Friday, February 8, 2019

Eye on Kickstarter #59

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 February, 2019:



HIGHLIGHTED CAMPAIGN
Fry Thief
  • GJJ Games Review
  • GJJ Games Backed
  • I've played Fry Thief quite a few times now, both in a very early prototype form last spring, and a review copy just before this Kickstarter. It's gone through a lot of balancing changes, but the core of the game has remained the same, and it's a ton of fun! It's a two player game (although you can play with 3-4 players with a second set of cards and tokens) where one person ordered fries and the other ordered a salad, but is stealing fries from the first player. Whoever eats more fries wins! It's fast, easy, and a ton of fun!


Fry Thief is a light-hearted asymmetrical microgame for 2 players. It's a game about poor life choices. Like that time you tried to be healthy and ordered a salad and your friend ordered fries. And how you’re going to have “just a few” to make up for your poor life choice. Fries = delicious More fries = more delicious. The goal of the game is to eat as many fries as possible, and if possible dunk them in ketchup for bonus points. Fry Thief has an incredibly simple core mechanic. On your turn you: Draw one card Play one card That's it. The richness comes from the asymmetrical (meaning they're different for each player) cards and choosing which card to play at what time to devour as many fries as possible.




Parks
  • Both my parents were teachers, so we traveled a lot during the summers when I was a kid. We visited a ton of national parks and went on hundreds of hikes. In Parks you control two hikers that are hiking through all of this country's gorgeous national parks. Parks is absolutely gorgeous and looks like a ton of fun, too!


The Game Designers


Human Anatomy Jigsaw Puzzles
  • While this isn't a game, it is being published by a game (and book ) publisher. Genius Games is known for their science themed games and children's books, and now they're bringing their high quality production skills to some incredible human anatomy jigsaw puzzles.


The Little Flower Shop: Potpourri Pack
  • The Little Flower Shop was a success on Kickstarter last year. Now Steve Finn, the king of filler games, brings us a small expansion, as well as the opportunity to get the main game as well as a few of his other hits.


Dead Man's Cabal
  • Pandasaurus Games brings us a much darker game than their hit Dinosaur Island, but it still has fun artwork, a goofy theme, and some real interesting mechanics.


Race for the Chinese Zodiac
  • This game is about the creation on the Chinese zodiac. Players race animals in an attempt to be the first animal to finish and be named the first animal in the 12 year cycle. The game uses simultaneous card play, so there should be little downtime, too.


Hyperspace
  • This is a beast of a game. If you like large, 4x space opera games, check this one out. It's a little longer at 1-2 hours, but pretty quick compared to something like Twilight Imperium. Hyperspace looks gorgeous and you could have up to 25 different races to choose from when you play. Sandy Peterson is known for a number of great games, from video games like Doom and Age of Empires to board games like Cthulhu Wars.


Dice Coins 2019
  • Dice Coins are incredibly high quality coins that can be spun like tops and then stopped with a finger to simulate a die roll. I reviewed similar coins from this publisher when I reviewed Ultra Coins and their quality is incredible!


Mechanica
  • Mechanica is a fun, lighthearted game about designing the best robotic factory to build more robots.Noting could go wrong there, right?


TACTIKI
  • TACTIKI is a two player abstract game that looks both simple and deep. It borrows some hidden unit value mechanics from Stratego, but in a very unique game. Plus the giant tiki heads look incredible.


Getting Geeky with Gamer Leaf
  • Gamer Leaf is one of the hardest working content creators out there, releasing multiple podcast episodes each week. He features interviews, Kickstarter previews, reviews, and more.


Green Bee Tomato
  • OK, so this isn't a board game, nor is it even related to board games, but I do love me some homegrown tomatoes! As Guy Clark sings, "Homegrown tomatoes, homegrown tomatoes, what'd life be without homegrown tomatoes Only two things that money can't buy And that's true love and homegrown tomatoes."

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