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

Project: Bonnie and Clyde, Love and Death

Designer: Alexandre Weiss (Which Side?)

Artist: Vianney Carvalho (Bienvenue à bord, The Dark Village)

Publisher: Yeast Games (Which Side?)

Genre/Mechanisms: card game, relative movement, travel, simulation, solo / solitaire game

Player Count: 1-2

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “First and foremost a solo game that can also be played as a duo, where the goal is to find the romantic end that the couple dreamed of. Along this road trip, you will have to choose the right actions to survive, stick up banks or stores, but also keep an eye on the gas tank and the state of your vehicle, and, of course, outrun the cops, who will only get better and better at tracking you down. At the beginning of the game, you choose from four levels of difficulty and set out on the first country road. Each turn represents a day divided into three phases: Morning, Afternoon, and Night. During the game, you have to manage your resource and situation gauges. Some of them can lead to your death, such as not having any food or ammunition during a shootout; others can lead to defeat, such as having a love gauge at zero, which would lead to the separation of the couple. It is therefore important to fulfill the victory conditions before triggering any defeat condition. In easy mode, the goal is to finish your run with a shoutout in a farmhouse, with two bank loot and your love gauge raised to the maximum before the police — or someone — kill Bonnie or Clyde.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $41

All-In (w/shipping): $52

Campaign Ends: 10/23

Game Ships: Dec. 2022

Funding Status: Currently at 91% with 19 days to go.

Project: Dragons vs Ogres

Designer: Thomas Seavey

Artist: Danh Tran

Publisher: Dreamt Up Games

Genre/Mechanisms: fantasy, matching, real-time

Player Count: 2

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A fantasy themed two-player card game. It is a speed/dexterity game where players compete to capture the most villagers. It has elements of the card games War and Old Maid. In Dragons vs Ogres, players choose to play as either dragons or ogres and each have ten cards. They draw a hand of five cards to begin the game. A deck of forty villagers is placed at the center of the table. Players flip up a villager, one at a time. The fastest player to capture that villager scores one point. However, the card used to capture the villager must match or exceed the number, or be the correct corresponding image. Depending on which condition a player uses to capture a villager, they might return the dragon or ogre card used to their hand, discard it and draw a new card, or shuffle their discard pile back into their deck and draw back up to five cards. There are forty villagers and only twenty combined dragons and ogres. So each card must be used an average of two times in order to capture half the villagers. If one player runs out of cards, the other may keep playing until they are also out of cards. Players must be quick enough to beat their opponent to the villager but clever enough to make matches.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $25

All-In (w/shipping): $25, same as above

Campaign Ends: 10/21

Game Ships: Dec. 2022

Funding Status: Currently at 95% with 17 days to go.

Project: Team Halloween

Designer: Ben McGill

Artist: Marina Tsareva

Publisher: In the Den Games

Genre/Mechanisms: card game, deck building, hand management, team-based game, turn order: auction

Player Count: 2-6

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A round based, dedicated deck card game based on Halloween night, where 3 random Halloween Monsters have appeared at the mansion at the end of your cul-de-sac and it is up to you to defeat them. To do so you will recruit Trick-or-Treaters as they come down your street. Once on your Team you will assign them to an infantry dedicated to a specific monster. In order to pick first you must win the Pumpkin Picking Contest by picking the lowest numbered pumpkin. However, pick the rotten one and you can’t pick a Trick-or-treater. On your turn you can assign weapons and friends to your Teams, pick on your opponents or save your turn and defend yourself against your opponents. First to prepare the 3 Teams with enough Hits to beat each Monster wins. Play against your opponents or Team up in pairs and save Halloween night.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $36

All-In (w/shipping): $54

Campaign Ends: 10/31

Game Ships: Mar. 2023

Funding Status: Currently at 1% with 27 days to go.

Project: Temple of Horrors 2.0

Designer: Michele Quondam (Medioevo Universale, Río de la Plata, Romolo o Remo?)

Artists: Mirko Failoni (Tides of Madness, Virus), Arianna Gelloni

Publisher: Geochix.it (CO2, CO2: Second Chance, De Vulgari Eloquentia)

Genre/Mechanisms: adventure, cooperative game, dungeon crawler, exploration, fantasy, fighting, grid movement, miniatures, modular board, movement points, semi-cooperative game, territory building, variable player points

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-heavy

Risk: medium-low

Summary: “Players create the dungeon map directly, choosing which tile place from their available display when their Hero explores a new area. By creating large Rooms of the same type, players will increase their chances to find clues about the Artifact position. Placing or not, particular game Rooms, from Library to Trap Rooms, or Treasure, Healing, Monster Rooms, will determine their chance of survival. Activating the Tombs Rooms, players will be able to fight mighty Bosses and find Clues. Combining Clues, they will discover the Artefact position, and if they will able to take it and escape from the Temple in time, they will win. After entering the Temple, the Entrance collapsed. So players must find a secondary exit. Different in each game, an ancient Map will reveal the path they have to take to find it. The game can last up to 14 rounds. In every round, the opponents will be stronger and more challenging to win. You can play the game also in PvP mode. In this case, one or more hidden players will try secretly to win alone, distract the rest of the party on a false path, and grab the Artifact. This kind of game adds a lot of RPG aspects to the game. Each Hero has their powers and abilities and can improve them during the game, gaining experience points, choosing how: by this way, each Hero is different in every game. Magic Items, potions, weapons will improve and differentiate each character more. The Lost Artifact is one of the 100 different Adventures of the game. Each Adventure is playable multiple times by players, and each play will always be different.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $74

All-In (w/shipping): $191

Campaign Ends: 10/14

Game Ships: Nov. 2023

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 389% with 10 days to go.