So, I heard you’re a bit burnt on the Nintendo Switch OLED announcement and perhaps you’ve now got some money burning a hole in your pocket over the coming months. Let’s see what’s hit the radar this week.
Game of the Week
Platformer
Platformer comes to us courtesy of Awakened Realms Lite, the more rules-light division from the studio that made Kickstarter-shattering games like Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon and nemesis. Rather than a dense tabletop adventure, Platformer has players laying out tiles to compose what is essentially a classic 2D world from classic video game platformers of yesteryear. A competitive title, players will race across the level, climbing ladders and leaping across pits while careful to avoid enemies and grab the treasure. The videogame inspiration is worn on its sleeve, with the table presence looking like a slightly abstracted Indie retro-style platformer. Pledges are a firm and attractive €44 (AUD$70) on Gamefound and include the early backer expansion Helheim. The campaign ends on July 18, 2AM AEST.
Distilled
It seems to be a trend that each week sees the emergence of a thematically ambitious, yet educationally valuable, card game idea on Kickstarter. This may be one of the more adult-appealing games, with the central theme being around the production and distillation of alcohol. None of this is demonstrated with any boozy tackiness, but with an eye for the curiosity and chemical reactions that make up ye ‘ol firewater. Heck, clearly they’ve found an audience in the USD$100,000 pledged in the first 24 hours – very unusual for a card game without a known developer, IP, or excessive glitch behind it. Base game pledges start at USD$55 (AUD$75) , but for the ecological gamer, a print and play version is also taking pledges at USD$8 (AUD$11). The Kickstarter campaign ends July 30, 1AM AEST
HEXplore It: The Domain of Mirza Noctis
Part tactical role-playing engine, part narrative adventure, the HEXplore It series has a pledge manager open for its fourth entry. Appealing primarily to those that perhaps want the scope of a D&D overworld adventure minus the fiddly sourcing of third-party materials to really make the experience pop, these games provide a fully realised adventure out of the box.
With each release of these games, players have seen a tighter product set in a new world with new characters, while also allowing for elements of previous games to cross over. This is a modular engine projected onto a hex-based board, where players keep track of their dynamic character progression on a dry erase board. Cards and dice roles carry these characters into battle, and a staggering number of classes and enemies are available when you consider that this is backwards compatible with the previous three entries.
For those looking to dip a toe in, the base copy of The Domain of Mirza Noctis is going for USD$64 (AUD$86), while also offering core boxes of previous titles at the same price point for those looking to go all-in. The Gamefound pledge manager is estimated to close sometime in September.
Here at WellPlayed, we still feel the impact of a dollar and often discuss the changing nature of retail game value, with titles now soaring past the $100 mark. If players can imagine a future where this is normal, then we hope your curiosity is rewarded with our weekly board game crowdfunding corner. We track down all the promising-looking campaign, scenario and family games that look to provide a whirlwind 10-20 hours of value that can stand shoulder to shoulder with their videogame cousins. See you next week!
