Yes, we are getting a double year in review posts going on today. I’m doing that, though, because today is Wednesday. Normally I’d do a Back or Brick, but Kickstarter and Gamefound are dead. Well, there aren’t any interesting games anyways. What is this list? It’s the Top 5 games I backed on crowdfunding this year that I’m most excited about. This is based off of when the campaign ended.

Crowdfunding Honorable Mention

So many different ones much like that Board Games, see those here. Tiny Turbo Cars because it just like so much fun. Real time little bit and then everyone races around a map trying to avoid other people. Canvas, an amazing looking game of making pictures by layering cards. Spire’s End: Hildegarde a solo story game. Really, I’m excited for everything in my Crowdfunding round-up, here, but let’s get to the Top 5.

5. Primal: The Awakening

Primal, aka Monster Hunter the Board Game, though there was a Kickstarter for a Monster Hunter board game, so Primal isn’t that, but it is? And it got there first, and I think looks cooler. So many massive monsters to fight and campaign but you don’t need to do campaign.

I also like that this isn’t your typical boss battler game. But it is purely a boss battler. Normally you pull out some tiles, get them set-up and move around the board counting how many hexes or squares you can move in that type of game. I love that, but I don’t always need that. In Primal there are four zone, front, back, left and right. You need to play where you attack from to do damage, but isn’t not counting spaces.

Plus, did I mention that this game has amazing minis? And there are 13 different monsters in the base box. That’s a ton of content. I didn’t go all in on the expansions to get even more monsters, though I was tempted. 13 will last me a long time.

4. Chronicles of Drunagor

Oh hey there massive dungeon crawling game. Chronicles of Drunagor looks really interesting for a few different reasons. Firstly you don’t see all the map. You see doors and those doors tell you what to set-up next. I like unfolding maps, granted it does cause a pause in the middle of the game.

The other things is the action system. You play down colored cubes to activate things. When you are out of them or when you want to, you pull them back. But you get a black cube that you need to cover up one spot with. So the longer a session/scenario takes the more you limited in what you can do. It’s like an exhaustion taking over.

And finally, I like that you don’t need to win every battle. Sometimes the monster needs to be defeated, and sometimes it’s just there to see what you do. And later it might be a villain who will show up again and remember your first encounter. I love it when games give the campaign a memory of what has been done before.

3. Marvel United X-Men

First of two Marvel games, this one I already know I’m going to like. Why, because I already really like Marvel United. Now you are going to give me the X-Men, I’m here for that. Marvel United is a simple cooperative game where you are a team of heroes trying to defeat a villain.

But before you can deal with the villain you need to deal with their henchmen or rescue enough civilians, or deal with their schemes in some way. And each villain does different things, some of them might just run around and try and smash you. Whereas MODOK, for example, is messing with the cards you’ve played. And the Green Goblin is more chaotic and doesn’t start with schemes on the board.

Beyond all of that, though, with the villains and with the heroes, I like that this game is so easy to get to the table. I pull it out grab some heroes and a villain and start playing in a few minutes. And if I want to play as Thor instead of Spider-Man, that’s a very fast swap. Plus, it’s Marvel.

2. Marvel Dice Throne

Hey, here’s more Marvel. And this one I rank higher because, again, it’s a game system that I know I love. In fact it’s very high on my Top 100 Games (of all time) 2021 Edition. Dice Throne works well for me as a head to head two player fighting game, or a free for all with the king of the hill rules.

Now they are going to give me the game with Marvel characters. This is a game that when it shows up, I’m going to try and get someone over that day to play it. Thankfully with shipping notifications and tracking that can be done. Why, because I have a number of friends who already know the game, at least regular Dice Throne. That means we can pull it out and get it to the table without needing to look at rules, and that’s rare for a crowdfunded game.

1. ISS Vanguard

Finally the first one I backed in 2021. Well, technically, I think I backed it in 2020, but the campaign didn’t end until 2021, so it counts for this year. ISS Vanguard is not the latest game for Awaken Realms, they did Lords of Ragnarok a month or so ago, but it is my most anticipated.

I’m not even going to talk about mechanics, just about the theme of the game. A message has been picked up by satellites around Earth. It’s coded and when it is decoded it’s coordinates to a spot in space that looks like nothing. A crew is put together to travel out there and a sphere is discovered.

The story unfolds from there, and I know a bit more about what might be going on, but how cool a premise is that. And the game, said I wasn’t going to talk about mechanics, but one thing, is played in two parts. There is a ship phase where you can upgrade your landing craft or deal with problems on the crew, or research new technology. And there is a planet phase where you go down the planet, explore, and try and figure out what is going on.

2021 Crowdfunding Finale Thoughts

There are a ton of great games that likely will be coming soon for me. I believe from my Round-up that I did Project L, Aeon’s End Legacy, and Joan of Arc are all getting close to shipping. And by that, I mean shipping to me, not getting on a ship. Not a Kickstarter, but one that I picked up because of one, Spire’s End – I backed Hildegard – is also waiting to get off a boat to to me.

I’m going to need to play a lot of games this upcoming few months just to see what I want to keep and make room on the shelf for other games. And there are a few games that maybe could go into fewer boxes. I’m looking at you TIME Stories and taking up a whole cubby by yourself, or you Aeon’s end and your giant boxes.

What games that you have backed this year are you most excited for?

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