I really loved The Wormworld Saga when I first read it, and I was impressed with Daniel Lieske’s ambitious plan to use Kickstarter to turn this series into a full-time job. Of course, he probably hadn’t expected that printing, signing, and shipping all the rewards to backers would be nearly a full-time job in itself! Since the project was funded in April, I’ve received my lovely print (which, alas, I haven’t had time to get framed yet but will soon be hanging on my office wall) and the app was released in October.
You can still order prints from Lieske and the app can be purchased from iTunes. But the biggest benefit for this campaign is that everyone benefits, whether or not you chipped in: the comic is still free to read online, and the long-awaited Chapter Two will be released on Christmas Day! (If you have an iPad, though, the comic does look gorgeous and there are some pretty nifty added features there.)
Oops. Forgot a few things in the other photo: Coffee Joulies, Mathematician's Dice, and Cosmonaut stylus.
The Cosmonaut: A Wide-Grip Stylus for Touch Screens
The Cosmonaut was another long wait: I backed it in April and just received it in the mail today. But I know this is probably going to be the case for anything that requires special manufacturing — particularly when you can’t start working on any of the manufacturing process until you’ve actually raised the money. The Cosmonaut went through various iterations to get everything working just right, but it’s a wide-grip stylus, based on the idea that writing on a touch screen is more like writing on a whiteboard than on paper. You can’t rest your hand on the screen usually, so you use broad strokes and rough sketches.
I missed out on the “pay what you wish” tier, which is an interesting model, but got in on the $25 retail tier. I’ve only fiddled around with it just briefly but it feels pretty good in the hand and seems to work well for scribbling; if I really love it (or hate it) later on I may do a follow-up for you. The packaging is actually quite cute, and you can still go and purchase one now if you missed the Kickstarter campaign.
Coffee Joulies were apparently an idea the world was waiting for, based on the response to the Kickstarter campaign, which raised over $300,000 on a $9,500 goal. Dave and Dave ended up moving to New York, setting up shop in an old Oneida Factory, and basically turning this into a real business instead of a simple “make a few and sell them” proposition. I paid for mine in May, and received them sometime in October, I think.
Are they as great as promised? Well, I know I’ve read some complaints, and some praise for them. I actually don’t drink hot beverages much, but my wife has been using them daily in her tea (in a thermal mug with a lid) and seems to love them. At least, she better, because otherwise I don’t know why I should keep washing them with the dishes.
You can still buy them at the Joulies website, though they’re sold out for the holidays and will be shipping in January.
Montage was billed as “the best 4-player word game of all time,” so I couldn’t pass it up. The jury is still out on whether or not that’s true, but it may at least be the best crossword puzzle board game of all time. It’s an interesting one, played with two teams, where you use colored circles to stand in for letters, trying to get your partner to guess the clue before the opposing team does. There’s some great strategy and the board has a nice retro look to it, and the components are really high quality (like Pastiche, also from Eagle Games). It’s actually a reprint of an old game which is really hard to find, and Eagle Games wanted to be sure enough people would buy it to make it worth reprinting. The wait time was about five months, from May to October.
So far I’ve only gotten one play of the game, because you have to have exactly four people, and they have to like word games. It’s now available from Amazon or Eagle Games, and maybe your local game stores.
Here’s another board game also from Eagle Games: The Road to Canterbury. It’s designed by Alf Seegert, who also did Bridge Troll and Trollhalla, so I knew it would probably have some interesting game mechanics. Plus, the artwork is adapted from a Hieronymus Bosch painting, the theme was inspired by the Canterbury Tales, and you get to be a bad guy. (Seegert seems to be a fan of playing bad guys.) It’s a tongue-in-cheek look at medieval religious practices and corrupt pardoners, as you encourage pilgrims to sin so that you can sell them pardons — but not too much, or they’ll die before you cash in.
This one was also a five-month wait: June to November. The game is gorgeous, with really great components. So far I’ve just played once but it was a lot of fun, once we figured out what we were doing. The Road to Canterbury is also available for purchase now, from Amazon or Eagle Games or game stores. It’s sure to please the boardgame-playing, literature-loving geek in your life.
Gype: Bringing G.K. Chesterton & H.G. Wells’ Game to Life
This project, eventually sold as Uncle Chestnut’s Table Gype, created a game based on an idea by Chesterton and Wells. Jenny Williams has reviewed the game here on GeekDad, and I got to play it while her family was visiting this summer. I can’t remember when I received my copy of it, though according to Kickstarter updates it was probably shipped in September (after a funding goal in July). The game is fun, though the quality of the pieces can be a little uneven, being unpolished wooden dice and a fabric board.
The game is for sale, but it appears to be out of stock most places I’ve checked online.
Here’s a seasonally-relevant card game: White Elephant. Aside from having one of the best Kickstarter videos I’ve seen, it’s a really funny concept: you’re trying to swap out junk from your attic for junk from other people’s attics, in the hopes of finding the perfect gift for Great Uncle Irwin, your crazy neighbor, and the cat. I backed it in July and just received my copy this month — actually just about in time for these white elephant gift parties, if I’d been willing to give up my copy. Probably should have chipped in for a bonus copy to give away.
The quality looks great, but I haven’t gotten to play it yet. The game runs about $15 and can be picked up at Amazon, though without the special Kickstarter-only promo cards.
Mirror, Mirror: a game of deception, reflection and love
Oh, one more from Eagle Games, who ran quite a few campaigns (and still have more) on Kickstarter this year. This one, Mirror, Mirror, is a two-player strategy game in which each piece has a mirror on the back. You have various letters that you’re carrying, and you have to discover which of your opponent’s pieces is carrying the true letter and not just a decoy. Of course, when you move around a piece to check out the letter behind it, you also reveal your own piece, which makes this a pretty tricky proposition.
This one was a shorter wait: I backed it in August and received it in October. But then I haven’t had as many two-player game sessions, so I haven’t actually played it yet. More on that in the future, I hope, but the little mirrored pieces turned out pretty nicely. Plus, I saved a bit buying it through Kickstarter, as it costs a little more now on Amazon and from Eagle Games.
