Tabletop Crowdfunding Round-Up: October 10th
Tiny defenders, paranormal investigators, and post-apocalyptic survivors. Come check out this week’s batch of tabletop Kickstarter highlights!
Tiny Epic Defenders by Gamelyn Games
Gamelyn’s Tiny Epic series of small box games expands yet again with a new expansion for one of their previous hits, Tiny Epic Defenders. The Dark War expansion adds new heroes, locations, and enemies for players to fight against, but perhaps the biggest new feature is the campaign mode. This allows players to fight through a series of three scenarios, each with a boss fight to overcome. Locations are also altered between games as they fall of the forces of darkness, or are liberated by the brave band of heroes. The base game of Tiny Epic Defenders has been overhauled and upgraded too, and now utilizes the ITEMeeples that were created for Tiny Epic Quest. You can grab both the base game and the expansion for $46, with backers of the first Tiny Epic Defenders campaign getting a small discount.
Endure the Stars 1.5 by Grimlord Games
Endure the Stars is another fairly successful board game that has returned to Kickstarter to fund an overhauled version. Endure the Stars is a cooperative sci-fi dungeon crawler where up to six players must work together to overcome an army of genetically-modified super mutants. Players explore the dark corridors of the colony ship N.W.E. Hikari after the ship’s secret cargo of mutant monstrosities have escaped and slaughtered most of the crew. Random events like rolling power outages represent the heavily damaged state of the ship, and can affect your character’s mental state as well as their physical health. The full game will cost newcomers £72/$96, while previous backers can settle for discounted upgrade packs that include all the new stuff.
Fireteam Zero by Emergent Games
Fireteam Zero is this week’s second cooperative miniatures-based board game looking to fund a second printing and new expansions. In 1942, a squad of US Army Rangers are sent on a top secret mission. Together with a group of paranormal investigators and experts on occult lore, this band of unknown heroes must drive back a secret invasion by eldritch horrors and otherworldly demons. As with most cooperative games, each playable Ranger has their own set of skills and weapons. Players will also be accompanied by NPCs that support the team’s traditional arsenal with paranormal abilities. While the primary focus of this campaign is funding a second print run, Emergent Games is offering a ton of new goodies for existing owners looking to spice up their Fireteam Zero sessions with additional scenarios and enemies. Pledges start at $80.
Dice Hospital by Alley Cat Games
Dice Hospital is a dice-based worker placement game where up to four players compete to run the most efficient hospital. Each round, players draft ambulances full of patients coming to their hospital. These patients are represented by d6 dice, with the severity of their condition dictated by the number of pips on the die. Lower numbers are the most critical, and players will need to decide which rooms and doctors to assign their patients to so they can get the most effective treatment for their ailment. Be careful though, as untreated patients can deteriorate between rounds. The player that has treated and discharged the most patients at the end of the game wins. The base game is £36/$49, or £59/$80 for the deluxe edition with upgraded components.
Alkemy Blitz Starter Box by Alchemist Miniatures
Alkemy was a skirmish game that drew a small but devoted cult following in France before the company behind it went out of business. The game’s fate was uncertain, until a group of fans pooled together their resources to purchase the IP. Around two years ago they went to Kickstarter to help get their operations up and running, and even funded two new factions. Now that Alchemist Miniatures is on the verge of getting their revamped version of Alkemy to retailers, they have returned to Kickstarter to fund a two-player starter box to help new players jump into the game. This boxed set is €70/$84 and includes around a dozen easy-assemble plastic miniatures, a play mat, terrain, custom dice, a rulebook, and stat cards. Existing players can instead opt to grab some of the new miniatures Alchemist is working on.
Tsukuyumi by King Raccoon Games
Finally we come to Tsukuyumi, a strategic board game for up to five players set on a post-apocalyptic Earth after the moon has collided with the planet. This area control board game is played out between completely asymmetrical factions on a modular, hex-based game board. Besides the interesting aesthetic and unique factions, Tsukuyumi also boasts a game system completely devoid of luck-based mechanics. There are no dice or other random elements in this game, allowing players to rely on pure strategy and calculations. Pledges start at €59/$69 for the core box.
~Which of these campaigns caught your attention?
