A new year means new Kickstarters to check out and help projects come to life. There are some really standout campaigns happening right now and some hidden gems as well. I pulled four of the ones I found the most intriguing to share today.
Animal Kingdoms is an area control game for 1-5 players where each player takes on the role of a house leader, battling to gain control of the five kingdoms. The cards in your hand represent animals that have pledged their allegiance to you and you will play them to take control over the different areas. It’s an award-winning game from Galactic Raptor Games Raptor that has already successfully funded, so now you can join in to get the game and help unlock stretch goals.
In Rival Restaurants, you play as a restaurant owner striving to have the best restaurant. You have many options for how you can run your restaurant to strive for success and all of the chefs have different powers to play. One thing that piqued my interest with the game was that it has an “all together” play style, meaning everyone is taking their turns at the same time. It looks like a fun strategy game that will leave you wanting seconds. From Gap Closer Games, this campaign is already fully funded so you can be more confident that you are getting the game.
Calliope Games is well-known in the board game sphere for their wonderful gateway and filler games. You may have heard of Tsuro before, as Tsuro: The Game of the Path was their first game. Now they are bringing us Tsuro: Phoenix Rising, which is path laying game where each player is a phoenix, soaring across the board in an effort to reach glowing lanterns and transform them into new stars in the night sky. This beautiful game is fully funded already, with 25 days left of the Kickstarter as of this posting, but does have some stretch goals that can still be unlocked.
One Step from Eden is a deckbuilding action roguelike video game expected to come to PC/Mac/Linux and Nintendo Switch as a stretch goal. You can cast powerful spells on the fly, battle evolving enemies, collect game-changing artifacts, make friends or make enemies in an attempt to make it one step from Eden, the last shining beacon of hope in a bleak post-war world. Fight alone (or with a friend in co-op) and lead your character down a path of mercy or destruction. This campaign is already fully funded, but still has a way to go to get that Nintendo Switch port. And the campaign has a demo already available, for free, if you want to try before you buy.
Have you seen any cool Kickstarters currently running? Share them with me in a comment below.
I decided to back New Salem 2nd edition. I like my games spooky!