Kickstarter Project of the Week 3/25 – 3/31

Unbroken*

Unbroken is a solo dungeon crawl card game of intense battles and survival in a randomly generated environment. After its first couple of days on Kickstarter, Unbroken has smashed through all of it’s initial stretch goals and blasted past 1000% funding. I have been on the lookout for a decent single player board/card game experience, and I’m excited to get my hands on this one after its wildly successful campaign. The scenario starts with you as the last surviving member of an adventuring party. Throughout a series of encounters, you will make choices based on preparing yourself for upcoming battles and managing your resources so you don’t starve or become fatigued. There are four increasingly difficult battles that will test your mettle, and only after surviving them all will you be victorious.

As of writing this post, Unbroken has amassed $160,672 CAD ($124,520 USD) of its $14,000 CAD ($10,849 USD) goal with 23 days to go. The stretch goals have given us everything from component upgrades to strategy guides and even some alternate character art. To get your hands on the full game, you only need $29 CAD ($22 USD) and around $4 for shipping and handling after the project is finished.

The creators of Unbroken, Altema Games, have had one Kickstarter project before this, which they successfully funded and delivered.

Other projects worth a mention:

Maximum Apocalypse: Gothic Horrors Expansion* – This game would have been my pick of the week, but since it was an expansion, I decided to go with Unbroken. This multiplayer co-op survival game pits you against one of several possible apocalypse scenarios, with the expansion including Cthulhu and friends.

Dragons Conquer America* – Incredibly gorgeous art accompanies a provocative idea; a medieval fantasy setting in ancient Mesoamerica. The creators seem to have done their homework, and I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy of this tabletop RPG core rulebook.

Erasable D&D 5e Character Boards – Just what the title says. Well designed character sheets (boards) with dry-erase functionality and hit point wheel trackers for ease of use.

One Night* – This is an atmospheric 80’s themed horror rpg with an attractive aesthetic. In it you play as a young boy caught in a small town afflicted by demons.

Sea Salt* – From the creators of The Aquatic Adventure of the Last Human comes an RTS-like action game where you play as a Cthulhu-esque god ravaging a town with your minions and followers.

Iron Harvest – Iron Harvest brings higher tactics and a compelling alternate-history aesthetic to the real-time strategy genre.

The Good Life – A long awaited new detective game by the director of Deadly Premonition and D4, Hidetaka “SWERY” Suehiro.

Dinosaur Island: Back from Extinction* – Last but not least is the recklessly successful Kickstarter project that has already raised over a million dollars. This brings two expansions to the already popular Dinosaur Island, as well as gives the chance for people who missed the first campaign to get Kickstarter exclusive content for the original game.

 

* = Project I have personally backed

Kickstarter Project of the Week 9/3 – 9/9

Dark Devotion

Following in the footsteps of Blasphemous’ gritty and grim platforming comes another similarly dark action game looking for funding through Kickstarter. This one earns similar praise for glorious pixel art (I am a little biased), but stands out in that it is also a rogue-like as well. Each encounter with an enemy promises to challenge you as you travel further into the world. Like other rogue-likes, you will find randomized loot and abilities along the way. I hope it takes a page from similar games and grants you permanent upgrades for completing sub quests in a single playthrough. This game appears to be the first from its developers at Hibernian Workshop, and has currently been in development for two and a half years before seeking funding on Kickstarter. With all this in mind, it’s possible that it could take another year or so before it reaches fruition, where as the project page states that it will see the light of day in the summer of 2018. The developers are asking for €20,000 ($24,028 USD) and have gotten just over €1,500 (about $2,000 USD) as of writing this post. For just €12 ($14 USD) you can get your hands on this game when it finally arrives.

Other projects worth a mention:

My Time at Portia – This game brings influence from Harvest Moon to a well-polished third person adventure RPG

Churrascaria – A fast paced card game for 2 – 6 players about who can eat the most meat

The Planets: Mercury – The first in a set of eight standard card decks with gorgeous artwork

Consentacle – A very unique 2 player card game about consensual human-alien intimacy

* = I have back this project

Kickstarter Project of the Week 8/27 – 9/2 (and also I’m back…again)

As you may have noticed, I have fallen off the wagon again. I love Kickstarter. I love independent developers/creators, and I love perusing Kickstarter to find some of the best creative projects out there. However, I keep holding myself to such a high standard that I have a hard time maintaining, so I’ve come up with a possible solution. I will keep these posts limited to just one project per. I’ll outline the best singular project I saw that week and if I happen to find others I might list them off, but not go into too much detail. You might be thinking to yourself that I have never gone into too much detail, and that is certainly true, but I only started blogging a year and a half ago, and am still trying to find what works for me. With that aside, I hope you can stay with me while I do my best to pay tribute to some of the best creative projects I find.

This weeks most eye catching project is…

*Champions of Hara

This is a semi rogue-like co-operative adventure board game for 2-4 players. Alongside some gorgeous artwork is a set of unique hero characters that you will customize throughout the game as they increase in level. You take on one of several baddies and scenarios, as you traverse the different worlds in the game map. Also included are a solo variant and even an arena-like versus mode. This game has actually come to Kickstarter once before, where it raised $22,355 USD from its original goal of $15,000 USD just last month (August 2017). The games vision has changed slightly, and so they have come back to raise a bit more money for higher quality parts and an expansion that increases the number of allowed players as well as including different baddies and scenarios. This time on Kickstarter the project has raised around  $45,000 USD from its goal of $20,000 USD and continues to rise with 24 days still remaining to pledge. The creators of Champions of Hara, Greenbriar Games, has had 5 successful Kickstarter projects before including a couple card games and some other miniatures-based adventure board games. With this in mind I have no doubt that this game will not only come to fruition, but be a fairly fun game to play.

It certainly has some unique mechanics and gorgeous art that I hope are worth its asking pledge of $60 USD (not including shipping). I highly recommend you check out their project page and make the decision for yourself!

Other projects worth a mention:

*戦國 Zipang Portable – a quick game of honor and battle in feudal Japan with ukiyo-e style art

*The ‘BOY/BYE’ Project – a small line of products celebrating women of color created by women of color collaborating with a non-profit art collective

The King’s Guild – a board game about building the best guild in the land using resource management and smart strategies

*The Iron Oath – an incredible looking turn-based strategy game with gorgeous pixel art

* = I have back this project

Kickstarter (Bi)Weekly Spotlight 4/9 – 4/22

Here’s a look at all the most interesting Kickstarter gaming projects from the weeks of April 9th through April 22nd. I took a week off, so here’s a two week summary of the most notable projects.

Bios Genesis 2nd Edition Funded!

This game pits you against up to three other proto-lifeforms in a battle to see who can become the most advanced organism. The amount of depth this game goes into is really astonishing. There are even alternate options for players who go extinct early on, as you can become a parasite and live inside the other players’ organisms. If you’re searching for a smart game with tons of aspects to keep you interested, check out the Bios Genesis Kickstarter project page for more info. Just $39 USD will get you the whole game, so jump on it!

Current funds: $85,583 USD
Funding Goal: $7,900 USD
Project End Date: May 10th 2017

Bridges to Nowhere* Funded!

Bridges to Nowhere is a competitive but also calming card game. You and your opponent take turns laying bits of bridge down in varying arrangements in order to get the maximum points for number of cards used, number of bridges, etc. Accompanied by very nice artwork, this game looks like one to be played over and over again. To get a copy of this game, just pledge $12 USD.

Current funds: $18,673 USD
Funding Goal: $4,300 USD
Project End Date: May 11th 2017

Eagle Island

Another metroidvania comes to Kickstarter, but this one is what you didn’t know you needed. That’s right, an owl tamer and his magical owl friend are out to find his other magical own friend. Alongside well-crafted pixel art, this game actually does look fun to play. If you’re at all fatigued by the amount of metroidvania-styled games coming out, this may not be for you. But if you’re just ready for it to be done right, maybe this is worth waiting for. Pledge £10 ($12 USD) to get your hands on the game once it’s out of development.

Current funds: £5,748 ($7,134 USD)
Funding Goal: £20,000 ($25,613 USD)
Project End Date: May 15th 2017

Forged Realms: Core Set* Funded!

I’ve seen a fair share of CCGs hit Kickstarter, and they always seem very fun, but also difficult to pick up. Forged Realms circumvents that by making the game very attractive in other ways. The game costs $15 USD for 2 copies of all the cards needed, so you can start playing right away. The game features unique gameplay such as simultaneous turns, that can make it stand out from the competition. On top of it all, the artwork for the cards is really good, so there are many things this game has going for it. If you could always use another dueling card game, head on over and check it out!

Current funds: $6,728
Funding Goal: $3,500
Project End Date: May 20th 2017

Stars Reach space ship miniatures Funded!

Here are some super cool miniatures to use for your sci-fi tabletop adventures. Three separate fleets with five different models of ships each. You can buy them individually or as a set, so check them out!

Current funds: $2,533 USD
Funding Goal: $1,500 USD
Project End Date: April 30th 2017

THE SHEET

The Sheet is a good idea, but its design has a bit too much presence for my taste. It basically allows you your own transparent dry erase board to keep track of anything you need during your game. This could be incredibly handy for keeping track of hp, mana, spells cast, inventory usage, combat strategies, etc. Also, this transparent sheet is affixed to a dice tray with plenty of room for many dice. Personally, I wouldn’t mind seeing a version with a sleeker look and a lower profile dice tray, but it looks like it would do a great job for what it is. The Sheet will cost you $29 USD to get it unpainted, with the painted variation going for ten bucks more.

Current funds: $1,724 USD
Funding Goal: $2,500 USD
Project End Date: May 23rd 2017

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If any of these projects pique your interest, I highly recommend checking them out for yourself. Even backing a project at a $1 level helps to encourage the creators to continue their dream and gets them that much closer to their goal.

Also keep in mind that the numbers representing the “Current Funds” are taken at the time just before this was posted, and do not reflect an up to date representation of the current funds.

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*=Projects that I have backed

Kickstarter Weekly Spotlight 4/2 – 4/8

Here’s a look at all the most interesting Kickstarter gaming projects from the week of April 1st through April 8th. A few video games and some rpg gear will help you through this week. It’s time for another breakdown, here we go.

Gametee: World’s Finest Leather Notebooks for Gamers Funded!

Bringing immersion to a new level, Gametee has made what may be the most immersive tool for tabletop roleplayers yet. This leather binding houses everything you need to keep track of all your roleplaying adventures in style. Choose from one of four variations of premium leather bindings and get room for several notepads, pens/pencils, and pouches for anything else you may need. At £50 ($63 USD), you get your choice of one of the four unique designs.

Current funds: £71,466 ($91,209 USD)
Funding Goal: £7,500 ($9,279 USD)
Project End Date: April 30th 2017

Hardback – The “Pre-Quill” to Paperback Funded!

Taking deck-building to a new level, Hardback has you buy letters to be able to build words, which allow you to in turn buy more letters. Simple to pick up, difficult to master–this game just adds a bunch of little mechanics that really add some spice to the general scrabble-meets-deckbuilding theme it has going. Sailing way past its initial funding goal, Hardback has picked up a few stretch goals, and at $27 USD, you can get a hold of this game and all the stretch goals as well!

Current funds: $121,589 USD
Funding Goal: $20,000 USD
Project End Date: April 26th 2017

Hellpoint – A Dark Sci Fi RPG

Dark Souls in space, what more needs to be said. This game seems to be made by industry veterans who really know what they’re doing. Set in a very grim sci-fi world, you must fight your way through hordes of tactically challenging baddies to find the answers you seek. Backing this project at $24 CA ($18 USD) will get you the full game on release.

Current funds: $11,197 CA ($8,818 USD)
Funding Goal: $50,000 CA ($37,290 USD)
Project End Date: May 9th 2017

Sly Flourish’s Fantastic Adventures Funded!

Looking to spice up your roleplaying campaign with some interesting pre-written stories? Look no further than Sly Flourish’s Fantastic Adventures. This small manual contains 10 different adventures for characters levels 2-5 to be used with 5th ed. For $15 USD, you can get a pdf of this book to be able to add a little extra to your dungeoneering.

Current funds: $11,808 USD
Funding Goal: $4,000 USD
Project End Date: May 2nd 2017

Super Plexis

Drawing from the nostalgia of 90’s puzzle games, Super Plexis is likely to scratch that Tetris itch. Borrowing from classic puzzlers like Yoshi’s cookie, Wario’s Woods or Meteos, this game pits you against another player in a competitive match to see who can drown the other in blocks. This game also has a single player mode and beautiful pixel art to offer as well. Fortunately, this will be a free to play game, but you can secure extra content for backing at the appropriate tier.

Current funds: $1,556 USD
Funding Goal: $6,000 USD
Project End Date: May 6th 2017

UNIMO – A Universe of Monsters

Unimo is a unique take on UNO, where the different colors are “worlds” the special cards are “attacks”, and each number is actually a monster. Unimo adds a few new game mechanics such as battles, and the introduction of 1 color per player. This all adds up to an easy to learn card game that’s a fun twist on a beloved classic. Get your copy by pledging at the 150 SEK ($17 USD) tier.

Current funds: 64,630 SEK ($7,161 USD)
Funding Goal: 100,000 SEK ($11,024 USD)
Project End Date: May 8th 2017

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If any of these projects pique your interest, I highly recommend checking them out for yourself. Even backing a project at a $1 level helps to encourage the creators to continue their dream and gets them that much closer to their goal.

Also keep in mind that the numbers representing the “Current Funds” are taken at the time just before this was posted, and do not reflect an up to date representation of the current funds.

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*=Projects that I have backed

Kickstarter Weekly Spotlight 3/26 – 4/1

Here’s a look at all the most interesting Kickstarter gaming projects from the week of March 26th through April 1st. Projects were abundant, but promising ones weren’t. Let’s get to it.

Bargain Quest!

Every hero needs a good shopkeeper to supply them with the essentials for their adventure ahead. In Bargain Quest, you and up to three of your friends play as a city’s shopkeepers who compete to supply the local heroes with equipment while working together to make sure these same heroes are able to keep the city safe. Being both cooperative and competitive gives Bargain Quest an interesting twist you might want to check out. For just $30 USD you can get a copy of this game when it’s ready!

Current funds: $12,743 USD
Funding Goal: $35,000 USD
Project End Date: April 27th 2017

The City of Kings Funded!

The City of Kings sets out to be an infinitely replayable cooperative adventure board game. From what they show, it appears to accomplish this goal fairly well. It gives you a wide variety of decisions on how to equip and upgrade your heroes, as well as a great many variables to diversify your opponents, keeping them fresh each game. It’s hard to pin down exactly how the game works out, but if you’re interested, head on over to the Kickstarter page and join the nearly 1400 other backers to find out more. To get a hold of your own copy of The City of Kings, pledge at the £59 ($74 USD) level and also receive the game as well as the stretch goals.

Current funds: £118,658 ($148,646)
Funding Goal: £28,500 ($35,756)
Project End Date: April 27th 2017

Infected Funded!

What happens when Mafia gets a European plague inspired makeover? You get the hidden role game of Infected. In this game, one player is the plague doctor who tries to infect the other players. Simultaneously, the other players try to find out who is the plague doctor while they keep themselves from getting infected. The game comes with a plague doctor miniature and a few nice visual bits to get you into the game. It looks like a very fun hidden role game, that recreates the fun of Mafia with a brand new look. Pledge at the $15 USD level to get your copy when the project is over.

Current funds: $31,071 USD
Funding Goal: $3,456 USD
Project End Date: April 24th 2017

Retrocausality 1st Edition Funded!

Have you ever wanted to play a tabletop roleplaying game where you mess around with time without having to worry about excessive crunch? Retrocausality provides the framework for this exact type of play. Rules lite and diceless, this game allows you to play out any of your time traveling fantasies without worrying too much on the specificities of how you effect the countless planes of existence. If you want to travel back in time for some quick mischief, all you need to do is pledge $6 AU ($5 USD) to get a hold of the rulebook in pdf format, and you’ll be on your way.

Current funds: $1,190 AU ($949 USD)
Funding Goal: $1,000 AU ($762 USD)
Project End Date: April 30th 2017

Talislanta: The Savage Land Funded!

Apparently a prequel to a classic fantasy roleplaying world originally made in 1986, Talislanta brings you an update with great art, deep lore, and absolutely no elves. This setting is famous for having a diverse list of sentient races, without following in the footsteps of Tolkien, which we have seen done to death. Other than that, the setting is during a sort of fantasy dark ages where most magic is a mystery and society is slowly piecing itself back together after a great cataclysm. To brave this wasteland with your friends, just head over to the Kickstarter and back at the $10 USD level for at least a PDF of the rulebook.

Current funds: $22,594 USD
Funding Goal: $10,000 USD
Project End Date: April 30th 2017

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If any of these projects pique your interest, I highly recommend checking them out for yourself. Even backing a project at a $1 level helps to encourage the creators to continue their dream and gets them that much closer to their goal.

Also keep in mind that the numbers representing the “Current Funds” are taken at the time just before this was posted, and do not reflect an up to date representation of the current funds.

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*=Projects that I have backed

Cheap Golf Successfully Funded!

The silly, vibrant 4th wall breaking Cheap Golf project was successfully funded on Kickstarter! In only seven days, Pixel Jam Games managed to barely reach its pledge goal, so we’ll see exactly how odd it can get when the game comes out later this year. No stretch goals were reached, but I’m glad it was funded at all.

Backers: 666
Funding Goal: $9,000 USD
Funds Pledged: $9,625 USD

Narita Boy Successfully Funded!

Narita Boy, which was a project I was very excited about, has been successfully funded! The
game looks gorgeous and incredibly fun. The art style makes me drool, and the character/monster design is simple and striking. Congratulations to Studio Koba for their project success and I can’t wait to get my hands on this game.

The project achieved 2 stretch goals beyond the initial funding:

• “More characters & interaction, extra lore, deeper plot”at €140,000
• “Additional programmer. Extra enemies additional development” at €160,000

Backers: 5,012
Funding Goal: €160,946
Funds Pledged: €120,000

Kickstarter Weekly Spotlight 3/19-3/25

Here’s a look at all the most interesting Kickstarter gaming projects from the week of March 19th through March 25th. Getting back to it, I’m going to try to provide more info this time around including the current funds, funding goal and ending date for every project. Kickstarter popularity has been picking up recently, which is great for independent creatives and teams. Let’s get to it.

All Walls Must Fall: A Tech-Noir Tactics Game

This game looks intense. Imagine a top-down tactical based Superhot with a cyberpunk-noir art style.  You play as a time-manipulating secret agent who relives the same night over and over in order to stop a nuclear attack. The game also uses procedural generation to keep you guessing what’s around the next corner and to increase replayability. If you like intense tactical games, spy games, or moody noir art styles, I highly suggest you check out this project. €13  ($14 USD) gets you the base game and access to the beta.

Current funds: €14,775 ($15,918 USD)
Funding Goal: €15,000 ($16,208 USD)
Project End Date: April 19th, 2017

Badass Riders* Funded!

Card games have been growing in popularity and imagination for quite some time. Kickstarter has given us more than a few of these highly imaginative card games that stretch what was once thought as possible through the medium of card based gaming. Badass Riders exemplifies this by bringing you a post-apocalyptic racing game where you use some cards to form the track, and the rest are weapons/characters/events that tell the story of brutal junk car battle royale races with the goal of making it to the finish line or destroying your opponents. This game just seems like a ton of fun and has great art as well. If you want to see just what a racing/battle card game looks like, I highly recommend backing this project. For a pledge of €18 ($19 USD), you can get a hold of a copy of Badass Riders yourself.

Current funds: €22,350 ($24,222)
Funding Goal: €6,000 ($6,483)
Project End Date: April 15th, 2017

Battle Princess Madelyn Funded!

The story of the development of Battle Princess Madelyn is as important if not more important than the story told by the game itself. When asked by his daughter if she could play as herself in their favorite video game, game developer Christopher Obritsch decided to respond by creating a game where she was the main character. Many parts of this game have been created with the imaginative input of his daughter, and is a great example of why representation absolutely matters. Battle Princess Madelyn plays much like Ghosts n’ Goblins, but feels much more personal because of the love behind it. It broke past its funding goal shortly after appearing on Kickstarter and now sits at over 200% with plenty of time for more funding. For $20 CA ($15 USD), you can play this wonderful game as well.

Current funds: $143,621 CA ($106,825 USD)
Funding Goal: $60,000 CA ($44,858 USD)
Project End Date: April 14th, 2017

Cheap Golf*

We have seen our fair share of 4th wall breaking games pop up in the last couple of years. Some of them are great and some of them are kind of shit. I’m optimistic that this one falls in the former category, and for $3 USD, it’s worth finding out. This is an Atari style golf game that gets progressively harder and weirder. It only has 1 day left to complete its funding, so we’ll see if or when it comes out then.

Current funds: $7,892 USD
Funding Goal: $9,000 USD
Project End Date: March 27th, 2017

Constellations: The Game of Stargazing and the Night Sky

Constellations is a relaxing, set collection card game where you use different star types to create specific constellations in order to earn points. This game uses real star types and real constellations so it can also help you learn some astronomy along the way. The beauty is in how you can understand how we humans derived these constellations from the star arrangements along with gaining a deeper understanding of what stars actually are, no matter your age. To get in on this astronomical amusement, you need only to back this project at the $22 USD tier.

Current funds: $9,043 USD
Funding Goal: $15,000 USD
Project End Date: April 23rd, 2017

Mages of Mystralia Funded!

If you were a fan of spell crafting in The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion or tired of the restrictions imposed by traditional spell lists, the you might be interested in this game. Mages of Mystralia puts your creativity to the test by allowing you to manipulate various aspects of spells to create unique solutions to the obstacles presented in the game. It seems like a very creative game with a decent art style and a talented team behind it. To get in on the spell crafting spellstravaganza, just jump to the link and back at the $25 CA ($19 USD) pledge tier.

Current funds: $92,684 CA ($69,508 USD)
Funding Goal: $25,000 CA ($18,691 USD)
Project End Date: April 15th, 2017

Non-gaming projects:

Kids 2 Kings: 4 Kids, 7 Kingdoms, 1 Legend! Funded!

A comic book about 4 super-powered kids set in ancient Egypt. I know what you’re thinking–you’re sick of Egypt as a setting in fantasy. In fact, I’m there with you, but I implore you to take a second look at this comic. It explores the idea of children born into power who are tasked with rebuilding their land after endless wars. This Kickstarter is to fund the second issue of the comic, and the first issue is available as a video on the Kickstarter page. The art style is great, the story is very interesting, and the characters are nuanced and engaging. I would highly recommend backing this at even the $10 USD pledge tier to get a pdf of the first issue, and early access to the second.

Current funds: $9,305 USD
Funding Goal: $4,000 USD
Project End Date: April 11th 2017

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If any of these projects pique your interest, I highly recommend checking them out for yourself. Even backing a project at a $1 level helps to encourage the creators to continue their dream and gets them that much closer to their goal.

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*=Projects that I have backed

Been away for some time, let’s fix that

Hi there all. Here I am!

I know it’s been a while since I posted and I’ll warn you, it’s about to get personal.

Something major happened in my life that was equally the worst and best thing that could have ever happened to me. The most influential and inspiring person I have ever met in my life left me, and I’m glad they got away. It was likely  that I wouldn’t have changed had our relationship kept going. On the outside, it is entirely too easy to see how poorly I treated this person, and I wish nothing but the best for them moving forward. This really kicked my ass emotionally, mentally and existentially, and it’s time to pick myself up and commit to being a better, more self aware individual as I move forward.

Of course, the world has changed too. I see now that I have to double down on my creative projects and on signal boosting other’s projects that deserve a larger audience–the reason I started this blog to begin with. There is just too much going against a person trying to carve out a creative space for themselves, especially in times like these where the arts are suffering a substantial blow from authoritarian government edicts, and the palpability of modern Nazism and Nihilism (not that they were ever gone). Of course, I can only do this through actions and not words.

Expect more updates in the future, and in the meantime take care of yourselves.

-Kydell, The Fast Hero