Crowdfunding Round-up: Domus Domini, Promised Land, Hexica, Snowdonia & Many More

Anno Domini 1088. Hugo von Sémur, abbot of Cluny, decides to build a new monastery church, Cluny III. To achieve this goal, Hugo von Sémur calls on the Cluny-affiliated monasteries in support. The monasteries are to support the workers with food.

In Domus Domini, each player is an abbot of a monastery. The players work out in each year (each round) a benefit which they will deliver to Cluny, where it is used to build the new church. Whoever delivers the highest yield in a round is rewarded with the most victory points (VPs). However, he gets the least support (coins) for further investments. Whoever in a round delivers the lowest yield gets the least fame (VPs) but he gets the most coins for further investments. So the players have to decide in each round whether they want to get more coins to invest in the development of their monastery, or want to get more fame points to end up as the winner.

But every player has his own plans and so in each round there is a scramble at Cluny that brings some surprises to the players. There is a lot of interaction when players try to find their right order.

Promised Land: 1250-587 BC is a history of the Promised Land from Joshua through to the Babylonian captivity. Players compete in two teams, out of which just one individual will be crowned the winner. Hebrew units are split between Northern and Southern kingdoms, but Hebrew players will have the opportunity to use both these factions through the game. Similarly there are eleven Heathen kingdoms for the Heathen players to use. Play happens at an individual, human level as well as at the movement of nations level.

Each player has two Farmers, two Merchants and two Priests. A number of these can be placed after conquest into lands occupied by the kingdom just played. Farmers collect two bronze coins for plains and one for hills. Merchants collect two silver coins for ports and one for roads. Priests collect two gold coins for temples and one for cities. Players may have only one of their Patriarchs in any one land. Players may share occupation of a land, but only one type of Patriarch may be in each land.

Players use the coins generated by their Patriarchs to buy artefacts that influence game play but can instead choose to secure objectives on the Kingdom track to highlight the development of the nation and score victory points of course! A variety of strategies are available, and players must make choices throughout the game in order to emerge victorious.

Hexica is a 2-4 player capture the flag/fleet combat game set in space. At the start of each player's turn, a flag spawns on a random spot. After three rounds, flags run out and players are forced into combat to steal each others flags. Aside from the specialized six ships that compose each fleet in the game, players also have access to twenty Advanced Systems cards. Each player starts with two of these cards and more can be purchased throughout the game. These cards temporarily affect four aspects of the game: the economy, movement, attack, and defense of each player's fleet.

At the start of a game, players secure an economic foothold using carefully placed Harvesters to earn money. During the second round, players begin building an army to defend their Motherships and capture flags. During a player's turn, all of his or her ships can move and attack.

The six ships used in the game are: (1) The Mothership, the slow but hardy flagship of every fleet. (2) Harvesters, which harvest materials in space and earn money. (3) Salvagers, which collect the wreckage of destroyed ships for a money reward and pick up and carry flags. (4) F13s, cheap, fast, and weak fighters meant for quick skirmishes and surprise attacks. (5) F35s, expensive, slow, and strong fighters used for heavy assaults. (6) Bandits, used to steal enemy ships.

Mastering Hexica requires an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the ships used in the game, a familiarity with the Advanced Systems cards, creative thinking, and skill in successfully distracting and misleading the enemy.

The peaks of Snowdonia rise before you, encased in mist, their summits barely visible. The highest is Snowdon (Wyddfa) herself at 1,085 metres. The year is 1894, and the Snowdon Mountain Tramroad and Hotels Company Limited has been formed to build a branch line from Llanberis to the summit. You can scarcely believe it's possible!

In Snowdonia players represent work gangs providing labour for the construction of the Snowdon Mountain Railway. Unlike other train games you will have to excavate your way up a mountain side, as well as make and lay the track, construct viaducts and stations. All this in competition with the weather of the Welsh mountains (and the game itself)!

You may be assisted by a train (though that's not always best) and you'll be able to collect essential materials from the Stock Yard. You will obtain special work contracts that give you bonuses.

Can you contribute more than the other players to the magnificence of the Snowdon Mountain Railway?