Every year there are so many games that come to crowdfunding that you can’t back them all. Even if you can, you probably shouldn’t back them all. But I thought it’d be interesting to talk about some board games that I wish that I’d backed on crowdfunding. Now this is mainly going to be from Kickstarter, not Gamefound, because a lot of the games, maybe all of them, haven’t yet delivered from Gamefound. This makes sense because Gamefound only came around late 2020 with ISS Vanguard then and a year of campaigns since then.

Crowdfunding Games I Wish I’d Backed

I don’t have too many requirements for what can go on the list. The one that I do have is that the game is out, or at least production copies are close, there is one exception to my list, I think. But generally the game needs to be out. I missed these games and now I wish I had them because the game looks good. There are some games, Arkeis, for example, that I really am interested in, and I wish I’d backed it, but I don’t know enough about it still to say for sure.

Also this is a fairly long list, though some will surprise you on the list. You’ll have to see what they are, but let’s get into the list.

Final Girl

This one is going to be an interesting one, because I am going to back it. But I just said I’m sad that I missed it. I am because now we are onto season two. So that probably means that I’ll be getting more for the game, and clearly I need even more of a game that I already don’t own.

Final Girl is kind of what it sounds like. You are the trope of the final girl in the horror movie. Can you survive the serial killer and escape? Can you rescue others, or will you truly be the last one standing? I love that theme, especially since those Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th type of movies are my favorite for horror movies. This one I don’t know why I passed it by the first time, I won’t this time.

Unsettled

Another one that is coming back to crowdfunding, I believe Kickstarter. This is a planet exploration puzzle. It reminds me, in some ways of TIME Stories, but in space instead of this weird time travel mechanism for the game. So it’s modules that you explore to try and complete objectives. The game sounds really cool.

They are coming back to Kickstarter so that they can drop some more planets into the game. That is something that is great about this game and system, that I can tell, they’ll always be able to add in more planets. And from what the reviews have said, this has some really good writing with it as well. So while not a big campaign game like ISS Vanguard which I did back, this is going to give me a lot of planets to explore as well.

Solomon Kane

Now, this isn’t my exception, but you can watch on Malts and Meeples me unboxing Solomon Kane. Well, that’s because I bought it on eBay. I wish that I’d backed this on Kickstarter. I think that Mythic Games brought it to Kickstarter when I wasn’t checking as much. And by the time I heard about it, I think it was too late, or I didn’t know about the late pledging of things.

This is one that I still need to dive into my copy of it. It was an option to stream when we chose Sleeping Gods instead. And it is very possible that I will stream it later this year. Because, while it is kind of a campaign, it is shorter stories that are campaigns. That is similar to how Roll Player Adventures is doing their campaigns as well. I like that because it means that I am not signing up for 100 hours of game play.

Vampire the Masquerade – CHAPTERS

Here’s the cheater one, this one isn’t out yet. So why is it on the list, because Quackalope has a very polished looking almost production copy that I’ve watched played. I’ll add the video below. But the game looks right up my alley. It has tactical elements for combat where you need to think about positioning. But it is so much more about story, and I love a good story in a game.

Not to mention that the whole world of Vampire: The Masquerade sounds interesting to me. This world of vampires, but not vampires who are ripping peoples necks out. This is about the intrigue and codes that they have, and being subtle about the hunger and when and how you get your blood. And the different clans and how they interact amongst each other in a struggle for power.

Maximum Apocalypse

This is an interesting one because I’ve again, had a chance to get it. And not just a chance, two chances, and then there is more of a campaign version of Maximum Apocalypse as well that I could have gotten. So why do I regret not getting it, but also haven’t pulled the trigger? This is a survival post apocalyptic sort of game, or during the apocalypse. And it’s done with random tiles that you are searching and different objectives to complete. Plus you have a lot of different apocalypses you can play in.

So theme is great for me. Game play looks like a lot of fun. It just hasn’t caught my attention quite enough. And now, and this is a bad reason, there is a lot of it. And I’m going to want to own all of it. That is a bad reason not to get it. I can get a little bit and if I love it I can get more. I do that often with games. But this one, stuff like the Kaiju expansion I really want, but isn’t part of the base box. So I haven’t bitten on it, yet.

Mars Open

You’re going to see a lot of big games on the list. We know what I like my big campaign games, but this is a small game. And I don’t actually remember what kept me from backing this one. And I keep on looking at it on eBay thinking I should pick it up. Mars Open is a dexterity game, basically paper football flicking, but instead of football, it’s golf. And you are play some holes and low score wins.

That game sounds hilarious to play. I have to imagine that I’d be bad at it, but I’m okay with that because it’ll be a good end of game night game. It reminds me of PitchCar as a game where when someone has a crazy good shot, everyone is going to be excited for them.

Horizon Zero Dawn

This one I’m glad I didn’t back, but I also wish I had. The minis in the game are amazing. And the core box has a lot of cool things. but it has a limited number of things. I likely would only have backed the core, and while people seem to like the game, the general consensus is that you need more. The base box gives you a good gaming experience, but not enough to come back to and feel like it’s different.

That said, there isn’t only the base box, there is a lot more. And if you went all in on everything, there is going to be a ton that you can play. Plus the theme, I love the theme. I haven’t beaten Horizon Zero Dawn, but I need to get back to that game. Honestly, too many video games to get through right now. But in terms of setting this is one of the coolest.

Graphic Novel Adventures

From Van Ryder Games, these are basically mini choose your own adventure in graphic novel form. But they are more than that, it’s not just flip through and read stuff, you have a character and you have stats. That is going to determine how well some things go for you. And they put so many themes into the different graphic novels. Pirates, Sherlock Holmes, and werewolves just to name a few. And I own one, which I really need to play. If I love it, they seem to do more every few years, so I can get another one. I really need to play mine.

Sea of Legends

Another one that is coming back to Kickstarter soon, or maybe Gamefound, I’m not sure. Sea of Legends is a pirate game with app assistance. To me, this looks like it’ll be similar to Merchants and Marauders, a game I like but don’t love, and then add more story into it. In Merchants and Marauders there isn’t story, it’s what you bring to the game. And while the theme is solid, I like games that have story.

Sea of Legends did start out rough with an app that was bad, issues with the rule book, and generally felt like Guildhall sent it out before they polished it. I think that there are still issues with the rule book, but the app seems to be better. And it has a whole idea, that you pick out three different things, I forget what they all are, and enter them into the app and that drives your story. So you can change them up and the story is going to change as well.

This is one that I’m probably going to either grabbed use, my FLGS has had a copy, or back when it comes back. Pirates are a theme that I love, and a generally open world game with story, I like that too. I mean, you can see me now playing Sleeping Gods, a game that I almost put on this list. I own it now, and I like it.

Wild Ascent

This is kind of a Monster Hunter style board game. Or a boss battler game, where you have a village phase and then fight a monster. Kingdom Death Monster might be the one that popularized the genre. KDM (Kingdom Death Monster) is one that didn’t make the list, but was close. I want it, but that Kickstarter was insane.

Wild Ascent does a lot of the same things, and seems like it’s a shorter campaign. KDM feels more like a lifestyle game. And while I wouldn’t mind having a solo lifestyle game that I can keep set-up all the time. Until I get a board game table, which I want to do eventually, and can get two levels and leave a game up all the time, one is about all that I can manage.

That is why I passed on Wild Ascent twice. There was a Gamefound and Kickstarter campaign, and the Gamefound one I was so tempted by. But I held off because do I need another big game that will be hard to get to the table? No, but I really really want it.

Chronicles of Drunagor

Another campaign game, and one that I did end up backing the second time around. So why is it on the list, because I was interested in it when it came out the first time. And if I had backed it then, I could be playing it now. This is another big dungeon crawl campaign game that does some really cool things.

Firstly, the terrain is 3D, meaning levels to go up and down. And when you get to a door, that door tells you what is in the next room and you set it up then. Plus the action system is really interesting. You have cubes that determine what you can activate, which is great. Because as you activate spots you start to lose what you can do. And then you pull everything back, but you cover up an ability.

The puzzle of the game just seems good. And there are a number of reviews out for it now, and they are good. So I could be playing that now, but so many games that I probably wouldn’t actually be.

QE and On Tour

So, I own half of these games now, and I wish I owned both. But it’s also one that I kind of don’t mind I don’t own it yet. I own On Tour, a great roll and write game. And one with a great app. But QE is one that I think I want to own, but for sure want to try.

QE is a bidding game where you buy companies and get points. The trick is that you are bidding and there is no set amount. So I could be 20 trillion dollars. However, the person who has bid the highest total amount of money at the end is automatically eliminated. So bidding will escalate, I think it’d be impossible for it not to, because if one person gets everything, everyone loses. how much and how crazily, who knows.

QE really doesn’t sound like it should work. But everyone who reviews it says that it does, though, often, they don’t know why. I think it might be a bit group dependent, but in the right group could be hilarious. Another one that seems like a great game night game.

Canvas

I backed the second Canvas Kickstarter and I wish I’d backed the first. Not only could I be playing it now, but I wouldn’t need the expansion. On the second Kickstarter, the option was just there to get the expansion and base game together, not just the base game. I am sure that I won’t mind having the expansion, but do I really need it.

Canvas is a game where you are painting a picture. You do that by selecting cards and layering them on top of each other. The game Gloom is one that I have which does something similar. But in this one you are creating pictures. And depending on the symbols at the bottom of the picture, you score points. The game looks simple but also like a lot of fun.

That’s The Crowdfunding Wish List

Now, I could have picked more. Lords of Hellas, wish I’d backed it, maybe, same with Deep Madness, but I own most of both of those now. Or there were games like Monumental that almost made the list. Deck building with an interesting action mechanism sounds really cool. But I want to play it more than I want to own it. And maybe once I play it I’d want to own it.

Have there been any games for you that you wished you’d backed? Do you pick up those games on eBay or hope that they get a second crowdfunding campaign? Let me know what your top game you wished you’d backed is.

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