Hey, things are starting to gear up for Gen Con in a couple weeks, which means you can expect there will be a whole host of tabletop-related Kickstarter projects in the works on top of the new releases. Here are a few projects currently raising funds that caught my attention–a couple of games, but also some fun accessories.
New to Kickstarter? Check out our crowdfunding primer.
Marrying Mr. Darcy: The Emma Expansion
Marrying Mr. Darcy is a funny game set in the world of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, where players take on the roles of the women in the book, trying to improve their character to attract their favorite suitors. While the game does depend a lot on luck, the story-based gameplay can be fun even for those who aren’t familiar with Austen’s work. (Read my full review here.) Designer Erika Svanoe is back with an expansion to the game, set in the world of Emma. There are, of course, some mash-up rules so you can mix up the characters from the two books if you like.
Casual Game Insider is a quarterly magazine about the casual board games industry. Its definition of a “casual game” is one that can be set up and taught in under 10 minutes, generally plays in under an hour, requires some light strategic thought, and isn’t specifically marketed to kids. The magazine covers topics like Kickstarter, game mechanics, and profiles of specific publishers. Even though I love playing heavy, strategic games, I do love casual games, too, and Casual Game Insider is a nice way to find out more about them. You can download a copy of the latest issue here to see what it’s like.
Ah, geeky T-shirts! Cardboard Clothing, launched by Justin Schaffer (who successfully funded Far Space Foundry earlier this year) is a line of T-shirts inspired by board games, with references to Ticket to Ride, Pandemic, and 7 Wonders, as well as the hobby in general. They’ve also got a few neckties and bowties–I’m considering one of the meeple ties myself, for the few occasions when I need to wear a tie.
Character Meeples for Tiny Epic Kingdoms: Heroes’ Call
Meeple Source has run several Kickstarter projects for custom character meeples, and they currently have one for Tiny Epic Kingdoms: Heroes’ Call so you can get customized meeples of all the different races in the game. If you have the meeples for the original game, you can complete your set. If you missed out the first time, you can get the whole shebang. I’ve gotten a few of the character meeples before and it’s a lot of fun to throw custom meeples into the mix.
Darkrock Ventures is a worker-placement game about mining asteroids in deep space. It’s jointly published by Magic Meeple Games and Gamelyn Games, with a design my Michael Eskue. I haven’t gotten to play it yet so I don’t know too much about it yet, but I’m hoping to try a demo at Gen Con if I get a chance.
