Today I’ve got a roundup of seven tabletop game projects on Kickstarter and Gamefound. From a tiny dice game about the devil from a first time publisher to a big box exploration game from an established company, there’s a broad range of games to check out!
New to crowdfunding? Check out our primer here.
Vestige from Orange Nebula
The latest project from Orange Nebula is a reimagining of their first title Vindication, this time with more of a sci-fi setting. It uses a color wheel for the various attributes that you’ll need to succeed, as you explore a randomized map and build up your tableau of contacts to help you along the way. I haven’t gotten to play Vestige myself to know what’s been changed from Vindication, but Orange Nebula has a strong reputation for creating some very cool experiences and collaborating with their fans during their crowdfunding campaigns. You can see my review of Vindication here, and then check out the Gamefound page for more about Vestige.
Devil’s Dice from The Devil May Care Games
This little bluffing game is a bit like Coup with dice: each different die face has an action associated with it, but you’re allowed to claim any die face and do its action. But be careful: other players can challenge you if they think you’re bluffing, and there are consequences for whoever’s wrong. Use your actions to amass more dice and steal from other players, and win by getting at least one of each symbol between your own dice and the common pool in the center.
I got a chance to try out a prototype of Devil’s Dice and it’s a pretty fun blend of luck and lying, and it’s fairly easy to learn. I’d guess that the theme about summoning the devil might turn some people away, which is too bad, because I could see this gameplay easily fitting with a number of other themes and appealing to a broader audience. For now, it’ll be mostly folks who like the vibes of things like Steven Rhodes’ “Let’s Summon Demons” artwork.
Lairs from Kids Table Board Gaming
This two-player game lets you design a dungeon for your opponent, and then make your way through the dungeon they designed for you. Get through with the best treasure to win! The game comes with lots of envelopes to open to gradually introduce new concepts, though it is not a legacy game and can be reset (or played all at once right from the start if you’re impatient).
First Monday in October from Fort Circle Games
This game is about shaping the Supreme Court—but you don’t play as Republicans and Democrats. Instead, you represent different schools of thought, trying to move the court in your favor on four tracks: the Commerce Clause, Executive Branch, Free Speech, and Equality & Liberty. The game includes actual Supreme Court Justices and landmark cases.
I haven’t played First Monday in October, but I did back Votes for Women by Fort Circle Games, about the women’s suffrage movement, and I was really impressed with the way they mixed a challenging area control game with the historical reality. So I’m confident that this game will also present the subject matter in a way that’s engaging and accurate. In addition to the game itself, there will also be reproductions of various historical documents to help you dive into the theme.
Mining Colony: Master Plans from Dr. Finn’s Games
I really enjoyed Mining Colony from Dr. Finn’s Games, which was funded on Kickstarter back in 2020: players draft groups of components to build out their own maps on Mars. Master Plans is a little expansion that gives each player some additional private goals: get the right pieces in the corresponding rows or columns of your map and you’ll score bonus points. Although the Kickstarter campaign just ended, you can still pledge for it now, and if you don’t already have the base game, you can get that as well.
Planepita from SzpiLAB
This cute dexterity game is like Crokinole—flick your alien discs close as you can to the center of the planet board—but with a twist: after you flick, you can flip your disc over to stick it to the board with a magnet. That makes it harder to move, but also makes it worth fewer points at the end. Also, watch out for Jammer, which will eliminate all of the face-up discs in its region at the end of the round, making them worth nothing!
PAKU PACK from Xuhs scobog
This deck-building game is more about deck-weeding, as you try to decide which cards to get rid of so that you can generate enough rocket fuel using the cards that are left. You start with most of the different cards in your deck, but that means your hand is often clogged with things that don’t work well together. The funny theme is about little aliens called Ultians (from the publishers first game, Ultia) visiting a planet of sweets and then needing to get back home before curfew. Xuhs scobog is a group that originally met during high school and decided to make games together, so I’m curious to see what this is like.
