Crowdfunding Round-up: Hunters of Arcfall, Woodland Race, Pack of Heroes, Admiral & Scalawag!

The planet of Arcfall has become overrun with dangerous creatures. Malfunctioning robots and savage beasts wreak havoc across the planet. Locals have taken to the services of anyone who will help – for a price of course. You are a bounty hunter seeking fame and fortune, but beware as other hunters will try to swoop in and claim your target as their own! Press your luck against other hunters in search of fame and fortune!

Hunters of Arcfall is a quick-playing dice and card game for 2-6 players. You start the game with players choosing a bounty hunter to play as. Players then take turns rolling dice to capture bounties; these bounties are shared amongst hunters so only the hunter who deals the final hit will capture the bounty. Only bounties that have been claimed are worth any points, though. You can claim bounties by ending your turn or continue the hunt and try to capture even more at the risk of losing anything you've earned. Use your hunter's special ability to gain an advantage and press your luck if you think it's safe – you never know what lurks around the next corner.

A typical game of Hunters of Arcfall lasts between 15-40 minutes depending on the number of players and the point limit.

Relive the glorious moments of the epic race between Hare and Tortoise! Several decades ago, Hare suffered a crushing defeat against a determined Tortoise. This painful affair threw disgrace and dishonour onto the Hare's clan and it would take many generations for the affront to be forgotten. Forgotten, did I say? Never! Hare is determined to restore his family's honor – but Tortoise will not give up without a fight.

Woodland Race is an asymmetrical race game in which audacity and strategy will be your best assets! The players build the track over successive rounds, sometimes helping Hare and sometimes helping Tortoise. Hare is fleet of foot but will often need to stop for a rest, whilst Tortoise is slow but moves with purpose. Many obstacles arise on the way, and who will win is up to you...

Pack of Heroes is a two-player battle game in which each player controls a team of superheroes from a fun parallel universe of golden age comic books!

Each hero is represented by a hero card. One side is used for play, and the other is modelled after an old-school trading card, packed with fun facts about the hero. Each hero has unique powers: punch, kick, grab, stab, scratch, strangle, shoot, blast, explode, run, fly, teleport, mind-read, energise, heal, poison, and that's just for starters! To trigger these, each player has a deck of energy cards. Drawing these and managing your hand is key to controlling your heroes.

At the start of the game, each player chooses the heroes for their team. In the introductory game, pre-set teams are used. In the regular game, the players draft heroes into their team, looking to create balance, synergy and crazy combos.

On a turn, the player may either bring a hero into play, use a power of a hero already in play or draw energy. You also get one movement action per turn. This creates many decision points around when to play heroes and in what order, as well as the tactics of movement, defence and attack. The first player to eliminate his opponent's team wins the game!

Cannon smoke drifts heavily across your bow, obscuring your view of the battle strewn across the seascape. Several ships are locked in a fight for naval supremacy. Sailors climb the rigging as you command your pilot to steer windward, taking the weather gage on the closest ship- gaining superior position. As your gunners open fire with cannon, you call out to your marines to prepare for boarding!

Scalawag! is a competitive card game for 3-8 players. Each player is the captain of their own warship with the goal of eliminating all other players (or teams during Allegiance Play). Game play consists of a player issuing one Captain's Order each turn, generally allowing them to either gather additional Compass Points (the game currency) or spend Compass Points to attack their opponents.

Players support their Captain's Orders by declaring Crew. As a player's Crew Cards are kept hidden from others and bluffing is allowed, knowing when to bluff and when to call a bluff (by calling out "Scalawag!") is an important element to successful play.

I am very happy with the social mechanic of fluid alliances that occurs within the game (even during Allegiance Play where partnerships are predetermined). The adjacency mechanics are put to good use here as your adjacent players are your default "opponents" and the players next to them are your default "allies", at least until your opponent is sunk.

The desire to sink your opponent and claim a Prize of War is weighed against how well your temporary allies are holding up. Shifting alliances to maintain a level playing field among all players isn't always easy to manage, but I think it really delivers on the fiction of a chaotic naval battle where the ships are constantly in motion, attempting to gain position on each other.