its rulebook, system, and cards to replay missions and quests from other dungeon crawlers. The game adapts to any medieval fantastic background. However, it has its own background: the one used in the novel Raazbal, written by the author of the game and published in 2010. New Challenges introduces Campaign & Quest Book III, new optional rules and play modes, hundreds of cards (new objects, spells, skills, travel events, races, bestiary cards, etc.), and a new campaign map.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $92

All-In (w/shipping): $405

Campaign Ends: 10/6

Game Ships: Sep. 2023

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 129% with 15 days to go.

Project: Fateforge: Chronicles of Kaan

Designer: Gordon Calleja (Excavation Earth, Posthuman, Vengeance)

Artists: Antonio Muntean, Yamandú Daniel Orce (Guild Master), Arjuna Susini (Posthuman, Posthuman Saga)

Publisher: Mighty Boards (Days of Ire: Budapest 1956, Excavation Earth, Petrichor)

Genre/Mechanisms: action retrieval, communication limits, cooperation game, dice rolling, digital hybrid, events, fantasy, modular board, narrative choice / paragraph, role playing, mission / scenario / campaign game, variable player powers

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-heavy

Risk: medium-low

Summary: “A mythical action-adventure cooperative campaign full of surprising twists with a sprawling story and intense fights played in episodes of under an hour. The game offers an accessible, RPG-like board game experience; meaningful narrative choices and action-packed combat scenes are the heart of the game. You will take on the role of a hero and backflip, double-slash, and charge your way to victory. The app-driven story lets you navigate your way through a city full of intrigue and your choices will ultimately determine the fate of the empire. The length of each game session is flexible. You can comfortably play through a combat and several story scenes in 1 hour, or spend the whole evening with your friends immersed in a thrilling adventure. After completing a carefully curated tutorial to ease you into the campaign, you will meet increasingly challenging situations and surprising encounters where you’ll have to combine the full potential of your hero’s abilities to succeed. The story adapts to the outcome of each combat, leading you down different paths of its sprawling branches, offering a unique experience with each playthrough.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $123

All-In (w/shipping): $156

Campaign Ends: 10/11

Game Ships: Sep. 2023

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 196% with 19 days to go.

Project: Fences: The Ranch

Designers: Adam F. Collins (Fences), Tim Forbis (Fences)

Artist: Andrew Sallwasser (Biergarten, Fences)

Publisher: Bearded Board Games (Fences)

Genre/Mechanisms: animals, area majority / influence, enclosure, expansion, farming, set collection, tile placement

Player Count: 2-6

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “Fences has expanded its acreage so you won’t run out of new things to do on The Ranch. You can now raise chickens, but watch out for the sly fox. You can ride a horse, drive tractors, and even sell your animals at the market: don’t make hasty decisions, though. You have the ability to store animals allowing you to increase your points at the optimal time. Open and close gates to change the size of your fields so you’ll never run out of room. With nine new expansions, there are plenty of ways to have fun with Fences at the Ranch. Fences is a tile-laying game in which you are a farmer trying to build pens for your animals. On each turn, a player plays one of the two tiles that they have. After placing, the player can decide whether to claim an unclaimed field. If a field has been closed, it is scored accordingly. To end the player’s turn, a new tile is drawn. There are fields for cows, meadows for sheep, and mud holes for pigs. You are trying to collect as many animals as you can. Every animal you enclose is worth points, and double points if you fence in only one type of animal in the pen. You can also throw other animals into your opponents’ perfect fields to keep them from the bonus. Careful, you can only afford to maintain a limited number of fields. The game ends after the last tile is placed.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $10

All-In (w/shipping): $75

Campaign Ends: 10/15

Game Ships: May 2023

Funding Status: Currently at 57% with 23 days to go.

Project: Fortify

Designers: Jason Mack (Moonshine Empire), Caleb Zwar (Moonshine Empire)

Artist: Kendall Hale

Publisher: BarrelAge Games (Moonshine Empire)

Genre/Mechanisms: action / dexterity, card game, dice, dice rolling, push your luck, re-rolling and locking, worker placement with dice workers

Player Count: 2

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “It’s a hot summer and you see a new family just moved in across the street and you know what that means, boxes. You round up your friends and a giant bag of water balloons. You quickly split into teams, start stacking boxes, and fill your water balloons because everyone knows its time to Fortify. Use the variety of boxes (cards) to create a closed wall around your base. The larger you make it, the more friends can fit inside. The more friends you have, the faster you can build or the more water balloons (dice) you can toss at your opponent’s fort. Roll well and land your water balloons on boxes, rival friends, and ultimately their base to claim the day and the pride of the neighborhood.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $45

All-In (w/shipping): $71

Campaign Ends: 10/20

Game Ships: Mar. 2023

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 108% with 29 days to go.

Project: Gay Sauna the Board Game

Designer: Adrian Collier

Artist: Jose Garroté

Publisher: ReRoll Works

Genre/Mechanisms: adventure, dice rolling, die icon resolution, hand management, matching, mature / adult, push your luck, role playing

Player Count: 2-6

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “Play the role of a horny visitor playing a hookup contest against your fellow players. Players adventure through the sauna visiting exciting cruising areas including the Dry Sauna, Steam Room, Cabins and the mysterious Dark Room. Armed with a handful of tactical Action Cards to give you the edge over the competition or drop them to their knees, players need to find their matches and pounce to catch the boys before closing time while enduring an onslaught of hilarious and disgusting random events.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $16

All-In: $201 + shipping (with no shipping estimates provided)

Campaign Ends: 10/20

Game Ships: May 2023

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 250% with 28 days to go.

Project: Hot Potatoz

Designer: Stephanie Nguyen

Artist: Stephanie Nguyen

Publisher: Hot Potatoz

Genre/Mechanisms: card game, card play conflict resolution, dice rolling, hand management, humor, party game, take that

Player Count: 2-5

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A take-that strategy card game where you roast your friends and build the hottest potato posse to bring to the Potato Party (no one wants to show up with a group of uggos). Use action cards to sabotage your friends, assemble your sexy potato army, and win Potato Parties. Each Potato Party is worth 1-3 hotness tokens bringing you one step closer to ultimate hotness. First player to collect all 5 tokens wins. Hot Potatoz satirizes the superficiality of social media and the arbitrary nature of hotness and popularity in today’s society. In the game, showing up to the Potato Party with the hottest squad wins you tokens. These tokens represent your hotness using frivolous benchmarks like being verified on social media, earning fat stacks and having the juiciest booty. You’re only as hot as who you know and who knows you.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $36

All-In (w/shipping): $100

Campaign Ends: 10/20

Game Ships: June 2023

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 195% with 28 days to go.

Project: Klaw: Were-War Card & Dice Game and Graphic Novels

Designers: Mike Kennedy, Antione Ozanam

Artist: Joël Jurion

Publisher: Magnetic Press Play

Genre/Mechanisms: card game, dice, dice rolling, fantasy, fighting, hand management, take that

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A deluxe combat card and dice game and 4-volume graphic novel series of beastly warfare.  Klaw: Were-Wars is a game of conquest and combat set amidst a secret, ancient struggle between supernormal animal spirits and their human Dizhi hosts since pre-recorded time. The goal of the game is simple: become the most powerful Dizhi, eliminating all contenders. Based on the international best-selling graphic novel series by Antoine Ozanam, Joel Jurion, and Yoann Guille, KLAW is an exciting world of noble heroes, despicable villains, unpredictable intrigue, and action-packed combat. Featuring a vast and diverse array of unique human Host characters and two dozen interchangeable animal Totems, the possible number of Dizhi power configurations is in the millions.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $63

All-In (w/shipping): $130

Campaign Ends: 10/7

Game Ships: Dec. 2022

Funding Status: Funded: currently at 154% with 15 days to go.

Project: Ring Rivals

Designers: Ainsley Crawford, Ryan Crawford, Tremaine Crawford, Dominic Lawe, Nana Perry

Artist: John Morrow

Publisher: OB Games

Genre/Mechanisms: fighting, sports, take that

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A quick-fire competitive wrestling card game. Players choose from a pool of wrestlers with differing strengths and weaknesses and play cards to attempt to beat their opponents in rounds of stat comparisons, allowing them to pin and knock their opponents out of the game until they are the last one remaining. Each player will have a hand of cards with varying effects and usefulness and must also manage their own stamina resource to survive their opponents’ attacks.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $37

All-In (w/shipping): $77

Campaign Ends: 10/20

Game Ships: Feb. 2023

Funding Status: Currently at 54% with 28 days to go.