These Games are No Joke – Friday Tabletop Kickstarter Update

Hello! Welcome to Friday Tabletop Kickstarter Update! For info on what is going on here, check out this introduction. You won’t find too many boards in this update, it is all cards! While this week was April Fools, the ‘joke’ campaigns are actually real games. They will be realized when the campaigns end. Either way, these all look promising.

Remember that I am in no way endorsing these games, I have not played them, I have not talked to the publishers. Back at your own risk.

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Meow
Apparent Weight: Light
Genre: Bluffing, Cats, High social interaction

The first of two April Fools day jokes, that are not really jokes. Chris Cieslik of Asmadi Games (see Adorable Pandaring below) teamed up with Foam Brain Games to put forth this silly, but still interesting sounding social game. Each turn everyone picks up a card that either says “Meow” or “Not Meow.” Players then go around the table saying “Meow,” as convincingly as they can. You can call out your opponent if you think they have a Not Meow card to eliminate them from the game. See, simple! It reminds me a lot of Win, Lose, Banana, another impossibly light Asmadi Game. It is only around until the end of the day Friday

 

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Meta Games for Small Pockets
Apparent Weight: Light – Medium
Genre: Self referencing, Small box, Deck building, Party Game

The second Joke, but not really, campaign put out by Dice Hate Me Games takes a spin on their successful ‘Rabbit’ game model, of small games made up of 54 or less cards. Like their last Rabbit campaign this is for two different games, both super Meta.

First on the list is Deck Building: A Deck Building Game. Many people have joked about the odd double meaning of ‘deck building,’ but this is a new level. Players are building a deck of cards with the ultimate goal of building their backyard deck. It is like Dominion, but with theme!

The other super meta game is Unpub, playing homage to the Unpub organization which helps to further refine and develop prototype games. In Unpub, each player is given a hand of cards, each of which has a theme, mechanism and component. Players then pick three of these cards to pitch their new ‘game’ to another player. Sounds like a game I could only play with my hard core game group, but still very fun!

 

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Dexikon
Apparent Weight: Medium
Genre: Words, Deck building

Eagle Gryphon has taken two different mechanics and shuffled them together into what is a very interesting sounding game: Dexikon. Players use the cards in their hand, each of which has a letter or two on it, to form words. These words can be used to add more letters to their deck, or during end game, used to score points. This seems like such a fascinating game, but for sure one I would lose every time!

 

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Valeria: Card Kingdoms
Apparent Weight: Medium
Genre: Dice based activation, Monster fighting, Cards

One of the characteristics that can set a campaign apart is the quality (and quantity) of art used. Daily Magic Productions obviously knew that going in to their first campaign, Valeria: Card Kingdoms. This game appears to have solid mechanics as well, making it rise to the top of the Kickstarter pile. Valeria is all about slaying monsters for glory, but does so with a familiar, but fresh, use of dice and cards. On a turn, a player rolls two dice and activates their units based on each die as well as the sum of the two. The catch is that each other player also gets a bonus for the numbers rolled. Monsters are slaughtered, locations are conquered, glory is given.

 

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Wizards of the Wild
Apparent Weight: Medium-Light
Genre: Anthropomorphic animal mages, Dice, Cards

Another game with stunning art, Wizards of the Wild aims to give players a similar experience to King of Tokyo, but with a little more strategy, and a little more control. Based on die rolls, players gain various currencies used to activate abilities and other powers. Wizards of the Wild has a great looking campaign page, one that you should check out.

 

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Adorable Pandaring
Apparent Weight: Light
Genre: Set collection, Pandas, Cards

We started this update with a Asmadi game, let’s end there as well. Knowing that the internet loves pandas only second to cats, Adorable Pandaring is pandering to gamers with, you guessed it, adorable pandas. Each round a panda law is determined and players play cards trying to match the rule, like having the lowest number pandas, or having the most even ones. Eventually the adorable-est red panda emerges and players score their collection. See our interview with Chris here.

 

If you have KS topics that interest you, let me know @Scooter_TTTD