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

Project: Avast

Designer: Ben Donges

Artist: N/A (credit your artists properly, people!)

Publisher: GnarlyTree

Genre/Mechanisms: area majority, deck building, dice rolling, economic, fighting, miniatures, player elimination, trading

Player Count: 2-6

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-heavy

Risk: high

Summary: “Avast is a competitive game with cinematic style events, area control mechanics, and a piracy based economy,… asymmetric hero captains, random map generation, and co-operative scenarios.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $79

All-In (w/shipping): $160

Campaign Ends: 11/15

Game Ships: July 2020

Funding Status: Currently at 19%, with 28 days to go.

Project: Duck, Buck, Moose

Designer: Gavin Vickery

Artists: Sebastian Abboud

Publisher: Input Games

Genre/Mechanisms: hand management, take that

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: light

Risk: high

Summary: “Compete with your friends on a hunt for furry woodland creatures in this totally not-serious card game of skill, sabotage and luck.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $28

All-In (w/shipping): $58

Campaign Ends: 11/15

Game Ships: May 2020

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 163%, with 28 days to go.

Project: Fresco Mega Box

Designers: Wolfgang Penning (Fresco, Maharani, Ole!), Marco Ruskowski (Fresco, Parfum), Marcel Subelbeck (Fresco, Parfum)

Artists: Patricia Limberger (12 Thieves, Alhambra, World Monuments), Oliver Schlemmer (Escape: The Curse of the Temple, Fresco, Kingdom Builder, Wallenstein 2nd Edition)

Publisher: Queen Games (Alhambra, Amerigo, Aton, Chicago Express, Escape: The Curse of the Temple, Fresco, Kingdom Builder, Lancaster, Merlin, Roma, Shogun, Thebes, Wallenstein First Edition, Wallenstein Second Edition)

Genre/Mechanisms: action queue, grid movement, set collection, simultaneous action selection

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: medium-low

Summary: In Fresco, players are master painters, working to restore a fresco in a Renaissance church. The new Mega Box version of Fresco includes everything from the Big Box version (the base game and 10 expansion modules), plus three new expansion modules, a dice game, and a card game.

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $54

All-In (w/shipping): $219

Campaign Ends: 11/5

Game Ships: Sep. 2020

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 1095%, with 18 days to go.

Project: Village Attacks: Grim Dynasty

Designer: Adam Smith (Endure the Stars, The Everrain, Village Attacks)

Artists: Bjorn Hurri (The Everrain, Village Attacks), Kieran Russell (The Drowned Earth), Maxim Kostin, Sebastian Kowoll (The Everrain), Adrian Prado (The Path of the Adventurers), Victor Hugo

Publisher: Grimlord Games (Endure the Stars, The Everrain, Village Attacks)

Genre/Mechanisms: area movement, cooperative play, dice rolling, miniatures, modular board, variable player powers

Player Count: 1-5

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-heavy

Risk: medium-high

Summary: A cooperative castle defense game where players take on the roles of the most infamous creatures of folklore and legend; the new Grim Dynasty expansion adds mythical creatures from Chinese folklore.

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $77

All-In (w/shipping): $161, plus a lot of add-ons starting with the $205 Ancient Evil Bundle

Campaign Ends: 11/6

Game Ships: June 2020

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 115%, with 19 days to go.

Project: Zombicide 2nd Edition

Designers: Raphael Guiton (Massive Darkeness, Zombicide, Zombicide: Black Plague, Zombicide: Green Horde, Zombicide Season 2: Prison Outbreak, Zombicide Season 3: Rue Morgue), Jean-Baptiste Lullien (Massive Darkeness, Zombicide, Zombicide: Black Plague, Zombicide: Green Horde, Zombicide Season 2: Prison Outbreak, Zombicide Season 3: Rue Morgue), Nicolas Raoult (Massive Darkeness, Zombicide, Zombicide: Black Plague, Zombicide: Green Horde, Zombicide Season 2: Prison Outbreak, Zombicide Season 3: Rue Morgue)

Artists: Edouard Guiton (Council of 4, Massive Darkness, Zombicide, Zombicide Season 2: Prison Outbreak, Zombicide Season 3: Rue Morgue), Eric Nouhaut (Wrath of Kings, Zombicide, Zombicide Season 3: Rue Morgue)

Publisher: CMON Limited (Arcadia Quest, Arcadia Quest: Inferno, Blood Rage, Blue Moon City, Council of 4, Dogs of War, Dragon Castle, Ethnos, Gizmos, The Godfather: Corleone’s Empire, The Grizzled, Lorenzo il Magnifico, Massive Darkness, Modern Art, Newton, The Others, Potion Explosion, Railroad Ink: Blazing Red Edition, Railroad Ink: Deep Blue Edition, Rising Sun, Unfair, XenoShyft: Onslaught, Zombicide, Zombicide: Black Plague, Zombicide: Green Horde, Zombicide Season 2: Prison Outbreak, Zombicide Season 3: Rue Morgue)

Genre/Mechanisms: action points, cooperative play, dice rolling, grid movement, hand management, miniatures, modular board, player elimination, variable player powers

Player Count: 1-6

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-heavy

Risk: medium-low

Summary: “Zombicide 2nd Edition features refined and streamlined rules, including updates to target priority for ranged attacks, interactions with doors, and vehicle mechanics. A new dark zone feature… that hides zombies from Survivor’s attacks… has been added as well. Zombicide 2nd Edition will include new components and miniatures, including plastic dashboards and new child Survivors.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $55

All-In (w/shipping): $195

Campaign Ends: 11/6

Game Ships: Nov. 2020

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 406%, with 19 days to go.