This crowdfunding round-up is not the biggest but there are definitely some big games coming up this week. Batman: Gotham City Chronicles contains a whole lot of components and miniatures. The Castles of Burgundy: Special edition will be a huge box with a lot of upgrades over the original game. With these huge boxes, remember shipping costs will be high, factor that into your decisions. My interest really falls on Bark Avenue this week, the game looks cute and the theme looks interesting.
In Batman: Gotham City Chronicles, one villain faces off against a team of heroes in one of multiple scenarios. Each hero has their own character, and they control this character by spending energy to perform actions (such as Melee and Ranged attacks, defusing bombs...) recovering more or less energy at the beginning of their turn depending on their stance. If the hero gets damaged, energy moves to a wound area, and if they lose all of their energy, then they're out of action for a while to recover their strength. Each hero has differing strengths for their abilities, and these strengths are represented by colored dice with different values; the more energy a hero spends on an ability, the more dice of that color they can roll.
The villain controls a team of henchmen and iconic villains of the Batman universe, and these characters are represented by tiles on their command board, with the characters costing 1, 2, 3, etc. energy to activate as you move left to right down the line. Once a character is activated, they move to the end of the line, boosting their cost to the maximum value should you want to use them again immediately, and decreasing the cost of the other tiles.
The game-play in Batman: Gotham City Chronicles is based on that of Conan, with revisions to character abilities, the addition of two different types of dice (w/ five types total), and a modified two-player set-up, the Versus Mode, in which each player has a command board and their own team of tiles that they can draft, with heroes facing off against villains.
Enter a mystical kingdom ruled by an eccentric Majesty besotted with the idea of building the perfect castle. Deft guilds and shady allies thrive in a realm that the world will remember as Castleshire: the land of the thousand castles. You are a rising master-builder and dream of leaving a lasting legacy. You decide to compete in building the chambers of their Majesty’s perfect castle. You are driven by one goal: To become the most famous master-builder of all time.
Everyone is always active. This game has literally no downtime for players. In your turn, you set out to build the castle and increase your fame. You either do this certified using your limited resources or chaotically in an unplanned matter. When not on your turn, you endeavor to bring your adversaries down when they attempt the latter. Use the unique skills of your guild that have been mastered over generations. At any time, everyone is able to force a turn of events to a certain degree with the help of allies who are sprawling in the vicinity of the epic construction site.
A good memory and reading opponents are as helpful as a good poker face. In this socially interactive bluffing game, you will win if you if you are clever and the wittiest of all - constantly adapted to counter other players' evolving strategies.
Solo variant: Castleshire's AI is able to bluff and memorize, and also adjusts to how well you catch the AI's bluffs. Additionally, it captures your bluffing behavior and responds to it. Once you start winning against the AI, you can increase the difficulty level, so you will have to think further ahead and anticipate the AI's next moves more accurately.
The Sun 2 sits high in the sky as the birds in the outfield lazily pick at discarded peanut shells. As the teams take to the field, the fans erupt, knowing that they're about to witness the best of the best. On one side, the Auric All-Stars — the pinnacle of Blaseball talent. On the other, the Canis Underdogs — the scrappiest fighters that the game has to offer.
One final match will decide the outright winners. Will you be the one to coach your side to a tremendous victory?
Blaseball: The Card Game is a two-player, competitive card game in which you each control a Blaseball team, with the two of you playing out the top and bottom of the ninth inning.
The Castles of Burgundy is set in the Burgundy region of High Medieval France. Each player takes on the role of an aristocrat, originally controlling a small princedom. While playing, they aim to build settlements and powerful castles, practice trade along the river, exploit silver mines, and use the knowledge of travelers.
The game is about players taking settlement tiles from the game board and placing them into their princedom, which is represented by the player board. Every tile has a function that starts when the tile is placed in the princedom. The princedom itself consists of several regions, each of which demands its own type of settlement tile.
The game is played in five phases, each consisting of five rounds. Each phase begins with the game board stocked with settlement tiles and goods tiles. At the beginning of each round, all players roll their two dice, and the player who is currently first in turn order rolls a goods placement die. A goods tile is made available on the game board according to the roll of the goods die. During each round, players take their turns in the current turn order. During their turn, a player may perform any two of the four possible types of actions:
Take a settlement tile from the numbered depot on the game board corresponding to one of their dice and place it in the staging area on their player board.
Place a settlement tile from the staging area of their player board to a space on their player board with a number matching one of their dice in the corresponding region for the type of tile and adjacent to a previously placed settlement tile.
Deliver goods with a number matching one of their dice.
Take worker tokens that allow the player to adjust the roll of their dice.
In addition to these actions, a player may buy a settlement tile from the central depot on the game board and place it in the staging area on their player board. If an action triggers the awarding of victory points, those points are immediately recorded. Each settlement tile offers a benefit: additional actions, additional money, advancement on the turn order track, more goods tiles, die roll adjustment or victory points. Bonus victory points are awarded for filling a region with settlement tiles.
The game ends when the last player finishes their turn of the fifth round of the fifth phase. Victory points are awarded for unused money and workers and for undelivered goods. Bonus victory points from certain settlement tiles are awarded at the end of the game. The player with the most victory points wins.
Bark Avenue is a competitive route optimization pick up and deliver game centered around a day in the life of a dog walker in upper Manhattan. Players balance walking several dogs at once with competing needs - including walk length, preferred activities, bathroom breaks, and compatibility with your other dogs.
You will be challenged with solving the puzzle of returning dogs on time and determining which dogs to walk next! In between walks, use public transportation to your advantage to position yourself for the best walks.
As you progress in your dog walking career, your good ratings will unlock new abilities, such as walking more dogs simultaneously, going off leash at the dog park, and taking more end-of-turn actions, including pickups and activities like visiting pet shops. Be wary of returning dogs late, because you could lose out on most the pay!
At 45 minutes - 1 hour, this Gateway+ game is targeted at all players and pulls in dog lovers, providing fun for new gamers and critical thinking and optimization problems for seasoned gamers.
Brand New Zoo is a roll and write game where players will attempt to build their best zoo using shared dice results. Each player uses a single printed game sheet and writing utensil, while one player also needs two dice that will be shared.
On a turn, two dice are rolled and all players use the results. Players can use dice to either draw enclosures, hire zoo keepers, or acquire animals. If doubles are rolled, players can choose to charge admission. All animals have different scoring conditions or are worth varying points.
Turns are simultaneous and games last about 20 minutes. Brand New Zoo utilizes a modular expansion system that allows players to use as many expansions as they like. Players can play the base game as an introduction, then mix and match as many expansions as they wish.
A new virus has been detected in cyberspace.
According to your investigation, the virus’ origin is linked to the activation of quantum generators, a new source of infinite energy. You and your team will dive into the depths of cyberspace and attempt to break through the generators’ defenses to short-circuit them once and for all.
Game Details: Hacktivity is a cooperative story-driven campaign card game for 1 to 4 players. Immerse yourself as one of the four unique characters. Each turn, draw cards from your character deck and/or the virus deck. Your first goal is to use up all the cards from the virus deck.
Play a virus card on the Antivirus Interface to paralyse it.
Then, play character cards to attack and deactivate the virus. You will be able to attack the quantum generator as well or restore your Firewall.
Watch out! Be careful to not generate too much interference.
Maintain strong communications among your teammates to implement the optimal strategy.
Everyone can participate in each scenario in this inclusively designed card game.
Follow the storyline of the campaign in the Scenarios Booklet.
Open new sealed decks to reveal new cards and unlock new abilities.
The game will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end!. Dive into cyberspace now with Hacktivity!
Planet Earth… the end of the 21st century: the Achab Corporation influences and dominates the globe using outstanding technologies, obtained via access to Gene.sys, a secret database of unknown origin which has turned out to be a mine of information and knowledge.
However, the Corporation is not the only entity that wants to obtain these secrets: the Breachers are expert hackers, capable of connecting to Gene.sys in order to steal information and increase the power and prestige of their faction. A.R.M. (the Achab Remote Mind) security system, a sophisticated artificial intelligence developed by Achab engineers, proactively detects and fights against each intrusion attempt to Gene.sys, but it seems that something is going wrong with it…
The Breach is a competitive Net Crawler game for 1-4 players, lasting approximately 25 minutes per player, where they attempt to breach the Gene.sys database to steal secret information. Each player is a Breacher, a digital rebel, guided by their ideals or by their Faction interests.
The game map is Gene.sys, a virtual universe of mysterious origin, currently controlled by the Achab Corporation. After hacking into the database, the Breacher Avatars will need to face several dangers: not just other Breachers, but also I.C.E. controlled by the A.R.M. (the Achab Remote Mind), who will try to stop the incursions. In case of need, A.R.M. will also use powerful Guardians to try to put an end to intrusion attempts.
The Breach is a Net Crawler with a distinctive resource management system, set collection mechanics and variable powers. Your objective is to spread your viruses inside the database, while gathering as much information as possible.
The game turn is structured in three phases: Firewall (I.C.E. run their subroutines against players), Actions (Avatars choose and execute their actions) and Net (Avatars configure their skills and steal information using viruses). You will be able to upgrade your Avatar, assign Viruses, fight the Guards and other Avatars, explore the rooms of Gene.sys, but also install programs and use Cheat codes to manipulate the database according to your needs.
Pay also attention to the health of your Avatar: if it will suffer enough damage, it will be disconnected from the network and reconnected in a different location! However, you could play more strategic and take advantage also of this event…
Each game of The Breach will be different from the previous one: the choice among Avatar, Breacher and Database structure offers a different challenge each time, and players have to be clever to identify the best strategy for optimizing the available resources.
On the Ides of March 44 BCE; Julius Caesar was assassinated. In the power vacuum, you vie for control of the Roman Republic. With no clear leader in place, the Senate awards Imperium Maius to one of your rivals. You must scheme, conspire and backstab to increase your Imperium. The Senate will observe the shifts in power and grant Imperium Maius to the most powerful leader. At last, the Senate will be forced to concede, one leader has an insurmountable amount of Imperium! The Roman Empire will be born and a new Caesar will be crowned! Will it be you?
44 BCE is a rotating all-on-one strategy game for 2-5 players aged 14 and up.
In this dramatic, emotion provoked, immersive gameplay, you are one of five suitors, Agrippa, Brutus, Cleopatra, Mark Antony, or Octavian, competing to become the first Emperor of Rome. Each year the Imperium Maius will compete against the Suitors to maintain control of the republic.
To succeed, you must collaborate with the other suitors but remain on the lookout for every opportunity to gain an advantage over your fellow competitors and slash them down. If you succeed, the Senate will declare you Imperium Maius for the next year.
After clashing it out over six years (rounds), the player with the most Imperium will be anointed the first Roman Emperor!
In Arcs, 3-4 players guide their factions through a fast-playing space opera that unfolds over a trio of 60-90 minute sessions. The game opens in the final days of a decaying empire. Players take the role of the last regents of a once proud state that stretched to the farthest worlds of the Reach. Faced with an encroaching blight that threatens the outer planets, players must balance the integrity of their homelands with their own ambitions.
Arcs uses an innovative card-driven action system that is easy-to-learn and highly interactive. Players are given hands of action cards each turn and must balance their desire to control the game's tempo against their other interests. Should you use the initiative to seize control of a critical new technology or reposition your fleets for a coming engagement? When players do trade blows, the battles are resolved in a snap using a simple dice system. However, combat's interaction with the larger action system offers players a wide range of tactical options, from multi-turn sieges to daring raids and dramatic escapes.
Players begin the game in roughly symmetrical positions, which helps new players learn the core systems quickly. However, their choices will soon cause their paths to diverge. Unearthing an ancient technology might make the restoration of the empire possible. A chance discovery on a blighted world might lead a player to abandon their wealth and begin a voyage across the Reach to right an ancient wrong. Every choice will advance the game's story and form part of an emergent, player-driven campaign.
Many of these choices are resolved in a special "intermission" between games. During this phase, new rules modules are activated, and players are introduced to new capabilities and objectives. Despite their similar starting points, by the end of a campaign, players might control factions as varied as any in Root or Vast. Players will also use the intermission to spend their hard-earned power to maintain their fleets and wealth, as well as invest in new improvements that may aid them in the coming game.
The campaign system of Arcs provides players with a huge number of possible game situations and hundreds of possible campaigns. In addition, Arcs also includes an abridged, two-session campaign and a single session mode.
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