Here are several tabletop games currently seeking funding on Kickstarter and Gamefound that caught my attention! Today’s roundup includes a few projects that are sets of small games, giving you the option to dip your toe into the pool or just grab the whole collection at once.
New to crowdfunding? Check out our primer.
Walkable City from Fowers Games
Here’s one for the urban planner in all of us: a cooperative game about building out routes so the residents of your city have alternatives to driving. Up to four players will create bus routes, light rail tracks, bike lanes, and walking paths to connect residents to their various destinations. The game uses a press-your-luck system where you can attempt to build more quickly, but you might encounter resistance if you push too hard. I’ve got a prototype to try out but this one’s a brief campaign so I may not get the chance to write up a full review before it ends.
Here to Slay DUNGEONS from Unstable Games
Here to Slay DUNGEONS is a new cooperative game based on the Here to Slay card games. In the card games, you assemble a party to slay monsters (and mess with the other players), but this one is a full dungeon crawl with hex-based map tiles and plenty of bosses to fight. There are three sets, each with their own heroes and bosses, or you can get the box set that includes all three. (Note that if you want the cute vinyl figurines shown in the video instead of just wooden meeples, those are in the “Party Leader Box Set” or available as add-ons.)
Cavern Shuffle from Gravy Boat Games
Cavern Shuffle is a little solitaire game that is literally playing solitaire, but instead of a regular deck of cards, there’s a custom deck with heroes and traps and monsters that will need to be arranged in particular ways to level up. There are three decks—Maze of the Minotaur, Lair of the Lich, and Peril on the Planet—available individually or as a set. I love the concept, and the art caught my eye, so I’m backing the project to give them a try!
Hell of a Deal from Smirk & Dagger Games
Last year I wrote about the rebirth of trick-taking games and marveled at the way designers have been incorporating the mechanic in new forms, and wondered what might get remixed next. I suggested poker, maybe—and since then I’ve seen several games that incorporate poker into their mechanics as well. Hell of a Deal hews a little closer to its source: you’re playing poker against the devil, but there are plenty of ways to cheat. Of course, if you cheat too much and give into too much temptation, you lose your soul! This one looks pretty slick and I’m definitely interested in giving it a shot.
Slay the Spire: The Board Game – Downfall from Contention Games
Back in 2022 when the Kickstarter campaign launched for Slay the Spire: The Board Game, I didn’t back it, in part because I’d never heard of Contention Games. Videogame adaptations are sometimes a risky bet—some of them are fantastic, and others feel like just a way to cash in on the built-in audience, flash with no substance. Since then, I’ve gotten to play the board game version of this roguelike deck-builder, and it’s the real deal. It feels a lot like the videogame, but with a cooperative mode so you can play with your friends. Downfall is based on the community-made mod for the videogame, which allowed you to play as the boss monsters instead. This campaign brings that version to your tabletop (and lets you get the base game if you missed it the first time around)!
MegaGame Library from Level 99 Games
Waaaay back in 2012, when games were still fairly new to Kickstarter, Level 99 Games launched a project for a Minigame Library—four (and a half) games that came in small tuckboxes, all contained in a larger library box if you got the whole set. I still have mine!
Now Level 99 Games is back with a new set of five games—though each of these is a bit bigger than the original Minigames. Battle your friends (and soak in the ’80s vibes) in Deathstrikers: Overkillers of Epochalypse! Play a solo (or 2-player) western in High Noon at Showdown Saloon. Outbid the other bears to build up your food stash in Bear Market. Bake delicious treats in Muffin’s Kitchen. Fulfill dreams by drawing your solutions in Anito: Wish Granters. There’s also a pledge level that includes 4 previous titles (two of which are updated versions from the original Minigame Library).
Botany Floral Dragons from Dux Somnium Games
Okay, I’ll admit that I don’t know a whole lot about this one other than that I’ve seen ads for a previous game, Botany, that seems like it’s done pretty well. But my tween daughter absolutely loves anything with dragons on it and I just loved the plant-inspired dragons pictured in this game. Will it be something she’ll actually want to play? I guess we’ll see!
