Obligatory Favorite Games 2017 Edition Post Part II: My Favorite Games: Top 30 List (Games 11-20)

Alright!  The first (or last depending on how you look at it) 10 games are all posted so let’s go ahead and move on to the next 10 games.  These are games 11-20 on my top 30 list and they are getting even better the further we go!  Before we go on and I give you the list, feel free to check out the last list which includes games 21-30!

My Favorite Games: Top 30 List: Games 21-30 (2017)

Okay, now that the link is up and you’re all caught up, let’s go ahead and move onto the second part of my favorite game’s list.

#20 – Mechs vs. Minions (Riot Games)

This is a card-drafting, programming and co-operative game released by Riot Games and designed by Chris Cantrell, Rick Ernst, Stone Librande, Prashant Saraswat and Nathan Tiras.  This is an absolutely amazing co-operative programming game and has one of the most stunning productions I’ve ever seen.

#19 – A Feast for Odin (Z-Man Games)

This is a worker-placement, tile-laying and economic game released by Z-Man Games and designed by Uwe Rosenberg.  This game is a sandbox of fun that is one of my favorites by Uwe.  I love how many ways to victory you can find in this awesome worker-placement game.

#18 – The Networks (Formal Ferret Games)

This is a card-drafting and set-collection released by Formal Ferret Games and designed by Gil Hova.  This is such a great game and I think it could go even higher on my list if I got it to the table even more!  I adore this clever card-drafting game and think the theme is awesome!

#17 – Broom Service (alea/Ravensburger)

This is a hand-management, simultaneous-action-selection and pick-up-and-deliver game released by alea and Ravensburger and designed by Alexander Pfister and Andreas Pelikan.  I had a feeling I’d enjoy this game when I heard about it but to be honest I didn’t think I’d like it as much as I do.  I think the card-play in this game is amazing and love it even more every time we play!

#16 – Arkham Horror: The Card Game (Fantasy Flight Games)

This is a hand-management, co-operative and deck-building game released by Fantasy Flight Games and designed by Nate French and Matthew Newman.  I love the Cthulhu Mythos and absolutely adore great card games and I think this is one of them!  I love how every scenario really brings me into the theme and the story it tells has brought me back over and over to play more!

#15 – Champions of Midgard (Grey Fox Games)

This is a worker-placement, dice-rolling and set-collection game released by Grey Fox Games and designed by Ole Steiness.  This game jumped way up on my list this year and I think that much of it could be due to the absolutely amazing expansions.  I think it could go even higher!

#14 – Millennium Blades (Level 99 Games)

This is a hand-management, carding-drafting and set-collection game released by Level 99 Games and designed by D. Brad Talton, Jr.  I would love it if I got to play this game more often!  This game just jumps out of the cards every time that we play it and I look forward to my next play!

#13 – Spirit Island (Greater Than Games/Fabled Nexus)

This is a deck-building, hand-management and co-operative game released by Greater Than Games on their imprint, Fabled Nexus, and designed by R. Eric Reuss.  I have known and been following this game for quite some time and I will say that it didn’t disappoint!  This game could hit my top 10 and I would be perfectly happy if it did!!

#12 – Fields of Arle (Z-Man Games)

This is a worker-placement, farming-simulation released by Z-Man Games and designed by Uwe Rosenberg.  This is my top Uwe game and I still think that this is one of the finest two-player-only games I’ve ever played.

#11 – Baseball Highlights: 2045 (Eagle-Gryphon Games)

This is a deck-building, hand-management baseball game released by Eagle-Gryphon Games and designed by Mike Fitzgerald.  This is a game that we picked up and have had a load of fun with.  This is one of the more clever additions of deck-building which makes for an amazing game!

Well folks, there you have it!  These are games 11-20 on my top 30 list and they are all absolutely great games that I’d play anytime!  I am excited to release my next two posts as they will be games 6-10 and games 1-5 of my top 30 favorite games.  Thanks so much for reading and check back soon for more of my favorite games of all times!  Until next time, game on!

Obligatory Favorite Games 2017 Edition Post Part I: My Favorite Games: Top 30 List (Games 21-30)

Oh wow, now we’re in for some fun!  This is going to be the first post in my yearly look at my favorite games (of all time) list.  This series of posts will simply look at those games that I’ve played that are my absolute favorites and would pretty much be ones I’d play any time!  Em (my wife) and I take some time out every year to make our lists of favorite games and get them posted on the blog.  I don’t have any specific criteria on how many times I need to play a game to include it as there are different numbers for each game of times played.  I’ve slightly changed my formatting of this series as this year I will be doing a top 30 list.  This first post will take a look at games 21-30, the next will be games 11-20, the third will be games 6-10 and the final will take a look at my top 5 games.  I’m looking forward to getting this post up so let’s go ahead and start!

#30 – Clank! In! Space! (Renegade Game Studios)

This is a deck-building, card-drafting game with a board element released by Renegade Game Studios and designed by Paul Dennen.  This game just keeps getting better with each play and is right now one of my favorite deck-builders.

#29 – Fallout (Fantasy Flight Games)

This is an adventure, dice-rolling and exploration game released by Fantasy Flight Games and designed by Andrew Fischer and Nathan Hajek.  I haven’t played this game much yet but I absolutely love it!  With further expansions and more plays I could see this game jumping up my list!

#28 – Dinosaur Island (Pandasaurus Games)

This is a worker placement, tile-laying and economic game released by Pandasaurus Games and designed by Jonathan Gilmour and Brian Lewis.  This is another game that I don’t have many plays in yet and thus it is lower on the list.  However, I’m going to make the call now, I think with more plays this game is going to be in my top 10!

#27 – Pathfinder Adventure Card Game: Rise of the Runelords (Paizo Publishing)

This is a hand-management, adventure and co-operative game released by Paizo Publishing and designed by Mike Selinker, Chad Brown, Tanis O’Connor, Paul Peterson and Gaby Weidling.  This is a great co-operative card game that my wife and I really love.  We’re almost done with this box and we’re looking forward to trying out the next in the series!

#26 – Near and Far (Red Raven Games)

This is a campaign-style, route-building and adventure game released by Red Raven Games and designed by Ryan Laukat.  This is a wonderful story-telling game created by the fabulous triple threat Ryan Laukat and I look forward to further playing through the story!

#25 – The Gallerist (Eagle-Gryphon Games)

This is a worker-placement, set-collection and commodity-speculation game released by Eagle-Gryphon Games and designed by Vital Lacerda.  This game has one of my favorite themes in the games I’ve got as I love the art gallery theme and the production is top notch.  This is one of my favorite heavy-weight Euro games and I’d play it anytime!

#24 – 7 Wonders: Duel (Repos Production)

This is a card-drafting, set-collection and civilization game released by Repos Production and designed by Antoine Bauza and Bruno Cathala.  This game is one of mine and Em’s favorite two-player-only games.  This is a two-player re-implementation of 7 Wonders and in my mind exceeds that wonderful card-drafting game.

#23 – Wasteland Express Delivery Service (Pandasaurus Games)

This is an action-point-allowance, pick-up-and-deliver and post-apocalyptic game released by Pandasaurus Games and designed by Jonathan Gilmour, Ben Pinchback and Matt Riddle.  This is another newer release that is the very reason I play games, it is just fun!  I could see this game moving up my list with more plays.

#22 – Roll Player (Thunderworks Games)

This is a dice-drafting, dice-placement and set-collection game released by Thunderworks Games and designed by Keith Matejka.  This is an absolutely amazing game that I adore.  This game is my perfect example of what makes for a great dice-drafting and placement game and I find it hard to believe I’d find many more I love as much as this one!

#21 – Yokohama (Tasty Minstrel Games/OKAZU Brand)

This is an economic, route-building and set-collection game released by Tasty Minstrel Games and OKAZU Brand and designed by Hisashi Hayashi.  This is such a great Euro-style game that has some absolutely elegant mechanisms in it.  This is a game that I would play anytime someone wanted a crunchy (but not overly so!) game with some meat on its bones!

Well, there you have it!  These are games 21-30 on my top 30 favorite game’s list.  Come back soon and I’ll have up the next post which will include games 11-20.  My wife Em will also be doing a guest spot giving her favorite games of all time.  Our good friend and gaming buddy Josh may also do a guest spot with his favorite’s list.  So keep an eye on the blog for the next week as there should be some good content!  Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed.  Until next time, game on!

Obligatory 2017 Kickstarter Post Part IV: Top 10 List (Games 1-5)

Now let’s move on to the final post in my 2017 Kickstarter list of anticipated releases.  This list will be the top 5 games that I’m interested in that haven’t yet made it to the backers.  There are so many good games that are going onto Kickstarter these days that it has been pretty difficult to narrow this list down but I’m happy with the games that I’ve included.  Of the five games I’ve included here, two of them I already have backed, another one my friend has backed and the last two haven’t even started their Kickstarter run yet.  Before I move onto my list, feel free to check out the previous three posts in the series to see what else I’m anticipating.

Kickstarter 2017 Top 5 Game Expansions

Kickstarter 2017 Honorable Mentions

Kickstarter 2017 Top 10 List (Games 6-10)

Alright, now that we’ve got that out of the way lets go ahead and move onto the meat of the post.  This will be my top 5 Kickstarter anticipated releases that haven’t yet shipped to backers.  I hope you enjoy!

#5 – Kitchen Rush (Artipia Games)

Kitchen Rush is a real-time, co-operative and worker-placement game designed by Dávid Turczi and Vangelis Bagiartakis and will be published by Artipia Games.  This game was funded by 2,186 backers and made $144,085 during it run on Kickstarter this year.  This game is actually being shipped as of the writing of this post.  It should hopefully be in backers hands by either the end of this month (December 2017) or early January 2018.  This game puts players in the role of the owner/manager of a restaurant.  They are charged with making the restaurant profitable by managing their employees and delivering the perfect dishes to their customers.  This game uses a really clever, real-time game that uses sand timers and the workers.  The players will place these workers and can’t pick them up and replace them until the sand has run its course.  This gives a level of tension to the game that looks amazing!  I’ve realized that I don’t really like real-time competitive games but I do quite enjoy the tension and fun in a real-time co-operative game.  This is one of the games that we’ve backed and I hope to see it on our doorstep soon as it looks like a ton of fun!

#4 – Arydia: The Paths We Dare Tread (Far Off Games)

Arydia: The Paths We Dare Tread is a co-operative, storytelling and exploration game designed by Cody Miller and published by Far Off Games.  This game hasn’t yet had its Kickstarter run but I would expect that it does really well when it goes live.  I hope that we get to see this finished product sometime next year but I would expect that we probably won’t see it until 2019.  The game will start off with players being able to take on the role of a character that they will take through the campaign and grow with the story.  The players will have to gain skills and weapons in order to make it through some of the dangerous locations that they will be visiting during the game.  The game will be campaign driven and should have a sense of progression and their labeling it as a “Green Legacy” game.  I love a good story and a wonderful campaign style game where it feels like things change so I’m really looking forward to trying this one out when it is complete.

#3 – AuZtralia (SchilMil Games, Ltd.)

AuZtralia is a card-drafting, route-building and exploration game designed by Martin Wallace and will be published by SchilMil Games, Ltd.  This game hasn’t yet started its run on Kickstarter and I’m not really sure how this game will do as it’s an interesting theme.  I hope that this game is seen by either Gen Con or Essen Spiel of 2018 but I’m not even sure when it is going to go live.  This game puts players in the role of the game’s protagonist who are attempting to go up against a Great Old One from the Lovecraft Cthulhu mythos.  This game is actually a sequel-of-sorts to Wallace’s previous release A Study in Emerald.  The game boasts a clever an innovative combat mechanism as well as completely randomized board sets to add to the game’s replayability.  I will also admit that I have a weakness for the Cthulhu mythos and this adds some post-apocalyptic veneer to the mix.  I am looking forward to this game and hope it makes by to backer’s hands by the end of the year.

#2 – The City of Kings (The City of Games)

The City of Kings is a co-operative, storytelling and adventure game designed by Frank West and published by The City of Games.  The game was funded by 3,132 backers and made about $379,832 during its Kickstarter run.  The game has a proposed shipping date  to backers of February 2018 and although there have been some problems it looks like this date could still be met.  This game finds players in the role of one of the six heroes of the game with a unique set of skills and customizable stats that is trying to find the last refuge from the game’s antagonists.  The players will explore the tiles of the Ageless Realms in order to find the oldest city in the world and thus the final refuge.  This game appears to have a ton of replayability and the puzzle of the game looks to be absolutely great.  I’m really excited to try this game out as it looks to be really amazing!  I don’t have this one backed (although I may try and get a copy after it ships) but my buddy Josh will be getting a copy when it ships and I can’t wait totry it out!

#1 – Too Many Bones: Undertow (Chip Theory Games)

Too Many Bones: Undertow is a co-operative, dice-rolling and role-playing game designed by Adam and Josh Carlson and will be published by Chip Theory Games.  This game was funded by 4,955 backers to the tune of $882,088 during its incredibly successful run.  This is actually a stand-alone sequel to the base game and although it is an expansion I’ve decided to leave it on this list because it doesn’t need the base game to play.  The game has a current proposed shipping date of June 2018 although I would expect closer to August just due to normal delays that happen during the production of such a large game.  The game has players take on the role of a Gearloc that is going on a quest in an attempt to find out if they’ve been betrayed by their own.  This stand-alone expansion is going to add a ton of new stuff to the game which I absolutely love!  Too Many Bones has become one of my favorite games of all time so this Kickstarter was a no-brainer for me and I basically went all in to grab the stuff I don’t have yet.  If you haven’t had a chance to check this game out it is a dice-building, campaign-style game where you essentially level up your character by finishing different encounters.  The production quality of the game is amazing and the guys from Chip Theory Games are awesome.  I can’t wait to get my hands on this new content and thus it makes my number one anticipated Kickstarter release.

Well, there you have it!  This is the final post in my 2017 anticipated Kickstarter projects series and I think that these were some pretty awesome things coming out.  Keep watching this site as I’ll soon be starting up my yearly look at my favorite games!  This is always a super tough series for me as I have so many great games and have played so many other great ones that it is hard to choose.  Regardless, I’ll have them narrowed down soon and will start the series up shortly.  My wife, Em, will also have a post of her favorite games and my regular gaming buddy, Josh, may also do one.  Anyway, thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed.  Until next time, game on!

Obligatory 2017 Kickstarter Post Part III: Top 10 List (Games 6-10)

Now we move on to the “main part” of my 2017 Kickstarter posts.  This is the first part of my top 10 list and will take a look at games 6-10 on said list.  These are ten games that I am really anticipating and think look very cool!  This post will take a look at the bottom half of my top 10 list, games 6-10, while the one right after will take a look at games 1-5.  Before we move on to the meat of the post feel free to check out the previous two posts in the series.

Kickstarter 2017 Top 5 Game Expansions

Kickstarter 2017 Honorable Mentions

Now that we’ve caught up let’s move on to the next part of the post.  These five games look really cool and I’m excited to at least try them out.

#10 – Downfall (Tasty Minstrel Games)

Downfall is a card-drafting, area-control and space game designed by John D. Clair and will be published by Tasty Minstrel Games.  This game was funded by 1,228 backers and made $117,456 during its run on Kickstarter this year.  Right now the game is slated for a July 2018 release if everything goes as planned.  This game drew my attention due to the artwork and the setting.  This game is set in a future where 99% of the world’s population has been killed in an apocalyptic bombing.  Now those left over must attempt to survive and possibly rebuild the world that had been destroyed.  The players will do this by playing cards and drafting them.  This will give players different actions such as building structures, moving citizens, exploring the map, initiating conflict and producing/gathering resources.  As the winter track moves along there will be many different events which the players will have to deal with and in the end the one with the most points wins.  I love that TMG has decided to make a “Deluxified” edition of the game and I’m sure it will look amazing when complete and I hope it will play as good as it looks.

#9 – Root (Leder Games)

Root is a hand-management and area-control game designed by Cole Wehrle and will be published by Leder Games.  This game was funded by 8,454 backers and made $631,770 during its run on Kickstarter this year.  As of now they hope to have the game in the hands of the backers by August of 2018.  This is another game by a publisher that is starting to be known as an “expert” in assymetrical design.  This game, much like its predecessor Vast: The Crystal Caverns has highly assymetrical races that play much differently from each other.  This game has each player taking one of the races and trying to complete that particular race’s goal.  The players will have a hand of multi-use cards which is one of my favorite game mechanisms.  These cards can be used in different ways by the different races in order to make it to their end objective.  I love the look of this game and Vast was quite an amazing experience when we tried it out.  This is a game that we didn’t back but there is a good chance I will look it up when it reaches retail.

#8 – Crusaders: Thy Will Be Done (Tasty Minstrel Games)

Crusaders: They Will Be Done is a rodel and area-control game designed by Seth Jaffee and will be published by Tasty Minstrel Games.  This game was funded by 4,162 backers and made $330,691 during its run.  As of now the game is slated to reach the hands of the backers around June of 2018 and I hope that they meet that date as I would very much like to try this one out.  This game is going to be another is TMG’s line of Deluxified games and I think it is a very good one to get that treatment.  This game finds the players taking on the role of a specific order of knights as you travel across the land in order to gain the most points with upgraded actions, control of the land, special rondel powers and buildings built.  I am a fan of a rondel mechanism in a game just in general, but I really like the idea of this particular one where you are able to upgrade the rodel and make its actions more powerful.  The rodel along with the area control and building powers make this game something I would love to try out!

#7 – Renegade (Victory Point Games)

Renegade is a deck-building, co-operative cyberpunk game designed by Richard Wilkins (of Box of Delights fame) and will be published by Victory Point Games.  This game was funded by 1,963 backers to the tune of $90,116 during its run on Kickstarter.  The game is currently going into its production and they hope that it will make it to the backers by their proposed February 2018 date.  This game came to my attention a little while ago as I’ve followed Wilkin’s Box of Delights page on YouTube.  I have tried this game on Tabletopia and it was awesome!  This game puts the players in the role of a “Decker” who is able to jack into the servers of a dystopian, computer controlled world that is taking of the minds of the general public.  During the game the players will upgrade their command cards in the style of a classic deck-building game but it has a few area-control twists that really add to the mix.  I’ve played this a couple of times and it is an absolutely amazing solitaire puzzle that can be difficult to beat depending on the “boss” character you choose to go against and the different goals that they pull.  I didn’t back this as I thought the price was too high for a Kickstarter card game but I’ll be sure to pick up a copy when it is inevitably released to the retail market.

#6 – Feudum (Odd Bird Games)

Feudum is an economic, hand management and area control game designed by Mark K. Swanson and will be published by Odd Bird Games.  This game was funded in its original run to the tune of 3,028 backers and $263,852.  They then put up a second run of the game to fund a solo option and the option to get the base game in that project as well.  This second run ended up getting 1,543 backers who funded it for $64,769.  This game really caught my eye during its initial Kickstarter run as the art in it is absolutely beautiful.  The game starts with the players controlling a character that has been stripped of everything they have and thus having to make a journey to a different land and “remake” themselves in this new area.  The game uses hand-management and resource-management heavily during the play and also has some area-control.  This game has so much content and I hope the game is amazing because if it is then it would be right up my alley!

Alright!  There is the third post in my Kickstarter series complete!  These are some of my top 10 anticipated Kickstarter releases.  Keep an eye out as in the next few days I’ll have the final post in the series up and it will take a look at my top 5 anticipated Kickstarters.  Thanks so much for taking the time to read and I hope that you enjoyed.  Until next time, game on!

Obligatory 2017 Kickstarter Post Part II: Honorable Mentions

Okay, one post down and three to go!  This post is going to take a look at some games that didn’t quite make my top 10 list of anticipated Kickstarters that haven’t delivered yet but I felt they still warranted a mention.  These are going to be five games that are my “top” honorable mentions and then a few more listed that I won’t go into details about.  If you haven’t seen it yet, feel free to check out my first post in the series that takes a look at my top 5 anticipated Kickstarter expansions.

Kickstarter 2017 Top 5 Game Expansions

Alright, now that the preliminary foot work is out of the way let’s go ahead and check out some Kickstarter projects that made it onto my honorable mentions list.

The first honorable mention that makes it onto my list is Crisis at Steamfall.  This game is designed by Tom Stasiak and will be published by Beautiful Disaster Games.  This game is an action-point-allowance system with some storytelling and variable setup that is set in a steampunk/fantasy setting.  The players will follow the character’s scenario and will compete with others to complete scenarios and balance your long-term goals.  It will also include different modes of play such as competitive, co-operative and team play.  This game appears to be fairly ambitious and I love when these designers try new things.  I hope that this game lives up to the early looks.  The Kickstarter isn’t live yet but I hope they will be able to deliver by Essen Spiel 2018.

The next game to hit the list is Empyreal: Spells & Steam.  This game is designed by Trey Chambers and will be published by Level 99 Games.  This is a route building, resource management, train game that puts the more economic style of the train genre into the fantastical world of Indines found in many of Level 99’s previous releases.  The game has the players using their technomancers to build rail networks using mana they’ve obtained.  Mana is limited and must be recharged therefore making the player choose between the hard decision of building and having to recharge the mana or waiting until a more opportune moment.  I love the idea that this game appears to be creating an 18xx style economic simulation but pasting a much more interesting, steampunk-styled theme in the place of the more traditional Americana theme.  This is another Kickstarter that hasn’t yet started but should be going live sometime early next year and I’ll be watching it very closely when it does.

The third game to make it onto my list is Campaign Trail.  This game is designed by David and Nathan Cornelius and will be published by Cosmic Wombat Games.  This is a hand management, area influence and political game about campaigning to be the United States’ next president.  The players will take on the role of a political candidate as they are vying for their day in office.  The players will use hand management as they compete in grassroots campaigning, fundraising, mud-slinging and debating in an effort to thoroughly defeat their opponent.  The game has some engine building as you are trying to gain the money to campaign and gain voters.  I am not a fan of politics but for some reason I’m really drawn to this game.  Sadly this campaign is one that is quite a bit late as they had originally hoped for a shipping date of around November 2016.  As of the last update it looked as if they are about ready to go to production so hopefully this one will get to backers around the summer of 2018.

The next game on my honorable mentions list is Dice Hospital.  This game is designed by Stan Kordonskiy and Mike Nudd and will be published by Alley Cat Games.  This is a dice drafting, tile laying and worker placement game that takes place in an expanding hospital setting.  The players will take on the role of a hospital administrator who is growing their particular hospital in order to treat and save as many patients as possible.  The players will draft dice (who are the patients), drafting tiles which are rooms for their hospital and/or drafting cards which will be different staff who have powers the players can use.  The players will score points as they complete treatment and get the patients back out and feeling better with the most reputation points at the end being the winner!  This theme is right up my alley as I’ve been in the medical field for over a decade and there aren’t a ton of those games out there.  The game is slated for an August 2018 release date and so far they seem to be doing well with their timing.

The final game (and the closest to the top 10 list) to make the list is Galactic Warlords: Battle for Dominion.  This game is designed by Babis Giannios and will be published by Archona Games.  This is a card-drafting and area-control game that takes place in a far off galaxy.  The players will take on the role of a warlord who is trying to gain control of the void filled by the fall of the previous power.  The players will use drafted cards to take control of mercenaries that will give them powers to use in order to tactically place troops across the map.  This game took two times on Kickstarter to fund but had a pretty good run and funded this past time.  They are looking to ship the game around August 2018 and hopefully they’ll be able to make the date as I’m really looking forward to how the game turns out!

Other Kickstarters of note:

- Brasil (What’s Your Game)

- Chronicles 1: Origins (Artana)

- Diceborn Heroes (Diceborn Heroes Ltd.)

- Empires of the Void II (Red Raven Games)

- GKR: Heavy Hitters (Cryptozoic Entertainment/Weta Workshop)

- Horizons (Daily Magic Games)

- Shadows of Brimstone: Forbidden Fortress (Flying Frog Productions)

- Speakeasy Blues (Artana)

Well there you have it!  These are just some of the honorable mentions that I have seen that interest me on Kickstarter.  I still have a list of my top 10 Kickstarter projects that I’m interested in!  Check back soon and I’ll have up games 6-10 on my list and the following post will take a look at the top 5.  Thanks so much for taking the time to read and I hope you enjoyed.  Until next time, game on!

Obligatory 2017 Kickstarter Post Part I: Top 5 Game Expansions

Okay, time for the 2017 edition of the Kickstarter series.  This post will be the first in a four part series that will take a look at different Kickstarter projects that I am currently anticipating.  These games/expansions will all be ones that haven’t yet been shipped at the writing of the post.  Some of these games are still ongoing and some have ended already.  Regardless of their status these are all games that I am incredibly interested in.  This first post will take a look at my top 5 expansion interests.  I think that’s enough housekeeping, let’s move on to the expansions!

#5 – Wizards of the Wild: Forbidden Forest (CrossCut Games)

Wizards of the Wild: Forbidden Forest is an expansion to the 2015 CrossCut Games game, Wizards of the Wild by Adam West, Dan Schnake and Abe Schnake.  Forbidden Forest is also designed by Adam, Dan and Abe and had an original shipping date of November 2017.  Wizards of the Wild is a card and dice game that puts players in the roles of anthropomorphic animals who are had talents in magic and are fighting a magic battle in order to become the new King of the Forest.  The game is combo heavy and uses some Yahtzee mechanisms in the dice rolling before activating spells and completing challenges.  The expansion will be adding more challenges and spells as well as a new cards type, the familiar.  These new cards have a flip mechanism and will have two different abilities, one of which will help to really rack up the points!  We love the original game and are really looking forward to the expansion which we backed when it was live on Kickstarter.  In a recent update the guys stated that they’ve okayed the files and are currently printing them but that they wouldn’t get out until December at the earliest.  I hope to see the expansion by January of 2018 but we’ll see.

#4 – Near and Far: Amber Mines (Red Raven Games)

Near and Far: Amber Mines is an expansion to the 2017 Red Raven Games game, Near and Far by Ryan Laukat.  Amber Mines is also designed by Laukat and has a proposed shipping date of April 2018.  Near and Far is a storytelling, adventure game that puts players in the role of a specific wanderer who is searching for the fabled Last Ruin.  The game finds players gathering food, hiring adventurers and hunting for treasure in order to be the most storied traveler in the world.  It comes with an encounter book and several different “modes” the players can compete in.  Amber Mines adds in a new mine tile that is placed on the board as well as new mine cards that can be explored by the players.  It also has new Mystic Hut tile and a new General Store tile, each of which will add in new cards and ways to play.  Lastly the expansion adds in a new deck of threat cards.  Em and I really enjoy this game thus making the expansion very interesting.  This is the one project in this post that we haven’t backed but plan on buying when it hits retail.  There are no current updates on the project page about where the project is in production but they have quite a bit of time to meet their proposed April 2018 shipping date.

#3 – The Networks: Executives (Formal Ferret Games)

The Networks: Executives is an expansion to the 2016 Formal Ferret Games game, The Networks by Gil Hova.  Executives is also designed by Gil and has a current proposed shipping date of July 2018.  The Networks is a card drafting game the puts players in the role of someone who is running a television network that needs new programming.  During the game, players will be drafting stars, ads and shows which they will then put into their tableau in order to get money and viewers.  The player with the most viewers at the end wins.  The expansion adds in a whole new level of asymmetry to the game!  Now the players will start with a network executive at the beginning of the game which will give their own set of advantages and disadvantages.  They also get to draft their starting shows instead of having a set that is the same across the board.  I think that this is going to give a ton of replayability to an already great game.  Besides this the expansion has new shows and also a Mogul Card which the players receive when they get a 5 show genre bonus.  Em and I love this game and everyone who has played it has really enjoyed it.  We have backed this expansion and really look forward to it coming out.  Gil keeps good notes and does a great job in updating the backers through the Kickstarter updates and everything seems to be going well so far.  I really look forward to this expansion as I think it will improve an already great game!

#2 – Roll Player: Monsters & Minions (Thunderworks Games)

Roll Player: Monsters & Minions is an expansion to the 2016 Thunderworks Games game, Roll Player by Keith Matejka.  Monsters & Minions is also designed by Matejka and has a current proposed shipping date of February 2018.  Roll Player is a dice-drafting game and set-collection game where the players are “creating” a role playing game character by rolling and placing dice.  The game actually really cleverly simulates creating a Dungeons & Dragons styled character by placing dice in slots and improving your different stats.  Monsters & Minions takes the base game and adds in new ways to gain reputation stars.  Now, along with creating your character, there will also be monsters and ways to see what the final boss is like before going up against him.  This is all done within the already placed game mechanisms of dice placement and set collection.  Everyone I’ve played this game with really loves it.  Keith’s last update didn’t sound too positive for meeting the February proposed date due to some manufacturing problems but he’s still hoping to get it out by March at the latest.

#1 – Sentinels of the Multiverse: OblivAeon (Greater Than Games/Sentinel Comics)

Sentinels of the Multiverse: OblivAeon is a big box expansion for the 2011 Greater Than Games/Sentinel Comics game, Sentinels of the Multiverse by Christopher Badell, Paul Bender and Adam Rebottaro.  OblivAeon is also designed by Badell, Bender and Rebottaro and was originally slated for a shipping date of January 2017.  Sentinels of the Multiverse is a hand-management, co-operative game where the players each take on a deck of cards which represents a superhero and then faces off against a villain in an environment.  The card play is super clever and I love how each of the heroes feels completely different from each other when you play them!  This game is probably still in my top 10 of all time and I think this expansion would go a long way to keeping it up there.  OblivAeon is going to add a ton of new content to the game as well as some new play modes so I’m pumped.  While I am very excited about this expansion I will say that I’m terribly disappointed with the actual project.  It has been nearly a year since the original date and while they do a great job in updating backers I think they were way to optimistic (especially when I don’t think they’ve every delivered a project on time) with the delivery date.  Don’t get me wrong, I love Greater Than Games, I just wish they’d learn from their own mistakes when it comes to placing proposed dates.  That being said, this is my number one!

Well, there you have it!  This was the 2017 edition of my top 5 Kickstarter game expansions.  There are other expansions (and you may hear about another one later on these posts…spoiler alert!) out there on Kickstarter that are also interesting but these are my top anticipated releases.  I have an ongoing GeekList on BoardGameGeek which you can find at this link.  Keep an eye out as I’ll start my top 10 anticipated full-game releases on Kickstarter.  Thanks so much for taking the time to read and I hope you enjoyed!  Until next time, game on!