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

Project: Batman: Escape from Arkham Asylum

Designers: Jose M. Caballero Delso, Sergio García Vicente

Artists: Juan García, Israel Pato (Day Night Z, Harakiri: Blades of Honor, No Time for Heroes)

Publisher: Knight Games (Harry Potter: Catch the Snitch)

Genre/Mechanisms: action points, Batman, card game, comic book / strip, dice, dice rolling, dungeon crawler, miniatures, move through deck, semi-cooperative game, solo / solitaire game

Player Count: 1-5

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A semi-cooperative dungeon crawl in which the Super Villains of the Batman universe are the protagonists. This is one of the few games where you must defeat Batman, and that gives the player the opportunity to play as dozens of characters. The players will put themselves in the shoes of the most iconic Super Villains of Gotham City: The Joker, Harley Quinn, Two-Face, The Penguin, Bane, Poison Ivy, and The Scarecrow. Escape from an iconic institution of Gotham City: Arkham Asylum. Players must join forces to achieve their common goal. However, each one of them will have their own hidden objectives, which can range from escaping on their own or sowing as much chaos as possible in the asylum, something they must achieve to gain an advantage over their companions and be the one who finally wins the victory. The players choose a Super Villain and play their turns one after the other. In each of these turns, the players can perform different actions such as moving around on the board, attacking their enemies with crazy weapons, searching rooms or crafting tools to use in their escape. The game ends when the players escape or when everyone is defeated by the forces of order that run Arkham, from the tough guards of the complex to, of course, the Dark Knight himself.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $171

All-In (w/shipping): $353

Campaign Ends: 2/7

Game Ships: June 2024

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 799% with 12 days to go.

Project: Catharsis Sagas: Nocturne

Designers: Art Gregory (Catharsis), David Tomczyk (Catharsis)

Artists: not credited

Publisher: Cyber Wizard Games (Catharsis)

Genre/Mechanisms: adventure, card game, chaining, cooperative game, dice, dice rolling, fantasy, narrative choice / paragraph, simultaneous action selection, solo / solitaire game

Player Count: 1-5

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “Upon Ni Nan, The Soul Eater’s entry into the world of Catharsis, a demon targeted him for a shady deal; however, he beat this demon at its own game, tricking it and consuming its essence. Now, he hunts monsters to claim their souls, simultaneously preventing the world from falling into chaos. Catharsis Sagas are true solo game boxes that include one character & one boss. If you own the base game, the boss plays up to five players. The game requires strategy, cooperation, and a touch of luck to succeed as the party fights through traps, monsters, and more. You will hunt down the boss while going through an epic narrative. Roll your dice to activate your powers, but be warned, your powers are also your health. You must carefully decide when it’s wise to activate a power and how to resolve damage. Spend your morale wisely, or else you and your party will fall to the corruption of Verity.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $30

All-In (w/shipping): $285

Campaign Ends: 2/16

Game Ships: June 2023

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 313% with 21 days to go.

Project: Deep Shelf (ReLaunch)

Designer: Richard Keene (DinoGenics)

Artists: Anthony Cournoyer (City of Gears, Crisis, Fantasy Realms), Tan Ho Sim (DinoGenics, KingHill, The Silver River)

Publisher: Ninth Haven Games (DinoGenics)

Genre/Mechanisms: economic, end game bonuses, exploration, market, pick-up and deliver, scenario / mission / campaign game, science fiction, tech trees / tech tracks, variable player powers

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: heavy

Risk: medium-high

Summary: “A game of deep-sea exploration, exploitation, development, and research. Players take on the role of competing corporations seeking to find and develop resource nodes, extract rare earth metals, transport them to the surface and research the unexplored deepest reaches of the ocean. As the leader of your corporation, you will decide whether to expand quickly and strip mine the ocean of its wealth, or take a more eco-friendly approach and learn as much as possible about the wonders of the deep. Players must be cautious of mining too greedily, or delving too deep, as such actions will damage the natural ecosystems of the ocean, hastening the end of the game, and not everything in the deep is friendly.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $97

All-In (w/shipping): $120

Campaign Ends: 2/19

Game Ships: Dec. 2023

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 134% with 24 days to go.

Project: Four Corners

Designer: Ray Wehrs

Artists: Lazarus Chernik, Jonathan Warobick, Peggi Wolfe

Publisher: Calliope Games

Genre/Mechanisms: abstract strategy, children’s game, hand management, modular board, puzzle, solo / solitaire game, tile placement

Player Count: 1-6

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: light

Risk: medium-high

Summary: “Four Corners comes in 2 themed editions: Kaleidoscope and Galaxy. Players each start a game of Four Corners game with secret goals. Every turn, you’ll add, twist, rotate, and flip tiles to reach your goal. This is achieved on the unique, patented Four Corners game board, which allows tiles to rotate and move without affecting neighboring tiles. You score a goal either by creating sequences of four identical images, or by completing a full image from the corners of four tiles. Watch out, because other players will also be shifting and changing the board to shape it the way they need. The first player to achieve three of their secret goals wins.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $44

All-In (w/shipping): $83

Campaign Ends: 2/26

Game Ships: Sep. 2023

Funding Status: Currently at 82% with 31 days to go.

Project: Hero Realms Dungeons

Designers: Robert Dougherty (Ascension: Storm of Souls, Hero Realms, Star Realms, Star Realms: Colony Wars, Star Realms: Frontiers), Darwin Kastle (Hero Realms, Star Realms, Star Realms: Colony Wars, Star Realms: Frontiers)

Artists: Vito Gesualdi (Hero Realms, Star Realms, Star Realms: Colony Wars), Antonis Papantoniou (Among the Stars, Hero Realms, Project: ELITE)

Publisher: Wise Wizard Games (Hero Realms, Star Realms, Star Realms: Colony Wars, Star Realms: Frontiers)

Genre/Mechanisms: card game, deck building, fantasy, fighting, hand management, take that

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: light

Risk: low

Summary: “First, you’ll play this award winning, easy-to-learn deck building game using basic starting decks. You can do a two-player game, or up to 4 players can play multiplayer formats like Free-for-all, Hunter, and Team. When you’re ready to take the game to the next level, break out the included character packs to play the mighty Barbarian vs the brilliant Alchemist. You can even have the Alchemist and Barbarian each lead two players that are using basic starting decks in a massive 6-player Emperor game. The included Alchemist and Barbarian Adventure Decks enable you to level up your characters between games. You’ll be able to bring them all the way from level 1 to 24. When you level up, you’ll choose how your skills or abilities improve, and which treasures to take. There are thousands of possible ways to build your character as you level up. Perfect for new players and experts alike, this complete 1-6 player game can be played PVP with 2-6 players, or adventure though its solo/cooperative 12-encounter dungeon campaign full of deadly Master’s and minions to battle against.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $73

All-In (w/shipping): $324

Campaign Ends: 2/16

Game Ships: Feb. 2024

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 2,021% with 21 days to go.

Project: Hoki: Fortune Telling Legacy Solitaire

Designers: David Davignon, Armine Tahmassian

Artists: David Davignon, Armine Tahmassian

Publisher: Mek Mek Games

Genre/Mechanisms: abstract strategy, card game, deduction, legacy game, set collection, solitaire only card game, solo / solitaire game, storytelling

Player Count: 1

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A new form of traditional solitaire, played over many 5 minute games, or ‘attempts.’ You will progress through a legacy system with a unique and hand drawn deck of cards. If you complete it, you will unlock its fortune telling magic. This being a fortune telling book that is sealed in a bag until the legacy’s criteria are fulfilled. Each round begins by dealing out an arrangement of 24 cards. The object of the game is to discard every card according to the game’s rules. This is called ‘clearing’ the deck. The strategies embedded in these rules make for a high level of planning, but simple decisions at any given moment. This provides an experience that is easy to pick up during your free time. It is meant to inspire curiosity and meditation with a statistically interesting puzzle. The backbone of the legacy system is a story that is grouped into three Acts. Act One is a tutorial that helps with the strategies, but is not too obvious. Acts Two and Three are challenge-based. The player will have to clear in all of 8 ways, then all of 24 ways. This transforms your deck by replacing cards depending on the win-state and gradually increasing the impact on the players strategic choices. After these challenges are complete, your deck is fully transformed, the fortune telling book is unlocked, and the player is considered a Seer and will forever be presented with a fortune after every successful clear. There are 72 unique and poetic fortunes, and the result is influenced by the path that the player takes to clear the deck.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $49

All-In (w/shipping): $182

Campaign Ends: 2/23

Game Ships: Feb. 2024

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 127% with 28 days to go.

Project: Mage Noir

Designers: Constantin Dedeyan, Vincent Vimont

Artists: Geoffrey Amesse, Nicolas Camiade, Victor Fayen, Camille Fourcade, Johann Goutard, Jessica Heran, Jeffrey Jeanson, Charles Ouvrard, Morgane Perrin-Roudil, Luca Siméone

Publisher: Double Combo Games

Genre/Mechanisms: 2 player only game, card game, collectible components, deck construction, fantasy, hand management, single loser game

Player Count: 2

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-heavy

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A spell crafting card game. Become a Mage and duel your opponents by using the spells at your disposal. Experience exclusive mechanics among card games, such as: a shared Mana pool, a simple and engaging spell crafting system, 6 exciting elements, each with an elegantly designed theme and playstyle. Access to the Mage Noir status, an incredible gain of power and a gateway to devastating spells.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $56

All-In (w/shipping): $473

Campaign Ends: 2/6

Game Ships: Dec. 2023

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 407% with 11 days to go.

Project: Manhattan Project: War Machine

Designer: Jan M. Gonzalez

Artist: Heiko Günther (Burgle Bros., Glory to Rome, Can’t Stop)

Publisher: Grail Games (Medici, Stephenson’s Rocket, Yellow & Yangtze)

Genre/Mechanisms: dice, dice rolling, worker placement with dice workers, world war II

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: light

Risk: medium-low

Summary: “Earn victory points by producing and stockpiling military goods in your warehouse, acquiring structure cards and action dice, completing the goal of your achievement tile, expanding your nation’s infrastructure, and cleaning up nuclear contamination in it. The most effective way to feed the war machine is to deploy the right combination of works, build structures that interact well with one another, and generate an use energy efficiently. The game is over at the end of the designated aound according to player count. Add the total of Victory Points on several elements to determine the winner. In the case of a tie, the player who has the most total resources remaining breaks the tie and wins the game.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $50

All-In (w/shipping): $50, same as above

Campaign Ends: 2/14

Game Ships: Nov. 2023

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 204% with 19 days to go.

Project: Roll for Great Old Ones – A Roll & Write Game

Designer: David Rimbach (Schnapp die Möpse, Wutaki)

Artist: Daniel Jamie Williams

Publisher: Hodari Spiele (Schnapp die Möpse, Wutaki)

Genre/Mechanisms: cooperative game, cthulhu mythos, dice, dice drafting, dice rolling, negotiation, print & play, science fiction, paper-and-pencil, roll-and-write, simultaneous action selection

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A unique game in which players draft dice out of a genera pool to program actions on their investigator board. Thus leaving behind ‘cultist dice,’ which will trigger actions during the scenario. The investigators have to negotiate which dice to use and which to leave behind, knowing quite well what might happen. You will use dice to program actions, collect experience, earn free actions, learn powerful skills, use asymmetric poweras and help each other to beat the evil cultists. As a team you will have to work together to find all necessary clues before the cultists can successfully perform the ritual and our beloved world is doomed. You either win together or seal the fate of all mankind.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $11

All-In (w/shipping): $40

Campaign Ends: 2/7

Game Ships: Feb. 2023

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 142% with 12 days to go.

Project: Witchbound

Designer: Thatcher Cohen

Artists: not credited

Publisher: Dark Doll Games

Genre/Mechanisms: adventure, dice, dice rolling, fantasy puzzle, narrative choice / paragraph, pattern recognition, push your luck, solitaire only game, solo / solitaire game

Player Count: 1

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A grand adventure awaits you in this open-world style story-driven game. You’ll explore scenes full of details for you to interact with using the skills, items, and prompts you acquire. These interactions lead to entries in the massive storybook full of branching narratives, puzzles, and illustrated cut-scenes. As each day ends you’ll recover from your adventures but just as the moon changes, so does the world around you. As events unfold you will learn more about your journey.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $56

All-In (w/shipping): $99

Campaign Ends: 2/23

Game Ships: Feb. 2024

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 375% with 28 days to go.

Project: Zoo Vadis and Gussy Gorillas

Designers: Reiner Knizia (Modern Art, My City, The Quest for El Dorado, Ra, Tigris & Euphrates, Zoo Vadis), Nick Murray (Gussy Gorillas)

Artists: Paul K. Halkyon (Gussy Gorillas, Hot Lead, Pumafiosi, Soda Smugglers), Kwanchai Moriya (Cryptid, Dinosaur Island, In the Hall of the Mountain King, Sidereal Confluence, Under Falling Skies, Zoo Vadis)

Publisher: Bitewing Games (Hot Lead, Pumafiosi, Trailblazers)

Genre/Mechanisms: animals, apes / monkeys, bluffing, bribery, communication limits, hidden victory points, nature, negotiation, once-pet-game abilities, party game, score-and-reset game, set collection, trading (Gussy Gorillas); animals, bribery, hidden victory points, negotiation, once-per-game abilities, point to point movement, political hill trading, variable player sorts, victory points as a resource, voting (Zoo Vadis)

Player Count: 3-10 (Gussy Gorillas), 3-7 (Zoo Vadis)

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: medium-high

Summary: “In Gussy Gorillas, players start out with a personal deck of face-down cards. Without looking at the card(s) in their hand, players simultaneously trade or keep their hand, one or two cards at a time, to form a personal collection. Once all cards have been traded or kept, players tallytheir collections and the highest score wins — but pairs can cancel out and special cards are not always helpful, so trade carefully. Similar to the popular game Hanabi, in Gussy Gorillas players hold their cards facing away from themselves. But instead of being a co-operative memory game, this is a competitive negotiation and bluffing game. Things get even more interesting once players realize that every card can either be very good or very bad for one’s collection, depending on the context. You’ll have to convince your opponents to keep bad cards for themselves and give great cards to you if you want to swing away with the win.

Zoo Vadis is an evolution of Reiner Knizia’s classic negotiation game, Quo Vadis. It retains the elegant, political gameplay that fans have come to love while introducing many innovations and improvements by: enhancing the 3-player game and tailoring the board to all player counts through neutral, bribable figures—roaming peacocks; widening the player count with a second game board for 6-7 players; expanding the possibilities for strategic negotiation with asymmetric animal abilities; increasing tactical opportunities with new special laurel tokens; broadening the appeal of the theme and presentation with vibrant zoo art by Kwanchai Moriya and Brigette Indelicato. Enlivening the production with chunky animal figures and functional player screens. Like the original design, the game ends immediately when the Star Exhibit is full. Only the animals who have reached the Star Exhibit qualify for victory, and the winner is the player with the most laurels.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $28

All-In (w/shipping): $99

Campaign Ends: 2/16

Game Ships: Dec. 2023

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 464% with 21 days to go.