Kickstarter Tabletop Alert: The Titan Series, Featuring Twelve Master Game Designers

Ever since Calliope Games’ Ray Wehrs announced his Titan Series of games at Gen Con last summer, I’ve been looking forward to this week. Why this week? Because the Titan Series project launched last night and now I can finally back the Kickstarter for this incredibly exciting series of games.

But, Dave, you say, how can you consider this series to be exciting (let alone incredibly exciting)? We don’t even know anything about any of the games!

That’s true. There’s hardly anything in the Kickstarter campaign about what the games are, how to play the games; in fact, there aren’t any pictures of components, nor even any concept art!

It doesn’t matter, I’m still ridiculously excited. And here’s why:

Calliope Games has put together an all-star lineup of game designers to create nine different gateway (casual and family-friendly) games. The Kickstarter project allows backers to sign up for some or all of these games, which will be delivered over the next few years.

When I say all-star lineup, I’m not exaggerating. Consider this group and their résumés:

• Rob Daviau: Betrayal at House on the Hill, Heroscape, Risk Legacy, Axis and Allies: Pacific, and many more!
• Mike Elliott: Dice Masters, Quarriors!, Thunderstone, Battle Spirits, Duel Masters, and many more!
• Richard Garfield: Magic: The Gathering, King of Tokyo, Netrunner, RoboRally, The Great Dalmuti, and many more!
• Seth Johnson: HeroClix, Golem Arcana, Double Double Dominoes, and many more!
• Eric Lang: XCOM: The Board Game, Quarriors!, Marvel Dice Masters, Kaosball,Warhammer 40,000: Conquest, and many more!
• Mike Mulvihill: BattleTech, Shadowrun, Pirates of the Spanish Main, Golem Arcana, Mage Knight Dungeons, and many more!
• Paul Peterson: Guillotine, Smash Up, Pairs, and many more!
• Mike Selinker: Pathfinder Adventure Card Game, Axis & Allies, Betrayal at House on the Hill, Lords of Vegas, Maze of Games, and many more!
• Jordan Weisman: BattleTech, MechWarrior, HeroClix, Shadowrun, Golem Arcana, Mage Knight, Tsuro of the Seas, and many more!
• Zach Weisman: Golem Arcana, Got ‘Em!, and more!

These are the designers who make up the initial nine games for the project, but if stretch goals are reached, the project will also include games from these masters:

• James Ernest: Kill Doctor Lucky, Lords of Vegas, Lord of the Fries, Pairs,Unexploded Cow, and many more!
• Matt Forbeck: Marvel Heroes Battle Dice, Brave New World, Descent: Journeys in the Dark Quest Compendium, Space Hulk: Genestealer, Monster Rancher, and many more!
• Peggy Brown: Buzzword, Backseat Drawing, Qbitz, and many more!

Plus, the games will feature artwork from really great and recognizable artists like:

• Larry Elmore: Dungeons & Dragons, Dragonlance, SnarfQuest
• Echo Chernik: Mage: The Ascension, Vampire: The Masquerade, more illustrations than we can list!
• John Kovalic: Munchkin, Dork Tower, Apples to Apples, ROFL!
• Andrew Hepworth: Nightfall, Shadowrun, Hobbit Tales

That’s a heckuva lot of talent associated with this project. Big names for big games. So what do you really get for backing it?

You get between one and twelve (depending on your pledge and the stretch goals) new gateway games from renowned and proven game designers and artists. Each game will likely support between 2 and 6 players and play in less than an hour. You will also likely be very happy and have a good time playing it … because they’re games and games are fun.

You can back at three levels. For one dollar, you get in on all the news for the series. Pledge at the $25 level and you get a single game in the series, plus the opportunity to buy five more games for $25 each (plus shipping). The big backing comes with a price tag of $145, which is no small investment, but in return you get all nine games for $16 each and free shipping in the US (sorry, the rest of the world has to pay for shipping, but at a discounted rate). Stretch goal games are added at the discounted rate at this level.

When you consider how much the average game sells for these days, the Titan Series is an incredible value and the staggered delivery makes the Titan Series one of the best geek subscriptions you could ever hope for. Head over to the project, check it out, and back it today — this is a project you don’t want to miss out on!