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

Project: AEGIS Combining Robots: Season 2

Designers: Cassandra Clark (A.E.G.I.S.: Combining Robot Strategy Game), Breeze Grigas (A.E.G.I.S.: Combining Robot Strategy Game), Zach Kettell (A.E.G.I.S.: Combining Robot Strategy Game)

Artists: Nathanael Batchelor, Peyton Gee, Breeze Grigas (A.E.G.I.S.: Combining Robot Strategy Game), Gen Lamb, James R Millar, Noah Nagata, Daniel Olsén, Maung Thuta (A.E.G.I.S.: Combining Robot Strategy Game)

Publisher: Zephyr Workshop (A.E.G.I.S.: Combining Robot Strategy Game)

Genre/Mechanisms: action points, critical hits and failures, dice, dice rolling, fighting, grid movement, hexagon grid, modular board, multiple maps, science fiction, variable player powers, wargame

Player Count: 1-6

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “In A.E.G.I.S.: Combining Robot Strategy Game, players build teams out of five robots to duke it out against other players’ teams of five. It’s designed to be easy to learn, affordable to buy, and quick to play, setting it apart from other strategy games. There are five different classes of robot: Assault, Evasive, Guard, Intel and Support, and dozens of robots in each of those Classes. Each Class has its own way of playing and interacting with other bots, and you can make a team out of any five of them for an infinite amount of possible strategies. The main mechanism of the game is team-building. Each robot on your team shares energy with each other, so moving and attacking with one will limit what the rest of your team can do during your turn. Certain compatible robots can combine into greater forms, too. If your team is built correctly, you can unite all five of your robots together to form something right out of your favorite giant robot cartoon.

Season 2 features dozens of new robots, streamlined for easier learning and more tactical depth; a roster of new Commanders and pre-built teams with new luck-mitigating mechanics; a new game mode – Starpoint Arena – play with respawning robots and rack up points; a solo mode to face off against powerful boss robots and their customizable armies; 2-player draft rules so player can crack the box and have a semi-randomized team in no time; and three boards with printed terrain to help players choose a 2 or 4-player battlefield and jump in with no board setup. This game’s contents are also 100% cross-compatible with the first AEGIS game.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $68

All-In (w/shipping): $167

Campaign Ends: 2/17

Game Ships: Feb. 2023

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 302% with 30 days to go.

Project: Epic Spell Wars of the Battle Wizards: Annihilageddon 3

Designer: Ben Stoll (DC Comics Deck-Building Game, DC Deck-Building Game: Dark Nights – Metal, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Deck-Building Game)

Artist: RS Bixby (Epic Spell Wars of the Battle Wizards: Annihilageddon Deck-Building Game), Epic Spell Wars of the Battle Wizards: Melee at Murdershroom Marsh, Epic Spell Wars of the Battle Wizards: Panic at the Pleasure Palace)

Publisher: Cryptozoic Entertainment (DC Comics Deck-Building Game, Love Letter: Batman, Spyfall)

Genre/Mechanisms: card game, deck-building, roles with asymmetric information, semi-cooperative game

Player Count: 2-5

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: medium-low

Summary: “Retake the arena in Epic Spell Wars of the Battle Wizards: Annihilageddon 3 – Satanic Panic. Battle against or become Satan in a one-against-many deck-building throwdown. Murder your foes with cunning cruelty and torment their damned souls as you drag their asses to hell over and over again. Choose your Familiar and unique Wizard ability and cause a panic as you crusade against magical mayhem and destructive demons. It’s unrepentant spiritual warfare for the soul of the Epic Spell Wars Annihilageddon Arena and its bedeviled trophy. Compatible with other Cerberus Engine releases, Epic Spell Wars of the Battle Wizards: Annihilageddon 3 – Satanic Panic features an unprecedented level of chaos with new Mayhems, Familiars, Champions, Wizards, Spells, Creatures, Treasure, and new tarot-sized cards for Satan.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $68

All-In (w/shipping): $259

Campaign Ends: 2/16

Game Ships: Nov. 2023

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 403% with 28 days to go.

Project: Hollywood 1947

Designer: Travis Hancock (Bristol 1350, Salem 1692, Tortuga 1667)

Artist: Sarah Keele (Bristol 1350, Salem 1692, Tortuga 1667)

Publisher: Façade Games (Bristol 1350, Salem 1692, Tortuga 1667)

Genre/Mechanisms: bluffing, card game, deduction, dice, dice rolling, hand management, hidden roles, party game, political, spies / secret agents

Player Count: 1-9

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: light

Risk: medium-low

Summary: “The year is 1947 and you are a member of the thriving movie making industry of Hollywood. However, it is suspected that there are communists hiding among your small production studio slipping ‘un-Patriotic’ messages, themes, props, and lines into your movies. Will you be able to find all the communists before your studio is shut down? Or will you be suspected yourself and banned from the industry? Hollywood 1947 is a social deduction game. You must never show your cards or loyalty to anyone, but you may say whatever you’d like about the cards you put into a movie, or about your true allegiance. Open discussion about which cards were added into a movie is encouraged. Each player will secretly be a Patriot, Communist, or Rising Star. If you are a Communist or the Rising Star, lying will often help you accomplish your goals since the majority of players will be Patriots.

Each round every player will have a unique Job to perform (such as the Screenwriter, Gaffer, Director, Actor, Editor, etc). These jobs will affect what kind of movie is getting made that round, what cards are in players’ hands, and who will receive special information. Players can choose to skip their jobs to instead re-roll any two of the dice in the game. At the end of each round the players with stars showing on their dice will get to add a card into the movie. The added cards are shuffled, one removed, and the rest revealed. The team with the majority of revealed symbols (including the symbols on that round’s movie poster) wins the round. Indicate the winning team for the round by placing that team’s matching film-strip over the movie poster. The first team to win 4 rounds wins the game. The Rising Star plays both sides by trying to make the game go to 7 rounds and making the 7th round a tie. Hollywood 1947 is the 5th standalone game in the Dark Cities Series by Facade Games. Previous games in the series include Salem 1692, Tortuga 1667, Deadwood 1876, and Bristol 1350.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $32

All-In (w/shipping): $134

Campaign Ends: 2/16

Game Ships: Dec. 2023

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 964% with 28 days to go.

Project: Once Upon a Line

Designers: William Aubert (RagnaRok Star), Dan Thouvenot (RagnaRok Star)

Artists: Bastien Boulai, Alexandre Gimbel (RagnaRok Star), Adrien Gion, Romain Mottier, Vincent Ptitvinc, Leandro Di Terlizzi, Guillaume “GYAx” Weber

Publisher: Perte & Fracas (RagnaRok Star)

Genre/Mechanisms: adventure, book as board, campaign game, card game, cooperative game, deduction, exploration, legacy game, murder / mystery, narrative choice / paragraph, role-playing, science fiction, solo / solitaire game, tile placement

Player Count: 1-5

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-heavy

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “On Earth, in a not too distant future, a pandemic has decimated most of the human population, leaving room for insects to become gigantic. The survivors exploit the insects’ prodigious abilities to construct a new world. But all that may soon crumble. Once Upon a Line is a narrative game played out in chapters. Embody heroes and use their actions to play on a board of scratch off ink. Uncover hidden words and take their corresponding cards. This will reveal the next part of the story as well as new words to find in order to accomplish your mission. Fully immerse yourself in a personalized adventure. Elude traps (riddles, anagrams, palindromes, etc.). Complete your Quest before scratching off the last square on the Line of Tragedy.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $58

All-In (w/shipping): $127

Campaign Ends: 2/3

Game Ships: May 2024

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 280% with 15 days to go.