Alright, one honorable mention post down and now we move
on to the bottom half of my top 10 anticipated Kickstarter boardgame projects. These five games are all incredible looking
and honestly any of them could be in my top 5 and it would completely make
sense. This has been quite a good year
for Kickstarter games as there are so many good ones. I hear/see people complaining about
Kickstarter but I still don’t think people take it for what it is…a system
where we (as backers) are helping to fund a project that most of the time
wouldn’t be able to happen otherwise.
This means that there is often a long wait till we get our games but I
feel that most of the time it’s worth it.
I still have never been burned by a Kickstarter project. Nothing I’ve backed has taken longer than 6
months to deliver which is pretty good in the grand scheme of things. Feel free to check out my BoardGameGeek
GeekList at this link
and check out what I’ve backed so far.
If you haven’t had a chance, feel free to read my honorable mentions
list at the link given below.
Now let’s move on to games 6-10 on my top 10 anticipated
Kickstarter games. I am really looking
forward to these games so this should be fun!
#10 – Near & Far (Red Raven Games)
Near & Far is a worker placement, storytelling, route
building game designed by Ryan Laukat and will be released by his company, Red
Raven Games. This game was funded by
7,245 backers and made $520,177 during its run on Kickstarter this year. As of this point the game is expected to come
out in late spring of 2017 and looks to be really cool. This game continues Laukat’s love of his
world which also includes the games City of Iron, Above & Below, and
Islebound. My wife and I really enjoy
Above & Below and I am really looking forward to this one. This one finds players taking on the role of
an adventurer who is looking for the Last Ruin which supposedly holds an
artifact that grants the desires of the user’s heart. They will go along different maps and gain
different treasures, collect food, gain the help of other adventurers, and
obtain weapons to fend off the dangers of the world. This theme is all wrapped around an
interesting looking route building game that looks like a lot of fun. To really pump up the theme we get the
beautiful artwork of Ryan Laukat who is one of my current favorite boardgame
artists in the business! The price held
me back at the time but we will definitely pick it up at some point when it
hits retail.
#9 – Feudum (Odd Bird Games)
Feudum is an economic, hand management game with some
area control mechanisms designed by Mark K. Swanson and released by Odd Bird
Games. This game is still currently on
Kickstarter and has over 1,800 backers and has made over $150,000 and still has
18 days left. The game is slated to
release at some point next year around October but we all know how these things
work! Regardless of when it comes out
the game looks quite amazing. The art is
honestly what first drew me in and then I started to look at the mechanisms
that the game is formed around. The hand
management and resource management that are involved in game look really
interesting and well formed into the theme.
I love how so many different Euro-style games are really attempting to
weave their mechanisms into the theme of the game. This game finds players stripped of
everything and thus making a journey in a new land to reinvent themselves and
gain honor. I love the look of this game
and I will definitely take a closer look when it comes out.
#8 – Chronicles 1: Origins (Artana)
Chronicles 1: Origins is a new civilization game with
storytelling and Legacy elements designed by Dirk Knemeyer and Rob Daviau and
released by Artana. This game will
feature a new system called the Echo System which will create “ripples” throughout
each subsequent game played. The players
start as a leader in a tribe during the Stone Age. They will help make decisions and collaborate
with their fellow players in order to build their tribe into a position of
stability. The next game played will
find the players taking on the roles of each tribe that they have created in
the previous games and attempting to make their tribe into a powerful
city-state. The world will evolve and
wrap around these games to create a different experience for each game
group. I love the idea of this game and
with Daviau and Knemeyer attached to it this game has the opportunity to be
amazing. The only reason it has slipped
this low on the list is because it was supposed to have its Kickstarter debut
already and has been seriously delayed because they don’t think it’s quite
right. This does make me have some
hesitations but knowing the pedigree of these two I know that the game will be
amazing if/when it comes out!
#7 – Lisboa (Eagle-Gryphon Games)
Lisboa is an economic, hand-management, tile-placement
and area control game designed by Vital Lacerda and will be released by
Eagle-Gryphon Games. This game is still
on Kickstarter and currently has over 2,100 backers and has made over $215,000
and that is all with about 17 days left at the time of this post. This game continues in Lacerda’s tradition of
medium-to-heavy weight Euro-games with simple one stage movements that create
heavy and complex combos that are amazing.
My wife and I have The Gallerist and it is an absolutely amazingly
designed game with so many different things to think about. Lacerda’s previous games have all been
“brain-burners” and this game appears to be no different in that regard. Eagle-Gryphon have paired up with Vital once
again and Ian O’Toole is on board at the artist and graphic designer. They have once again created a game that
looks amazing and the gameplay appears to be just as good as his previous
works. I haven’t backed this one due to
a lack of funds before the holidays but when it comes out in retail it will
definitely be on my list to pick up.
Founders of Gloomhaven is a city-building game with
tile-laying, worker-placement and auctioning that is designed by Isaac Childres
and will be released by Cephalofair Games. This game is slated to start it’s Kickstarter
campaign in February if everything goes well.
Isaac has stated that he wants Gloomhaven, his game currently being
produced, done and shipped before he starts the new campaign. This game will take place in the same, rich
world that he’s created for Gloomhaven but hundreds of years prior to the
events. In it each player will take
controls of a fantastical race who is banding together with other races in
order to build the city of Gloomhaven.
They are using their workers to place specific resources that they
control on different hexes. Since they
only import a specific type of resource, they will need the help of the other
players in order to complete their project.
I love the idea of working together to build this city but with the
specific goal of gaining the best reputation and influence to win the
game. I can’t wait to see how this one
works!
Well, there you have it, my games 6-10 of my anticipated
Kickstarter list. Come on back soon and
I’ll have up my top 5 games in the list.
So what games are you looking forward to or have you already have
backed…I’d love to know! Thanks so much
for reading and we’ll catch ya next time.
Until next time, game on!
