What KICKSTARTER(S) are you BACKING and WHY?

TEN PLAGUES. Looks like a kind of abstract card game, themed around the Exodus story, let my people go etc. My kid has gotten into Judaism lately and it will make a fun present for her. Supposedly it will be in distribution before Passover next year, which will be nice. I got an extra copy for the local Chabad House.

DREAD OF NIGHT. PDF only of this PBTA joint. Combat heavy, dark fantasy, based on Devil May Cry, Berserk, and related genre games. Unlikely to see play (sigh) but the pitch sounded baller.

southernman wrote: Pledge levels announced ... going for the videogamer audience, who may not buy that many boardgames but will splash out for 'their' favourite, seems to be a good business these days - fair enough, I don't comment on people who spend hundreds/thousands on seeing concerts or sports games every year (or just alcohol), may be a bit too expensive for me especially once VAT and Shipping hits for the UK.

steamforged.com/en-gb/blogs/brands/elden...tarter-pledge-levels

Wow... jumping from 89 to 179 for double the game makes sense... but then to go from 179 to 429... that is a huge jump. Quite a commitment.

hotseatgames wrote: ...
Wow... jumping from 89 to 179 for double the game makes sense... but then to go from 179 to 429... that is a huge jump. Quite a commitment.

Especially with UK and EU backers needing to add approx 20% onto that price + postage, but I'm sure there are more than enough fans out there to throw money at it and it becoming another massive project - just I won't be one of them.

I backed the Heroes of Might and Magic kickstarter.
www.kickstarter.com/projects/archonstudi...t8w8p&token=a088593e

Normally I'm not much for backing games where I have to wait for a year or more, but nostalgia plays a huge part in this. I'm pretty sure the game has some issues with downtime, and I don't quite know what the battlefield expansion adds to the game (apart from more downtime). But my wife and I played to PC game for days back in the days, and it seems like they've kept a lot of the good stuff from the video game, without simply making a cumbersome 1:1 port.

I was vaguely on the fence about the shay the spire game, but I saw people talking about having exhausted their upgrade pile by the end of an all floors run, and there being pretty clear best builds for the characters. Plus the relics look way less game changing. So... Seems like a game that will get samey pretty quickly if you're always going to get the same best stuff? That's the last thing I want from StS. People were talking about wanting to buy a full second set of player cards to make the card pools bigger, stuff like that.

mads b. wrote: I backed the Heroes of Might and Magic kickstarter.
www.kickstarter.com/projects/archonstudi...t8w8p&token=a088593e

Normally I'm not much for backing games where I have to wait for a year or more, but nostalgia plays a huge part in this. I'm pretty sure the game has some issues with downtime, and I don't quite know what the battlefield expansion adds to the game (apart from more downtime). But my wife and I played to PC game for days back in the days, and it seems like they've kept a lot of the good stuff from the video game, without simply making a cumbersome 1:1 port.

Yeah that Battlefield expansion seems suspect. And I could not figure out how the monsters were represented if you don't buy the miniatures pledge level. I assume hex tokens but they never show them.

Downtime does look like it could be bad with more than 2 players.

UPDATE: seems like when you don't have the miniatures, you just place the unit cards on the map. And while it is probably a smart abstraction, this system forces you to only have one stack per unit type. Makes sense.

mads b. wrote: I don't quite know what the battlefield expansion adds to the game

After looking at the campaign page a bit more, I *think* I have figured out the Battlefield expansion. And if I have, it actually sounds really cool.

It seems like it is an alternative to the normal game. Two players (maybe not just two players but it sure seems like it) draw from the adventure deck, I don't know how many cards each. Each card represents resources or things that would happen while playing the standard game. You use these cards to build up your hero / town / army, and then have a battle that is more advanced than the normal game's battles.

Seems like a cool alternative if you aren't in the mood for the whole exploration part.

This game is tempting me more, but I know I need it like I need a hole in my head. I hate Kickstarter.

Update: I was mostly right. archon-studio.com/blog/the-battlefield-is-calling-your-name

hotseatgames wrote:
This game is tempting me more, but I know I need it like I need a hole in my head. I hate Kickstarter.

"I know I need it like I need a hole in my head" is Kickstarter's core business plan.

So ithe battlefield expansion is basically an entire game in itself - exciting. Seems like it might have been an early prototype they liked, but found too far from the experience they wanted.

Do I need an entirely new way of playing the game? No, I really don't. But the full package is a pretty good deal with the expansions I do want, so I guess it's okay.

The Elden Ring KS is live, and is already over $1,100,000. Most pledges are for the all-in, which, if shipped to the USA, will run you a cool $490.

Looking at how this game works... there are some neat aspects, but I can't help but feel that it's designed for maximum component bloat to jack up the price.

The base pledge is a stand-alone box that has a decent price, but they excluded it from any unlocks. This follows a trend I've noticed, where there is an "affordable" entry level pledge that the publisher then goes out of their way to make sure no one wants.

www.kickstarter.com/projects/steamforged...e-recommendations-p1

Numbers like those, I'll sleep on it until there's a $39.99 Jaws of the Elden Ring with cardboard standees at Target.

Big LOL at Alex Radcliffe's (BoardGameCo) plug: "ELDEN RING is I believe my favourite Steamforged Games title so far. Not just my favourite Steamforged Games title. I really, really liked my experience with ELDEN RING."

Proofreading disaster aside, that is some TEPID hype.

What an absolute soul sell the kickstarter preview industry can be. Everybody has to make a living, good on them, but it is some grim stuff sometimes.

Outside of seeing how sample turns play out, I don't know how ANYONE could find value in KS Previews that are posted on the KS page itself. They are always paid for and glowing.

Not always paid for. I know the channel I sometimes participate in, One Stop Co-op Shop, never takes any money for coverage. That said, no one's going to put a negative preview on their kickstarter page. For example, OSCS did a preview of Kinfire Chronicles, but was very "meh" on it. Didn't appear on the page. Shocking, I know.

hotseatgames wrote: The Elden Ring KS is live, and is already over $1,100,000. Most pledges are for the all-in, which, if shipped to the USA, will run you a cool $490.

Looking at how this game works... there are some neat aspects, but I can't help but feel that it's designed for maximum component bloat to jack up the price.

The base pledge is a stand-alone box that has a decent price, but they excluded it from any unlocks. This follows a trend I've noticed, where there is an "affordable" entry level pledge that the publisher then goes out of their way to make sure no one wants.

www.kickstarter.com/projects/steamforged...e-recommendations-p1

And, I suppose, the most obvious question here - considering this is Steamforged Games - is will there actually be a good/decent/clever game amongst those minis and tiles and campaign-book-per-character.
It's bloody expensive as is, it will be gold-plated landfill if the actual gameplay is crap.

I was partially considering a Core pledge but then I have to take into account Aeon Trespass: Odyssey is arriving soon, and ISS: Vanguard (and a couple of others) next year, and quite a few arrivals this year still sitting unplayed ... so maybe I just need to say I have enough to play for a few years.