Given the number of crowdfunding campaigns hitting my inbox, I’m going to devote only a sentence or two to all of the ones included in this post to fit in as many pitches as possible.
• John Clowdus of U.S. publisher Small Box Games is taking an unusual approach to crowdfunding, offering a four-game subscription package to be delivered in 2023, with each game being a new design and with a bonus print-and-play copy of every title that SBG releases in 2023, whether old or new.
• In Aloha Earth from Heather and Chris O’Neill and Gravitation Games, you are an alien “Expert of Human Things” and you need to explain to your dimwitted colleagues what a newly discovered human object was used for, ideally winning them over and gaining tenure. (BackerKit (BK) link)
• In Cosmoctopus, designer Henry Audubon and publishers Paper Fort Games and Stone Sword Games challenge you to move an inky, tentacled otherworldly being through an array of tiles to gather cards and resources, with which you will then collect tentacles. Summon eight first, and the Great Inky One will visit you in person to celebrate. (Kickstarter (KS) link)
• Extra dimensions also come into play in Tesseract from James Firnhaber and Smirk & Laughter Games, with players removing dice from a cube, then manipulating them and using special powers to create sets of three (akin to the game SET), with you needing to collect one die of each color/number combination before dice shed by the cube create too many breaches. (KS link)
• In Tabriz, Randy Flynn and Crafty Games challenge you to move assistants through a marketplace to acquire wool, camel hair, silk, plant dye, and carmine dye so that you can complete commissions and improve your skill as a master carpet weaver. (Gamefound link)
• In Pest, from Thomas Nielsen, Kai Starck, and Archona Games, 2-5 players each control a house of a once great empire that’s been struck by plague, a plague that players must work around as they attempt to rebuild their status over seven rounds. (KS link)
• Tiny Epic Crimes adds a deduction game to a game series known for only three constants: designer Scott Almes, publisher Gamelyn Games, and a backpack-friendly box size. In the game, the player detectives must tackle various crimes while also using a decoder system to focus on the main goal of figuring out who committed murder. (KS link)
• Almes is also behind Chicken!, a press-your-luck design from Keymaster Games in which players attempt to keep scoring chickens and avoiding foxes, with more dice entering play as eggs are hatched on rolled dice. (KS link)
• In the 27-card, press-your-luck game Explosion in the Laboratory from Corey Andalora and Weird Giraffe Games, players mix chemicals for points, scoring more when they add more substances to their flask…up until the point they cause the eponymous explosion. Eventually someone will push things too far, starting a fire that ends the game and leads into the game Fire in the Library, which is being reprinted as part of this project. (BK link)
• Slay the Spire: The Board Game from Gary Dworetsky, Anthony Giovannetti, Casey Yano, and Contention Games is a co-operative, deck-building game based on a video game of the same name. As usual, I have zero experience with the original creation, so I can only point and say, here’s a thing! (KS link)
• Similarly, Zoo Tycoon: The Board Game from Marc Dür, Samuel Luterbacher, and Treecer adapts the video game series to the tabletop, with each player creating their own zoo that contains food booths, gift shops, and (of course) animals, with 34 different species represented by wooden tokens. I have to say, that bear does not seem to be well-contained. Ideally you can also purchase insurance policies! (KS link)
