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

Project: Achroma

Designers: Jack Constantine, Rachel Constantine, Chris Hillman, Dan Renton

Artist: Matt Vince

Publisher: Realm Runner Studios

Genre/Mechanisms: bluffing, card game, collectible card games, collectible components, deck construction, fantasy, fighting, hand management, open drafting

Player Count: 2-6

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “Achroma is set in The Five Realms and reveals more of a overarching narrative that players can influence by using the Achroma app when they play. During a game of Achroma, you’ll spend shards – your life energy – to deploy and attack with heroic Characters, equip them with Objects of Power, harness Locations and unleash cunning Actions. Doing so will enable you to gain, drain and steal shards in return. There are two ways to win a game – get to 30 shards, or drain the other players to 0. ‘Light side’ Chroma decks lean to gaining shards, and ‘dark side’ Achrom decks lean to draining and stealing shards from other players. Each Achroma release is a jumping on point for fresh players and an expansion for existing players. Each themed release is built around a narrative set in The Five Realms and comes with new cards to collect, trade, and play with, along with new factions, abilities, and keywords. Each release is supported by short stories, soundtracks and Achroma app updates.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $22

All-In (w/shipping): $494

Campaign Ends: 3/9

Game Ships: April 2023

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 133% with 28 days to go.

Project: Blacksmiths of Steinnheimr

Designer: Nick Daniels

Artist: Maximilian Gotthold

Publisher: Runeshield Games

Genre/Mechanisms: contracts, dwarves & gnomes, end game bonuses, fantasy, worker placement

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “Blacksmiths of Steinnheimr will transport you to a dwarven kingdom full of adventurers and artisans alike. In Steinnheimr, players find themselves competing amongst each other to meet the demands of the kingdom. Focus on crafting items, contribute to the expansion efforts in an attempt to win the favor of the kingdom, or focus on upgrading your workshop, allowing you to craft higher value items than your competitors. During their turns players will need to find the best path to victory in order to rise above their competition. On each turn, players will place and remove workers from the game board in order to take the various associated actions. Through doing so, they will gather resources, build upgrades, contribute to the kingdom and craft items. The game will end once a number of items have been crafted, varying by player count.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $53

All-In (w/shipping): $53, same as above

Campaign Ends: 3/9

Game Ships: November 2023

Funding Status: Currently at 54% with 28 days to go.

Project: Blueprints of Mad King Ludwig: A Flip & Sketch Strategy Game

Designer: Ted Alspach (Castles of Mad King Ludwig, Suburbia, One Night Ultimate Werewolf, One Night Ultimate Werewolf: Daybreak, Werewords)

Artist: Roland MacDonald (Battle Line, Final Girl, Undaunted: Normandy, Undaunted: North Africa, Western Legends)

Publisher: Bézier Games (Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig, Castles of Mad King Ludwig, Suburbia, One Night Ultimate Werewolf, One Night Ultimate Werewolf: Daybreak)

Genre/Mechanisms: drawing, end-game bonuses, flip-and-write, grid coverage, line drawing, open drafting, paper-and-pencil, post-Napoleonic, puzzle, solo / solitaire game, square grid, variable player powers

Player Count: 1-5

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: low

Summary: “Test your architectural skills in Blueprints of Mad King Ludwig, a flip-and-sketch strategy game to draw the most extravagant blueprints for King Ludwig’s next castle. Select rooms to add to your castle’s floor plan. As you complete rooms’ entrances by connecting them to other rooms, earn new abilities such as adding or removing entrances, earning new bonus cards, and taking extra turns. Keep your eye on the King’s favors to beat out your opponents for public goals, as well as create courtyards and moats around your castle for some massive points to get ahead.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $57

All-In (w/shipping): $88

Campaign Ends: 3/7

Game Ships: February 2024

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 708% with 26 days to go.

Project: Chomp, Sail, Couturé, and Mind Space

Designers: Akiyama Koryo (Sail), Clarence Simpson (Chomp, Merchants of Magick: A Set a Watch Tale, The Wolves), Yusuke Sato (Couturé, Don’t Mess With Cthulhu, Timebomb, Tempel des Schreckens), Nao Shimamura (Mind Space), Korzu Yusei (Sail)

Artists: Anca Gavril (Bites, Chomp, QE, On Tour), Julianne Griepp (Mind Space), Hanna Mirgo (Couturé), Daniel Profiri (Chomp, Habitats, Mountain Goats, Sequoia), Weberson Santiago (The Bloody Inn, Coup, Sail, Whirling Witchcraft)

Publisher: Allplay (formerly BoardGameTables.com)

Genre/Mechanisms: animals, dinosaurs, environmental, open drafting, pattern building, tile placement (Chomp); 2 player only games, card game, communication limits, cooperative game, pirates, track movement, trick-taking (Sail); card game, end game bonuses, fashion, hand management, open drafting (Couturé); dice, dice rolling, drawing, line drawing, medical, pattern building, psychology, puzzle, roll-and-write, simultaneous action selection (Mind Space)

Player Count: 2-4 (Chomp), 2 (Sail), 3-6 (Couturé), 1-5 (Mind Space)

Solo Mode: no (Chomp, Sail, Couturé); yes (Mind Space)

Complexity: light

Risk: medium-low

Summary: “Your goal in Chomp is to form herds of dinos and make sure they are all fed. Herbivores and carnivores both need food sources, but if the carnies are not properly fed, they don’t mind chomping an herbie to fill their bellies. Gameplay involves dual rows of goal tiles and dino tiles, and each turn players select one tile to add to their personal arrangement. Goal tiles stay off to the side for endgame scoring, and dino tiles are arranged in front of each player. Dino tiles include three sizes each of herbivores and carnivores. Each tile must overlap previous ones, either on top of a quarter tile, half tile, or even a whole tile, ensuring that any covered cinos are completely hidden. Adjacent dinos of the same species form herds, which will eat together if connected to a single food source — or die together if they are unfed, adjacent to a tar pit, or next to an otherwise unfed carnivore.

Strap up your piratical boots, and navigate your ship through turbulent waters in Sail, a co-operative trick-taking game for two players. Reach the end of this dangerous deep end, and avoid taking damage from the Kraken to win the game together…or your crew will be sleeping with the fish. Before each round begins, players exchange cards, then play a series of tricks. Different game actions will be triggered depending on who wins each trick in combination with the unique character skills. However, the crashing sea water and the roaring Kraken make for a deafening situation, and players are unable to communicate about tactics and card information from the moment cards are dealt to the end of the action phase. Players win the game as a team if they sail their ship into the final token before the Kraken reaches the Death tile or the Kraken deck is exhausted.

Take on the role of a fashion model as you hit the runways in New York, Paris, and Tokyo to build your career. In Couture, players seek to win cards through auctions in New York, Paris, and Tokyo. New cards are available to draft in each city, allowing the winning player first pick of Iconic Poses, Signature Walks, a personal Glam Squad, and much more. Once the seventh round has concluded, players determine their total score, with magazine cover awards bringing bonus points.

Mind Space is a thoughtful game in which players are trying to achieve serenity by adding emotions to their Brain Board. Each emotion is represented by a polyomino shape. Five of the possible Seventeen emotion cards will be available each round, and five rolled dice will determine which colors can be used to add those shapes to a Brain Board. After 12 rounds, the game is scored, and points can be earned by completing sections of the brain, achieving public goal cards, and meeting the organizational criteria of each color. The one section of each Brain Board with the most unfilled squares will result in a deduction of 1 point for each unfilled square in that section.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $23

All-In (w/shipping): $203

Campaign Ends: 3/2

Game Ships: September 2023

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 869% with 21 days to go.

Project: Drill Bit Dwarfs – Drill, Barter, Conquer!

Designers: Bradley Liuralesso, Superfly Samurai

Artist: Van Helmont

Publisher: Zero Rift

Genre/Mechanisms: card game, deck building, dwarves & gnomes

Player Count: 1-8

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “The competition in the Lorendon mining racket is fierce and only the strong have survived; the Drill Bit Dwarfs. Now the battle for Honor between them has pushed the competition to the limit. Fill faction orders, buy enchanted drill bits, and cut Barter Deals to attack opponents’ mines, defend and repair your mine, and gain Honor. Become a legendary Drill Bit Dwarf and take on your former brethren for the crown of the Driller King.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $34

All-In (w/shipping): $210

Campaign Ends: 2/28

Game Ships: June 2023

Funding Status: Currently at 33% with 19 days to go.

Project: Heartseeker Board Game

Designer: Vincent Baker

Artist: Her

Publisher: Vindicated Entertainment

Genre/Mechanisms: anime / manga, card game, fantasy, humor, matching, take that

Player Count: 2-8

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “Anime dating sim turned board game. Win hearts in this easy to play board game for anime fans. The objective is to win the favor of any 3 Characters before any one else. To win the favor of a Character you must be the player to play the last matching Move icon onto a Character card. Actions and Favor cards mix things up by adding special effects that allows players to play more cards, switch hands, cancel other player’s cards and more.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $49

All-In (w/shipping): $114

Campaign Ends: 3/9

Game Ships: September 2023

Funding Status: Currently at 36% with 28 days to go.

Project: Homeworld: Fleet Command Board Game

Designers: Chris Birch (Airfix Battles: The Introductory Wargame), Nick Fallon (Airfix Battles: The Introductory Wargame, Kung Fu Panda: The Board Game)

Artists: Kris Aubin (Monsterapocalypse, Super Dungeon Explore: Forgotten King, Warmachine Prime Mk II), Gilles Augustijnen

Publisher: Modiphius Entertainment (The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – The Adventure Game, Fallout: Wasteland Warfare, Thunderbirds)

Genre/Mechanisms: dice rolling, miniatures, point to point movement, science fiction, video game theme, wargame

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A competitive tactical miniatures board game that puts players into the role of admirals for either the Kushan or the Taiiidan fleets as they battle for supremacy across the stars. Command a wide assortment of ships, including squadrons of fighters, corvettes, frigates, destroyers, and devastating capital ships.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $107

All-In (w/shipping): $238

Campaign Ends: 3/5

Game Ships: August 2023

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 282% with 24 days to go.

Project: Set a Watch: Forsaken Isles + Doomed Run

Designer: Todd Walsh (Set a Watch, Set a Watch: Swords of a Coin)

Artists: Marc Grunert, Rodolpho Langhi (Set a Watch: Swords of a Coin), Rastislav, Andreas Rocha (Set a Watch, Monumental, Sanssouci), Spec, Boris Stanisic (Merchants of Magick: A Set a Watch Tale, Set a Watch: Swords of a Coin), Bruno Schwartz

Publisher: Rock Manor Games (Lawyer Up, Maximum Apocalypse, Set a Watch)

Genre/Mechanisms: adventure, card game, cooperative game, dice rolling, fantasy, solo / solitaire game, variable player powers

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: medium-low

Summary: “A continuation of the Set A Watch series, Forsaken Isles features a new band of adventurers sailing to islands and other tropical locations to face new monsters and challenges. Defend your campfire from a horde of creatures and unhallowed bosses using each hero’s unique abilities to survive the night. One hero stays in camp to rest and maintain the fire while the others battle. Each round, you draw a new location to setup camp in. Survive all 8 nights (rounds) to win the game.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $32

All-In (w/shipping): $159

Campaign Ends: 2/24

Game Ships: February 2024

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 395% with 15 days to go.

Project: Statera (on Gamefound)

Designers: Tomáš Chládek, Filip Kráčmar

Artist: Jana Kilianová (Codenames: Pictures, Monster Baby Rescue!)

Publisher: Fat Boardgames

Genre/Mechanisms: action points, action retrieval, adventure, area majority / influence, area movement, betting and bluffing, card play conflict resolution, command cards, events, fantasy, hand management, modular board, take that, territory building, wargame, worker placement

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-heavy

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “A double-asymmetric strategy game with real scales. The first asymmetry comes from the difference between Gods and Staterans, second, there is an asymmetry between the factions. Some rules and patterns apply to the whole game, some only for Gods or Staterans, and some rules are specific to the faction. Its stories give players a lot of replayability and modular game map new experiences for each game. Become a leader of a Statera nation or a powerful God, fight for the territory, balance your believers, gather souls, and experience all of Statera’s stories. You can pick a different story for each game to determine the basic game’s setup, get a richer experience, and learn more about the game world’s story. By choosing to play for the nations of Statera or their gods you can also select the game’s difficulty and the game’s length. In the Statera you will play as one of the nations of Statera or their God. Each story tells a tale from the land of Statera and through that, it defines a number of players, unique victory conditions, setup, and some small rule adjustments. It basically means that each story, when played, feels like a different game. The scale rising above the game board is a big part of Statera – the game and the world. The Stories already created for the game, are using the scale to count souls, balance them, lean towards a specific campsite, or take souls away from it.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $85

All-In (w/shipping): $112

Campaign Ends: 3/2

Game Ships: January 2024

Funding Status: Currently at 42% with 21 days to go.

Project: Stonesaga

Designers: Max Brooke, Luke Eddy (Star Wars: Legion, Star Wars: Legion – Clone Wars Core Set)

Artists: Taryn Emerick, Andrea Koroveshi

Publisher: OOMM Games (Last One Standing: The Battle Royale Card Game, No Escape, Stars of Akarios)

Genre/Mechanisms: civilization, cooperative game, fantasy, legacy game, prehistoric, scenario / mission / campaign game, solo / solitaire game, survival

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: medium-high

Summary: “A cooperative, campaign style, survival crafting board game set in a unique, persistent world shaped by your choices. Unfold the epoch-spanning story of the people of a remote glacial valley, guiding multiple generations of characters who make a life there amidst harsh conditions, wondrous mysteries, and giant monsters. Each game session covers one generation of people within a society, continuing from the last and permanently changing the valley in various ways based on in-game events and the players’ decisions. Stonesaga follows a certain rhythm: faced by a new opportunity or crisis, the people of the valley must meet their society’s new needs. Meanwhile, the valley’s other inhabitants – immortal beasts – will seek to fulfill their own needs as their instincts dictate. You will have to navigate both sets of challenges, using might, dexterity, conviction, and awareness to survive as a tribe in the wild. Stonesaga introduces a completely new discovery based crafting mechanic. Do you think that a sharpened stone and stick could combine to create a spear? Use the crafting action and find out. You will need to discover the properties of various crafting materials as you expand your crafting ‘recipe’ knowledge. Work together as a community to build your village together. From a simple fire pit and tent to a forge and library, create a civilization that lasts the generations. Stonesaga rewards exploration and chooses to let you experience the world in a unique way each play session. Working on the established rules of the world, you will discover unique materials, monsters, and areas of the world that you won’t be directed towards. Stonesaga lets the curious and inquisitive thrive. Designed for drop-in, drop-out play and flexible playgroup availability, Stonesaga can be played by one group from start to finish, played with a rotating cast, or even passed between groups seamlessly. Components are sometimes permanently altered, but never removed or discarded entirely.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $123

All-In (w/shipping): $227

Campaign Ends: 2/28

Game Ships: April 2024

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 912% with 19 days to go.

Project: Storm Dragons: the Dragon Trappings expansion (on Gamefound)

Designers: Harvey Cornell, Carlie Cornell

Artists: Carlie Cornell, Katy Grierson (Animal Kingdoms, Gift of Tulips, Tumble Town)

Publisher: Dragon Phoenix Games

Genre/Mechanisms: card game, fantasy, hand management, trick-taking

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “Draft dragons and storms for your army. Play over a series of battle rounds. In battle, take turns in clockwise order. On your turn you can add a dragon to your dragon flight, add a storm to your storm front, challenge, or pass. Both dragon and storm cards have instant effects when played. Some cards have ongoing effects if the they are the top card in your dragon flight or storm front respectively. Each round is played either during the day or the night, as selected by the player who starts the round, but some dragon cards allow the player to change from day to night or vice versa. Most cards have different combat strengths during day versus night and many cards have different abilities in the day or night, so control of the battle may switch back and forth. Play continues until all but one player has yielded. The last player in the battle round wins all of the cards played in the round and places them in their victory pile.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $24

All-In (w/shipping): $71

Campaign Ends: 2/28

Game Ships: April 2023

Funding Status: Currently at 54% with 19 days to go.

Project: TRICKTAKERs KINGs

Designer: Hiroken (TRICKTAKERs)

Artists: Nina (TRICKTAKERs), Ito Taichi (TRICKTAKERs)

Publisher: Joyple Games (TRICKTAKERs)

Genre/Mechanisms: card game, draw and discard, exchange, once-per-game abilities, open drafting, outplay, trick-taking, variable player powers

Player Count: 2-5

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “Players draft their party of cute characters, each with a unique ability, and compete against the other players to be crowned the True TrickTaker.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $40

All-In (w/shipping): $74

Campaign Ends: 3/1

Game Ships: July 2023

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 434% with 19 days to go.

Project: Utopia

Designer: James Henchman-Price

Artist: Radu Paul Mazanec (Lawklivya: Vengeance)

Publisher: Gravity Games

Genre/Mechanisms: cooperative game, narrative choice / paragraph, open drafting, solo / solitaire game, worker placement with different worker types

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-heavy

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “Control a shadowy 24th century faction, hell-bent on reordering history to set off a chain reaction which will bring about your utopian vision for the world. At your disposal is a fleet of chronoships, capable of traversing all four dimensions of space and time. You will hunt through all of history to hire the brightest minds to your cause, and each will be given command of one of your precious chronoships. However, you are not the only one with a grand vision for the future and must watch out for rivals, who will attempt to meddle with your plans. Be the first to complete three Butterfly Effect Missions. These are iconic moments in history, from the rise of the Roman Empire to the Industrial Revolution, from the Second World War to the colonization of Mars. Each Butterfly Effect Mission will require knowledge to be collected or technology to be developed. Chronoships travel through wormholes to visit different locations in space and time, known as Time Zones (TZs). There are 12 TZs in total, TZ1 represents the ancient past, whereas TZ12 represents the distant future. New Alternate TZs will also spawn throughout the game, the Butterfly Effect of players meddling with the space-time continuum. Each player drafts two crew-members to activate their first two Chronoships. These crew-members will be famous people from history or the future and each will have different primary and secondary abilities. It is possible to control an additional three Chronoships by recruiting new crew-members to command them. Primary abilities enhance the collection of one of five types of knowledge: Military, Exploration, Science, Politics or Culture. Secondary abilities come in 13 varieties which will help the player to compete with their rivals, ranging from Merchants to Medics, from Spies to Superstars. Utopia provides a unique experience every time, as the combination of different crew-members, technologies and missions call for the constant revision of player strategies.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $92

All-In (w/shipping): $116

Campaign Ends: 3/9

Game Ships: July 2023

Funding Status: Currently at 64% with 28 days to go.

Project: What On Earth Are You Talking About?

Designer: Oliver Karmel-Shann, Michael Wilkinson (Psycho Killer), Mitch Young (Psycho Killer)

Artist: Michael Wilkinson (Psycho Killer)

Publisher: Escape Tabletop Games (Psycho Killer)

Genre/Mechanisms: aliens / extraterrestrials, communication limits, deduction, give a clue / get a clue, guess the word, humor, party game, real-time, semi-cooperative game, victory points as a resource, word game

Player Count: 4-10

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

Summary: “You are an alien. You and your crew have traveled far and wide in search of intelligent life, and you’ve finally found it. Sort of. You’ve observed these curious creatures on their little rock hurtling through the deep void of space, and now you think you have seen enough. You abduct a couple of humans and are ready to make first contact. You (the Aliens) must communicate simple earthly concepts to your two Human abductees, and the human abductees must compete to see who can figure out what on Earth you are talking about the quickest.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $34

All-In (w/shipping): $72

Campaign Ends: 2/28

Game Ships: September 2023

Funding Status: Currently at 82% with 19 days to go.