I've bought into quite a few Kickstarters and in the coming months I'll be reaping the rewards of backing some of the best looking board games to come to the table.
For those not in the know, Kickstarter is a crowdfunding platform that allows creators to reach out and show their prototypes and have backers pledge money towards the development and release of their product. In the case of board games Kickstarters allows folks to see the game, how it's played, participate in the final development of certain aspects, and get access to exclusive add-ons.
For me the greatest board game success on Kickstarter is Scythe. An alternate 1920 exploration and expansion game with some of the exploit and exterminate elements found in a 4X game (eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, and eXterminate).
It launched with rave reviews on game design and feel. Since it landed at my door it's spawned over a dozen of matches between me and my friends. The feedback the community provided to the creator allowed for some very select upgrades to the design like a double sided board with a larger board on the back.
Another game I picked up on Kickstarter was Human Interface: Nakamura Tower. A Cyberpunk game made in Germany where players take part in the events around the 3 day long attack on the headquarters of the Nakamura mega-corporation. You can play as the Ubermench gang, the Nakamura team, or even the AI that goes rogue due to the attack. Add-ons allow you to play the police SWAT team, a mercenary team, and even a search and rescue team. Brilliant white metal miniatures and fantastic components make the game look great.
I just yet to play it. Forgotten, Molotov, and I spent an hour pouring through the rules as we started the introduction scenario and decided to play something else. We got nowhere and it was frustrating since I bought everything for the game. Lucky for us the folks at Postindustrial Games have worked with the backer community and have redone the rule book. I've looked it over and from that first glance I already have a better idea on how to play the game. Forgotten and I look forward to playing it in the coming weeks.
That's the risk with Kickstarter - sometimes the final product is not what you expected. You have to take the lemons because Kickstarter is a gamble sometimes. My experience with it has been a safe bet but still a bet. I hope my bets continue to pay off because in the next week of so I'll be getting my copy of Endure the Stars from Grimlord Games. Another scenario game but this time wholly co-operative.
I also have other games that will coming in throughout the year: Dark Souls the board game, Giant Killer Robots: Heavy Hitters by WETA workshop, and Village Attacks another game from Grimlord. I'll be doing full reviews on each game as I get them with help from other contributes here at Canadian Tabletop Gamer.
Take a look at Kickstarter and see if anything tickles your fancy.
- Cheers
Dozer
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