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

Project: Ceres

Designer: Gustaf Sundström

Artist: Tan Ho Sim (DinoGenics, Kinghill, The Silver River)

Publisher: Artipia Games (Among the Stars, MicroMacro: Crime City, Project: ELITE)

Genre/Mechanisms: science fiction, space exploration, worker placement

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-heavy

Risk: medium-low

Summary: “A sci-fi-themed worker placement game where players take the role of an Asteroid Mining Corporation in the near future and try to outplay their opponents and rule Ceres. The game consists of 3 rounds that represent 3 years in Ceres and the respective full business cycles of the corporations. Players can choose among a variety of actions including launching mining probes to the Asteroid Belt, trading raw materials, constructing and upgrading their core facilities as well as expanding the colony of Ceres, improving their technology through research and liaising with the Mars council in order to exploit their power even more! Ceres has been co-developed with an astrophysicist for the best possible thematic applications and brings a couple of innovative twists to the worker placement genre.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $83

All-In (w/shipping): $83, same as above

Campaign Ends: 12/2

Game Ships: Oct. 2023

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 232% with 23 days to go.

Project: Ducks in Tow: The Bugs & Slugs Expansion

Designer: Stephanie Kwok (Ducks in Tow, Get Off My Land!)

Artists: Andrew Bosley (Blood Bowl: Team Manager – The Card Game, Everdell, Love Letter, Mission: Red Planet Second Edition, Tapestry), Gordon Oscar (Get Off My Land!, Town Builder: Coevorden)

Publisher: First Fish Games (Ducks in Tow, Get Off My Land!, Town Builder: Coevorden)

Genre/Mechanisms: animals, area movement, expansion, modular board, pattern building, pick-up and deliver, set collection

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: light

Risk: medium-high

Summary: “In Ducks in Tow, you are walking around the park feeding the ducks their favorite food. When you feed them, they start following you and you must lead them to their favorite location in the park. When you successfully lead them to their favorite location, you take a photo with them and they waddle off to find their friends. Maybe you’ll see them again later as you continue your walk around the park. You will be completing Location Cards that will gain you points at the end of the game. Once you have completed a few Location Cards, you might be able to claim a Formation Card, which will give you additional points at the end of the game.

The Bugs & Slugs Expansion adds player boards, duck cards and bug tokens. There will be bug tokens on the board that you can collect and feed them to your ducks. The player boards and duck cards have token slots on them. Once the token slots are all filled, they grant you special abilities that can be used on your turn. Each duck card matches 1 of the 4 coloured rows on your location cards. At the end of the game, completed duck cards will gain you points based on the connected rows of ducks on your completed location cards.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $21

All-In (w/shipping): $63

Campaign Ends: 11/29

Game Ships: Aug. 2023

Funding Status: Currently at 11% with 20 days to go.

Project: Fit to Print

Designer: Peter McPherson (Tiny Towns, Wormholes)

Artist: Ian O’Toole (The Gallerist, Kanban EV, Lisboa, On Mars, Vinhos Deluxe Edition)

Publisher: Flatout Games (Calico, Cascadia, Ten)

Genre/Mechanisms: abstract strategy, animals, closed drafting, end-game bonuses, grid coverage, pattern building, puzzle, real-time, set collection, solo / solitaire game, square grid, tile placement, variable set-up

Player Count: 1-6

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: light

Risk: medium-low

Summary: “A tile-laying game for the whole family. Players simultaneously collect newspaper tiles, stacking them on their desks until they think they have what they need to make the perfect front page. Then they will yell ‘Layout!’ and begin to lay out the page by carefully considering the placement of centerpieces, articles, photographs, and advertisements. When everything is just right, they yell ‘Print’ to be the first off the press and gain their choice of centerpiece for the next round. This hectic spatial puzzle features over 100 unique newspaper tiles, 6 characters with their own special abilities, as well as 3 decks of Breaking News cards — so that each and every time you play you will be solving a new puzzle. If real-time games aren’t your style, Fit to Print has a number of alternative modes to satisfy every type of puzzle gamer. In Slo-Mode players take turns drafting tiles from a shared market and arranging them on their front pages. In Puzzle Mode, take a specific set of tiles and piece together the highest-scoring arrangements. Whether you enjoy relaxing solo puzzles on your own, or frenetic action for up to 6 players, you will have a blast helping the critters of Thistleville tell their stories.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $42

All-In (w/shipping): $42, same as above

Campaign Ends: 12/9

Game Ships: Oct. 2023

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 952% with 30 days to go.

Project: Gatefall: Two New Editions

Designers: Jack Dire (Gatefall, Red Flags, Superfight), Joseph Limbaugh (Postcard Dungeons, Postcard Cthulhu)

Artist: Sebastian Koziner (Bullet, Dice Hospital, Heroes of Terrinoth)

Publisher: Jack Dire Productions (Gatefall, Red Flags, You’ve got problems)

Genre/Mechanisms: action points, action queue, card game, deck building, dice rolling, dogs, fantasy, grid movement, miniatures, post-apocalyptic, role playing, science fiction, two-player fighting games, variable player powers, wargame

Player Count: 2-8

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: medium-high

Summary: “A strategic miniatures game of tactics, deck building, and resource management. In the game, a rift has opened between worlds, causing a war between very different kinds of characters. The base game mode is designed for two players to fight head-to-head. Arena mode lets 2-8 players fight one another in a battle royale setting. In a two player game, players choose which team to control, the fantasy team consisting of Brog, Gildri, and Randar, or the Wasteland team consisting of Exile, Firebug, Penny, and Lost Boy.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $49

All-In (w/shipping): $79

Campaign Ends: 12/13

Game Ships: June 2023

Funding Status: Currently at 97% with 34 days to go.

Project: Gathering Gloom

Designers: Harvey Cornell, Carlie Cornell

Artists: Carlie Cornell, Teresa Guido

Publisher: Dragon Phoenix Games

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

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: medium-high

Summary: “A cooperative game for 1-4 monsters 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): $49

All-In (w/shipping): $200

Campaign Ends: 11/30

Game Ships: Sep. 2023

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 186% with 21 days to go.

Project: Godsforge

Designer: Brendan Stern

Artist: Diego L. Rodríguez

Publisher: Atlas Games (Dice Miner, Gloom, Once Upon a Time: A Storytelling Card Game)

Genre/Mechanisms: card game, dice, dice rolling, simultaneous action selection

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: medium-high

Summary: “Godsforge features simultaneous play, with each player attacking the player to their left and defending against the player on their right. On a turn, everyone simultaneously rolls four dice, then each player lays one of their four cards face down in front of them. In any order you want, players reveal those cards, paying the cost of them via specific numbers on rolled dice, the sum of rolled dice, veilstones, or a combination of the above. On the dice, 1s can be any number you wish, while an unused 6 can be spent to acquire a veilstone. Spells provide one-shot effects, while Creations go into play in front of you, with some of them providing one-shot ‘enter play’ abilities in addition to possible attack and defense values and sacrifice abilities. Once all the cards have been resolved, players assess damage comparing their attack value against their target’s defense. You then discard any cards you don’t want, then refill your hand to four. Once a player is eliminated, everyone still in the game starts taking damage from them each round in order to hasten the endgame.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $49

All-In (w/shipping): $93

Campaign Ends: 12/8

Game Ships: May 2023

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 167% with 29 days to go.

Project: Helionox: Chronicles

Designer: Taran Lewis Kratz (Helionox: The Last Sunset)

Artists: Luke Green (Apocrypha Adventure Card Game: Box One – The World, Helionox: The Last Sunset, The Ninth World: A Skillbuilding Game for Numenera), Taran Lewis Kratz, Seth Rutledge

Publisher: Zeroic Games

Genre/Mechanisms: cooperative game, deck building, die icon resolution, events, pick-up and deliver, resource to move, scenario / mission / campaign game, science fiction, solo / solitaire game, variable player powers, variable set-up

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: light

Risk: medium-high

Summary: “A stand alone solo/cooperative scenario based deck building board game set in the Helionox universe (not compatible with other Helionox games). It combines asymmetric starting builds, tactical in-game deck construction, engine building, resource management, and action selection. In the distant future, terrible events plague the solar system against the backdrop of a slowly dying sun. Players act cooperatively as the Architects of the future, vying for influence against a wide variety of different opponents composed of wealthy and ruthless political, religious, and corporate entities. As the sun rages and the events become increasingly catastrophic, the need to prepare for the future is all too evident. However, where the Architects hope to protect all life, the opponents focus solely on the interests of the wealthy. Influence is the path to victory and can be gained in many ways. Each player begins with a player board that serves as their ship’s command center and a ship token to show your current location on the game board. A unique deck of cards and access to a faction based market allows players to add new tech and operatives to their decks which help create powerful combos and offer unique scoring opportunities. A multitude of building types can be dropped on locations throughout the solar system (the game board). These supply engine building and strategic infrastructure. Each starting setup can be customized at the beginning of the game and used with distinctive Architects for a vast array of combinations and asymmetric game play.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $65

All-In (w/shipping): $85

Campaign Ends: 11/23

Game Ships: Dec. 2023

Funding Status: Currently at 90% with 14 days to go.

Project: Henchmania – Sbires: 2nd Edition

Designers: Vincent Jouanneau (Henchmania), Jean-Pierre Nicolas (Henchmania)

Artists: Landry Munoz, Laurent Nicolas (Henchmania, Pitch Out)

Publisher: Jocus (Henchmania, Pitch Out)

Genre/Mechanisms: area majority / influence, card game, deck building, dice rolling, humor, medieval

Player Count: 2-5

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: medium-high

Summary: “In this cross between Game Of Thrones and Monty Python become a medieval Lord and puppet master, and use your monstrous and loyal henchmen who will do anything to help their master satiate his thirst for prestige. A second edition with a lot of changes: new gameplay, new design and even 2 new expansions to come. These 2 new expansions will be included in the box during the Kickstarter campaign (from the main pledge). They also will be available separately as an upgrade pack for the ones who owns and supported the first edition. Henchmania is a strategic board game taking place in an odd medieval universe. Each player is the Lord of one family, among four. With the help of your loyal henchmen, capture parts of the city and use your influence to win the battle. The objective is to win as many prestige points as possible in four days, or to be the first player to reach 30 prestige points. There are many ways to earn (and also lose) prestige points. At the end of each day, everyone counts their points before the beginning of the next day.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $37

All-In (w/shipping): $73

Campaign Ends: 11/29

Game Ships: Oct. 2023

Funding Status: Currently at 55% with 20 days to go.

Project: The Last of Us: Escape the Dark

Designers: Alex Crispin (Escape the Dark Castle, Escape the Dark Sector), Thomas Pike (Escape the Dark Castle, Escape the Dark Sector), James Shelton (Escape the Dark Castle, Escape the Dark Sector)

Artist: Alex Crispin (Escape the Dark Castle, Escape the Dark Sector)

Publisher: Themeborne (Escape the Dark Castle, Escape the Dark Sector)

Genre/Mechanisms: adventure, card game, cooperative game, dice, dice rolling, fantasy, horror, paper-and-pencil, push your luck, role playing, solo / solitaire game, storytelling, video game theme

Player Count: 1-5

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: medium-high

Summary: “Powered by the latest evolution of the Escape the Dark series, The Last of Us: Escape the Dark offers solo and co-op multiplayer modes, allowing up to 5 players to experience this iconic setting in a brand-new way. Playing as a group of survivors, you will weave your own unique story of survival and companionship as you explore an open world map. Beginning your journey in a forsaken quarantine zone, your goal is to travel to the reputed safe haven of Jackson while keeping everyone in the group alive. Carefully plot your route through the troubled landscape, resolving immersive chapter cards at each location to obtain vital information, weapons, and equipment. Survival will depend on making difficult choices, and on tactical use of item cards and custom dice to overcome a variety of threats including Hunters, FEDRA agents, and the dreaded Infected.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $95

All-In (w/shipping): $136

Campaign Ends: 12/2

Game Ships: Dec. 2023

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 308% with 23 days to go.

Project: Unconscious Mind

Designers: Laskas, Jonny Pac (Coloma, A Fistful of Meeples, Merchants Cove), Yoma (Sweet Mess), Antonio Zax (Apocalypse Universe: Galactic Arena, Sweet Mess)

Artists: Andrew Bosley (Blood Bowl: Team Manager – The Card Game, Everdell, Love Letter, Mission: Red Planet Second Edition, Tapestry), Vincent Dutrait (Jaipur, Lewis & Clark: The Expedition, The Quest for El Dorado, Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island, Roll Player)

Publisher: Fantasia Games (Endless Winter: Paleoamericans, Sweet Mess)

Genre/Mechanisms: contracts, dreams / nightmares, end game bonuses, melding and splaying, open drafting, programmed movement, rondel, psychology, set collection, solo / solitaire game, tags, worker placement

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: heavy

Risk: medium-high

Summary: “In the early 1900s, the Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud established a revolutionary theory called psychoanalysis, related to the study of the unconscious mind. As his work took hold, a number of followers were invited to meet at Freud’s apartment every Wednesday afternoon to discuss various ideas about psychology and the meanings of dreams. This group was called the Wednesday Psychological Society. It marked the beginning of the worldwide psychoanalytic movement. As a member of this society in Unconscious Mind—a game that blends worker placement, engine building, action programming, and multiple rondels — your goal is to master therapeutic techniques, establish a practice, and grow your clientele. By delving into your clients’ dreams—their unconscious minds — you can help them reach catharsis and recover from their traumas and layers of grief. As a result, the people you treat will be able to live happier, more productive lives. Alongside that, you can document your discoveries by publishing treatises — which may later be cited by other researchers — to advance your scholarly reputation. In more detailed gameplay terms: on your turn, you may place speech-bubble-shaped ‘ideas’ to access different action spaces on the meeting table board. Then, depending on which row you chose, you will advance the inkpot on your player board’s rondel a number of steps — triggering the effects of all the technique tiles in the given line. Besides the meeting table, there is a second board showing central Vienna. You may visit key historic locations on it with your professor meeple—sometimes meeting up with Freud himself to gain bonus actions (or a potent cup of coffee). Once you have gathered enough insights (the main resources in the game), you may use them to interpret your clients’ dreams. As you work your way from surface-level ‘manifest’ dreams down to deeper ‘latent’ dreams, you can help your clients dispel their grief layers (represented by lifting off transparent cards) and eventually resolve their issues altogether — unlocking ongoing rule-bending abilities and end-game scoring opportunities. The game has many interconnected systems that flow into each other, making every turn one that results in cascading, chain effects.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $91

All-In (w/shipping): $146

Campaign Ends: 11/22

Game Ships: Dec. 2023

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 572% with 13 days to go.