I know right now many of you are thinking to yourselves, "There is no way this self-serving jackwagon can go an entire write up without mentioning..." Nope, nothing to see here! Moving along! I am just looking forward to bringing you the latest neat-o crowdfunding projects vying for your support dollar!
• Toy Vault via Game Salute via The Alliance needs Credits to fund Firefly: Out to the Black. (KS link) Firefly:OttB is described, in what I assume is a vernacular similar to that of the TV show's characters (and one that hates the letter "g"), as "...a bit different than a lot of games because, in this one, 3 to 5 of ya will be cooperatin’ with each other, tryin’ your best to survive the various entanglements the game throws at you." Okay. I never watched the show, but I saw and enjoyed the movie so this game holds some interest for me because of that, yet it is IMPOSSIBLE to read that blurb and not have the snarky, elitist, alpha gamer in me chortle at the idea of a co-op game being suggested as "different". I get it. It is hyperbole of sorts. No worries.
The game has more "g" hatin' in the character abilities: FIGHTIN', FLYIN', and THINKIN'. The card art is of the "screen capture" variety. All of this led to my snark-meter being so high while reading the project page that it was hard for me to objectively evaluate the game so it would be awesome if a backer or three could tell us what the game is all about. Is there anything new, different, or unique? Is it a fun implementation of a likable IP? Let us know below.
(Update, August 8, 2013 by BGGN editor W. Eric Martin: In this Aug. 8 BGG thread, a user notes that he's received an email stating that the project is being discontinued, despite it still being active at the time that I'm editing this post. A Kickstarter user notes the following:
This game is very exciting, but this campaign seems misleading. I thought this was to help fund production of Firefly: Out to the Black since that's how it is named and most obviously represented. But Firefly: Out to the Black and the bonus packs are already being offered for pre-order on the Toy Vault website and there's an article that says the base game was announced for an October release before this even started.
• Husband and wife design team Chris and Suzanne Zinsli have teamed up with Van Ryder Games to bring Tessen to market. (KS link)
Tessen is a 2p, 15min card game set in Feudal Japan. It is real time and short, both hot attributes right now. I generally do not pay much attention to two-player games as the lovely Mrs. Riddlen chooses not to indulge in the hobby very often, so when I play it is with larger groups, but this game did catch my eye. I like the art and the price point. On a side note, Chris Zinsli runs a very slick game design resource aggregating website.
• High Flying Dice Games has launched its inaugural campaign with September's Eagles. (KS link) I noticed this project in the Kickstarter forum. (Yes, there is a Kickstarter forum. The mods have made sure that the main board isn't clogged with announcement threads by giving them a home – a home that is largely ignored. Heck, I never went there until I started writing this thing.) The theme is unique and cool. I do not love the art, but I appreciate it if that makes sense. September's Eagles comes with a pretty hefty price tag and the gameplay sounds relatively light, but there is a lot of stuff in the box. Fly on over and check it out! (Jeebus, fly on over? Really? Yikes.)
• I was totally gonna talk about the new project from Queen Games, Templar, but as I was looking at the BGG page on my phone NOT at work, the banner ad for Water Balloon Washout appeared! A water balloon game! Take note, self publisher guy, BGG banner ads totally work so send them your money. They prefer unmarked bills of denominations under $20. Geekmail me and I will give you the address and total cost. Back to balloons...
The only problem was that I clicked away from the Templar page and the banner ad went away! Six to eight refreshes later, I gave up and went to search Kickstarter manually like a sucker. And failed. Turns out that "BALLOON" has TWO Ls, but eventually I found it! What I found is a light, family card game that looks fun. The art and graphic design is a bit sparse, but it gets the job done. (KS link)
Quick Hits
• Vici is a two-player game that is off to a bit of a slow start. It's the first release from my favorite new game company logo Jelly Bean Soup Games via Game Salute. (KS link)
• I intended to do a full write-up on Amg! Ice Cream! but there just was not enough data. The blobs are cute, but I cannot in any way recommend the game as it has been pointed out that the price point is awfully low. There is something about the odd name and art that draws me to it – not enough to back it mind you, but maybe it's for you. (KS link)
• Clever Mojo Games and Game Salute (AGAIN) have teamed up for two different projects: King's Forge (KS link) and Magnum Opus (KS link). One has cool art and a great cover illustration, and the other is Magnum Opus. What Magnum Opus does have is a unique take on deck-building apparently.
Going, Going, Gone!
A now closed (and funded) project that caught my attention for a couple of reasons both good and bad is Knight's Quest. (KS link) Gameplaywise it seems like, well, to be kind, gamer's UNO. Decide for yourself whether that's good or bad, but it's UNO with really, really good art. So I BGGed it (like googled but nerdier) and the page was completely empty. It should have been full of the cool art from the KS page. Nope. The other thing I noticed was the company name: Ken Whitman Games. I poke fun at company names from time to time in this space, so I understand not coming up with something more creative. That said, it does totally remind me of that Norm Macdonald bit about how the Fantastic Four got their names. Anyone else remember that?
There you go! An entire write-up and not one mention of Fleet: Arctic Bounty (KS link), and I didn't poke fun at W. Eric once! I am a changed man!
See you in a month and remember, 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.
(Editor's note: Please don't post links to other Kickstarter projects in the comments section. Write to me via the email address in the header, and I'll consider them for inclusion in a future crowdfunding round-up. Thanks! —WEM)