Kickstarter Game Update: Week 2

[spacealien_vamp]

Not much new this week...probably because anyone who intends to launch a project is at GenCon running game demos to drum up interest.

Looking back: Week 1.

Game I Backed:
Havok and Hijinks

Status: Funded

Aaaaaagh! BABY DRAGONS!

Game I Viewed:
Legends of the American Frontier

Status: 33% funded

In this game, players are characters from the time just after the Revolutionary War, and they must complete adventures that earn points, eventually stringing together the tales of the characters' lives. While I find the theme mildly interesting, the gameplay didn't grab me. Also, the project seems to have stalled at a relatively low amount, so I have doubts about it being funded.

Other game-related news:
I've been trying to keep up with reports of games being released at GenCon, and so far two seem to be worth buying.

Lost Legends

This is a drafting game (each player draws cards, chooses one, then hands the rest to the next player) with a monster-fighting fantasy theme. It is currently voted the #3 best game at the convention. It's not a cooperative game, but at least the players are all fighting their own monsters, not battling each other.

Trains

This game is an American reprint of a Japanese deck building game about constructing trains. The game is modeled after Dominion, but it adds extra ways to obtain points via laying rails and building stations on a map. It also adds a mechanic whereby performing actions causes the player to draw "waste" cards that clog the deck and must be managed if the player wants to accomplish anything. I'm sad that the original game appears to be out of print (despite just coming out last year), because I would have liked to get a copy with the kanji for all the cards and locations. (The Japanese version was both Japanese and English. The American version is 100% English. ;_;) If any future expansions are released, though, they will be for the American version (which has different art on the card backs), so maybe it's for the best?

Comments

[mangaroo.livejournal.com]

Havoc & Hijinks looks adorable. I loved the interactive website they have set up to demo the game to potential backers. They've more than earned their funding. (I am, as usual, wrestling between "multiplayer game = no" and "kickstarter alternate cards = yes.")

[spacealien-vamp.livejournal.com]

I am, as usual, wrestling between "multiplayer game = no" and "kickstarter alternate cards = yes."

If it helps, you're always welcome to play mine anytime.