There are several really cool projects currently raising funds through Kickstarter and Gamefound, and this time there are a few that I have at least a little more personal experience with. Let’s take a look!
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Dr. Finn’s Book of Two-Player Strategy and Word Games from Dr. Finn’s Games
Steve Finn is a prolific designer of small-box games like Herbaceous and Mining Colony, and I’ve written up several of his titles, some self-published and some through various designers. This campaign is for a book of eight different pencil-and-paper games (with multiple setup versions of each)—all you need is a friend and something to write with! Be sure to pay attention to how the rewards work: you’ll get PDF versions, plus an alert to get the physical book at a discount if you want a hard copy.
Coyote & Crow: Legends & Icons from Coyote & Crow Games
Coyote & Crow is a roleplaying game set in an alternate timeline where the Americas were never colonized, made by a team of Native writers and artists. Legends & Icons is a new sourcebook filled with more characters, spirits, and creatures to incorporate into your games. I don’t play RPGs myself but I’m a fan of what designer Kenna Alexander is doing, both in terms of showcasing Indigenous voices in games and also for her support for Minnesota. The campaign has under a week left and is close to hitting the target for a donation through Stand with Minnesota.
Defenders of the Wild 2nd Edition from Outlandish Games
Defenders of the Wild is a cooperative game about animal factions trying to save their forest from technology that’s gotten out of hand. The machines are building factories and poisoning the land with pollution in their attempts to self-replicate. I’ve got a copy of the first edition (and regretfully hadn’t gotten it reviewed yet), but this new edition is billed as having 30% fewer rules than the original as well as having some tweaks to improve the gameplay. Owners of the first edition can get an upgrade kit. There’s also a Critter Moon expansion that adds even more leaders for each faction, plus the new moon tokens that give you a powerful ability when you’ve built your camps.
Defenders of the Wild is a beautiful game, and it’s a challenging one! Players have to manage their action cards wisely because you only draw more cards when you’ve built a camp, but there are often a lot of fires to put out before you can concentrate on that. Each of the factions has multiple leaders to choose from, which will change the mix of cards in your deck and allow for different play styles. I’ve been really impressed with this one, and I’ve already backed for the upgrade kit and the expansion myself just to make sure I don’t miss this later.
Perch: Birds of Play from Inside Up Games
Birds of Play is an expansion for Perch, a bird-themed area control game that funded back in 2023. I did get a finished copy of this one but, alas, haven’t actually had the chance to play it yet! You’ll fly birds around to various locations and make little stacks of them, and each location has different rules for scoring. Birds of Play is a set of 3 mini-expansions that you can mix and match. Bird feeders will give an immediate 3 points, but since this affects turn order for future rounds, maybe you risk sending an opponent to the bird feeder in the hopes of going earlier next round. The sun and moon rotate around the playing area, changing the rewards for the tiles depending on whether it’s day or night. And the ponds will lure birds with the breadcrumbs tossed there, and also introduce two new creature allies to add to the mix.
Re;MATCH from Brother Ming Games
Re;MATCH is a two-player fighting game inspired by the classic arcade games and it has a fun gimmick: a marble machine that reminds me of Potion Explosion. To power your moves, you’ll have to pull matching marbles from the machine, but each player can only draw from the two columns near them. (The center column is shared.) Win fans to your side to boost your attacks of that color, and break your opponent’s control buttons to win. Brother Ming Games previously Kickstarted a card-based fighting game called Re;ACT, and my review copy just arrived this week. I’m looking forward to giving that a shot soon but I’m also really excited to try Re;MATCH in the future!
The Old King’s Crown from Eerie Idol Games
The Old King’s Crown is a game that got a lot of buzz last year when it was delivered (after a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2023). I had mentioned it in a roundup post and then backed it myself. The fact that it was designed and illustrated by one person just seems unfair when you see both how gorgeous the art is and how intense the gameplay is. At its heart it is a lane-battler: players will play cards to three different regions, with the highest card winning and gaining a reward. But there’s so much more going on: in addition to card effects that let you mess with the battle in unpredictable ways, there are kingdom cards that give you addition abilities, asymmetric factions, and a prediction phase where you announce which region you’re gunning for … but is it just a bluff?
This current campaign is for a reprint in case you missed it the first time around, along with the new Songs of Home expansion that adds two new factions, more kingdom cards, and the City Over the Sea, which adds a whole new location to interact with. On top of that, there was also a surprise announcement just before the campaign launched for Annulet, a standalone game (also designed and illustrated by the overachieving Pablo Clark) that’s set in the world of The Old King’s Crown. I kind of wish this were its own separate campaign because I can already tell I’d love to get both, but this is really starting to add up!
Illiterati: Red Herrings & White Roses from Gap Closer Games
This one’s launching next week, but you can bookmark it now. Illiterati is a cooperative word-making survival game: as a team, you’ll be challenged to form words from the available letter tiles that meet particular requirements … and there’s a time limit! Meanwhile, the Illiterati will show up to wreak havoc on your words. Red Herrings & White Roses is a new expansion that adds two new genres—mysteries and romance novels—with some new bosses to battle and new heroes (like Stone Cold Jane Austen). I’ve played the base game but hadn’t gotten to a review yet; this reminds me that I need to get it back to the table some more!
