Friday, April 13, 2018

Eye on Kickstarter #41

Welcome to my Eye on Kickstarter series!  This series will highlight Kickstarter campaigns I am following that have recently launched (or I've recently discovered) because they have caught my interest.  Usually they'll catch my interest because they look like great games that I have either backed or would like to back (unfortunately budget doesn't allow me to back everything I'd like to).  But occasionally the campaigns caught my attention for other reasons.  Twice a month, on the 2nd and 4th Fridays, I'll make a new post in this series, highlighting the campaigns that have caught my attention since the last post.  In each post I'll highlight one campaign that has really grabbed my attention, followed by other campaigns I've backed or am interested in.  I'll also include links to any reviews I've done.  Comments are welcome, as are suggestions for new campaigns to check out!

You can also see my full Kickstarter Profile to see what I've backed or my old Eye on Kickstarter page that was too unwieldy to maintain.  Also, check out the 2018 Kickstarter Boardgame Projects geeklist over on Board Game Geek for a list of all the tabletop games of the year.
So, without further ado, here are the projects I'm currently watching as of the second Friday of April, 2018:



HIGHLIGHTED CAMPAIGN
Grifters: Nexus
  • GJJ Games Backed
  • People Behind the Meeples Interview
  • Grifters has been one of my favorite games, ever since I played it as a prototype called You Dirty Rat at my first Protospiel in 2014. Now the same team is bringing us a standalone expansion that brings all new specialists, new jobs, and a new way of completing jobs. But I think what has me most excited is that you can combine both sets to play with more than 4 players! Most of my gaming sessions are with 6 players, and they don't always like to break into two groups, so being able to play a favorite game with six is super exciting!


Grifters: Nexus is a handbuilding and set collection game for 2-4 players that plays in 30 minutes. Players will hire specialists to help complete jobs on an inverted pyramid. Featuring a number of mechanisms, including a a unique card "cooldown" system to control the use of your cards, a take that element, and the fun of a deckbuilding game without the deck!

Grifters: Nexus is a stand alone game that is also an expansion for Grifters, which was released by Indie Boards and Cards in 2016. Nexus uses the same core "cool down" mechanics found in Grifters, and introduces 15 new specialist cards, new mechanics and a new Job card system. We really wanted to give players more options, more interesting ways to build combos and more in game decision points. In short, Nexus is more of what people liked so much about Grifters and we've used two years of feedback to reduce some of what people didn't like. The end result is that Nexus is great for fans of Grifters as well as a perfect introduction into the system.





Graphic Novel Adventures
  • GJJ Games Backed
  • Until Grifters: Nexus launched this week, these Graphic Novel Adventures were going to be my highlighted campaign. These look incredible! A blend of graphic novel, choose your own adventure book, and tabletop game. I can't wait to play these and share them with my family!


Crypt
  • Crypt is another small box game that looks super interesting. Plus it's only $9! It uses an interesting dice placement mechanic where you choose the values of the dice. Higher values are stronger, but more likely to get exhausted. Sounds like fun!


Kartoffelkrieg
  • What happens when Mr. Potatohead gets angry? Will he go to war to defend the honor of Mrs. Potatohead? You can find out in this war game that features actual potatoes!


Fireball Island: The Curse of Vul-Kar
  • Restoration Games has been bringing back classic games from yesteryear with new artwork, modernized mechanics, and tons of fun. Their latest is the classic Fireball Island, which looks awesome and includes a few expansions. If it wasn't so expensive I'd be all over this one!


Blood Oath: The Beginning
  • Years ago I helped with cleaning up the text on some of the cards for this game. The grammar was very poor, so I helped it make sense for native English speakers. That got me interested in the game, however I felt that it really needed to be adjusted for four players and have a few of the mechanics cleaned up. It still hasn't changed any of the issues I saw in it, only some cheaper components to lower the funding goal. This is this game's third attempt at a Kickstarter campaign and looks to be doing a bit better than previously. So maybe the third time is the charm?

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