Kickstarter and other crowdfunding platforms

$iljanus · Post by **$iljanus** » Fri Jun 17, 2022 6:15 am

hepcat wrote: Thu Jun 16, 2022 8:37 pm So your wife is now hooked on kickstarter games?

I wish!

Lordnine · Post by **Lordnine** » Fri Jun 17, 2022 2:48 pm

The number of Kickstarter games I’ve received in the last couple of months is a little alarming.

The Thing: The game is quite fun, but the rulebook is a mess. Some rules also seem exploitable.

Foundations of Rome: This is pure gaming excess and I love it. This is an intro level game with production values that would make a CMON dungeon crawler weep. It plays in about 45mins-hour, is simple to teach, looks great on the table and sets up and picks up fast.

My Fathers Work: Looks great, requires an app to play which hasn’t been released yet so I haven’t gotten it to the table. Early impressions from people who have been playing with an outdated web version seem to love it though.

Turris: Fun enough, rulebook is bad.

Feed the Kraken: Secret Hitler but more of a game? Good at high player counts.

Perseverance: Castaway Chronicles: I’ve played this one twice, once at three players and once at four. I think it plays a little long at four but really enjoyed it at three. I still need to try Episode 2.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Fri Jun 17, 2022 9:06 pm

I’m still trying to find the fun in Castaways. Although we only played the first one so far. It did not go down well.

Lordnine · Post by **Lordnine** » Sat Jun 18, 2022 12:18 am

You mean Perseverance? I think it is a little deceptive because the way to win is to do the opposite of what the theme tells you. You want the dinosaurs to attack. The game is largely about positioning so that the dinos attack exactly when you are prepared to deal with them. That can mean taking the occasional action that feels sub optimal just to trigger the attacks while you have a majority of troops in the area.

Also, replace the neutral dice with your own as soon as possible. Not only does this hurt your opponents but it provides a huge bonus for area scoring at the end of rounds without you having to directly do anything.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Sat Jun 18, 2022 8:28 am

Whoops, yeah. Perseverance.

Strategies weren’t our issue. It was that we just saw no reason to whip this out instead of Anachrony. There’s nothing in the first game at least that made us want to play again. The whole leader mechanic was just annoyingly fiddly, and the die faces just seemed like a tacked on mechanic. Whereas in Anachrony, the workers thematically feel different.

However, I do want to try the second game someday. That may alleviate some of my many issues with the first game.

Lordnine · Post by **Lordnine** » Sat Jun 18, 2022 12:47 pm

That’s interesting. The leader mechanic is basically just area control, do you have the most stuff in a section of the board? Then you get a reward. Have the 2nd most stuff? Congrats you get a lesser reward. To be fair, I do think Mindclash Games overstuffs all their games and leans towards an everything but the kitchen sink approach to design.

I played Anachrony once and while I didn’t think it was bad, it just felt needlessly complicated for its main mechanic, which was basically taking out loans from the bank. My group has never felt the desire to go back to it.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Sat Jun 18, 2022 8:56 pm

Sorry, wrong word. I meant officer tiles. They’re ridiculously convoluted when scoring them.

Anachrony I love. It seems complex at first, but it’s a basic worker placement at heart. The bank loan portion of it (the time travel mechanic) is overly hyped, in my opinion. It rarely gets used much in our games. And even then, it’s really not the core of the game. It’s more like a small side thing to get a few extra resources and maybe fulfill some victory conditions.

AWS260 · Post by **AWS260** » Sat Jun 18, 2022 11:10 pm

The next Mindclash kickstarter.

It looks quite good. And more approachable than your typical Mindclash.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Tue Jun 21, 2022 4:20 pm

CMON launched their Cyberpunk 2077 KS a few hours ago and it hasn't funded yet.

Pledge is $110 with an estimate to charge $50-60 for shipping to the lower 48.

Should be interesting to watch. It'll fund (only asking $100K) but I'm guessing it's not going to look like a typical CMON project.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Tue Jun 21, 2022 4:27 pm

It already seems to be much more... restrained in its offerings.

$iljanus · Post by **$iljanus** » Tue Jun 21, 2022 7:51 pm

Smoove_B wrote: Tue Jun 21, 2022 4:20 pm CMON launched their Cyberpunk 2077 KS a few hours ago and it hasn't funded yet.

Pledge is $110 with an estimate to charge $50-60 for shipping to the lower 48.

Should be interesting to watch. It'll fund (only asking $100K) but I'm guessing it's not going to look like a typical CMON project.

So there’s a solo AI that they mentioned which caught my eye. I really enjoyed Cyberpunk 2077 the video game but board games based on popular video games don’t interest me as much. And with that shipping price I think I’ll just do a third run through as a Night City street punk on my PS5.

If someone was running a RPG group in the Cyberpunk universe though I’d play that. Perhaps in a nursing home someday.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Tue Jun 21, 2022 8:57 pm

Just got the first two boxes for Vengeance: Roll and Fight. It’s like street masters but with dry erase markers and dice placement. I’ve yet to play, but it sure does look fun.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Tue Jun 21, 2022 9:11 pm

Mine is coming Thursday. I really wanted to like the board game this is based on, but it was over produced - bucket of miniatures that served no purpose. This seemed like a much better implementation of the idea in like a 10th of the space.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Tue Jun 21, 2022 9:22 pm

Any game that includes a mechanic based on a montage from an action film is off to a good start.

The only thing that may make it problematic is that when playing with others, it all comes down to how fast you can snatch the dice from the table as it’s all simultaneous.

I got it because Turczi’s name is on it, basically.

AWS260 · Post by **AWS260** » Wed Jun 22, 2022 7:48 am

hepcat wrote: Tue Jun 21, 2022 9:22 pm
I got it because Turczi’s name is on it, basically.

Feels like his name is on every other game these days.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Wed Jun 22, 2022 11:02 am

He's got a little cottage business going with solo AIs. He's become the go to guy for that.

EzeKieL · Post by **EzeKieL** » Thu Jun 23, 2022 6:21 am

Game is very enjoyable for sure but yeah, I think I would only play it solo because of the grabbing mechanic.

I got several videos on my channel about it:

Reboxing

Spoiler:

How to Play

Spoiler:

(2x) Solo Playthrough

Spoiler:

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Thu Jun 23, 2022 10:01 am

Excellent, thak you Ezekiel!

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Mon Jun 27, 2022 7:06 pm

I’m kind of fascinated by My Father’s Work. A narrative, app story driven worker placement set in the world of gothic mad scientists. That hits a lot of my buttons. Anyone know anything about it?

Lordnine · Post by **Lordnine** » Mon Jun 27, 2022 8:49 pm

hepcat wrote: Mon Jun 27, 2022 7:06 pm I’m kind of fascinated by My Father’s Work. A narrative, app story driven worker placement set in the world of gothic mad scientists. That hits a lot of my buttons. Anyone know anything about it?

My copy is sitting on my table just waiting for the app to come out!

Currently it can only be played with the pre-release version web app but the final version is supposed to be released within the next week or so. Components looks gorgeous. From what I've gathered from the rulebook and initial impressions from people is that it is kind of like your took a legacy game and condensed it down to a single 3-4 hour game. The app handles all of the heavy lifting of keeping track of things like unlocks and special rules.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Mon Jun 27, 2022 9:10 pm

Oh man, you have to post a review once you’ve played. I want this based on the theme, but it’s a bit pricey so I want to hear what your thoughts on it are before I pull the trigger.

Any idea if there’s a solo mode too? Since it’s app driven I would think so. That would bump it up a notch on my interest level. I’m sure it’s more fun with others, but solo makes sure it will get more play time.

Lordnine · Post by **Lordnine** » Mon Jun 27, 2022 9:15 pm

I actually don’t think it does. I had a look at the web version of the app and a lot of the things that happen put you in competition with the other players to unlock rewards. I suspect with no one to compete with a lot of that would fall flat. I will let you know what I get the final version though.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Mon Jun 27, 2022 9:31 pm

Ah well, if it’s as fun as it looks, I’ll still probably get it.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Wed Jun 29, 2022 3:46 pm

Just wanted to note that my Dungeons and Lasers 3rd edition pledge (May of 2021) just arrived ~2 months early from Poland and that my Blacklist Fantasy Miniatures pledge (May of 2020) is still undelivered (though sitting in a warehouse in Florida since ~October of 2021).

Crazy, crazy times.

Fishbelly · Post by **Fishbelly** » Wed Jun 29, 2022 7:37 pm

My copy of Blood on the Clocktower finally arrived today. I must admit, I was overwhelmed with the amount of goodies packed in the box, with no explanation of how to sort and organize everything. Luckily, videos are posted online that show how to organize it all, helping me cope with being a grumpy old fart.

When first ordered, I was still running a game club where I teach and was always on the lookout for large group games. With production delays (many) and Covid the game is 3 years late. Times have changed and my game club is no more.

I think I could get a group of my friends to give it a go the next time we go to a brewery or some place similar. Production values are high, helping draw in those who aren't regular gamers. Fingers crossed I get to try this out soon.

EzeKieL · Post by **EzeKieL** » Wed Jun 29, 2022 7:57 pm

All of this supposed to / should be / arriving this month:

July Bone to Pick
July Chai: Tea for 2
July Eternal Palace
July Agents of SMERSH: Epic Edition
July Street Masters Expansions
July Magna Roma
July Empyreal
July Tiny Turbo Cars
July Monumental: African Empires
July Hybris - Disordered Cosmos
July Warehouse 13
July The Warp
July Maximum Apocalypse
July Edge of Darkness
July Age of Galaxy
July Stationfall
July Paleoamericans
July Vindication Chronicles Expansion
July Hanamikoji
July Mythic Mischief
July Volfyirion Guilds

of course they won't but still, they're supposed to

.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Wed Jun 29, 2022 8:09 pm

That's one way to plan for retirement.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Wed Jun 29, 2022 9:17 pm

Smoove_B wrote: Wed Jun 29, 2022 3:46 pm Just wanted to note that my Dungeons and Lasers 3rd edition pledge (May of 2021) just arrived ~2 months early from Poland and that my Blacklist Fantasy Miniatures pledge (May of 2020) is still undelivered (though sitting in a warehouse in Florida since ~October of 2021).

Crazy, crazy times.

Christ. This whole thing really is inexcusable. Yes, we got Hour of Need, but I suspect that was just to placate people for a few more months. I want my Dire Alliance and Street Masters stuff, but I suspect it’s going to be another year at least…if ever.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Tue Jul 05, 2022 4:42 pm

This might be the biggest RPG book I own - it's quite late, but it finally has started shipping. Paint dropper bottle for scale. Total labor of love from the creator

Weird Frontiers

The Weird Frontiers RPG is a standalone weird West role-playing game influenced by the works of HP Lovecraft and folklore pulled from all over the world. The game offers a new take on the genre with a rule set based upon and compatible with the popular Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG published by Goodman Games.

It was Kickstarted under "Dark Trails" but at some point there were some legal issues with the name so he had to change it.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Tue Jul 05, 2022 4:56 pm

Smoove_B wrote: Tue Jul 05, 2022 4:42 pm
It was Kickstarted under "Dark Trails" but at some point there were some legal issues with the name so he had to change it.

Dark Trails RPG rebrands as Weird Frontiers to avoid a fight with Chaosium

Call of Cthulhu publisher, Chaosium has Down Darker Trails, and the trademark, and was worried that potential customers might confuse the two or assume a connection where there was not one.
...
However, despite causing delays, a resolution has now been found. Stiff Whiskers Press will rename the RPG to Weird Frontiers and has been financially incentivized to do so.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Tue Jul 05, 2022 4:59 pm

So when are you going to run a campaign? I'd be in for $30.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Tue Jul 05, 2022 9:34 pm

Smoove_B wrote: Thu May 05, 2022 2:30 pm
hepcat wrote: Thu May 05, 2022 2:26 pm However, I will still buy just about anything Lovecraft related because I'm a moron.
If I have time this weekend, I want to post about Machina Arcana. Maybe even go crazy and post an AAR in a dedicated thread.

I got my upgrade kit (it probably wasn’t worth what I paid for it as the changes are pretty minimal…with the exception of the new lasting effects icons on a handful of cards), grabbed the 3.0 rules and started a solo game yesterday.

I like what they’re trying to do, but I still feel like they needlessly complicate things at times. Equipping items, for example. There’s no reason it should be as fiddly as it is, especially when you throw in augments and upgrades. But as it stands, if I equip an item I just found in a chest or on a workbench, I have to unequip my “main” item and all its upgrades or augments, then later spend 3 stamina to reequip and add in the upgrades/augments. Sheesh.

And the iconography still needs work…especially when combined with keywords trying to define the target or what not.

Still, I’m going to muddle my way through a few chapters to see if it’s good. I have enjoyed the few turns where I didn’t spend 10 minutes trying to find a rule in the still shitty rulebook.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Wed Jul 06, 2022 11:52 am

Isgrimnur wrote: Tue Jul 05, 2022 4:59 pm So when are you going to run a campaign? I'd be in for $30.

Heh. I am still trying to grok the DCC system. It's....interesting. I don't know if there are plans to bring it to Fantasy Grounds, but who knows...

hepcat wrote: Tue Jul 05, 2022 9:34 pm Still, I’m going to muddle my way through a few chapters to see if it’s good. I have enjoyed the few turns where I didn’t spend 10 minutes trying to find a rule in the still shitty rulebook.

The item / gear upgrade stuff is the most puzzling, I'd agree - especially how your class determines whether or not you can freely equip items as you find them.

I didn't have a problem with the manual - did you upgrade include the walkthrough booklet? I thought that was quite helpful.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Wed Jul 06, 2022 1:15 pm

It didn’t, but I downloaded that and the 3.0 manual. The manual is still annoying because they don’t explain things when they’re initially introduced. Using the above example of items, they don’t tell you what a main item is until a page or two after they mention it. I hate that in a manual.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Wed Jul 06, 2022 9:34 pm

YellowKing wrote: Wed Jun 08, 2022 8:27 am I've reluctantly backed out of Acts 2 & 3 for MIddara. I got a bit into Act 1 and while I'm having a blast, I already feel the pull to try other games.

I followed suit today at the 11th hour. I realized I can get them later at the same price. I’d rather wait until I finish act 1, I decided.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Sun Jul 10, 2022 1:28 pm

Holy crap, I can't believe how much DHL and FunAgain are extorting Dungeon Universalis.

88,610€ (about $91,000) have already been spent on the 1,030 shipments to the US and Canada (including "Friendly" fees). Considering that a number of these shipments only included the update pack and the expansions (that is, they didn't include the 9 kilos of core game), this is a really high shipping cost, especially considering that it is ocean freight.

FunAgain (the worst) is now saying it'll ship by the end of July. I'm confident the new KS project they're launching in September is going to have adjusted prices for the NA market and they're going to be significantly higher. I also hope they find someone better to partner with than DHL and FunAgain (the worst).

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Sun Jul 10, 2022 7:49 pm

I read that update earlier today. I’m confused as to how they can charge more suddenly. I was under the impression after reading about it that it was due to warehouse storage. You’d think funagain, being one of the reasons those crates are still in a warehouse, would eat the cost. But I guess not.

I have my doubts funagain will get these games out the door by end of July.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Sun Jul 10, 2022 8:14 pm

Yeah, the way it was worded it sounded like FA was charging them for storage/warehouse/transport issues on their end - last mile to the FA facility. I'm guessing with all the delays from getting to them from Canada by DHL, they were hit with fees from that (increased fuel cost?). I can only hope future KS projects go with someone (anyone) else. Well, assuming they are going to try and deliver to the NA market at all.

And yes, I don't believe they'll be shipped by the end of this month either. I *think* FA has had this for about a month now, so it's anyone's guess.

baelthazar · Post by **baelthazar** » Mon Jul 11, 2022 1:38 pm

I just saw this being advertised on BGG. Apparently Zee Garcia (whose opinion is a bit different from mine in some places, and exactly like mine in others) really liked it. As did Rahdo. I am particularly interested in the fact that the entire "all in" pledge is $60.

YellowKing · Post by **YellowKing** » Mon Jul 11, 2022 2:26 pm

Hmm, I'm intrigued especially since there's a solo mode. I've had my eye on Tenpenny Parks which has a very similar theme and mechanics. However, Zee and Rahdo's opinions go a long way with me. Definitely will take a closer look.