Today we’ll talk about 2 projects, both launching within the next few weeks. One of them is a card game and the other… a book for board game creators, who want to fund their projects through Kickstarter.
Ausonia – April 7th
Let’s start with an interesting game we’ve stumbled upon when checking out Kickstarter projects scheduled for spring launches. Ausonia was designed by Zoltán Simon and is getting published by Lycan Studio.
The action takes place in the 17th century Italy, although there are many fictional and magical elements added to the setting. In Ausonia, the country is in shambles after a disastrous plague. Despite that, a fight for control continues and powerful families are vying to become the rulers of the land. They are aided by magic-infused crystals who grant them unbelievable powers. The game takes place in the same world as Shardunters, the previous title by the same publisher, so these familiar with it will feel right at home.
Ausonia is a deckbuilding game for 1 to 4 players, each of whom controls one noble house. Every turn everyone will be collecting gems and using them to get new cards and activate the ones they have. Whoever ends up with the most influence points – wins. To get them you will be building your hand, getting rid of cards that don’t fit your strategy and creating combos. While resources might be scarce, it’s possible to create magical ones that never deplete thanks to the power of the gems.
Ausonia is launching on April 7th along its 2 expansions: “Masters of Shadows” and “Remnants of War”.
Board Game Kickstarter Advice – March 17th
A large part of people who play a lot of board games secretly dreams about creating a game of their own. Who wouldn’t want to turn that little idea, they had at the back of their mind for ages, into reality? Even though so many players dream about making their own games, a tiny percent attempts to actually make one and even a smaller number succeeds. Self-organisation, putting your ideas into prototypes, testing, meeting with critique – all of these are difficult. And so is the way of funding your game.
Gabe Barrett, known for his Board Game Design Lab podcast, keeps looking for knowledge valuable for game designers. On a weekly basis he does interviews the biggest creators and publishers in the tabletop gaming market. Last year he collected a lot of that knowledge into a book, filled with interviews about game design. Next week, a campaign for a completely new publication will launch and this time: it’s devoted entirely to funding your dream games through Kickstarter.
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In the newest book, called Board Game Kickstarter Advice, Gabe has collected tips from the most successful and legendary board game creators and publishers. The guide includes advice from people like Jamey Stegmaier (designer of Scythe), Ryan Laukat (designer of Near and Far), Scott Gaeta (president of Renegade Game Studios known for games like Clank!), Ted Alspach (designer of Castles of Mad King Ludwig), Jon Gilmour (Dinosaur Island) and… 45 more.
The book delves into a huge amount of topics related to crowdfunding board games. According to the author we’ll get tips about marketing, designing a campaign page, dealing with problems that appear during the course of a campaign or preparing for launch. Backers will be able to get an exclusive hardcover edition of the book as well as an audiobook. The previous book will be available as well.
