Friday, April 12, 2019

Eye on Kickstarter #63


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 related reviews or interviews 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 2019 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, 2019:



HIGHLIGHTED CAMPAIGN
Paradise Lost
  • GJJ Games Review
  • GJJ Games Backed
  • I had the opportunity to play a prototype of this game at Protosiel Chicago last September and liked it quite a bit. I'm super happy to see that it's being published with such fantastic artwork! Paradise Lost made my Top Prototypes of 2018 list! I really liked the deduction aspect of the game and how each player has a variety of options for gaining information. You're really watching what everyone else does, just to figure out what they know or try to deduce what they're not telling you. The theme was great, too. I loved the story and characters and how they interacted with each other and the world you journey through. The version I played was on a piece of posterboard hand drawn with markers with hand drawn cards, so this has come a long way! The version I played was very solid, even in that early state. It just needed a bit of tweaking to some of the player abilities, a bit of streamlining, and some balancing. From what I've seen on the campaign page that's all been done, plus the amazing artwork added (that pentagon board will really have great table presence). It really felt like a blend of Tokaido and Clue with more a ton more theme and player interaction. We played competitively, so I'm very curious to see how the semi-co-op and team versions work.


In the halls of a distant Ice Palace, shrouded in legend and myth, roams a long forgotten sorceress, Nimue, whose talents in dark magic are matched only by the malice in her heart. For centuries she has been plotting and scheming, lying in wait until the time when she could bring the world to its knees under darkness and ruin. That time has come and the Water Witch will reign!

In Paradise Lost, you will play a legendary Hero. Take on the role of Alice, Aladdin, Beowulf, Billy Goat Gruff, Hercules, Merlin, Perseus, or Red Riding Hood. The Water Witch has ripped you from the pages of your own story, bringing you and the others to life in order to fight an evil Villain of her choosing and possibly your personal nemesis; the Jabberwocky, the Warlock, Grendel, Troll, the 9-headed Hydra, Sir Mordred, Medusa, or the Big Bad Wolf.

The Water Witch is certain that if the great Heroes of fables and lore perish, it will change reality and the world will succumb to despair!

You and your fellow Heroes must travel the realms of the Water Witch; deduce whom she has summoned as her champion Villain and the weapon needed to defeat them, all the while preparing for the fight to come. Along the way you will speak to Oracles, learn secrets from the Truthseekers, recite ancient scrolls, seek the Villain’s hideout, and much, much more. Tread carefully, the journey will be perilous and it is possible to enrage the Water Witch even further!

Paradise Lost is a fantastical deduction game for 2-5 players where you can’t win just by having the most complete information. Deduction combined with worker placement, resource management, and point-to-point movement makes for a truly unique game play experience.

Sometimes it takes an imaginary world to save the real one.





OverPowered Custom Game Mats
  • GJJ Games Backed
  • My wife and I have been looking for a game mat that can fit our entire table. My game table has a pretty dinged up top and a nice playing surface would be wonderful, but it's pretty big (48" x 54") and the corners are very rounded (7.5" radius) meaning we'd either need to get a mat that has corners draping off the corners of the table or leaves quite a border around the mat. Then (actually the day after we were talking about mats) we found the OverPowered mats that can be cut to any size and shape! It's quite an investment, but something we've been looking for for quite a while. Also, you can enter to win a game mat here!


Roam
  • People Behind the Meeples Interview
  • Do I really need to state again how much I love Ryan Laukat's games? Everything from the gameplay to the artwork is just fantastic. Roam looks like a very interesting combination of area control and deck-building/engine-building in a quick, simple game. Some of the mechanics resemble Bullfrogs (by Keith Matejka), one of my favorite small area control games.


Freshwater Fly
  • Freshwater Fly is Brian Suhre's followup to his awesome Coldwater Crown. Who knew a game about fishing could be so much fun!? One of the really cool aspects of this game is the action selection rondel, disguised as a fishing reel!


Endangered
  • This is the latest game from Grand Gamer's Guild, who brought us The Artemis Project last year. They started with smaller games, but have branched into larger, more complex games, with incredible artwork and interesting mechanics. Beth Sobel does the art on this, so you know it's going to be incredible. In this cooperative game you work with the other players to save a species from extinction. Plus, supporting this project will help support the Center for Biological Diversity, as will a portion of proceeds from post-campaign sales.

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