May is nearly over. Summer is almost upon us and the AC in our office is running on full speed. While the weather might feel less board game friendly (unless you have some slick travel editions), there are tons of new projects getting funded on Kickstarter. They won’t ship until fall anyway, so heat is not a problem.
Let’s pick up from where we ended last month and take a look at another batch of KS tabletop gaming goodness.
➤Italian Wizards Take Over Kickstarter
This month was easily dominated by a single game. Black Rose Wars, designed by italian Ludus Magnus Studio LLC, lets you participate in a magical tournament. The winner becomes the next grandmaster of the magical world, so many talented mages are tempted to appear.
Game features heavily customizable board made of hexes and many big size wizard figurines. Campaign, initially funded in 10 minutes, ended with 1 311 558 USD pledged by 8364 backers. It was easily one of the most dynamic campaigns of the month, and it never slowed down.
➤City of Kings Makes a Return
Second edition of a Kickstarter game The City of Kings got funded this month. The base game contents are still there, but there were tons of new quests, characters and heroes added. Many rules were refreshed and changed. Old stretch goals are now included in the box by default. There was also a whole new spin-off game called “Vadoran Gardens” offered as a bonus reward. Campaign ended at £361,739 ($480 000), topping the original version by quite a lot.
➤Even More Dice
Last month we’ve had the Elder Dice on Kickstarter, this time it’s the Kraken Dice (made by completely different company). The campaign managed to collect a really impressive amount of money. Kraken Dice already had a good reputation in the industry, so people, who felt like they needed more multi-sided goodness, flocked to them without hesitation. There are over 30 designs to choose from including “Mermaid” and “Unicorn”.
➤Back from the Dead with a Bang
One of the biggest classics of wargaming made a return in May. Confrontation came out first in 2000, and had some additional editions through the years. The game was one of the main alternatives to Warhammer but ended up losing popularity. New campaign is an attempt to refresh it and bring it to players once again. There are 16 factions you can choose from like Orks, Daikinee Elves or Griffins.
➤Afterlife is Complicated
Court of the Dead is one of the thematically darkest board games we’ve seen recently. Each player takes the role of a lord of the Underworld. They all attempt to unite the wretched place and complete their own goals called “ulterior motives”. All factions look fantastic and represent various aspects of the afterlife. There’s a skeleton faction, a spirit faction and one associated with the flesh. Recruiting new units and using them to secure important Underworld landmarks is the key to victory.
➤Magnets, How Do They Work
If we handed out rewards for the most creative game elements, The Faceless would easily take the cake in May. The game comes with two-sided figurines that have magnets inside. There’s also a metal compass with needle affected by their movement. This mechanic is used all the time while traversing the board and amplifies the unique eeriness of the game.
Faceless is aimed at smaller children and must have been inspired by Stranger Things and similar stories. Campaign collected over 347 000 euros (401 000 USD).
➤Coming Next Month
Summer laziness is getting more obvious and noticeable. While some huge publishers are taking a break, we’re still going to have some big campaigns ending next month. Have a look at how the top 6 is shaping right now:
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- Skull Tales: Full Sail! – 564 222 USD
- Heroes of Land, Air & Sea: Pestilence + HLAS 2nd Printing – 360 689 USD
- Crusader Kings The Board Game – 317 177 USD
- 5-Minute Dungeon: Curses! Foiled Again! Expansion – 286 053 USD
- Villagers – Card drafting & village building for 1-5 players – 244 529 USD
- Posthuman Saga – 242 098 USD
Update:
Looks like some summer heat got to our heads as we somehow skipped Hellboy, an actual top seller of the month. Set in the world of the cult comic this co-op game took Kickstarer by storm and got to almost 2 million US dollars. Game comes with tons of great figurines and boards with comic strip looking style. Backers will get their games in less than a year, in February 2019.
