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

Project: Cthulhu: Death May Die – Fear of the Unknown

Designers: Rob Daviau (Cthulhu: Death May Die, Pandemic Legacy: Season 0, Pandemic Legacy: Season 1, Pandemic Legacy: Season 2, Unmatched: Cobble & Fog), Marco Portugal (Foodies, Massive Darkness 2: Hellscape, Project ELITE)

Artists: not credited

Publisher: CMON Global Limited (Ankh: Gods of Egypt, Blood Rage, Cthulhu: Death May Die, Rising Sun, Zombicide: Black Plague)

Genre/Mechanisms: action points, cooperative game, cthulhu mythos, dice rolling, dungeon crawler, fantasy, fighting, horror, miniatures, novel-based, scenario / mission / campaign game, solo / solitiare game, variable player powers

Player Count: 1-5

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: low

Summary: “Cthulhu: Death May Die is back with a new standalone box and upgraded rules. Fear of the Unknown marks a new Season of the hit board game that brought a new twist to the mythos universe created by H.P. Lovecraft. Face the challenges of 6 new Episodes and 2 new Elder Boxes that bring new insanities and monsters as well as new modular rules in this cooperative board game.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $145

All-In (w/shipping): $145, same as above

Campaign Ends: 11/9

Game Ships: Dec. 2023

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 707% with 12 days to go.

Project: Die of the Dead: Xolo Expansion & Ofrenda Variant

Designer: Mark Stockton-Pitt (Die of the Dead, Forks, NewSpeak)

Artist: Rusembell (Die of the Dead)

Publisher: Radical 8 Games (Die of the Dead, Forks)

Genre/Mechanisms: day of the dead, dice, dice rolling, die icon resolution, expansion, memory, open drafting, solo / solitaire game

Player Count: 2-5 (1-5 with The Ofrenda Variant)

Solo Mode: yes (with The Ofrenda Variant only)

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A Dia de Muertos themed dice rolling game, Die of the Dead has beautiful Mexican art inspired by the tales and culture surrounding Dia de Muertos. Care has been taken to make the game as fun as possible whilst staying respectful to its roots. It’s the Day of the Dead and players take the roles of friendly spirits guiding souls from Mictlán, the world of the dead, to the land of the living. The first player to guide souls up the 9 levels back to the land of the living is the winner. To do this players will choose, maniplulate and roll caskets containing dice representing souls. They will have Candles, Incense, Marigolds and the Bread of the Dead to help them, but need to hope for a little luck.

The Xolo Expansion introduces the xoloitzcuintle to Die of the Dead. These loyal dogs can be used to guide other players to caskets, encouraging them to pick ones which benefit you, for more dice manipulation options on the future. Featuring more ways to mainpulate dice and each other, tokens, casket boards and custom dice, The Xolo Expansion takes everything people love about Die of the Dead and makes more of it.

The Ofrenda Variant takes the Die of the Dead dice, caskets, and steps, and transforms them into a dice drafting game in which players attempt to make their altars the most appealing to their ancestors. Instead of putting dice in caskets players are drafting dice from caskets, to represent the bread, candles, incense and marigolds which will adorn their altars. The Ofrenda Variant offers a puzzle based spin on Die of the Dead for players who love the theme and beauty but prefer something less on the luck side of things. In order to enable more people to play Die of the Dead to celebrate Dia de Muertos this expansion also contains a solo mode, something only possible with the cerebral nature of this variant.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $22

All-In (w/shipping): $85

Campaign Ends: 11/17

Game Ships: Aug. 2023

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 104% with 20 days to go.

Project: Hyperwars

Designer: Fabricio Leotti

Artist: Niklas Hook (MOOGH: A 9-Card Print-and-Play Game)

Publisher: Dice Coalition Games

Genre/Mechanisms: action / dexterity, area majority / influence, real-time, science fiction

Player Count: 1-5

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A cyberpunk themed real-time area control board game where players take on the role of large Corporations set in the dystopian city of Urbana, competing for hegemony in the market of illicit products. ​The game is played in two stages: the Action Phase and the Scoring Phase. ​The Action Phase is played in real-time for exactly five minutes. There are no individual player turns. Players perform all actions simultaneously. During this phase, players use their Action cards to deploy Agents and move goods from their sources to the Districts they wish to control. Each District has strict needs the Corporations need to supply. The Scoring Phase happens after the five-minute Action Phase ends. During that phase, the player with more Agents in a given District is said to control it and has the chance to fulfill the needs of that District, getting points for that or failing miserably. After all Districts are scored, penalties are applied based on the number of Actions cards they have left in their hands, and the winner is determined.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $66

All-In (w/shipping): $66, same as above

Campaign Ends: 11/26

Game Ships: Nov. 2023

Funding Status: Currently at 27% with 29 days to go.

Project: Lords of Baseball

Designers: Robert Jamelli, Max Jamelli

Artists: Nichole Balsley, Max Jamelli

Publisher: L4 Studios (KAPOW!, Perudo, WarQuest)

Genre/Mechanisms: baseball, campaign / battle card driven, card game, economic, hand management, sports, tech trees / tech tracks

Player Count: 1-16

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “You are an owner of one of the charter franchises, a leader with the money and vision to grow the game into its modern form. Invest wisely – it is not only the team on the field that matters, but also the stadium, media, and fans that can set you up for success. This is not a baseball game simulation; this is a game about building a baseball dynasty. Your business savvy and skills will win the day. Lords of Baseball is for 1-4 players, but expandable to 6 or 8, and can even be expanded to 16 with two base games and 4 expansions. It is a card-driven strategy game that unfolds over multiple seasons (you can choose to play a short, medium, or long game). A game of Lords of Baseball is played out over a pre-determined number of seasons (three, five, or seven). Each player has a team and stadium mat where they track the progress and development of the franchise. Players utilize the various card decks to alter their team’s abilities and to gain competitive edges during series against their opponents. Results are tracked on the main game board. Wins each season, fan support and victory points are shown there. In general players need to balance three objectives: winning games, earning money, and improving their stadiums. Be careful, it is easy to lose focus on one category and fail to score as well as someone that keeps all three balls in play.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $76

All-In (w/shipping): $167

Campaign Ends: 11/16

Game Ships: Oct. 2023

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 441% with 19 days to go.

Project: A Most Fearful Sacrifice -Second Edition

Designer: Hermann Luttmann (Dawn of Zeds Second Edition, Dawn of Zeds Third Edition, In Magnificant Style: Pickett’s Charge at Gettysburg)

Artists: Rick Barber (La Bataille des Quatre Bras, Grant Takes Command, In Magnificant Style: Pickett’s Charge at Gettysburg), José Ramón Faura (Mediterranean Empires, Meltwater: A Game of Tactical Starvation, Roads to Stalingrad: Campaign Commander Series)

Publisher: Flying Pig Games (’65 Squad Level Combat in the Jungles of Vietnam, Old School Tactical: Volume I – Fighting on the Eastern Front 1941/42, Old School Tactical: Volume 2 – West Front 1944/45)

Genre/Mechanisms: american civil war, battle of gettysburg, blind swords system, dice rolling, hexagon grid, wargame

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-heavy

Risk: medium-high

Summary: “An epic two-player wargame with over 15 square feet of playing area and 526 playing pieces depicting the fighting that occurred during all three days of this decisive clash. The game utilizes a new ACW operating system called the Black Swan system, which is closely related to the popular Blind Swords game system first introduced in the game The Devil’s To Pay! by Tiny Battle Publishing. This version of the system is specifically designed to handle larger-scale battles yet keep rules overhead low. Players can simulate huge encounters in a reasonable amount of playing time. This is accomplished in one way through the use of card draws rather than chit pulls. Also, players will trigger activations by Corps instead of by lower-level formations but they still have tactical decision-making choices by needing to determine which Divisions get activation priority. Though at a grander scale, this system maintains a tactical feel about it and still emphasizes the three ‘FOW’s’ of war … the Fortunes of War, the Friction of War and the Fog of War. Players will be challenged to deal with a constantly developing battle situation, never quite sure of what the Gods of War will throw at them, and thus they must always be prepared to deal with historically realistic ‘black swan’ events.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $110

All-In (w/shipping): $130

Campaign Ends: 11/9

Game Ships: May 2023

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 143% with 12 days to go.