Exploding Merchants in Space! – Friday Tabletop Kickstarter Update

Hello! Welcome to Friday Tabletop Kickstarter Update! For info on what is going on here, check out this introduction. It may be cold outside, but things are hot on Kickstarter. There are a lot of big names being funded right now, let us take a look.

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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The Kingswood
Apparent Weight: Medium
Genre: Path development, Role selection, Tile laying, Animal merchant houses

While I don’t really care for the art style of The Kingswood, the mechanics seem awesome. Nothing overly stands out as new, but the way they have pushed together role selection and tile placement seems interestingly fresh. Grab your bag of gold and try to outmaneuver your opponents as you try to buy The Kingswood.

 

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Nova Cry
Apparent Weight: Medium
Genre: Space based card game, Set collection, Special actions

It was before my time keeping my finger on the pulse of kickstarter, but the original campaign for Nova Cry was successfully funded in June of 2012. Everything looked good and things were on their way to becoming a real game. But fast forward to August of 2014: the designer, and front man of the campaign, realized that the production company had completely dropped the ball on Nova Cry. Even though they assured him it was being printed, it was apparent that the game was not even close to being ready to print. Good work Game Salute. If you are interested in how this story unfolded, the project updates for the original campaign are worth a read.

So after some legal legwork to get the rights to his game back, Steve Lykowski is back on Kickstarter to fund his game again. We hear about games failing more than we would like to, but we rarely hear about them coming back with a stronger product and more support. If you are even remotely interested in Nova Cry, there is a load of information that can be found on the project’s page.

 

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Epic PVP: Fantasy
Apparent Weight: Medium-Light
Genre: Card driven combat, Mix and match decks

AEG is tipping their toe in to the Kickstarter arena by working with the veteran company Fun to 11 to produce Epic PVP: Fantasy. The game plays around with the deck combining mechanic popularized by Smash Up. Each player takes a race deck and a class deck and combines them to form something much more interesting than the sum of its parts. This game is poised for future expansions and continued support, go check it out.

 

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Space Cadets: Away Missions
Apparent Weight: Medium
Genre: Space miniatures, cooperative play, Space noir

Another newbie to Kickstarter land, Stronghold Games, is pushing to publish the third game in the Space Cadets line: Away Missions. In the game, overflowing with miniatures, players will work together to get through various scenarios. While it seems nothing like either of the other two games that share the same name, I can see how some people would rally behind such an expansive game.

 

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Exploding Kittens
Apparent Weight: Light
Genre: Hot potato on steroids, The Oatmeal

I almost feel silly putting this on the list. Exploding Kittens has literally exploded (in the internet sense of the word). Having funded in the blink of an eye, this game, made by the creative force behind the popular webcomic The Oatmeal, has shattered all expectations for a Kickstarter game. A little over halfway through their campaign, they have raised 5.4 million dollars. It is the most backed project in the history of the Kickstarting platform. I am guessing that if you are interested in the game, you have already backed it. If not, skimming the project page is worth it just for its significance to the world of crowdfunding.

 

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

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