Here are a few tabletop projects that are either currently funding or will be funding soon. I’ve noticed that most of the crowdfunding sites now have options for more detailed preview pages and in some cases the pre-launch page has most of the information you would expect to see at launch, giving you a little more time to read up on a project ahead of time, and giving project creators more time to build up their audience (and maybe get a few followers or subscribers to the project).
These are projects that caught my attention for one reason or another, but for the most part I have not played them yet myself, so caveat emptor!
If you’re new to crowdfunding, check out our crowdfunding primer.
Worn Wanderers: the Wearable Card Game from Cleromancy Games
One of the things I love about crowdfunding is the opportunity to try things that are a little bit off the wall. Worn Wanderers is a 2-player battle game that you actually wear: the characters are enamel pins, and the various gear and actions are cards that attach to the pins. The idea is that you’d form your team of characters and then pin them to your backpack or lanyard, and when you run into somebody else at a convention (or wherever) wearing their characters, then you can play a quick battle—perfect for standing in line. It seems like it requires a sufficient base of players to make it really interesting; the original campaign for Worn Wanderers attracted over 250 backers and was successful enough that they’ve launched this follow up, so maybe you’ll see some more folks wearing these next time you attend a gaming convention!
Last Week of Summer from Allies or Enemies
Okay, this one’s definitely for you nostalgia hounds—it’s the last week of summer after the end of high school in the ’80s, and you’re trying to make the most of it before you have to face the real world. Hit up the arcade or the skate park, make new friends, and collect cassettes. I don’t know a whole lot about this publisher since it’s their first project, but I’ll give them points for the neon vibes at least.
Andromeda’s Edge: Genesis from Cardboard Alchemy
Andromeda’s Edge was one of our Game of the Year finalists for 2024: it’s a big 4X space game with lots of options to deluxify the game. This Gamefound campaign brings more factions to choose from, more raiders to threaten you, and more. I’ll admit: I haven’t played enough yet to exhaust the content from the base game (and the Escalation expansion), but I did enjoy it and will probably be adding this to my wish list for later.
Hanafuda Koi-Koi Large Format Cards from Pencil First Games
Pencil First Games published a set of Hanafuda cards in the traditional size back in 2023 alongside the expansion to The 100 Torii, featuring artwork by Vincent Dutrait. The traditional size is a small, thicker card, almost like a cardboard tile, used for playing a variety of games. This project is for large format cards that are more like standard poker cards, using the same artwork, and it comes with rules for Koi-Koi plus a solo variant by Bruno Cathala.
The Game Makers from Bezier Games
If you like things that are meta, here’s a game about games! You compete as a board game manufacturer, and Bezier Games worked with a lot of publishers to include hundreds of actual board games in their game. There’s a rotating warehouse gadget that players will use to select resources, as they build out their factories with various abilities and effects. It’s definitely a big game with a lot going on, and it doesn’t come cheap, but it’s clear from the funding level already that board game fans are excited about the idea.
Am I Human Game from Skycastle Studios
Your hand is filled with AI characters that you’ll have to get rid of so you can collect the actual humans to win! Because of course we are all actual humans and that’s what humans do. Yeah, this game is a little weird and the video is sort of disturbing, but it’s actually a celebrating of real human creators, which I’m all in favor of. There’s also an Am I Kitteh version available if you prefer weird illustrations of cats instead.
Embers from Steve Aramini and Button Shy Games
Steve Aramini has designed a bunch of titles for Button Shy Games’ wallet line, including the popular Sprawlopolis series. This one is a solo survival game: you play as a band of heroes around a dying fire, trying to survive the night while monsters keep spawning. The wallet games are all tiny—just 18 cards in a little vinyl wallet—but I’m always impressed with how much gameplay they manage to squeeze out of that constraint. (This Kickstarter campaign will also include a 6-card mini-expansion.)
I’ve actually been a patron of Button Shy’s Board Game of the Month Club, which includes a wallet game each month (and will often include whichever game they’re Kickstarting at the time), and I know Embers will be included in a future mailing so I’m looking forward to giving it a shot then!
Morph TCG by Grammes Edition
Grammes Edition has run several Kickstarter campaigns with an unusual twist: most of them have used a “pay what you want” format where you can get a copy of the game for as little as €1. They have been small games, but the publisher uses this gimmick to get a lot of copies out in the world, with the hopes of making back their initial investment when it hits retail and there’s already a broad customer base. While the Morph TCG has a set price, it has its own twist: It’s a CCG where you can punch out the illustration and sleeve it over whatever cards you like to replace the image. Of course, you’re probably not going to use your favorite Pokemon card just to play Morph, but it’s a curious concept and I’m interested to see where this goes.
The Dealer’s Tarot from Level 99 Games
This upcoming campaign is for a book of 22 modern games designed to be played with the classic Tarot deck. You can play with your own deck if you have one, but Level 99 Games also has 5 different options that you could add on, each by a different artist. These decks will have some features not always included in traditional Tarot decks, like the card index in the corner. There’s a Gamer’s Deck that has tabletop components as the suits, a Baroque Deck that looks a bit more like a traditional poker deck, and more. While the project has not launched yet, you can visit the Kickstarter page to get a preview and bookmark the project, and you can also try out 3 of the games for free.
Don’t Starve: The Board Game from Glass Cannon Unplugged
My kids have played a lot of the videogame Don’t Starve Together, and they even got it for me for Father’s Day this past year so I could join them. It’s a survival game with weird monsters and a sort of cute-creepy vibe, and now it’s coming to your tabletop! The project launches at the end of this month, and there are a number of bonuses involved. If you follow the campaign before launch, you can get the Constant Curiosities mini-expansion included with the core game. Backing with the first 72 hours of launch gets you a Wolfgang mini-expansion and plastic miniature. And you can also get some digital skins and add-ons for the videogame as well.
