I do this at the end of the year, I put together a list of Crowdfunding games that I was excited to have show up in 2022. And well, I doubt that some of them will make it. But as we get to the middle of the year, I know more of what is going to be coming. There is still some question for some games, I’d say, if they make it this year that talk about it. Those generally are talking about late Q4 shipping. I expect most will be showing up in 2023 in that case. But let’s go see which ones I think will be coming still this year.

Oathsworn

This is for sure coming this year. Mainly, it is almost here. Some content creators, Quackalope and BoardGameCo to name a few are already doing some content on it. And I am excited. Now, I didn’t get everything like they did, I just got the core box. But that looks like more than enough content.

This is one of my most anticipated crowdfunding games for a while, though. Mainly because it’s something different than what I own. I own a lot of dungeon crawl games and story driven games. This is a game that has that story, but it is about that one boss monster fight. It gets compared to something like Kingdom: Death Monster (KDM) in that boss battler type of thing. But I don’t need to put together minis and it didn’t cost me $500+.

Spire’s End: Hildegard

This is one that I’m surprised how fast it is coming. Granted, it is just cards and a few dice. But still, it is a lot of story and a lot of cards. Spire’s End: Hildegard is going to be a story driven game for one or two players. Spire’s End is a weird dark world that you go through. I don’t know if Hildegard will be as dark, but I’m curious. Plus I just adore the artwork in this game. I would love to see this artwork and art style used in other games as well.

Tiny Turbo Cars

This is another one that I believe it is getting close. Tiny Turbo Cars just locked it’s shipping addresses. To me, that says that the game is getting ready to leave China and they want to know their numbers. I’ve been anticipating this one for a while, I believe it is a game that I backed in early 2020 and I am still really excited for it from Horrible Guild.

Tiny Turbo Cars is basically an RC car racing game. To move your car there is a sliding puzzle game that you do as fast as you can. But it’s not really a time element. The first person to finish theirs ends up moving first, so you are less likely to have another car blocking you. But if you go later, you might be able to shoot another car as well. It really looks like a silly fun game.

ISS Vanguard

I do think that it will show up this year, but I fully expect it to be close. ISS Vanguard is in production now and it isn’t a small game to get produced. So I wonder if it might take a bit for it to find it’s way onto boats and come around Christmas. Not that I would complain about getting ISS Vanguard for Christmas.

This is a big sci-fi adventure game. You are the crew of the ISS Vanguard who follow the clues of a signal from space to a mysterious location. As players you are trying to unravel that mystery. As well as maintain your ship, research and keep crew happy. And then there are the missions down to the planet as well. Another game that is long in production but I have extremely high hopes for it.

Grove

A small box game, follow-up to a solo game that I really like in Orchard. Grove, I believe, is shipping now, which has me excited. It has been a bit since I played Orchard but it is always fun when I do. Grove promises to add in a bit more. Yes, you still layer cards. But you now can layer with blank spaces that clear a spot for you but also potentially clear dice which are points. It’s an interesting twist.

And then on the back of the cards I believe that there are scoring objectives. So it isn’t just like Orchard where you layer the cards to get as many points as you can. I don’t know how that piece will go, but I’m curious to get my hands on this one. The only downside is with two kittens I can’t play this while watching TV like I did with Orchard.

Chronicles of Drunagor

I got in on the second crowdfunding campaign of the Chronicles of Drunagor, Age of Darkness Apocalypse expansion or stand alone base game. Now, that part is not coming yet. But Chronicles of Drunagor, I believe, from the last update, is getting close. Or at least to do the two wave shipping that is locked in place now.

This is going to be a dungeon crawl game with narrative elements as well. From what I understand, even for the base game, they beefed up the narrative elements. But what really caught my eye for this game is how you activate. Each character is limited to certain abilities that they have. And to activate them you use a colored cube that corresponds to the ability. But you only have a few cubes of a color. So it limits you as you play. Then you can pull back cubes, but at the cost of covering up an ability that you need to heal to get access to again.

Dice Throne: Santa vs Krampus

I won’t talk too much about Dice Throne. I wrote two articles on it yesterday including a Back or Brick for Santa vs Krampus. Dice Throne is my number 2 game of all time, as of 2021. And I want more content. I like how easy it is to add more to this game without making it harder to play. Their goal is Christmas for this, but again, shipping around then could be tricky.

Alba

This is a bit different than a lot of them. Alba is a game but it’s a game in a book. So almost a puzzle book of sorts. I backed it because the story sounded cool. Right now I believe they are trying to nail down a printer for it. The one that they were contracted with is either in lockdown or was in lockdown to delayed this. But it is a book, I expect it won’t take as much time to print as a lot of board games will. I’m very intrigued to get this one in my hands.

Hanamikoji: Geisha’s Road

This is another one that might not be too far out. I know that shipping is an issue for this game. It is at times cheaper for them to fly some of it over than to get containers for all of it. That is a bit crazy to me, but it is the state that we live in right now.

Hanamikoji: Geisha’s Road is going to be a new version of the two player game Hanamikoji or a spin on it. Now there is an area control sort of element to it as well. You want to win favor of Geisha but also get them to certain establishments to gain people. It is interesting, I am a bit worried it might take a simple and thinky game and add too much, but we will see.

Etherfields

Another one that is coming soon. I believe that the wave 2 shipping should be happening soon. What I am getting with Eitherfields, I don’t remember anymore. I didn’t go all in on it like I did with ISS Vanguard or all in game play like I did with Tainted Grail. So it’ll be a fun surprise for me.

Ehterfields is going to be a dungeon crawl loose story driven game in a world of dreams. What I like about it or what I’ve heard about it, is that the dreams you go through are so different. They mess around with the mechanics of the game to make the different dreams feel unique. And the one thing I don’t mind about getting it in wave 2 is that they fixed the rule book, or improved it. And they added a mode to the game, now in the rules that people seem to like better.

Frosthaven

Finally, Frosthaven. This is one that should be here this year. Right now it is printing, and I expect it will take a while for the whole thing to print. Still, if it is printing now, then assembling it. I’d guess that it’ll get on a boat late August or maybe early September.

I am so excited for Frosthaven to come in. We are reaching the end of the Tainted Grail stuff that is out so far. And Frosthaven maybe can line up to be our campaign game after that. Plus it is just more Gloomhaven, but Gloomhaven with more going on. The loot makes more sense, you get stuff not money, and the whole town building piece is so cool. I can not wait to get this in my hands.

Final Thoughts

It is going to be a busy year for Kickstarters and Gamefound campaigns coming in. And I would not be surprised if a game or two more snuck into the latter part of the year. I also expect that one or two of these will show up in 2023. And that is okay, right now it’s more just anticipation of games to come.

There are some that I am very confident won’t show up this year. Middara Acts 2 & 3, though the pledge manager is closing soon. I suspect that’ll be Q1 of 2023, though they are pushing for this year. 7th Citadel and Primal, both with updates make me think 2023, at least for sure for Primal. And maybe 2024 for 7th Citadel. it is annoying to wait on games, but I’d prefer a great game than a rushed okay game. And Village Attacks, I got no clue, no updates and no concrete plans in the last one. I hope it isn’t just a loss at this point. Though they did just deliver, or are delivering their other game.

What crowdfunding game do you anticipate showing up at your door this year?

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