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

Project: Māori: Warriors of the Long White Cloud

Designers: Kevin McPartland (Amateurs to Arms!; Conquest of Paradise; Tahiti: Clan Warfare, Polynesia 750 AD), Jerry Shiles (Amateurs to Arms!)

Artist: Bruce Yearian (Blue Water Navy: The War at Sea; The Russian Campaign; The Third World War: Designer Signature Edition)

Publisher: Compass Games (Crusade and Revolution: The Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939; Enemy Action: Ardennes; The Russian Campaign)

Genre/Mechanisms: ancient, area majority / influence, area movement, campaign / battle card driven, dice rolling, events, movement points, simulation, territory building, wargame

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: light

Risk: medium-low

Summary: “A wargame of clan warfare typical in Polynesia before European contact. Players build war canoes and train warriors (including the elite Royal Guard) to create a force to strike at their adversaries, while protecting or even fortifying their home village. The player is represented on the board as the Head Chieftain– if this unit is killed, the game is lost. Based on the same game system as 3W’s ‘Tahiti,’ (published in 1994), ‘Maori’ is a completely independent new game. This game has been completely re-designed as a card-driven area movement game.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $79

All-In (w/shipping): $79, same as above

Campaign Ends: 10/5

Game Ships: Nov. 2022

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 423% with 9 days to go.

Project: Song of Tales

Designer: Glenn Ford (Gaslands: Post-Apocalyptic Vehicular Combat, SSO)

Artists: Sean Donnan, Līga Kļaviņa, Obaseun Ogunkeye, Dawn Williams

Publisher: Man O’ Kent Games (SSO)

Genre/Mechanisms: book, children’s game, communication limits, educational, fantasy, finale ending, humor, memory, mythology, print & play, push your luck, semi-cooperative game, set collection, solo / solitaire game, storytelling, word game

Player Count: 1-8

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A game of collaborative and competitive storytelling. Players select a character from world folk tales to play as and then lay out a series of story fragments. They have to tell a story to tie the fragments together into a single coherent whole, using the style of their chosen character to do so. Other players can bid to join in with the story-teller’s tale, extending the story and earning points for both teller and listener. Each story is scored, and at the end of the game, the player with the highest score wins.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $40

All-In (w/shipping): $120

Campaign Ends: 10/23

Game Ships: July 2023

Funding Status: Currently at 23% with 26 days to go.