Best Board Game Campaigns on Kickstarter Right Now – June 2021

Recently we’ve been writing a lot about upcoming summer and fall games. Today however, we want to show you our favourites and recommendations from the currently active Kickstarter campaigns. We’ll talk about 2 projects based around already successful games, and one brand new title. Let’s go.

Chai: Tea for 2

We’re huge fans of the original Chai, so when we heard about a new, 2 player version a while ago, we were instantly interested. Interestingly, while it borrows some mechanics from the original, it actually is a much heavier game with more complex mechanics. 

In Chai: Tea for 2 players become tea farmers and merchants. You can choose between regular and advanced modes when starting your games. The latter offers additional player powers to make the game even more complex. Each round represents a year at your plantation. During that period your workers harvest tea and later on you sell them with the help of merchant ships. At the beginning of the game each  player chooses 1 type of tea that will grant them additional points.

Each round you get tea meeples, and try to move them to the top of your player board, so they grow to their fullest. After rolling a single D6 die you can choose a corresponding action card from the main board and perform whatever it says. Dice can also be used to swap action cards according to your needs, to secure the First Player’s Token for the following round and to control various merchant ships that allow selling your tea. 

The game ends after completing 3-5 ship orders (determined at the beginning of the game). You count all Victory Points gained thanks to Tea Plantation Cards, Fulfilled Ships and other sources. The game is available on Kickstarter in its print and play version, a regular one with a really reasonable price, as well as a special Tea Master Edition.

The Isle of Cats: Don’t forget the kittens!

Polyomino based board games are easily among our favourite genres. Patchwork, New York Zoo and many others keep on landing on our table each time we have a gaming night. The Isle of Cats, funded through Kickstarter back in June 2019, is also one of our top choices. Now, after 2 years, the creators are back with a brand new expansion for old and new players alike.

The Isle of Cats: Don’t forget the kittens! adds plenty of new content to the original game. First: it allows playing with up to 6 players, so you can have fun with even more friends. Next: there are 3 new modules that you can use when playing the game as well as the new “Kittens” expansion. 

The Kittens expansion adds new, smaller tiles that are used on a separate, kitten board. The Beast module focuses on rescuing ancient beasts from the island. The Event module allows drawing 5 random events (like the Royal Rats that give negative points) that alter the entire gameplay. The Boat Pack features new boats to place your cat polyominoes in. The creators have also designed a new set of meeples representing the beasts from one of the new modules. Finally: backers can also get their hands on a new storage box that can host the original game along all of the expansions.

Mosaic – A Story of Civilization

A brand new game from the creators of Lizard Wizard and Raccoon Tycoon is now available through its Kickstarter campaign. While the game is more realistic than their previous titles, it still manages to remain as charming as them thanks to the artstyle and interesting mechanics.

Civilization building games seem to have become a genre on their own. Mosaic – A Story of Civilization uses many concepts known from these, while being unique enough to stand on its own. The designer also has quite the experience in the field and is the author of Sid Meier’s Civilization: The Boardgame and other popular strategies. 

Mosaic – A Story of Civilization can be played by 2 to 6 players, each representing another nation striving to leave a mark in history. During their turns players can perform a variety of actions that can help them with advancing in different fields. You can start cities, learn technologies, recruit units to your army or increase taxes. 

While scoring cards vital for winning are secret at the beginning of the game, when you begin progressing they get revealed and used for gaining and counting Victory Points. Final scoring involves your buildings, wonders, cities, projects as well as the cards we have just mentioned.

The game looks fantastic with its detailed minis and cards sporting a great looking artstyle. Backers can get its basic version as well as the deluxe one including metal coins, wooden tokens, and plastic and unit / building miniatures.