Below is a selection of games that stood out to us while browsing kickstarter.com.
Backing a project can be a great thing, but please do the research on a game before you put money into it. Happy exploring!
Board & Card Games
Role-Playing Games
Miniatures Games
Other Board Game Related Projects
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Sentinel Tactics is at the moment 5-10 pledges away from unlocking stretch goal #6 and a whole new fresh and mysterious shadowy pledge tier – so there’s that…*drool*
Two interesting things I stubbed a toe on today 🙂 :
Fresh off of V&V: Borderlands (see above) comes a campaign for two Treasures & Traps expansions and the older base and expansion 1 (along with opportunities to get other gamey goodness – check those Dungeoncraft Avatars). This one holds a Wayback Machine nostalgia as I played this quiet classic quite a bit back in college when the only games I owned were Munchkin and Cosmic Encounter . I’ve never been so overjoyed for a ‘holder’ box! *shakes head sadly at herself*
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1230703246/treasures-and-traps-random-encounters-and-expanded
Also while not a ‘game’ game Jason Tagmire designer and illustrator of le Pixel Lincoln has a campaign for Storyteller Cards: Fantasy (and the original). I know some collect the KS Playing Card scene, but I like the very idea of an ‘idea’ deck for day-to-day imagineering. The somewhat surreal illustrations remind me of Gahan Wilson who I have a soft spot for along with Gorey and Addams.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/239309591/storyteller-cards-fantasy
@Granny I don’t know – even though my mind is pledge set – I still have a lingering taste of ‘CSI 30%’ in my mouth. (This is the only campaign I ever really chewed over the KS vs CSI debate) I am watching it very closely though and will throw this on the tabletop: I have a feeling that if Epic Resort doesn’t have a crazy upshoot during the Final 48 and begins kissing 40K – PLEDGE IT IF YOU WANT IT – because it might have a rocky road to retail. 🙁
@HaiKulture Why can’t I pull the trigger on Epic Resort?
This week from the KickHotsheet my Hai Kicks are:
Apex Dinosaurs!!!! WHYYYYY?!?!? 🙁 Intrigue for my deck builder brain but the green and scalies leave me cold blooded. 🙁 It is on The Boy’s list though. *SIGH* but 🙂
Game Developerz was in this from the get-go. Couldn’t resist the fun bubblegum art. Being a ‘Console Friendly’ household this little gem will be getting plenty of unplugged gameplay. Update: Today they added a ‘content purist catch-all’ tier to get the base, all expansions, and KS exclusive cards without kitsch like t-shirts.
Epic Resort still haven’t punched the blue button on this. Love the Disney (Emperor’s New Groove) art style, love the idea of a deck builder/worker placement combo(since Euphoria finally opened that access door for me), and respect the whole lack of crazy stretch goal hoopla (which may have hurt them 🙁 ). This game is falling under the shadow of The Singular Case of Too Many Mini Campaigns. My only hold off is counting pennies to see if I want to go for the Legacy: Gears of Time pledge. I’ll come knocking during the Final 48.
Capes and Villains Cape Saturation? Too Many Minis??? Lots of big shadows being cast over ‘little games that could’ this month. Sad to see this one go – but thought it deserved a much better run. A game deserving of unlocking its full stretchy potential. From the inside track, I know it will be back and cape up on a strong foot next time. As for Cape Saturation on The Kick? Yeah – there’s a bunch. But shouldn’t the Cardboard Kingdom have been Orc’d out about 10 years ago?
Area 1851 The surreal art and unique mish-mash engine intrigues me. They finally posted a game play video that gave this run of ‘quirky’ a good alien autopsy. I can’t resist ‘Cowpokes and Cowpunk’ – pass me my Pinkerton badge.
Catacombs backing for my official ‘Burgers and BBQ’ edition as this shadowy dungeon crawl is perfect for the back deck outdoors and tiki torches. 🙂 If you missed out on the First Edition of this finger flicking good dexterity dungeon crawl – I suggest a look. It is both ‘Huzzah!’ fun worthy and nail-bitingly intense with many a silent prayer and flexed digits as your battered party prepares for an always all-or-nothing Final Room. I’m also getting immense silent giggles as The Big Boys’ Clubhouse of Gaming contends with ‘cutesy’ art and too many females! (*eye roll*). Since my gateway purchase of Munchkin 15 years ago ( I’ve been on the Cardboard Crack that long??? )- I’ve had to ‘man up’ more times than I’d like to count to avoid being some throw away lameo ‘Sorceress type’ in various tabletop outings. P.S. Potential Square Gelatinous cube piece (or perhaps solid acrylic cube) – Wheeee!!!!
Westerly is back for a Threeboot. The parody of pixelated prairie where ‘Trail Hits YOU!’ seems to be circling the wagons. I was a solid supporter of them – a week ago?? – and am in for a pledge, but I fear the memories of their previous Ghost Town campaign will leave them snake bit.
@Paladin Oh golly! Fairytales and Brimstone! That’s a genius idea!!! I just hope that pledge manager is waaaaayyy down the line because This One was still dipping her toes in the Kickstarter world and happened on SoB by accident on Day One (talk about a soft launch) and not understanding Minecarts totally blew it. There is so much I still need to get from that.
I’m not much into the Plastic Scene, but I did msg Alex on the eve of Sentinel Tactics about a dream I had where Sentinels and Fairytales and the World of Indine could table top together in one giant skirmish. Oh Developer’s Clubhouse get on that Nirvana.
Also thanks for the heads up on the ‘Sell Out’. I contacted FTG immediately after I caught wind from you and found out what the hiccup was. Apparently, the Open Manager was getting too much traffic and the new pledges were pushing them toward the next manufacturing tier. Since AJG and Greenbrier are in bed together but in different states, GB needed AJG approval to up units and AJG hadn’t gotten notification yet- it all should be rectified in a day or so. 🙂
As for @Jim, I was thinking the same thing the other day 🙂 Spare the world my mad chatterboxing. (Also ‘Already Rated’ checkboxes for members so I can pop in on BGdot Collective buddies and check out new reviews and tips with ease ;))
Thanks, @HaiKulture. I messaged Alex on KS and will just wait to hear back with fingers crossed.
As weird as it sounds: I want the miniatures because they are 35 mm scale, which is the same as Shadows of Brimstone, and I plan to make encounter/threat/monster cards using blanks cards and the FTG characters.
An Outlaw and a Preacher vs. the Jabberwock? Yes, please.
Re: secret conversations on BG.com, I poked @Jim elsewhere about private/group messaging and it’s already on the wish list.
Coup Reformation went live today…
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2012515236/coup-reformation-kickstarter-edition
@Paladin I was on the beta test for the pledge manager (which is still buggy as all get out if you ask me :P) and one thing I warned them about was limiting after-pledges so someone couldn’t come in ‘Second Chancing’ and scoop up 5 BBW’s on the cheap and then set up E-bay shop. *cough* Why would anyone listen to me? 😛
Hmmmm…I don’t know if that’s a temporary hiccup, but if you (or anyone else) are truly interested I would say note Fairytale Games on their mini campaign KS page (they are due for an update this week) and just say you were interested in a pledge of whatever tier and they should be able to set up with a ‘fund empty’ pledge. (They are doing some dumb monkeying around with ghost accounts to handle multi-tier original pledges anyway – another thing I told them to be aware of *sigh*)
@Account Deletion LOL Yup that was a chatterbox of a comment box – I just find this Developer’s Clubhouse concept exciting and interesting and I think it is going to make for some quality Indie products in the next year and really make the Gaming Renaissance flourish. Also as I mentioned on the Sentinel Tactics comments it is nice to see companies like >G or Level 99 that may have outgrown Kickstarter keep using it as a platform. Not because their ‘mailing list’ is there, but because it was their first home, and they know they will get the support, the cheers, and the ideas to make a better product than a ‘direct to retail’ DVD.
As for C&V I kind of knew the reboot should have come and then was coming – over the weekend. I think it is a product that deserves better than a squeak over the finish line. And from what I know, the reboot will come on strong – focusing not only on the game, but building the universe behind it and creating a foundation for the future. I will keep the BGdot Collective posted. 🙂
And yes – Fairytale Games:The Battle Royale is something gamers should definitely consider getting in on the ground floor with a Second Chance 😉
I was eager to log into the Greenbrier pledge manager and drop $100.00 for a Big Bad Wolf pledge — but when I got there, it was “sold out” (at 594 — a very odd number).
Guess I’ll drop that money elsewhere, as there’s certainly no shortage of Kickstarters that actually WANT my cash. Oh well!
Funny that you mentioned the Fairytale Games pledge manager being open to the public as well. I joined Kickstarter after you, so I missed that campaign completely. But I saw the PM open to newcomers on the Artistic Justice website when looking into C&V led me there, and I was planning on pledging directly through them mid-April when my credit card cycled. I guess now that C&V has freed up that Benjamin there’s no need to wait…
@Hai –
Wow… great information. Much appreciated. I hope that was useful to others as well.
My intention in mentioning the connections between the companies was to try to sway anybody who might otherwise pledge but is reluctant to do so for first-time publishers. I think your further information (and small correction) helped do that, as well as assure others that Shingo Games has a lot of support from established Kickstarter campaign runners.
Unfortunately, it’s all-for-naught since the project was cancelled this morning. I look forward to the relaunch at the end of April.
The robots on the line looks like a fun one I could get my kids to play, but nothing I need.
LOL I’m sure nobody cares about my conversation with @Account Deletion about ‘Developers helping developers’ and The Indie Developer’s Clubhouse behind the scenes of The Kick…
But as the official Cheesecake Tinkerbell of Fairytale Games: The Battle Royale , Tink Magic supporter of various campaigns, and a cheerleader for Artistic Justice Games I would be remiss in not notifying the BGdot Collective that FTG:BR has opened their pledge manager to the public for the month of April
http://thefairytalegames.com/
While not a ‘Kickstarter Campaign’ of current – it is an opportunity to Second Chance the FTG:BR card game and minis set. Much like Level99 does with their Indine Universe and Shingo with their current C&V mash-up heroes universe, AJG philosophy is about creating a world filled with lore and mythology and then designing games within that universe. I would definitely suggest poking around the art and minis and game universe on their home page. 😉 Fair Warning: It is hard not to get caught up in it. 😉
As insider knowledge – AJG also rewards loyalty from campaign to campaign, carrying many things over from the Fairytale catalog but ‘marking up’ closer to retail if you missed out on Kickstarter bargains. New comers can still ‘get in the game’ and play catch-up, but ‘loyalists’ can just focus on the new products. After release of FTG:BR this summer an expansion campaign is planned for the Battle Royale system and a Dungeon Crawl campaign utilizing the existing minis is planned for late ’14/early ’15 (The Boy is part of the ‘think tank’ on that 🙂 *GLEE*) so many of these items will resurface – but not at the ‘pledge level’ pricing they are now.
No matter how you want to look at it – it is a way to Second Chance a game system ranking in at 2,000+ cards or pick up 102 minis at a steal. 🙂
Trust the Pixie 😉 🙂
@Account Deletion Sort of the behind the scenes of the C&V but as the official Cheesecake Tinkerbell of Fairytale Games: The Battle Royale and resident Pixie Powered cheerleader for Artistic Justice Games I know a bit of background lore 🙂
Once upon a time last summer, a little game called Fairytale Games:The Battle Royale launched on TheKick. It was one of those games that just sort of sat in a lull. It looked good, was fresh and unique, had a loyal backer group, and just begged the question ‘Why is this NOT exploding like it should???’ The Boy (the self proclaimed KS Speculator of our household for a year or so) made the mistake of showing it to me. I screamed ‘WHY IS THIS NOT FUNDING!’ and signed up on Kickstarter (much to his regret now) and made FTG:BR my pet project, my baby, and my home campaign for Kickstarter Tink Magic.
Well this little game that could picked up some steam in the Final 10 days and funded and then got a stretch goal and entered Final Week ‘kickstarter healthy’ and then did EXPLODE going from 40K to 139K in about 3 days time and breaking Kicktraq. LOL. The final stretch that no one thought would get hit – did – 40 minis.
FTG:BR had a fairytale of a campaign. It unlocked a base and several full expansions. It became a full game universe with a capital G overnight- something that takes a year or two with expansion development and release for other games – and wound up on ‘the map’. (And ‘Oh crud’ it had to make some minis. :)) Alex, the head developer of AJG with a graphic design background and a head full of gaming universe, turned to Greenbrier Games who has their own in-house mini sculpting/development team and said ‘Wanna be our mini developer?’
Artistic Justice Games then launched a mini campaign in the fall with Greenbrier as the mini department. The idea was to produce a set of Fairytale Games minis and winnow out the previous promised minis from the card game campaign to save the budget. A bit of a genius idea if you ask me ;). The 139K from the first campaign dubbed Campaign Cardboard by a clever marketing pixie could be whole devoted to developing the game and the 236K raised by Campaign Plastic could be devoted to developing the previous minis and a new line.
Not only is The Kick leading to a Gaming Renaissance, but some of the middle ranged Indie Developers with a few campaigns under their belt like Level99, AJG, Greenbrier, etc are forming a sort of Developer’s Clubhouse in the background where they cross-campaign and help each other out in their various fields of expertise while developing their own company projects.
Artistic Justice and Greenbrier have also teamed up to develop their ‘own’ pledge managing system (still some kinks though :P) as an alternative to Backerkit and others to shop out to various developers and based on the foundation of the Zpocalypse PM.
While Shingo Games is its own separate fledgling leaving the nest of Artistic Justice Games to develop their own Capes and Villains universe – they still have ties attached to AJG (who is sort of watching and helping a bit in the background) and are affiliated with Greenbrier for potential minis. Developers helping developers and sharing their strengths, expertise, and various development departments as they talk shop in the Kick Developers Clubhouse can only make for a stronger Indie movement all around.
If you look carefully (and know the stable of AJG artists well enough – especially if you are the one who does their BGG page maintenance *hee hee*)- Heavy Steam has a major art and card design overhaul from Zpocalypse and I don’t know officially, but I can hazard a safe guess, they drew on AJG graphic design knowledge and their stable of 60 odd out-source artists.
Sunday Kickstarter Brunch (a perfect jammy pants activity! YAY!) where The Boy and I sort of flip through the Tabletop Section to see what’s happening (thankfully) revealed nothing new jumping off the page. Grim End Manor …maybe?
Really nice categorizing Jim!
I threw a couple bucks to Rahdo, as well as the blind gaming project. Tactics got some wallet love, and i also went in on the Little Dungeon:Tutle Rock game for something to play with my youngest. It only has a funding target ok 8500, but is still a long way to go.
I will echo the non-prayer side of @Granny’s post here… I’m just glad I didn’t add anything this week. Once Town Center and Apex wrap up in the coming days, I’ll only have 5 active backed campaigns remaining: Robots on the Line, Capes and Villains, Catacombs, SDE: Forgotten King and Sentinel Tactics. Oh, Spielbound as well… but that doesn’t come out of the “game” budget.
At one point several weeks ago I had 12 active backed campaigns going, so this is a much more welcome pace.
I was disappointed to see C&V go backwards a few days this week. I was digging into the designer and company behind it (Henry Lam/Shingo Games), and found out they just branched off from Greenbriar Games – and that the designer of C&V was the graphic designer of Greenbriar’s awesome-looking Fairytale Games. Also, Greenbriar’s website let slip that Shingo is planning miniatures as a stretch goal and plans to partner with Greenbriar to bring those to life (if we get there). Fingers crossed.