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

Project: Combat! Vol.1 – 2nd Printing

Designer: Ross Martel (Guam: Return to Glory, Saipan: The Bloody Rock, Trinian: The Forgotten Battle)

Artist: Nadir Elfarra (Aliens; Charlemagne, Master of Europe; Commands and Colors Tricome: Jacobite Rising)

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

Genre/Mechanisms: campaign / battle card driven, dice rolling, hexagon grid, secret unit deployment, simulation, solo / solitaire game, wargame, world war II

Player Count: 1

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: heavy

Risk: medium-low

Summary: “A solitaire game on man to man combat in the 20th century. The player will control Friendly forces and attempt to complete a scenario against enemy forces that are controlled by the game system. At the start of each turn the player will play 1 card from their hand to the Initiative track. This card will determine the initiative values for each of the player’s friendly teams and may have other effects depending on the card. After this the player will assign orders to each character on his side. This will determine the actions that the character can take this turn. Once all of the friendly characters have orders assigned to them the player will draw an Enemy AI Card for each enemy team with alerted characters on the board. These cards will determine the Initiative value for each enemy character and the Order that they will receive. The Order determines the actions that an Enemy Character will take that turn. The game turn is then played through in 4 Impulses. From the lowest initiative value to the highest each Character (Friendly and Enemy) each Character will perform the action specified on their Order counter. All Characters will act on Impulse 1 before moving to Impulse 2, then Impulse 3 and finally Impulse 4. At the end of the turn all Orders are removed and the played cards returned to the respective decks.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $134

All-In (w/shipping): $260

Campaign Ends: 12/5

Game Ships: Jan. 2023

Funding Status: Funded; Currently at 411% with 11 days to go.

Project: Mapping the World

Designers: Louis Sédillot, Amanda Vallerand (With a Smile & A Gun)

Artist: Nicolas Imhof

Publisher: Paper Plane Games (Fairy Trails)

Genre/Mechanisms: action points, action / event, area movement, contracts, exploration, events, hand management, map addition, nautical, network and route building, open drafting, renaissance

Player Count: 1-5

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-heavy

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “You are a cartographer striving to become the best-known master of your trade by creating a map of the world. You’ll send out explorers to discover new territories, develop new tools, and manage your riches and influence at the royal court. On your turn, either pick up cards from a common market (which will also change the rest of that market for the following players), or play cards from your hand to perform various actions, like moving your explorer’s ship, or upgrading your equipment. The central action consists of Mapping different parts of the globe, which will net you victory points as well as fulfill different objectives that will change from one game to another. After a player has fulfilled a certain number of objectives, the game ends and the player with the most victory points wins.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $73

All-In (w/shipping): $72, same as above

Campaign Ends: 12/13

Game Ships: Oct. 2023

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

Project: Mysthea and Icaion Solo Expansions

Designers: John Albertson, Dávid Turczi (Anachrony, Imperium: Classics, Imperium: Legends, Kitchen Rush, Tekhenu: Obelisk of the Sun)

Artists: Travis Anderson (Icaion, Mysthea, Volfyirion), Andrea Butera (Legends of Novus, Sons of Faeriell, Volfyirion Guilds)

Publisher: Tabula Games (Barbarians: The Invasion, Mysthea, Volfyirion)

Genre/Mechanisms: deck building, expansion, pattern building, set collection, solo / solitaire game, territory building, variable player powers (Icaion: Solo Mode Expansion); area majority / influence, area movement, deck building, expansion, hand management, solo / solitaire game, variable player powers (Mysthea: Solo Mode Expansion)

Player Count: 1-2

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-heavy (Icaion), heavy (Mysthea)

Risk: medium-low

Summary: “In Icaion Solo Expansion you will face a duel to the death against Velkhorne, one of the Organization’s worst Grand Masters that has returned to deprive everyone of Qoam. A stubborn and insatiable annihilator, adorned with armor that guarantees effortless survival: a match against him is a truly intense and difficult game. He will find everything you desire and destroy it. Your hunt for treasures, Qoam and artifacts from ancient times is now made even more challenging by the presence of Velkhorne. Wherever it goes affects the surrounding lands, taking crucial resources away from you and spreading corruption. You will have to use all your skill to accomplish your mission, handling both him and the fearsome Colossus. The solo mode expansion of this area control and hand-management eurogame will make you meet an incredible new opponent, but beware, he will be an actual player, just like you, and he’s not easily fooled!

In Mysthea Solo Expansion, you will find yourself facing the very skilled former Champion Maliath who, after years of endless travels through the Mysthea Mist, now is back, stronger and more stubborn than before. Maliath’s forces rose like an unstoppable plague, driven by unfathomable hatred for everything our people have touched. Maliath is a highly skilled strategist and a relentless fighter who has no intention of leaving you alone while you fight for the control of the five unexplored floating islands. It will get in the way of your plans in many ways, compromising island attunements, interfering in fights with monsters, and even directly starting battles against you.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $31

All-In (w/shipping): $201

Campaign Ends: 12/2

Game Ships: Nov. 2023

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 2,293,400% with 8 days to go.