I love July. My lovely wife and daughters are off from school for summer vacation. It stays bright out until 10 p.m. Family bike rides, playing outside, swimming — needless to say I have slacked off a bit gathering data for this here crowdfunding write-up thingy and I am like two weeks late...so yeah. This one will be even more half-assed than my normal efforts. I did have the ol' "what the h3ll are these boxes" when I got home from vacation. Turns out it was VivaJava: The Coffee Game: The Dice Game and Fresco: Big Box! Woot! I don't really read KS updates very closely — or at all really — so it's always a pleasant surprise when a game shows up. I played them and BOTH are good! What are the chances!
Okay, let's cover some games now! Hmmmm, Ophir funded; Harbour and Tiny Epic Defenders are almost done; errmmm, Through the Ages or Dungeon Lords: Happy Anniversary? Wow. Those don't need any help. Hmmm. Guess I will just click on the next banner ad I see...
•Mad Ape Games went all out on the art to fund CLASH! Dawn of Steam. I say it over and over again, but I have NO idea how KS works. This game looks really cool. Great art, good gameplay, appropriately nerdy theme, and yet it hasn't blown up. It has funded, but I would have expected a bigger response — but what the h3ll so i know? It has a little time left, so check it out. (KS link)
• Asymmetric game play. Each player has his own win condition. You aren't chasing the same objective, so you can play your game based on your strategy.
• Beautifully illustrated full-art cards. With a team of world-class artists on board, we opted to have our art on showcase. As such, the card layouts feature the artwork proudly rather than hiding 80% of it behind filler design space.
• No randomized sets or packs. You always know exactly what you're getting. No chasing rares or useless commons.
•Drawlab Entertainment has re-launched Spells of Doom . (KS link) There is a lot going on and a lot of stuff piled everywhere. What I see looks pretty cool. I am sure the rulebook goes into great detail, but the KS page sure doesn't. Maybe a backer can enlighten us below. I assume it about spells of, errr, doom and such. Maybe the occasional spell of happy or spell of never-ending friendship but more like spells that cause doom. Hence the name.
• Steve Zhou is seeking funding for Ants: the Board Game. (KS link) This game looks AMAZING. Not the gameplay as far as I know since there isn't much about that, but the art is stupid good. I wanted it immediately. Then I saw the price: $75. Ouch. I am guessing Steve did his homework and this price is what he needs to charge, but I just think there is not enough of an audience at that price. I wonder if this is released already in other markets? Did I mention how pretty it is?
• The moderately prolific Golden Egg Games is back with Athlas: Duels for Divinity. (KS link). Lots of cool bits and a super neat board. I like the cover as well. This is off to a pretty slow start, but has funded so maybe it will pick up. It is a two-player game and an expensive one at that, which I am sure is scaring a few backers away. Check it out if you are interested in a heavier two-player game with theme and story.
As an aspiring god you can design and create your own unique units by enhancing basic Genus cards with powerful abilities, artifacts and spells. You also get to choose divine interventions that might ultimately affect the outcome of the duel. Then you will summon your creations onto the battlefield and attempt to assemble two of three ancient relics in order to open the portal and win the game.
The game's limitless design system enables players to form any strategy they wish against their opponent's creations.
• Artipia Games is releasing New Dawn, the thematic sequel to the wildly popular Among the Stars. (KS link) This game shares the very busy but awesome art direction of Among the Stars, and the production values overall look top notch.
Quick Hits
•The Great Kingdom is a feature length documentary uncovering the true tale of the rise and fall of the creators of Dungeons & Dragons. (KS link)
• This month's winner of worst company name goes to Wiggity Bang Games! Grats! I kid, I kid. Wiggity Bang is actually a very well-known party and word game publisher and is attempting to fund the very cute-looking word game Alpha Bandits: "In this exciting and cutthroat word game, players race to score the most points by building words of three or more letters with double-sided letter tiles. But beware the ALPHA BANDITS! Those sneaky bandit tiles let players grab, flip, swap and banish letter tiles to win the game!" I LOVE the mask screens. (KS link)
•Word Playa' is a new dice game launched by designer Joseph Perdue. (KS link) The game has a very simple concept: Players roll seven letter dice and make words. I feel like that has been done already — Boggle maybe? — but even so check it out. In the KS screen cap the rolled dice are "O", "D", "B". That HAS to be a shout out – or a roll out – to Ol' Dirty Bastard right? I mean the game is called Word Playa'! I hope it is. No way it is a coincidence. Either way, the creator seems like a sincere guy, so go give him a few bucks.
Going, Going, Gone!
Grats to Scott Almes for winning Kickstarter last month. Well done, sir!
See you in a month, and remember that if you have any questions, shoot me a Geekmail or post it in here. Complaints and/or rants can be directed at W. Eric. It was likely his fault anyway.