Crowdfunding Round-up: Flight, Adventure, Treachery, Monoliths & An Attempted Revolution

Quicksilver is an airship racing game for 2-6 intrepid pilots. Customize the course, then be the first pilot to clear the three checkpoints and cross the finish line to win. Balance your need for greater speed with your need for protection from obstacles, both natural and man-made. Use additional tactics to further control your destiny over the fate of the dice, to attack troublesome opponents, or to help maneuver through difficult terrain. Fortune (and combat) favors the bold, so race on, brave pilots!

Monolith is a fast-paced and confrontational worker placement game.

To set up, the game board is seeded with five base rune cards, six rune cards at random, and one randomly-drawn fate card. One player starts with the Primus Token (and randomly determines the starting "Round 1" card), while all other players receive one skill card or one gem.

Players then take turns placing or socketing one die at a time onto a rune card of their choice, gaining skill and power cards, gems or victory points by doing so; they can even attack other players. After all dice have been placed, the cards on the board are resolved in sequential order. As each die is removed, the effect of that placement is resolved. This sequence makes for exciting combinations and rewards strategic play.

All resources of the game are finite, so players need to play carefully in order to avoid wasting placements. The game ends after five rounds or immediately if any player reaches the victory point mark on the score track.

The city of Karez was once the crowned jewel in the vast kingdom of King Tyrial, but as he lost grasp on his kingdom, the city fell to ruins at the hands of the dark forces surrounding it. Now the king has died, and his heir, King Tyrial II, has decided to dispatch his finest lords to raise the fallen city and stand ground against all its enemies, within and outside the city walls.

In Fallen City of Karez, each player will take the role of a lord of one of the guilds who seek to tighten their grasp on the rising city. The players will strive to maintain a balance between keeping the city safe for its citizens by sending exploration parties to defeat any threats, and at the same time attracting to the emerging city new adventurers wishing to fill their pockets with fortunes and their names with glory.

In the action phase at the start of each of the eight turns, players can assign two citizens or one adventurer to act on their behalf in the various buildings of Karez, send an exploration party to remove any threats that lurk near Karez, or buy new equipment to reinforce their parties of heroes. Some guild houses may choose to erect their own private Dungeons (!) in an attempt to inflict havoc and dismay on the other houses. After everyone performs their actions, the players must check how these actions affected migration to Karez; the results of this phase will reflect on the growth of Karez towards a city state, which is the common aspiration of all players.

Players start with different initial possessions and owned buildings. In addition to the common goal of raising the city, each house also has some unique goals (ambitions), which will eventually determine the sole winner. That said, the game is semi-cooperative in that while each guild has its own ambitions, all players must succeed in raising the city by the end of the game or else everyone loses.

Each year, a worldwide scavenger hunt brings together daring adventurers – members of the famed Century Club – from all parts of the globe. Their journey is filled with danger, excitement and wonder as players race to be the first to complete every mission, stamp their passport as proof in every location, and cross the Empire State Building finish line first.

Race to Adventure: The Spirit of the Century Exploration Game is easy to learn and can be played in 20-30 minutes. In each round, players take turns selecting one of six different items, then all players perform their action at the same time. Snatch a golden eagle egg from a Himalayan mountain peak, escape the Mummy King, rescue a prisoner from Atlantis, and much more in this family adventure game!

It's January 1921. Prohibition has been in effect for a year, and it looks like the 18th Amendment is here to stay. The problem, however, is that outlawing the "manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors" hasn't done anything to reduce the demand for booze! As a result, illegal stills dot the countryside and secret (or not-so-secret!) speakeasies are popping up all over in cities large and small. Local law enforcement may look the other way (especially if they're properly motivated) but Elliot Ness' G-Men are harder to convince. With this much money at stake, organized crime is sure to take an interest.

In Bootleggers, players take on the role of enterprising bosses seeking to make a name for themselves in the illegal alcohol trade at the height of the 1920's prohibition era. Deceit, lies, and alliances of convenience are the norm as players attempt to control distribution through money and corruption by muscling in on the competition, paying off the local law authorities, building underground speakeasies, and shipping trucks of "hooch"!

Tentative plans for the 2012 edition of Bootleggers include two double-influence cards, four blank cards, more cash, a revised rulebook, colored dice for each player, additional variants (including a two-player scenario), and improved trucks with easier-to-read numbering.

The goal of the Casual Game Revolution is to redefine boundaries and connect casual gamers directly with the games they love. To do this, an industry panel has been assembled to put their heads together to define a "casual game" in terms of complexity alone. A casual game may span one or more traditional genres (family, gateway, Euro, Ameritrash, wargame, party, etc.), but qualifies as a casual game simply because it plays in under an hour, is set up and taught in under 10 minutes, is lightly strategic, and enjoyed by anyone from older children to adults.

Using this definition, the program will create more recognition for casual games and tools to promote them directly to the intended audience. The first phase is an industry magazine with tools like posters, shelf labels, demo guides, case studies, and recommendations to help retailers highlight casual games in their stores and promote them more effectively to casual walk-ins. Project backers can receive some great casual games like Zombie Dice, Incan Gold, For Sale, Castle Panic, Survive, and Eruption, while also supporting a worthwhile cause. There are also sponsorship and marketing opportunities available for publishers and others to make use of the platform to get their message directly in front of casual gamers and the stores they walk into.