Crowdfunding Round-up: Vampires, Dragons, Trains and Cthulhu, Plus Several Other Overused Gaming Tropes — Ehhh, I Mean, Original Ideas!

Transylvania: Curses & Traitors is a fast-paced adventure and exploration board game for 3-6 players averaging 45-60 minutes. The game is a race to secure the fate of Transylvania: Will you find the knowledge to solve the Curse, or will your darker side lead you to a monstrous reign of terror? Many will die trying to find out, but dying is half the fun!

Designed for incredible replay with a modular board, variable player powers, and decks of Event and Quest cards, the game provides a unique and engaging journey into the wilds of Transylvania every time you play. A winner-take-all competition with your friends, Transylvania: Curses & Traitors provides multiple paths to victory.

Cultists of Cthulhu: Miskatonic University is a game of mystery, investigation, cooperation, and betrayal. This game was inspired by the writings of H.P. Lovecraft and the many others working in the Cthulhu Mythos, such as August Derleth, Robert E. Howard, and especially Robert W. Chambers, and by boardgames like Battlestar Galactica, Last Night on Earth, Betrayal at House on the Hill, and The Resistance. Cultists of Cthulhu is a tense horror game in which you never know quite who you can trust — until it is too late.

Eggs and Empires is a fast-playing card game in which players use matching decks of Empire Cards that contain Adventurers numbered 1-10. On each turn, all players will select one card from their hand and play it simultaneously in an attempt to collect Good Eggs that are worth VP while avoiding the nasty Exploding Eggs that lose VP!

Typically, the player who played the highest Adventurer chooses an Egg first, then the player with the second highest Adventurer picks an Egg, and so on until all revealed Eggs are collected. Ah, but it's not that simple! Each Adventurer has a unique power that can affect the order in which Eggs are selected. The powers interact in strategic and awesome ways so that every hand is exciting and different.

In Yardmaster, 2-4 players compete to build trains comprised of railcars of different goods and values. However, players are restricted in connecting railcars of only the same value or good type, so if you grab a railcar you can't use, it needs to wait in your sorting yard until it can legitimately hook up to your train.

Players start with three cargo cards in hand, and three railcar cards are laid out on the table. Each player has one exchange token in one of the four colors, and whoever is to the right of the start player has a Yardmaster token. On a turn, a player takes two actions, repeating an action if desired; whoever holds the Yardmaster token takes a third action on her turn, then passes this token to the right.

Eight cargo cards provide bonus actions during play, such as drawing extra cargo cards or paying less cargo to purchase a railcar. The player to reach 16-18 points first wins.