Top 15 Campaign Games I Still Need to Play

15. Ticket to Ride: Legends of the West

I know that I’m going to like this game. So why is Ticket to Ride Legacy lower on the list? Some of it is because it is a legacy game. The two “legacy” games that I have on the list are the bottom two. But also because while I like Ticket to Ride a lot, it’s not a game that I play all that often. I think that the legacy version will likely breath new life into the game for me. But it’s more of a comfort food pick than a really exciting new bite to try. And for that reason it’s lower on the list.

14. Clank Legacy 1 & 2

The other legacy game is actually two legacy games. So did I cheat, I’ll let you decide. But this one is lower on the list because I know that I love Clank! already. And I really like the Acquisitions Inc guys as well, so that is a great theme for me. But it’s like I said for Ticket to Ride: Legends of the West, this is more comfort food. I already know that I will like both of the games. But it’s higher on the list because I like Clank better than I like Ticket to Ride, and because I think the writing is just going to be a great time that’s a ton of fun.

13. Tales from the Red Dragon Inn

Speaking of fun writing, I expect that Tales from the Red Dragon Inn is going to be another game with fun writing. This one is supposed to be a simpler, or less in depth dungeon crawler game and there are some good playthroughs of it. I’d recommend checking otu the playthrough that was done done on Meet me at the Table. They’re one of my favorite channels, and it shows how fast it is to get the game to the table and get playing.

12. Kinfire Chronicles

Speaking of another campaign game that I’ve heard a lot of good things about, we have Kinfire Chronicles. This is again supposed to be a friendlier and easier to get into campaign game than some. I like the look of the aesthetic of the game. And it’s not a mini heavy experience which might make it easier to get to the table. But it’s probably easier to see what it’s like at the table. I really do like how the cast of characters looks like a ton of fun and familiar fantasy but not the completely normal fantasy.

11. Tidal Blades 2

For this one I’ll add a video from Man vs Meeples. But I know more about this one. Some of the previous ones I just went on theme. This one is a dungeon crawler or adventure style game with scenarios where you are in this beautiful world dealing with monsters who attacked a festival and more in the story.

But the mechanisms got me to pick up this game. I like how you add in cards to a grid and then you activate a row or a column. But once every spot in a row or column is filled and you activate it, it wipes. And you have basic actions on spots without cards, but it’s a rising and falling action as you try and play through the scenario and defeat the monsters.

10. Etherfields

Now we’re onto Etherfields. The only campaign game from Awaken Realms that I haven’t gotten to the table. And this one actually left my collection for a very short time. But as I said, I love campaign games so I got it back. I put this one where because I love the theme of it. I have heard that it is rough around the edges but the theme gets me.

You are exploring dreams and each dream is going to be a little bit different. Some of them might be more dream like, but the fun of dreams, at least in a board game is that they can be nightmares as well. And that means that the game is going to have twisted and crazy and surreal scenarios and that sounds amazing to me. I know one element was a bit of a grind, but I believe that there are rules out there now that help fix that.

9. Kingdom: Death Monster

Then we get to one that maybe should be higher on the list. Kingdom: Death Monster is not the grand daddy of all campaign games, that’s Gloomhaven in a lot of ways. But this one is one of the games that really showed what you could do and create a massive game with a ton of expansions and a ton of minis in it. I only have the core box and there is a ton in there.

In this game it’s a boss battler campaign. You start at no one, really you don’t even have language yet. But as you play, you grow you tribe, figure out new things, like ways to make weapons and armor, develop language and more. All that while sending out your hunters to try and defeat boss monsters who are sometimes going to take out your hunters. And that’s why you need to keep growing your village. But Meet Me At The Table has great videos on this as well.

8. Divinity Original Sin

This is a game that I need to play through both as a video game but also as the board game. I had fun watching Felicia Day an Ryan Day play through it on their streams back in the day. So it is a game that I have played some, in the video game. But the board game sounds great for it as well. The theme definitely helps with that as does the fact that this isn’t a grid movement map but more of an area movement game. And I really like how there’s that campaign element and adventure element to it without purely being a dungeon crawler game.

7. Dragon Eclipse

Alright, I kind of lied about having played all of the Awaken Realms campaign games. This is one that might actually get to the table sooner because I think it might be easier to get to the table. I didn’t think of it though, because it just got in. In this game you are collecting dragons and battling dragons. Does that sound a bit like Pokemon, that makes sense. But it’s a game with a fun theme and compared to some campaign games, it’s a campaign game that you can play true solo which is great for me.

6. Nova Aetas Renaissance

You’ll notice and probably already have noticed a trend of the videos that I share here. A ton of them are from Meet Me At the Table. A lot of these games I had already backed before they played them. But this is one that I tracked down because of the channel. I love the 3D nature of the experience for this game. And how, in one of the scenarios a house that is 3D can be taken apart and flattened. But there is more than that as well.

The story of the game is fun. It feels like it mixes up a few things from historical to make fantastical. And then it uses a fun mechanism for whose turn it is. You spend you action points and move around a time track. Whomever is at the end of the track is going to be who activates next. There are some other rules for it as well. So you can’t just stack up turn after turn after turn before the bad guys go, but it’s a fun element to the game.

5. Agemonia

Then we have Agemonia. This is a rare campaign game that I didn’t back right off the bat on crowdfunding. Or I should say a rare one that I looked into a lot and didn’t end up backing. This game seems to have a fun world and setting to play in and that’s some of what drew me in right away for it. But there were other elements that kept me coming back for it as well.

I liked how the maps were in books and that felt different. But also beyond that, as more places are doing that now, the world would change. You draw out a card after interacting with a point and cover it up. That might create a different point of interaction or it might be nothing to do there anymore. And the game play just seems simple enough to be easy to learn and play, but offer some solid choices in combat as well.

4. The Elder Scrolls

Next is another new one to come in. But it’s a fun theme that a lot of people are going to be drawn to. For me it’s less the theme and more that it’s a shorter campaign based off of the Too Many Bones system that I really am excited for.

If you’re not familiar with the system, you level up after missions. Or you can anyways. And as you spend your points to try and level up you get better or unlock new abilities. You can add to base stats, which can be good, or you can add to the specialty dice that you roll. And while this streamlines it a bit from what it was with Too Many Bones, I’m excited for it and the world that the game is set in certainly helps.

3. Middara

Now the top 4 are going to be ones that I really would love to play. Yes, you read that correctly, we’re on #3 and we have four games to go including this one. How is that, I couldn’t pick between my top two. But Middara is very safely into that group. And soon I’m going to be having more Middara come in. I say soon, I expect maybe this time next year.

But Middara is going to be a classic dungeon crawler with a ton of story and a ton of dice chucking. But I really like the theme and look of the game. You go to another world, chosen to go there kind of it’s weird to explain. But you are chucking dice to defeat monsters, level up and become awesome. But the whole aesthetic of the game gives me a really strong anime feel. I’ve heard that sometimes trips up the writing, but overall people really enjoy it. And to me that sounds exciting.

1c. Oathsworn

Next we have Oathsworn. And this, this is the three way tie for first place. Why did I not just remove the last game from the list, because I wanted to mention it too. Oathsworn is another boss battler game. But it is a game that is split into two parts. And that excites me about the game. You get a mystery or exploration phase where you experience a lot of story. And then you go beat up that boss. But if you do well on the story the boss maybe is easier.

And I really like the mechanisms in the game. I kept games that I’d really played off of the list. I did a short demo of this one two years ago at Gen Con and I adored it. There is this great card system where cards have to cool down before you can use them again. And then you decide how many dice you are going to roll, some are required, but the more you roll the more chances you to bust and miss, but the greater a hit could be. Or you could play it safer and draw cards, but eventually that deck of cards will run cold and do you switch to dice then?

1b. Primal: The Awakening

Next tied at the top is Primal: The Awakening. This one is another boss battler game. And this one I should probably get to the table sooner than some. A nice thing about Primal is that it doesn’t need to be a campaign, you can also play it as a one off. And that would definitely make it easier for me to get it to the table.

But this is a game that is all about the boss battle. There is a little story between scenarios and a chance to upgrade, but it’s not going to be nearly as much other stuff as just a pure battle. And the battle is different as well. You play on a tiny board with just four sides of the monster that you can be on. And depending the stance the monster is in, you need to be in specific spots to do damage. Add in card play for this which you can pull of powerful combos, that’s great. Of course, depending on what cards you play, you might trigger a lot of monster reactions.

1a. Arydia

And finally the most recent game to the campaign game collection. This one barely beat out Elder Scrolls for that title, we have Arydia. Arydia is another game that I passed on originally when it was on crowdfunding but then I went back and late pledged it. I just kept on being drawn into one part of the game.

The game is at three different levels. Now I don’t mean that you build stuff up on the table. I mean that you explore the world at three different levels. You explore at a high level where you get general encounters and interactions. Then you can dive down deeper and start to interact with specific characters or explore a location in more detail. Finally, you might then drop into combat which is tactical movement on a map. And that massiveness of the world really drew me to the game.

Final Thoughts

You might think that is enough. But there is going to be another list, probably tomorrow for games that I want to come back to or that are new editions or versions of games that I’ve already played as campaign games. I expect that is only going to make it to ten, but that’s a lot. And this list even didn’t include everything. The campaign in Solomon Kane could have made the list. And I know that I just didn’t see some games on the shelf that would have made sense for the list as well. And there are games that I likely missed too because I don’t think of them as campaign games.

What campaign games do you want to get played? And how do you find time to play them all? Or are you like me where you have more campaign games than you can play?

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Top 10 Anticipated Crowdfunding Games Arriving in 2025

10. Knitting Circle

This one is lower on the list because it’s not as much my type of game. But I could say that about the predecessor to the game, Calico as well. And I really like Calico. Now the two games are quite different, one is about quilting and one is about knitting. But beyond that, there are more differences as well as you are trying to complete various scarves and things like that in knitting circle to score the most points.

One element that I do like is that it is thematic to knitting. I’m not an expert when it comes to knitting so I’ll get it wrong, just from what I know it is thematic. And I appreciate too, that it lets you “mess up” as that is also thematic. Now that sounds slightly mean, but to miss a stich somewhere, that might happen, so this game has that as an element to it. I find that just fun and unique.

9. FLOE

FLOE was one that I hadn’t originally planned on backing. But when I watched The Brothers Murph play it, I knew it was a game that I was going to like. There is a bunch going on, worker placement, adventuring, and more to basically get resources and turn in those resources to improve what you can do and get points, if I’m not mistaken. What drew me in with it is the fun theme for it. And that idea of the adventure in the game. Plus the artwork adds to that as well.

8. Marvel Dice Throne: X-Men

It might surprise some people that a Dice Throne game is so low on the list. And honestly, I am very much anticipating this one. I love Dice Throne, it’s a top 10 game of all time for me, but because that, I own everything for it. And because I own everything for it, I’m anticipating it just a bit less than I would be some others. Also, I could just put down Dice Throne, I backed the new one as well, and I expect that’ll come out in 2025 as well.

But for the X-Men I’m just really excited for it for the characters. Yes, there is Deadpool, and I get why they added him as an extra character. He is going to be a wacky one to play, once in a while. But I’m way m ore interested in the other characters. And I think it’ll be obvious why, if you listen to 10 Minute Marvel, you know that I love Gambit and Rogue, so two the characters, and then Psylocke in there is a great character as well. Sure there is Wolverine, who I know a lot of people will love, but he’s lower on my list to play.

7. Super Squad High

Now another one that is a bit out there. But this one really drew me in for some reason. I think it’s because you can set most stories in a high school setting and no matter who it is, vampires, wizards, or superheroes, it’s going to make an interesting story. And then of course, this is a board game with that theme, which is interesting to me.

I also like that there are some interesting ideas behind it. Yes, you play as heroes trying to figure out which one of your classmates if the villain responsible for the crime wave, that makes sense. But you need to do things like still go to school with it, so you need to balance your time between schoolwork, fighting crime and your dating life, because there is a dating element to the game as well. I hope it’s a fun, silly, and thematic game.

6. Spire’s End: Rangitaki

The next game in the Spire’s End line, and you’ve seen my play Spire’s End and Spire’s End Hildegard on Malts and Meeples before. This is one that I like how the designer keeps on taking new stabs at choose your own adventure story games with some combat and other mechanisms in them. Plus the artwork on all the games are just amazing.

I think some of it too is the thematic world of the game. It’s very deep in this shared world that has been created across all of the games. I want to know more of what happened before, and while it seems like Spire’s End might be the finishing point, there is a lot of story that can be told as to how the world got there. And Hildegard does a good job of telling part of that story, so I’m hopeful that Rangitaki will continue to tell more and build on it.

5. Dragon Eclipse

Next up is the one Awaken Realms game on the list. I am tempted to put down Grimcoven as well, but I think that could sneak into the start of 2024, which is why I didn’t. Plus I am also very excited for Dragon Eclipse. And I know that it has started shipping out, the date says 2024, but I think it’s really a 2025 game. Maybe, if someone is lucky, it’ll show up in 2024, but I don’t know that is even possible.

This is a one to two player card battling game where you get dragons and battle them to capture more dragons. Does this sound a bit like Pokemon, it should. But you get to build up a deck of cards and use your dragons. And while it’s not a narrative driven game, there is some campaign element to it or story element to it for the thematic setting of the world. This is totally one I plan to stream on Malts and Meeples, when it comes in.

4. The Elder Scrolls: Betrayal of the Second Era

Chip Theory Games now almost always holds my interest. I like Burncycle and Too Many Bones from them a lot. And I want to get Cloudspire to the table, I’m just not sure when I will. So when they announced an Elder Scrolls game with the the Too Many Bones system, I was interested.

I am not a big Elder Scrolls gamer, so it is not completely the theme that drew me in. But as people spoke about it, they talked about how it took the Too Many Bones system and made it simpler. Plus there is a campaign element to it as well that I like. There is in Too Many Bones as well, but this one is going to show a bit more story around it I believe.

And from what I know the leveling up is going to be a bit more dynamic in how you do it. By that I mean that Too Many Bones you wanted to get base stats a lot. Here I think you can choose between base stats or abilities.

3. Witchbound

This is one that I got to demo at the very start of it. And I really like this game. It is a point and click adventure game about becoming a witch. I get a bit of Kiki’s Delivery Service, maybe a bit of 8-bit adventure games too. But it isn’t an 8-bit artwork game, the artwork in it is amazing actually. And there is a lot that you can interact with.

I think that some people are going to find this game too simple. You find numbers on the board and combine them with different lines of dialog or actions. That is about it, so you need to figure out the puzzles of how things work to succeed. There is combat, there are mini games of sorts, I believe, but it is mainly the setting. This world is vibrant and exciting to play in. And the theme that there were witches, but they are gone and you become one, it’s a fun story idea.

2. Arydia: The Paths We Dare Tread

Next up is one that I know I am going to get this year. It is on the ships now and reviewers are starting to get some early copies. This is a game that was long in the making. And it is actually one that I didn’t even back at the beginning on Kickstarter. I like the looks of the game and I did back then, but it was competing with a lot.

There is one particular element that brought me to backing the game. Or really, I think I should say that it is three. It is the fact that you play the game at three different levels. There is this bigger world map where you travel around for your adventure. Story happens there, but it’s kind of on this grander traveling level. Then you get down to a ton or something like that. And you interact with people and things like that there. But finally, you get down to a tactical battle level. You interact with movement and enemies and do the standard dungeon crawl. But the three together is great.

1. Rogue Angels

Finally, I have hope that it comes this year, but it’s been so anticipated for a long time. And it is one that I know the work is happening, so I’ve never had a concern that it might not happen. I left a game off the list that I want to get, but it’ll get here when/if it gets here. But Rogue Angels is an amazing story driven tactical space dungeon crawler. So of course it is the top on my list. And the story in the game is great. You can see my play it multiple times on Malts and Meeples as well.

One thing that I really like about it is how you play out actions. You put out cards and they have a cooldown on them. So if I use my great gun, it might mean that I now need to wait a few rounds before I can get it back. But I can also rest to move things down faster, but that means giving up an action when I could be doing something else.

I also like how the enemies activate. It is simple to do. But with that said, the enemies are not easy and you can easily get swarmed under if you stay in place too long. And I like that there are yellow and red enemies, so two different groups that will activate. Yellow then red and back and forth. But if you take out all of one color, the other is going to go at double speed, so you sometimes want to avoid taking out one group completely otherwise the other might just come in and wipe you out because they’ll arrive faster.

Final Thoughts

Like I said, there are more I could put on the list as well. I won’t go into them, but it’s one of those things, it’s tough to wait for the games. I feel like I should give a reminder here. Crowdfunding games will get there when and if they get there. Very few, I’d say this even wasn’t Mythic Games intent, companies go out of their way to screw over their backers. But it is like anything that requires creative ideas, it’s going to take time to get right and to get it to where the person wants it to be.

And for me, it’s doubly so with the games I back. I back games that are big with lots of story. So it might be a nice long time before they come out like Rogue Angels, Witchbound, which hasn’t been that long really, or Arydia: The Paths We Dare Tread.

What is the game that you anticipate most coming in from crowdfunding in 2024?

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Top 15 Board Games I’m Waiting On

15: Critter Kitchen

Based off of Flamecraft I am excited for Critter Kitchen. It is a very different game, but still it looks amazing. And I like the food theme, the idea that you’re basically chefs trying to impress critics is a fun theme. I feel like there is a bit more going on in this game than Flamecraft, so what is keeping it lower on the list is I want to know the weight and accessibility of it, because the artwork is amazing and very welcoming.

14. The Fellowship of the Ring: Trick-Taking Game

This one is very new to the list as in that I preordered it this week. But it’s Lord of the Rings, a theme that I love. But there is way more that I love about this game than just that, or at least the theory of it. It sounds like you play cooperatively through The Fellowship of the Ring in various missions. So cooperative, trick-taking, and scenarios with a theme I love, I’m all in.

13. Tidal Blades 2: Rise of the Unfolders

Now one that I’ve been waiting on for quite a while. Tidal Blades 2: Rise of the Unfolders is why I got Tidal Blades, a game that I still need to play. The first one interests me a fair amount, I like the idea of leveling up and improving your dice. But the second one, well, it’s a dungeon crawler and we know I love dungeon crawlers. Plus scenario/campaign based and some interesting sounding mechanisms. Especially around turns where you slowly build up what you can do, then after a real powerful turn it resets and you repeat the process.

12. Marvel United: Multiverse

Next up is just more Marvel United. I love all the stuff for the Marvel United board games. Multiverse is going to give me more stuff. So why wouldn’t I want to play with more stuff for the game. Especially since it’s so easy to get to the table.

11. Wandering Galaxy: A Crossroads Game

I need to play the other board games in this line. They are all really different themes, but they all sound like a ton of fun. this one is going to be about space explorers, mercenaries, whatever it might be. And you play them along missions and scenarios in a big adventure. I just like the fact that it’s this crossroads system, the best part of Dead of Winter. I like making choices and maybe not them impacting the whole game, but being meaningful in terms of flavor.

10. Werewolf: The Apocalypse – RETALIATION

This one is on the list because I’m enjoying Vampire the Masquerade: Chapters a lot. Yes, they are different games, but both promise narrative and living in the Edge of Darkness world. So I want to experience more of that. And while there is a ton of stuff about vampires, I feel like werewolves need more, so the theme is even better for me.

9. Marvel Dice Throne: X-Men

Much like Marvel United, Marvel Dice Throne: X-Men is just more stuff. It’s been a bit since I played Dice Throne, but I’m ready to battle it out again in this dice chucking battle yahtzee with unique powers.

8. Stonesaga

Stonesaga is high on the list as a persistent game that sounds really fun to me. And I know that I like the start of it. Though, I’ve done the tutorial enough times that I’m ready to see more. But I like everything going on in the game and the fun minigames within the bigger game. And it’s set well before technology really of any sort, so I love the discovery aspect and process to the game.

7. Metal Gear Solid: The Board Game

Another one that I’ve played, this one I’m still waiting patiently for after playing it about a year ago at CMON Expo. I love this game, I love that it’s a combat game, but not always a combat game. Sometimes you just want to sneak around because when the guards know where you are at they’ll all rush you. And I got to play it in the standalone mode, but I want to try the short campaign in it as well.

6. Arydia: The Paths We Dare Tread

A big campaign game, and there are a few on the list at this point and a few more to come. I love my big campaign board games. Arydia though sounds so interesting to me. Mainly because it plays over three different levels. There is this largest level that is the world, well not full world but let’s say lands that you traverse over. Then you go down to a more focused area, maybe a big camp or a town. Then you can get down to tactical dungeon crawl as you go. The whole idea just sounds amazing and I want to see how it executes.

5. Castle Combo

Another one that hit the list a couple of days ago. Castle Combo is one that I’m playing on BGA (Board Game Arena) right now and I really love it. It’s a simple game where you build out a three by three grid of cards. You spend coins to buy the cards which give you an immediate bonus, probably more coins and then a scoring. And you just want to get the best scoring from the cards you can buy. Simple but a ton of fun.

4. The Witcher: Path of Destiny

I need to play my other Witcher game, but The Witcher: Path of Destiny is still really exciting for me. I like The Witcher a lot as a setting. This is one that I kind of wish was cooperative, but also I get it, all the characters really have their own thing that they are doing. But it’s about building your most iconic and exciting story in the Witcher world, and that sounds like fun. But it’s not really a storytelling game, it’s more about completing challenges to gain those stories.

3. Witchbound

Witchbound is one that I stumbled across two years ago and I’m excited for when it will be coming. The hope is that it would be really fast turn around, it wasn’t. But that is because it needed to be translated into other languages. But it’s basically a point and click adventure as a board game. I find that fun and the artwork is great and the story is great. Solo only game and one that I’m excited to show off when it comes in.

2. Mistborn Deckbuilding Game

Another one that I’ve played, Mistborn Deckbuilding Game is one that I got to play at Gen Con and it’s great. I love the ramping nature of the game, I love the thematic nature of the game. And the game play is so fast. It’s not that the game is too short, it’s more that the game moves along quickly and you feel like you do something each turn. And burning the metals is a great thematic element that works well to separate it from other deckbuilding games.

1. Rogue Angels: Legacy of the Burning Suns

My number one for anticipated board games, as it has been for a while, is Rogue Angels. I’m still so excited for this game, and I’m tempted to reset my prototype copy and play it again. The story is a blast, the game play is easy to follow. And I really like the cooldown system for actions and the flow that everything moves with. The late pledges are still open on this one so if you’re looking for a cooperative campaign game, I highly recommend this one.

Which Is Most Interesting To You?

Let me know which of these board games you are excited in, if you’ve backed or preordered any of them. There are so many good games coming out, it’s hard to keep up on playing everything. So like I said, I’m taking a hiatus from buying just so that I can play more of the games that I already have. Because there are a lot of games that I want to play more or ones that I want to get to the table for the first time.

And when these games come in, I’m going to want to get them to the table as quickly as I can. Though, some of them being bigger games or campaign games, those might take longer to hit the table. But when Witchbound comes in, as long as I’m not streaming another cooperative/solo campaign, it’d going to get started because of how simple it is to get to the table. But now just to wait on those board games and play the ones that I have.

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Top 5 Anticipated Backed Gamefound Projects

5. Witchbound

Let’s start out with what is going to be a game that I stream. Witchbound is a light game with a click and choose adventure to it as you combine items to pass tests, read story and explore maps. But you see everything on the map so you can just try and go anywhere or do anything.

But the game play, while very simple, is a ton of fun. It’s really cool to just explore a world, not worry about a ton of difficult skill checks, more just figure out what you need to do to succeed. I’m hoping that the artwork and story are progressing well and that the game when I get it will be as good as the demo I played.

4. DANTE: Inferno

Inferno is another big game, and that is going to be common the this list and the Kickstarter one. I expect I won’t see DANTE: Inferno for a while as it was just crowdfunded this year. But what I saw from it I really liked. From the makers of Chronicles of Drunagor, this game is quite different. It is more of a bass battler versus a campaign dungeon crawler. I like the sound of that, though. It is still a campaign and you make choices for the adventure, but your combat is against a boss. The Dice Tower and others have playthroughs that really drew me into how the game works and how dynamic the actions can be.

3. Dragon Eclipse

Now from Awaken Realms, and is this the only one from them, though there’ll be one (maybe two) on the list of upcoming projects. Dragon Eclipse is supposed to feel some like a CCG/TCG and some like Pokemon (which is a CCG/TCG) but with a dragon theme. It looks really fun and the aesthetic works for me. That is true with basically everything that Awaken Realms does. I’m even considering the deluxe version of Castles of Burgundy, a euro game. But I haven’t said much about this one, just that I know that I’m excited for it.

2. Planet Unknown Supermoon

Another one that I don’t remember a ton about, except this one I know the game well. Planet Unknown is an amazing tile placement game of terraforming a planet and going up on tracks. The Supermoon expansion adds some moons you can terraform instead but doesn’t change up the game that much.

Now that I’m thinking about it, it is way to long since I played this game. I want to get it to the table again soon because the experience is just a lot of fun. And this is going to add more to the box without adding more to the game. And I get a cover for the lazy Susan that holds the tiles, which is going to be amazing.

1. The Elder Scrolls: Betrayal of the Second Era

Finally we have The Elder Scrolls from Chip Theory Games. This is a new game but leverages their Too Many Bones system. I like that system and I like Too Many Bones, but the aesthetic isn’t my favorite. Here is a setting and aesthetic that I am going to enjoy more. And it does offer a bit of a campaign. Though, I think the campaign is more of some stories that you can string together to give you that short campaign and levelling experience. It isn’t a long 100 hour game or something like that which in theory should make it hit he table easier.

Honorable Mention

I got one of course, it’s common at this point. But Arydia: The Paths We Dare Tread is a tricky one to place for me. I late pledged it through Gamefound, so I am putting it here. This is a big campaign game, which I know is a shocker. But I can’t wait for this one because it plays on three different levels. You play on a story map, that then you can drill into settlements and things like that, and then you go into a house and it can be a dungeon crawler. It is a long sentence to say that. I like that idea and just looking at playthroughs, I can’t see how it won’t be for me.

Final Thoughts

So what have you backed on Gamefound? Again, I can certainly do more than just five, but I wanted to limit it some. I’m going to sneak a couple more in here, but the CMON God of War game that I am excited for. There is Robomon, a robot Pokemon collector sort of game and adventure. I know that one has had a bunch of changes, so I’m tentatively excited for it. Oh, and lest I forget, The Witcher: Path of Destiny. I need more shelf space.

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Top 10 Crowdfunding Project To Be Delivered

10 – Mythwind

This one is such a weird one. I can see myself not liking this game. It’s Stardew Valley the board game, which is not something that I thought I’d want. More so than the actual Stardew Valley game which gives you and end game condition. But Mythwind from Open Own Studios (formerly OOMM Games) promises that, a game where you can just build everything. Like I said, this might not be for me, but I am very curious and want to try.

9 – Tainted Grail: Kings of Ruin

On the flip side of Mythwind, Tainted Grail: Kings of Ruin is a game for me. I already know that I like the system. And Kings of Ruin tries to take the things that people didn’t like, the grind, the keeping the Menhir lit, and make the game more streamlined for the story.

My little soapbox time. People are complaining about the grind and how hard it is to survive. The Story Mode takes care of most of that, extra house rules put in place show that people didn’t pay attention to what they were backing. Tainted Grail promised a hard campaign with attrition and grinding from day one. To complain about a game delivering on what it promised feels like a miss on the players behalf not the companies or the game as the complaints seem to say.

But back to Kings of Ruin. It’s more of a game and a system that I really love. I’m wrapping up the third campaign soon, and I want to know what story the are going to come with. Because story in this game is always so good.

8 – Agemonia

Agemonia is one that I late pledged. I couldn’t quite bring myself to pull the trigger when it was on Kickstarter (I believe), but late pledge got me. This is an adventure game with a lot of story and a campaign to it. Alex Radcliffe from BoardGameCo has a good video showing it off.

There are a couple of things that drew me towards it. Firstly it doesn’t seem to be as heavy as a lot of campaign games. As you might know from watching Malts and Meeples, I appreciate that. But also, I like the card system. It’s a nice system that in these specific scenarios changes up the board. So the world is dynamic as you spend time doing things.

7 – Stonesaga

The most recent one on the list and yes I am a bit biased knowing one of the people who worked on this game. But I’m still excited for it. It’s a nice system as you build out your stone age civilization. And the game does some fun things. There are a lot of mini games, they are fun. And there are some good decision making points which work nicely as well. Stonesaga is a legacy game, so know that about it, some elements will get used, but it’s not a single use legacy game.

6 – Robomon

Robot Pokemon is what Robomon showed off. A solo or two player adventure game, you go around capture and upgrade your Robomon. Sound a lot like Pokemon, it should. But there is never going to be a Pokemon game like this, I think, due to licensing. So Robomon looks like it will offer a lot of story and adventure in an interesting world. I like the idea that this is a very open world system.

5 – Sleeping Gods: Distant Skies

Sleeping Gods is a game that I know a lot about. And I had a few minor issues (as well as a mistake in how I played it) that I thought would make the game more fun. Now, I’m not sure my mistake got changed, but my minor issue did in Sleeping Gods: Distant Skies. It is like Tainted Grail: Kings of Ruin in that it took what players knew and used the feedback to improve it. So I’m excited to get this one in and see what new adventure awaits.

4 – Witchbound

Witchbound is the second newest on the list, from this year. And it might be one of the earlier to come in from these games if the creator can keep up their frenetic pace on turning out new story and artwork. But Witchbound is a point and click adventure of a board game with RPG elements. It’s what I would call a relaxing solo story game. You don’t need to hold a ton of rules in your head, so I am excited to dive into the whole thing.

3 – Primal: The Awakening

From one of the shortest to one of the longest, we have Primal: The Awakening. A monster hunting board game that can be played in a one off or as a campaign. I can’t wait to get this one in, and while it has been outstanding for a long time, they do provide updates. I am very interested in the deck construction and combat mechanics of the game. How they created such a small grid and still gave an interesting game and game play.

2 – Arydia: The Paths We Dare Tread

Arydia is another late pledged board game. This is one where I couldn’t get it out of my mind, so I decided I wanted to get in on it still. Arydia is an interesting game in how it works on three levels. And I mean three types of maps. Firstly, you play on a world map traveling around. Then you have local maps, general areas that you explore and interact with people and points of interest there. Finally you get down to the tactical battle map.

That three levels of game play is just unique. And while a lot of games do these things separately, or at least two of them separately, Arydia more seamlessly moves between them. That is really interesting. Plus the game itself is just a big epic adventure game.

1 – Vampire: The Masquerade – Chapter

And finally at number one, we have a big epic adventure game. One that I saw game play of ages ago, and it is still so high on my list. I don’t know much about the World of Darkness RPG stuff that has Vampire The Masquerade in it, but I know I’m excited for this game. You can see some game play below.

That is just the prototype and there is a lot game and story in there. There’s even more with the game that is coming through Kickstarter. I like the different levels, again, how you get your main story through just story elements and a few decision points. But then you get to that tactical map, there is still more story and you can pick how to interact. But it’s really well done and it looks like a lot of vampire intrigue in the final box.

Final Thoughts

There are so many games that I am waiting on that just missed. The Chip Theory Elder Scrolls game, Tidal Blades 2 the dungeon crawler. Slay the Spire is up there, HEL: The Last Saga which I still hope to get. The Dark Quarter, a vampire mystery game. Divinius a legacy game or Arkeis an Egyptian themed legacy adventure game.

Like I said there are a ton of games. And I am going through my collection to get rid of games to make room for them. But all of these I want to see what they are like, and so many of them I hope are great solo games. So over the next two to three years, look forward with me for these games to come in and get a chance to explore them.

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Top 10 Board Games I’m Excited To Get in 2023

10. Fliptown

Now this one is kind of outside the type of game that I tend to back on crowdfunding, but it is one that I’m anticipating. It’s a small roll and write game, or flip and write, where it’s set in the wild west and you are flipping cards and using them in different ways. And that’s what intrigues me so much about it. It’s like Welcome To… in some ways where you use multiple cards each turn. But it offers, what appears to be more options and very interesting options in the game. Plus it looks pretty from what I saw on Kickstarter.

9. HEL: The Last Saga

I’m not sure where I want to place this one on the list. Mythic Games is going through some rough times financially. And I do believe their commitment to getting this game out, but it’s also late. In terms of the game, though, it’s a cooperative campaign game and a Viking saga. So two things that I like. And I’m confident that I’ll enjoy it when it does come, I just hope that the extra time and struggle turn out a great game and get Mythic Games going strong again. Because I really enjoy the games that Mythic has made.

8. Mythwind

This is one that I have no idea how it will be. But it’s from OOMM Games and I own Stars of Akarios which I love from them. Mythwind is supposed to just be a game that you can keep playing and playing and playing. There is no end, like a Stardew Valley. There might be new stuff that come up and stuff that you can build up, but there’s no hard stop win condition. Will I like a game like that? I don’t know. Will a game like that even work? I don’t know. But I’m hoping it’s a relaxing game to play that I can set-up and just enjoy.

7. RoboMon

I went back and forth on backing this one for a long time before I decided to late pledge it. It’s a solo game that sounds like it should be like Pokemon, but with robots. I never was into Pokemon all that much, came about just a little bit too late for me, and my money was going to baseball cards at that time. RoboMon looks like a nice cooperative game though, and I enjoy the artwork. I hope that it’s a simple campaign game that I can mess around with and show off. And if it’s that, and I can get some good fun out of it, I’ll be excited for that, because I want more smaller solo games.

6. Arydia: The Paths We Dare Tread

I late pledged this one as well, and this is not a small game. But it is a game that does something that I find really intriguing. It has you play the game at a few different levels. Oh, I should say, epic, big campaign game. But you do one level that’s a country, let’s say, then dive down into moving around in a city, and then dive down into street tactical combat.

All of that in the same game, and I’m excited to see how that works and how easy it is to play it. I’m worried it might end up like Chronicles of Drunagor, a game I love, but that is harder to table. But Arydia seems to have a ton of cool ideas.

5. 20 Strong

A solo game from Chip Theory Games, I’m interested. I’ve enjoyed the Chip Theory stuff I’ve played a lot. And 20 Strong is a whole new setting, so I’m curious about what that will look like. Plus it’s a whole new game system, it uses dice and has a chip, but it’s not like Too Many Bones. And it is only meant to be played solo as well as meant to be a much smaller game and easier to get to the table than a lot of their big ones. Plus they’ve done games in a new setting, space setting, plus versions with two of their existing settings as well.

4. The Isofarian Guard

Another solo campaign game. You might see a theme that a lot of these games can be played solo and are campaigns. Isofarian Guard is one that’s been on my radar for a long time since I watched a Rolling Solo preview for it and I didn’t back it then. I did late pledge it as BoardGameCo and Quackalope did some coverage. I saw that it was still what had intrigued me, this story element and bag building, all at a price that is insanely low for everything in there now.

That price point got me, plus it’s so much story and in a world that looks like it has so much development. It was so cheap to buy and late pledge that I wouldn’t even complain if they came back asking for more. I hope they don’t, but it’d be reasonable. I’m excited to see what the game is in the end.

3. Vampire the Masquerade: CHAPTERS

Another one that I can blame Quackalope for. This is a massive choose your own adventure game set in a world where there are vampires and they try and influence from the shadows. There are a ton of chapters and story to this game. The whole setting sounds great to me, and I like that it’s not just vampires sucking blood and violence. Instead, this game has combat that you can get down to, but also has a lot of interactions and story behind it.

Is it another big campaign game that I can play solo, yes it is, but I hope it’s one that stands out from the crowd, and everything I’ve seen says that it should. And I hope that all the work they’ve put into the story, as there is a lot of story, turns out an amazing game.

2. Sleeping Gods: Distant Skies

I love Sleeping Gods. I get rules wrong in my playthrough, but I still just love the game. In fact, I’d play it the way that I did, it makes it easier, but you get to experience so much story in the game. And Sleeping Gods: Distant Skies takes that system an iterates on it. I’m curious to see how the combat changes up in it.

And I know it fixes or not really fixes, but matches one thing that I did. You keep cards when you hit those big story points, it didn’t thematically make sense to lose them, so I’m glad that has changed. Another solo adventure game, or multiplayer, but this time without that big campaign element to it.

1. Frosthaven

Finally, yes, it’s probably coming in a month or less, I have Frosthaven. The big sequel to Gloomhaven that adds a little bit, a town phase, and then it’s just Gloomhaven combat. From what I’ve heard and know about it, it’s even bigger, the story sounds better, and there are more elements to the game. Will it be too much, probably and probably not, and I’ll enjoy every minute of it. So yes, I’m very excited to wrap up my current campaign game and then get to Frosthaven.

But What About…

There are a number of games that I wanted to put on this list. Tainted Grail: Kings of Ruin, Primal: The Awakening, Unsettled, The Witcher: Old World, Divinus, 7^th Citadel, and Astro Knights just to name a few. If I’ve got it pre-ordered or backed right now, I expect almost all of them to show up in 2023. And, well, I could have just ranked them all, but it was fun to pick out 10 that I’m very excited for, for various reasons. And I’m sure when a lot of them come in, you’ll see them on Malts and Meeples.

What backed game do you have, or pre-ordered, that you can’t wait to have come in?

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Top 10 Campaign Games

10 – Marvel Champions: The Mad Titan’s Shadow

I had to put one of the campaign boxes onto this list for Marvel Champions. There are a number of them, a Spider-Man one, a Red Skull one, Guardians of the Galaxy, soon to be Mutants as well. But I went with The Mad Titan’s Shadow just because that box feels the most epic. And I can take anyone into that one and it makes sense thematically.

I’ve heard that these are lighter campaigns which is not a bad thing. It means that I could and maybe will, set it up sometime and just play it over a few evenings. And you know I’m going to be running Thor up against them, or maybe Doctor Strange. There are enough characters know that it might actually be a tricky decision.

9 – Massive Darkness 2

I picked this one up because it did have a campaign. And I want to get it to the table, at least for scenarios fairly soon. I like that you level up a lot in this game, and the minis are cool, the classes are cool, the weapons are cool.

Plus, this is also a lighter game. You don’t need to know nearly as much how to play it as some of the other games on the list. That means that even if I don’t play it as a campaign soon, it’s probably one I can sit down and knock out a scenario with some friends easily in an evening.

8 – Reichbusters: Projekt Vril

One that I also need to sort some more, which is why I haven’t played it yet. Reichbusters came out with an errata pack for improved card wording and rules. But because that was coming, I waited on playing it. Now I own it and, well, I need to sort the cards in.

This is going to be a game of sneaking into enemy base and trying to stop their experiments. Think kind of Howling Commandos vs Hydra, if I were to take it over to Marvel. There are crazy experiments going on, and monsters you need to fight. But every mission has an objective and if you’re too noisy, well, things are going to go sideways for you fast and you’ll get swarmed. So it’s not a guns blazing game, which I think sounds interesting.

7 – Betrayal Legacy

I did put a few legacy games on the list. Legacy games are campaign games too, and it surprised me a little bit, but the one at the bottom of that is Betrayal Legacy. I love Betrayal at House on the Hill, even with it’s wonky scenarios and problems with sometimes the traitor being too strong, sometimes the other characters. And I want to see what the legacy one has to offer.

I am really curious about the legacy aspect of it. You play as a family versus a character coming back generation after generation. I want to know how that plays out in the game. I think it could offer some cool game options and ways to progress and tell a bit story.

6 – Descent: Legends of the Dark

Moving back to just a campaign game, we have Descent: Legends of the Dark from Fantasy Flight Games. This is going to be their Descent, but not third edition, game, of exploring tiles, fighting monsters, and interacting on the map.

Like a lot of bigger Fantasy Flight games in recent history, Mansions of Madness, Journeys in Middle-Earth, and Star Wars: Imperial Assault, there is an app piece. I like it for this game, it was a bit much in Journeys in Middle-Earth, but in Descent it offers some fog of war. It is in that category of games like Massive Darkness 2 for me. It looks like a blast to play as a fun dice chucking game.

5 – Folklore: The Affliction

Now moving into another bigger game, and I think the top 5, with the exception of the legacy ones, are the heaviest of the campaign games that I own, at least right now. Of course there are more coming in. But Folklore: The Affliction is going to be a game that borrows a lot from pen and paper RPG’s. You roll more than a standard six sided die. And that is intriguing to me.

Plus, I like that it’s a darker setting. I don’t need all my fantasy to be grim and dark, but sometimes that is what I want. And since I always am the Dungeon Master for D&D, I believe that it’ll give me that RPG feel without me needing to be in charge of everything. Though, if I paly it solo, I will be, but I’ll be doing the same thing as the players.

4 – Aeon’s End: Legacy of Gravehold

Another Legacy game and this one just came in from Indie Boards & Cards. I played through the first Aeon’s End Legacy on stream. And I had a blast with that game. Plus, just in general I really like Aeon’s End, so much so that I keep on backing and tracking down everything for it.

Legacy of Gravehold is going to be another legacy campaign. Where I knew a little bit of the campaign for the original Aeon’s End Legacy, I know nothing about the story this time. I just know that the box is bigger and heavier. That probably means more cards, but I’m hoping for more story as well.

3 – Clank! Legacy

And the other legacy game is Clank! Legacy. This one is higher for me just because I want to play it with some friends. I love the Acquisitions Inc theme on it as their game play is hilarious. And I suspect that the humor in the game will be great as well. Plus, I like the system that it is built upon. I prefer Clank! In! Space! to Clank I think, but the legacy version with the fantasy theme, I’m still there for it.

This is a deck building push your luck game. You are going into it trying to complete missions and get treasures. And it’s competitive in that you are trying to be the best so that you can end up with the franchise within Acquisitions Inc. I have to imagine that the whole of the story is going to be goofy, and it sounds like there is a lot to unlock so that is exciting as well.

2 -Middara: Unintentional Malum

A huge box with two more huge boxes on the way. I give that as my excuse for not getting it to the table sooner, I want Acts II and III to show up as well. But really, it’s just such a table hog and such a big game, I am not sure that I want to play it solo, but I really do want to play it.

Middara has more of an anime style to it’s game look. The artwork, and from what I can tell, the world building and story look fairly anime. It is going to be a leveling up, dice chunking, monster fighting, dungeon crawling game. And I think it’s going to be one that I find to be a lot of fun to get to the table and play. But like I said, I suspect the game would work best with four players, or two players controlling two characters each.

1 – Stars of Akarios

Call me cult of the new if you want, and it’d be fair in this case. But I am excited to plays Stars of Akarios. This is a big space exploration and adventure game. What really intrigues me is how it is split into two parts. There is that space exploration and then you can be down on an planet as well. That is intriguing.

It also looks like it uses a combination of cards for modifying your attacks and things but also uses dice. And just the production quality on the game is great. While it is a big game, compared to some of the others, it looks like it should be easier to play solo. And I want to get it to the table and play it on Malts and Meeples.

Final Thoughts

I say this almost any time I talk about a campaign game. And I feel like I can redo this list in different ways pretty often. But I have a lot of them coming in. 15 more campaign games in fact, which is a lot. Now some can be played as more of a one off situation such as Primal: The Awakening. Otherwise might be smaller sit down and play a campaign of it in a sitting, Spire’s End: Hildegard. But most of them are going to be much much bigger than that.

Just to show everything that is coming, and there is a lot, in alphabetical order, we have:

1. The 7th Citadel
2. Arydia: The Paths We Dare Tread
3. Chronicles of Drunagor
4. Divinus
5. Ehterfields
6. Frosthaven
7. HEL: The Last Saga
8. ISS Vanguard
9. Mythwind
10. Oathsworn: Into the Deepwood
11. Primal: The Awakening
12. Sleeping Gods: Distant Skies
13. Spire’s End: Hildegard
14. Valor & Villainy: Lludwik’s Labyrinth
15. Vampire: The Masquerade – Chapters

What campaign games do you own, if any, that you want to get played?

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Miniature Market Orders

Yes, it is plural. Though two of them are closely tied together. And the latest one was because they had a very nice sale for the 4th of July week, or the week leading into it.

Massive Darkness and Expansions

This one you’ve already seen on the website because I did an unboxing of it on Malts and Meeples. You can checkout that video below. I didn’t get this one on Kickstarter but I was very interested in it. Any game with a campaign mode is going to interest me. Plus this is generally a pretty well rated game, even the original version. So it is one that has been on my radar for a little while. And I want everything for it, but I know I don’t need it. So I got two character expansions and then the core box and the campaign box because of course I want a campaign game.

Fireball Island: Wreck of the Crimson Cutlass and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Bees

This is part of the sale. I want to say that they were 33-50% off so a good amount. And this is just going to add in more content for Fireball Island. The Wreck of the Crimson Cutlass actually adds to the board this ship wreck area that is cool. And the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Bees is an expansion that adds a tiger that you launch as well as then a lot of bee marbles.

Once it is in, I am going to make it a priority to table Fireball Island. I think it’s going to be a fun one for a number of groups. Plus it looks great on the table and is a simple enough game for almost any group. That combination is always a good way to get a game played.

The Quacks of Quedlinburg: Herb Witches

I enjoy The Quacks of Quedlinburg a good amount, I think that the game play is simple and fun. And while you can plan, you are really just pushing your luck, which is fun. I do think that out of the box, since they want you to play specific combinations, it might end up being a bit limited. That is where the Herb Witches expansion comes in.

The Herb Witches is going to be an expansion that adds in two more ingredients, I believe, that you can use, plus more scoring combinations. And while the new ingredients will change up the game play. I don’t know how much I really need more of those. But more ways to score is interesting to me.

All Systems Go

All Systems Go, as a reminder, is my preferred FLGS (Friendly Local Game Store) though not the only one that I go to, as you’ll see. But I currently have had a bunch of store credit there, so it is a good spot to get some games.

Pathfinder Adventure Card Game

You know that I am playing the 2nd edition over on Malts and Meeples. But while I am getting into that, I bought up the first edition stuff. Someone had traded in the Mummy core box and the Wrath core box, including the Wrath with all the story expansions for it. So I grabbed that to go along with my Skulls and Shackles core box. Now I have basically all of the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game that is out there. There is a 2nd Edition expansion that I kind of want to get.

Ra

Ra is a game that flirts with my Top 100 often. Why, because it’s such a simple game but with a good auctioning mechanic. I really like how there is a closed market and a loop to it. I bid, I win the bid, I get the bid token in the middle, mine goes into the middle. So if I bid with the 16, I think that’s the highest, now the next person to win a big will end up with a 16 to use the next round. It’s clever and it works well.

Zoo-ography

This is one that I don’t know too much about. It plays from 1-4 players and 15 minutes per player. So the game is going to be on the lighter end of things. But it looks like it comes with a lot of cool animal meeples, always a good thing. And it is a drafting game. I really enjoy drafting, see games like Draftosaurus, Sushi Go! Party, or drafting in Blood Rage. So this one with a lot of cute components really interested me.

New York Zoo

And sticking to the zoo theme and animal meeples, we have New York Zoo. This is a polyominal game where you are getting tiles to put into your zoo. Then getting animals and breeding more animals until you get enough to put in attractions. It seems like a pretty straightforward game like Zoo-ography, but one that will also get played. Plus much like drafting, I enjoy tile placement, and New York Zoo seems like a fun theme for that mechanic.

Target

So, every July, at some point in the month, Target rolls out some Target exclusive games. Most notably in that was Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion a few years ago and then Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition last year. I don’t know when that is happening this year or what the games are. But I do know that they often do clearance on games right before. So I picked up one new, and one clearance.

My Hero Academia: Plus Ultra!

I don’t actually know anything about this game. My Hero Academia is an anime that I enjoy but I struggle to watch consistently. Mainly the main character gets way to emotional way to often. But when they have action sequences it is good. Plus there is a really good story with it. I don’t know if this board game is going to be good. It looks like it just came out, but I figured I’d give it a whirl just for the theme.

Summer Camp

And from the clearance side of things there is Summer Camp. This is a deck building game about Summer Camp, oddly enough. You are trying to go up on three different tracks. From what I know of this game, it is a pretty light game but I figured I’d give it a go. Plus it was 50% off, so the price wasn’t bad at all.

The Source

This is the other local game store. But really it’s games, comics, manga, nerdy things store. And I mainly go there to pick up manga, which I’ll be writing sometime soon about the ones that I’m reading.

Dungeon Party: Starter Pack

This is a dungeon questing, monster fighting board game where you are bouncing a quarter onto a coaster. It is purely silly but I am down for that. I might even work it into my Thursday D&D game. Make that be part of what we are doing for fighting a monster this week. Bring the characters to another dimension or something like that. I haven’t worked it all out.

But this is a game that I want to own just for the goofy nature. You probably know by now that I like my dexterity games. And I’d love to find an evening to just have some beers and play this game coming up here. I think it’ll provide a lot of laughs and a good time.

Half Priced Books

HPB is a book store mainly for used books. I’ve picked up some fun series there. And they have a game section. That is where I’ve gotten games like Tannhauser before. This time only one game caught my eye.

Periodic

This is going to be a game about the Periodic table. I know of someone who might like the game better, they have Genotype as well from Genius Games. I’ve heard good things about Periodic, so when was used there, I figured that I’d grab it. I’m not sure it’s a game for me, but we’ll see. And like I said, I think I know someone who would like the game if it isn’t for me.

eBay

Stars of Akarios

I blame the GloryHoundd discord server for this. You can join me on that discord server here. But one of their members found it on eBay with a listing that had a number of the game as a slightly better price than going through the store.

But Stars of Akarios is going to be a game of fighting and exploring on the fringes of space. But it hits so many of the words that I look for in a game. This is a narrative-driven, cooperative, campaign game that can be plays solo. I don’t know why I missed this one on Kickstarter, but I’m glad to have grabbed it now.

Amazon

Yup, Amazon has gotten a little love too. Mainly I’ll toss on a cheap game from time to time. Or sometimes Amazon is the only spot I can find something.

Skull and Shackles Expansions

This is again more Pathfinder Adventure Card game stuff. The story expansions and I think two character expansions for Skulls and Shackles. The name might not imply it, but this is the pirate base game for Pathfinder Adventure Card Game. And that is a theme that I really like. So I am curious to see how they will make that game and story work. I always want to run a pirate D&D campaign, maybe this will inspire me.

Crowdfunding

Marvel Dice Throne

This is one that came in. And it’s already gotten to the table 3 times. The downside of it being 3 times is that I still have two characters I need to play. Black Panther and Captain Marvel are waiting for their shot in the sun. I’ll have a whole lot more on this probably around the end of the week.

Arydia: The Paths We Dare Tread

This is one that I just late pledged. My curiosity for the game got the better of me. I again, am a sucker for a cooperative, solo playable, narrative-driven campaign game. And Arydia promises that for me, plus some cool minis that you can customize.

Overall, this is just one of those big box games that I’m going to have to start playing as a campaign. I really want to figure out some game to play as a campaign on my own, not stream. Or maybe one that my wife is interested in, and do that once a week just for a little time. I have half of the gaming table that should be free to play on a lot of the time.

Aeon’s End: Past and Future

More Aeon’s End, I am of course going to back this. It is an interesting project though, and it is available for late pledge. But Aeon’s End Past and Future is not a big box expansion like they normally do. Normally it is the next part of the story that they are going through. This actually goes back to the past and looks to the future and you need specific sets already to be able to play it. Of course it’s mainly just more content, so I am down for that.

Deathly Thrones

Deathly Thrones is the only print and play game on the list. This one is interesting, though because it’s not a roll and write game. It’s a solo print and play roguelike game where you use a deck of cards. I didn’t look into it too much, again it is one that was shared to me via the GloryHoundd Discord server. But I think it looks really interesting and unique. If it can pull off a fun game, I could see having this a smaller sized game to pull out and play.

GameNerdz

I said it was a big list and a lot of it is that it has been a while since I’ve done one of these. I don’t believe that I’ve written about this one.

Vampire the Masquerade – Chapters

This is another one of those games where I wish that I’d backed it on Kickstarter. The Kickstarter hasn’t even fulfilled yet and the regret got me, especially since I found it too late to late pledge. Or found it again too late to late pledge. This is going to be another one of those big story driven cooperative solo campaign games set in the world of Vampire the Masquerade.

What intrigues me so much about this one is that it has story and the story from Vampire the Masquerade where it isn’t just vampires chomping necks and sucking blood. But there’s this whole code of what you do. And then you get down to a tactical level map where you can interactions with people and battles that happen which is really interesting. I like that variety in what it does.

GameZenter

Another LGS (local game store) to go along with All Systems Go and The Source. All of them are very nice, I am lucky to have so many around me. And I like to buy something every time I go somewhere and play. And the GameZenter is my favorite spot to play out of the two that you can play at, GameZenter and The Source.

Spirit Island

Spirit Island is a game that I should have played sooner. And in all fairness I have yet to play it now. But it is a cooperative or solo game that has great puzzle elements to it. And it’s complex enough in what your spirit is doing to fight off the colonizers that are coming to the island. So I really want to give it a go and see how it plays. I suspect it’s going to be a game that is bigger that I really like to play solo or at two players.

Final Thoughts

That’s it, I think, that I haven’t talked about. It’s been a busy time getting in games, or getting them in soon. I need to start playing them. But I am close, still to that 100 game total which I wanted to get under for unplayed games. Granted, that number will go up a bit again soon with a few more big box games coming in. I know that Oathsworn is getting close, so I’m sure I’ll write about that in the next Point of Order.

And then other Kickstarters and Gamefound games are starting to get produced. There is a production copy that was unboxed for ISS Vanguard, so I expect that to show up October or November. And Grove is getting close as well as Tiny Turbo Cars. And I think even Spire’s End Hildegard just locked in it’s shipping addresses, though I might be off on that one. Oh, and Chronicles of Drunagor. So expect another big one coming, likely post GenCon.

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Now, I won’t complain too much about some of those themes. I like the Cthulhu or Lovecraftian stuff that Fantasy Flight Games does. Marvel, I’m clearly a big Marvel fan as you can see from here and here. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t other themes or really IP’s that I’d like to see games put it, or more games coming from.

The Dresden Files

This one does already have a game. And it has a game that I like. I think that The Dresden Files Cooperative Card Game is good. But the theme is something that the players bring to the game. The game does remind you about what the story you’re playing through is, but if you don’t know the story, the cards won’t help that much. I want something that tells more of the Dresden Files story.

What Would I Want?

I don’t know that I want this to be a dungeon crawl type of game. I feel like it would work for Dresden, but not be as interesting. Plus, there are other themes that I’d want a dungeon crawler. What I would love is to see a Detective: A Modern Board Game style Dresden Files game. Dresden is always puzzling out mysteries. And we already have books of short stories that are other cases he’s done. It would work well for creating new cases, and it could be a massive case tied together over 5 smaller cases.

And then you could have Harry, Murphy, and some of the other characters as the ones who give you things to activate. And using magic in the game would be interesting and different. There definitely needs to be some sort of combat mechanic which base Detective really doesn’t have, but it is something that could easily be added. But for a lot of it, and a lot of what Harry does is investigate and get punched.

Sword Art Online

Another one that technically has a board game. But it is a small game from Japanime Games that needs the rule book to be updated or just fixed. And the game gives you a tiny bit of the SAO theme. You play as the main characters, and you can switch, but that is it.

For those of you not familiar with Sword Art Online, it is an anime where the characters get trapped in a video game. If you die in the video game, you die in real life. And the only way to escape is to beat the game by climbing to the top of the tower/levels and beating the final boss. There are more seasons as well with different things, but that’s a good starting point for knowledge.

What Would I Want?

I’d want a boss battling game. Something along the lines of Primal, Kingdom Death Monster, or Townsfolk Tussle. Really, mostly along the lines of Kingdom Death Monster. If you put that theme on KDM, I’d be paying $700 to get everything for it.

Kingdom Death Monster is a boss battling game, but it also has you building up your tribe/colony, adding armor, weapons, and more. That would work well for an RPG style video game which is what Sword Art Online is. While everything you’d be doing is working towards the next boss battle, what you do outside of that matters as well. And the depth of story and world in SAO, side quests that might appear as boss battles, all of those are good. I think that you could really create a good game for SAO in that style.

Tomb Raider

Yes, another one with a board game already. Though, I should say, a board game I think. I forget what happened with it, I demoed it at GenCon in 2019, and I was severely disappointed. And there are a few others a well, but none that have made waves in board gaming. And Tom Raider is a very cool theme. Especially when you think about the newer video games.

What Would I Want?

I think I’d want this to be done in the style of 7th Continent or maybe more like 7th Citadel. I could have said Detective as well, because it is a mystery most of the time. But I think that treasure hunting, getting dropped on an island that you don’t know what is going on. Or going to that bigger set piece area, that is cool.

7th Citadel adds in more story. And I could see that working really well, because you get that exploration, but you could make it feel like a bigger story. In fact, you could drop all the base cards for health, some skills, and some characters. Then you could add in other packs to add in more stories, new treasures to hunt. Almost make it a combination of 7th Citadel and TIME Stories. But actually pay off on a big story.

Locke & Key

Maybe all of these will have a board game done on them, because Locke & Key does. But this is another one that the game looks lacking and too abstracted. Locke & Key is a horror series where there are magical keys. These keys can do all sorts of crazy things, and the Locke family is the protector of the keys. But there are almost Lovecraftian type creatures from beyond, that want to get their hands on the keys and take over.

What Would I Want?

I think I’d want a one versus all game. Maybe even with an element of questioning if someone one is infected or not. So it could end up being a Battlestar Galactica type of game or Unfathomable with hidden traitors. Like, who has been infected by the other world. But I also think it could maybe work better as a one versus all game.

But let’s break it down more so, I think we have one person who is playing an infected villain. Someone under the control of the other world. And then they are trying to get the keys from the Locke family, since they can’t just take them. And at times the Locke’s will need to figure out how to banish them and go to the Omega door, which seals away the other worldly creatures. They need to open the door to get more material to make a new key, but there is a chance someone else can be hit. And if they are hit, then they become other worldly.

Of course, it might not be obvious if they are hit. So every time you do that, you risk getting someone else infected. And if someone else is infected, they start working with the group still, but being less optimal. How do you hide it, when do you switch sides and just start working obviously for the bad guy. It’s more about trying to stop each other versus kill them.

Disenchantment

I know this one doesn’t have a game. And honestly, it is so weird, it might not work all that well. Disenchantment is about a princess who has some lousy friends who go on adventures in all sorts of weird places. And then eventually people want to kill them, everyone wants to kill them. It’s a lighter story, and a completely weird world.

What Would I Do?

This, to me is a great one for a dungeon crawler. They end up in a world of gnomes, elves, castles, hell, other castles, and more. They really get pulled around everywhere. Give it a nice world map and see where all you end up, how you can make it through challenges, and if the monsters will kill you. Or your own mother, or really anyone will kill you.

And because you can go to hell, and they do in the show, I think that’d be a fun way to keep a dungeon crawler moving forward. If you die, it isn’t the end, you just need to get back out of hell. Maybe make a hell book of scenarios. Then every time that you die you play through another one of those. It could be determined by where, or how you die, but it could also just be done randomly. And if you die too many times you eventually get stuck.

Keeper of the Lost Cities

I did just write about this. So if you want to know a bit about the series, you can find that here. But the basic idea is that a girl is plucked from her not so normal human life. She finds out that she is really an elf, she gets into elf school. She makes friends, and yes this sounds like Harry Potter, but the world is better and more interesting. And the magic, each elf has a different skill or could have a different skill. And the world is in unrest and their are secret organizations trying to mess with the status quo.

What Would I Want?

This is tough, mainly because I don’t want to repeat too much of what I’ve already done. And this is a really cool world to play in. Firstly, I would want character creation for this game, or at least some ability to pick. Maybe something like Midarra which is very story heavy and you can build out characters however you want.

The elves unlock their powers, but they also have skills that they all can do. It just depends on how well they train themselves. So really setting up stats in different ways and then picking what power you want from being an empath to mind reading or inflicting emotions on someone else. Plus so many more.

I think this would kind of ben another dungeon crawl type of game. Maybe a bit like something like Arydia which isn’t out yet and I might late back, possibly. The concept of Arydia is that you dig deeper. You spend time at the world map level, you make story decisions, and then you get down to a narrower focus.

What Theme Would You Want?

Do you feel that there are some that need more love? I could probably spend time and come up with more. Stormlight Archives by Brandon Sanderson is getting another one, otherwise it’d be on my list. The Call to Adventure version is cool, but there is so much that could be done in that world. And there are plenty of IP’s that could be treated better. I’m going to call out Japanime a little bit here, I think that they often put out okay games with a big IP. I’d love to see some of their anime IP’s get a better developed game.

Let me know which of my ideas sounds the coolest. And let me know what you want to see a game made about that doesn’t get enough love.

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Current MSRP Increases

So let’s lay out a little bit of context. A number of board game companies are pushing up the MSRP (Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price) because the price of creating a board game has gone up. Right now, there is lots of talk about how shipping costs are blowing up. And that definitely is the case which is delaying how fast things can ship but also when they do ship that cost can be moved onto the consumer.

But for board games that’s not the only cost increase to worry about. There has also been an increase in the cost of wood. If you’ve done a house project the past two years you’ll know that. So that means that wooden tokens and cardboard have all gone up in price. While they might all lower again over time, the MSRP increase is likely here to stay.

So Too Expensive To Succeed?

Now, this is not really the question I started with, but I think it’s the question that a lot of people will start thinking about. And I think it’s a question that a lot of gamers in the hobby are thinking about. Let’s take a look at a few games: Arydia: The Paths We Dare Tread, Black Rose Wars: Rebirth, and Descent: Legends of the Dark. All of these games, before or after shipping are sitting at $175+ which is a lot of money. These, however, are not all games.

Tom Vasel on The Dice Tower gets sales numbers from GameNerdz, I believe it is now, every month to show that games, for them are selling the most. And the ones that sell a lot are generally cheaper games. The game My City was on the list for the month of July and that’s a $30 game. So, no, not all board games are getting too expensive. But the cost of board games in general, might be rising because of shipping and material costs.

But Are They Too Expensive?

To me, this is a hobby board gamer problem, the increasing price of games. The average person who likes board games but isn’t into the hobby doesn’t go to Kickstarter. They won’t see Descent: Legends of the Dark in Target. For them, the price of board games might be high, but it’s not an issue. Ticket to Ride, Catan, Smallworld, Carcassone, all of those games are still a reasonable price. Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition, still a normal price and that game just came out.

So it isn’t the modern classics that are only a good price. But for gamers who are more on the hobby, the price of board games does seem to be going up. Or more so, there are more good looking big games. For example, this year I have backed Marvel United: X-Men, Chronicles of Drunagor, Zombicide: Undead or Alive, and Primal, all of which had a price tag of over $100. And I bout Descent: Journeys in The Dark.

But Money

And this is what it comes down to. As board gamers we like our new games. There is this fascination with the “cult of the new” in board games. And I think in society as a whole, the new and the shiny are what people care about. Most of the complaints about board game prices really come down to the fact that we can’t afford every cool looking game.

When the original Zombicide came out with a big price tag for everything on Kickstarter, it was a surprise. But it wasn’t as hard a sell. Why, because there wasn’t a new $150+ game each week on Kickstarter. That price tag was a once in a blue moon level. When Kingdom Death Monster was on Kickstarter for $700 for an all in (or something near that), it was a ton of money, but again, not a game like that every week.

But not just that there weren’t big price tag games each week, there weren’t good games every week. Kickstarter was still getting started into what it is today. Now, every week whether it’s a $150 game or a $20 roll and write, there is a game, at least, every week that looks interesting. Most weeks it’s two or three games. Even in the not peak times of right before Christmas, there are still big games out there.

So What Are We Seeing?

What we’re seeing is a hobby booming and growing. It used to be a very niche hobby. Now it’s still a niche hobby but it’s growing in leaps and bounds. I am trying to remember what the Dice Tower had on their news but the money in the hobby grows by about 10% each year, and I think last year, in a pandemic, it was closer to 20%.

This is exciting, but what that means is that there are more games coming to the market. Now, that means that there are more bad games. But on the flip side, it also means more good games and a lot more good games. I think that people forget, very quickly, about the good games and how few were coming out before. We were spoiled because there were ten great games that would come up a year around 2010, and we could buy them all. Now it’s 100 and they cost from $15 to $200 and we can’t afford them all.

So what we’re seeing is the hobby growing and booming and that is what we should want to see. It means that 10 years from now, we aren’t going to see no more board games, there are always going to be more to play.

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