It’s time for another round-up of tabletop projects! I’ve got a couple from Kickstarter, Backerkit, and Gamefound. In case you’re new to crowdfunding, check out our primer here. (And if you’re a game publisher planning to launch your own project soon, note that we also do full reviews—you can see our guidelines here!)
Dungeon Kart from Brotherwise Games
Brotherwise Games, the publishers of Boss Monster and Overboss (among others), has shifted gears from NES nostalgia to Gamecube nostalgia with this racing game, featuring the boss monsters from their previous games. Speed your way around a modular track with unique boss monster abilities and kart powers, and pick up spells to wreak havoc on your rivals’ plans! I got to try this one once and it really gives some Mario Kart vibes, and I’d love to play it with a full pack of 8 drivers. The gearshift player dashboards are a fun feature, showing you how fast you can go (as well as the speed penalties for driving through various terrain).
Peacemakers: Horrors of War from Snowdale Design
This cooperative board game is set in the world of Daimyria, which may be familiar to you if you’ve played any of the Dale of Merchants titles or Lands of Galzyr. It’s populated by animalfolk—and this time they’re at war! Your goal, however, isn’t to fight—it’s actually to bring peace by interfering with the plans of the warring factions. This title is a new, improved take on Dawn of Peacemakers (which I backed myself in 2017 when it was on Kickstarter), and looks to be a significant change and not just a fresh coat of paint. I particularly liked the theme of preventing war, given the usual focus on violence and fighting in games. (Though, admittedly, I do enjoy a good battle game, too.)
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tedalspach/colossal-cat-in-the-box
Colossal Cat in the Box from Bezier Games
Cat in the Box was one of our Game of the Year Finalists for 2022—it’s a fantastic trick-taking game where you don’t know what color your card is until it’s played. Now, Bezier Games is making an extra-large version—it has a larger board for tracking the cards played, cat-shaped trays for the player tokens, and a cat figurine for the first player marker. Now, I always prefer smaller boxes so the “4 times bigger” isn’t as much of a draw for me, but this box also includes two new expansions that aren’t currently available otherwise. I’m keeping my eye on this one for now, but have my fingers crossed that I’ll be able to get a “regular sized” version of the expansions down the road. That cat figurine is pretty cute, though.
Innovation Ultimate from Asmadi Games
Innovation is a civilization-building card game (with many expansions) where you’re racing for achievements, usually through discovering and implementing discoveries from throughout history, from agriculture and the wheel to fission and the internet. It had an interesting use of “melds,” where you have a set of cards that will display different icons depending on which direction the meld is spread out, making certain abilities stronger. Innovation Ultimate is a single-box set of all of the previous expansions plus a new expansion, as well as an Age 11 for each set (which previously only went to Age 10). It’s also getting a bit of a makeover to redesign the look a little bit. If you like games with tech trees, this one goes to 11!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rebellionunplugged/joyride-survival-of-the-fastest
Joyride: Survival of the Fastest from Rebellion Unplugged
Okay, so I mentioned above that I love a good battle game sometimes … here’s an example. This reminds me a bit of Thunder Road (which I backed and have really been enjoying) but it’s on an enclosed racetrack and looks like it has a bit more focus on the maneuvering through the course. It looks over-the-top and kind of ridiculous, which could be a lot of fun!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ofpg2023/growing-our-ofpg-family
Growing Our Family! from Our Family Plays Games
Mick and Starla, along with their son Grant, run a YouTube channel and are active on social media as Our Family Plays Games, sharing their love of tabletop and encouraging both more people of color and more families to check out this hobby. I’ve really enjoyed their presence in various tabletop groups on Facebook and in Twitter threads, and their joy is infectious. This is their first Kickstarter campaign to help them upgrade their equipment, as well as make it possible for them to attend more events. The rewards include dice bags, promo cards for various games, and some other accessories, but the real reward is bringing more people into gaming!
