Why Talk About Future Crowdfunding?

Well, because the hype is real. Not only that, while I think there are good sources for what’s coming up on Kickstarter, I don’t think it hurts to have some extras in there. This is me weighing in on a fairly crowded space, in all fairness, and talking about games that I’m interested in, but also that might be missed by everyone in the hype of some of the big games coming out.

It is also to help me budget what I’m going to get. I’m putting down 10 games that I know some about but not a ton. And these games aren’t all going to be games that I back, because, well, it’s expensive. But this will give you an idea of what is coming out to help plan out what games you might want, and of course, this is only quarter one, so don’t blow all your budget here.

This might become a monthly thing, though, unless I can find good ways to keep track of this long term. Like I said, there are people covering things weekly or bi-weekly, and that’s great. But it does mean that I’ll need to spend more time tracking down games in the future. And BoardGameCo, I hope he does a quarterly video, but he’s doing this one right now since Kickstarter/Gamefound are very slow.

Top 10 Quarter One Crowdfunding

So what games are making my list for the first quarter.

10. Tidal Blades: Rise of the Unfolders

I expect this one to be a lot higher on a lot of people’s lists. It isn’t for me just because, while the first Tidal Blades game looked amazing, I felt like it wasn’t a game for me. And while it isn’t a series in terms of you need the first to play the second, I might feel that I’m missing out on something. But the world of Tidal Blades is cool. A land covered in water, monsters coming up from the deep or through that you need to fight. A tournament to decide the next heroes of the land. That is all cool.

And this takes it from a dice upgrading game into a dungeon crawler. And oddly enough, not one that really uses those dice. We all know that I’m a sucker for dungeon crawl games. That is the reason this is on the list. It is a cool world, and Druid City Games/Skybound Games always makes high quality games. So, if nothing else the production is going to be amazing. I can see this one tempting me.

9. Jurassic World: The Legacy Of Isla Nublar

This game from Funko would only kind of be on my radar if it weren’t for the fact it’s a legacy game. It is this low because of the price point. The legacy game is played over 12 game sessions, and the game costs $120 on Kickstarter plus shipping. That is expensive. Now, doing the math, let’s say I play three player and twelve sessions and each game takes an hour and a half. That is about $2.22 of fun per person per hour.

But a legacy game set in the Jurassic World world, I’m interested in that. I need to know more how the game plays. Because, it’s a theme that interests me, who doesn’t like dinosaurs, but also I don’t have as much nostalgia/attachment to the original movies or the new ones. Even with that, I still like dinosaurs, so I’m still tempted by this game.

8. Seas of Havoc

Another one lower on my list that I’m generally interested in. This is a deck building, sea fighting game. That is a concept that sounds interesting to me. And while it might not be pirates completely for this game, I can see it having that feel. I need to play my newest pirate game, Forgotten Waters, but generally I’m looking for good pirate themed games.

Seas of Havoc is higher on the list than Jurassic World for the theme. It is very close though, because a legacy game is always interesting to me. But as much as I love the legacy mechanic, I also love the deck building mechanic, maybe even more so. And doing that with the high seas and adventure, I’m curious to see how that goes.

7. The Dark Quarter

This game could be higher on the list as I learn more about it. What I know is that this is set in New Orleans and has almost a gothic style horror feel to it. And I’m here for gothic horror. Plus it’s a collaboration between Lucky Duck Games and Van Ryder Games. While I haven’t played much from either, their stuff always interests me. Mainly because they both focus on story first games.

This one, like I said, I don’t know too much about. It seems like an interesting setting though, and I suspect we’ll be seeing vampires show up. And I’m expecting with Lucky Duck Games being involved that there is going to be some sort of app driven component. I don’t need apps in all my games, but when there is a lot of story, I like it so that they can hide information better.

6. Astro Knights

From Indie Board and Cards, this is kind of a successor to Aeon’s End. If you watched my Top 100 Games (of all time) 2021 Edition, you’ll know that I really like Aeon’s End. It’s a good challenging game with a lot of variability. Plus, like I mentioned with Seas of Havoc, I like deck builders. And Aeon’s End is a very good deck builder.

Astro Knights seems to have changed up some things, like not having a fixed market. And while I don’t mind the fixed market in Aeon’s End, I really like more random markets. Granted, in a cooperative game it matters less to me. But I’m curious about this one, and I like the artwork on it. I didn’t start backing Aeon’s End games until this most recent one, so I might wait for this to come to retail.

5. Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition Expansion

Another one that I’m really excited about is just an expansion from Stronghold Games. Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition was one of, if not, my top game from 2021. It just works in that it’s fast to set-up, fast-ish to play, and even though the game might take a bit to play it doesn’t seem long because you do stuff every turn.

I just want more cards in this expansion and maybe something small extra. But more development cards and more research cards, that’d be great. Even a few more corporations, that’d be good. Or maybe a separate track to manage some way in the game. I suspect that we’ll be getting a sixth action, and that is fine, but I don’t really need that. What works well with Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition is that you can make decisions pretty quickly for what you want to do. I hope they don’t bog that down.

4. Final Girl

Now the first of two games, in a row, that are already out. They are just coming back to Kickstarter. From Van Ryder games, second time on the list, this one is about being the final girl in a horror movie. It’s a trope of basically that one person left and will they or won’t they defeat the murderer who is out to get them.

This is a purely solo game and a theme that I really love. Have I said that I like horror before? But this isn’t just horror, this is campy horror, at least what is what I liken it to. So I’m really curious about this game, and it is getting amazing reviews thus far. So when Season 2 comes to Kickstarter, we’ll have to see how much of it I end up backing.

3. Unsettled

The next one is a theme that I maybe like a little bit less than horror, but it’s up there, and that’s sci-fi. Unsettled is a planetary exploration game from Orange Nebula. This one also is out already, they are just coming back for more. The game reminds me of the exploration/planetary phase from ISS Vanguard, what I’ve seen of it. Combined with a plug and play system that is reminiscent of how cool it was for T.I.M.E Stories, but this time in space.

The production on this looks really good. And, like I said, the reviews are very strong as well. it can be played solo, but sounds like a better game multiplayer. What I like about Unsettled and Finale Girl, compared to my normal crowdfunding, is that these are one off games. So I don’t need to plan a whole campaign/players around it.

2. Rogue Angels

But now we are back to a campaign game. And Rogue Angels is a game that I’ve even had the chance to play and mess around with. You can see some of my thoughts here. But the game mechanics were smooth, and what I really liked about the game is the card play.

Just to touch on that a bit. All cards have a cooldown cost. So if I use a card that costs three, I’ll get it back in three turns. And you play with a limited hand of cards. But you also have cards that cost zero. They aren’t great actions, but they’ll do in a pinch. Plus they come back right away. So when you use certain cards that are more powerful but will take longer to come back, that is a great question.

Plus this is a replayable legacy game. And by that I don’t mean that it has a free play mode at the end, the other legacy game, Jurassic World does, but instead it means that this game comes with a lot of characters. And there are a lot of scenarios and branching decisions that you can make. Depending on how you match up with a faction will limit your options as well. So even once you’ve played the story through, there is still more story to find.

1. Marvel Zombies

This is easily my most anticipated game in the first quarter. And I think they’ve officially said it’s in Q1, but there isn’t an official date yet. I haven’t played a Zombicide game before. Undead or Alive isn’t going to make it here in time for before this campaign, most likely. I’m guessing mid summer for that game. So will I back this? It’s Marvel, most likely. And reviewers who have been critical of other Zombicide games have been enjoying previewing this one.

This is going to have so much Marvel to it, and it’s taking a storyline that people liked from the comics and creating a game around it. Plus getting to play as the zombies sounds different than normal Zombicide. I’m not sure why that makes it more interesting, but it does. And a 2.5″ tall Galactus that you actually play with, well you get the idea.

What Crowdfunding Games Are You Looking Forward To?

Let me know that in the comments below. I definitely picked a lot of bigger games for my list. But in all fairness a lot of those bigger games advertise more. If you want to see a massive list of games BoardGameCo covers a whole lot more, though not Rogue Angels. I’ll leave the video below for your viewing pleasure, and it is a fun watch.

But let me know what Kickstarter or Gamefound you are looking forward to in the start of 2022. There are a lot that I didn’t mention that I’ll be keeping an eye on as well like LastLight and The Dice Tower campaign. And if I knew for sure when Sea of Legends was coming out, that might have made the list as well.

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Legos

Now, Legos might seem like a kids thing, but speaking as an adult who has several Lego sets, though not currently out, Legos are awesome. And Lego is no longer just a bunch of random bricks to build houses with, or some castle sets, both Marvel and DC have Lego sets. I have the Milano from Guardians of the Galaxy, for example, that I need to get on display. But you can get Dr. Strange’s Sanctum, Avengers Mansion, Green Lantern vs Sinestro, or a very detailed Batwing. These can make awesome display pieces for a nerdy room. I have a gaming room, but I have action figures and trade paperbacks in this room as well. So Legos are always fun display pieces.

Trade Paperbacks

Speaking of trade paperbacks, for someone who loves the movies, a good move would be to get them some trade paperbacks of the comic runs of their favorite characters, or upcoming films. If someone is interested in the Eternals, grab Neil Gaiman’s run of that, or if someone loved the Infinity saga, you could get them The Infinity Gauntlet. There are a ton of stories out there like that, but you can also just get a comic run for a character like Batman, Spider-Man, or Thor, really tailoring it to the character that they like. Or a more general team-up one like Avengers, Justice League, or Teen Titans. What’s so nice about this is that you will be able to find arcs within those as well. The past couple of weeks I’d talked about Planet Hulk and World War Hulk, those both can be found in trade paperbacks.

Board Games

Yes, there are board games, but I’m keeping this a bit more generalized. I’m going to rattle off a number of them here, and you can fit what might be right for you. Marvel Battleworld, this is a super simple game that has a very high toy factor to it. You collect little Marvel figures and take them to battle locations. There are Thanos Stones (not a thing that I know of in the comics) which are basically just the packs you get the characters in, so you can open up more blind packs in hopes you’ll get who you want. Then Marvel Legendary an the DC Deck Building Game, more complicated games, but still pretty straight forward. In these are you start out with some generic cards, but you add in superheroes to your deck of cards as you go to do cool combos. There is a ton out for both of these games, but they are a bit random. Marvel Champions is another option, this one has you taking a team of heroes up against a villain in a very complex strategy game where you are balancing out use of cards to stop the villains scheming and beat them up. Two more to go, first is Sentinels of the Multiverse. This one is not based off of any IP, intellectual property, but is it’s own super hero world. The cool thing about that is that they do a great job of world building themselves. There is a ton for this game, but just the base game will have a lot to play, another card based super hero game. Finally, Marvel United, this one is new this year, and one that I’d highly recommend. It is a fairly simple game, so good for a non gamer of all ages. The minis in this game are amazing, and the game play is fun, definitely worth checking out and probably the best option for the largest crowd.

Action Figures

I’ve touched on them briefly when I talked about Legos, but action figures are another great option. And you can find them in a wide range of detail and prices. I personally have enjoyed the Marvel Diamond Select ones, a bit more expensive, but come with great backdrops. But I have simpler Marvel ones and DC ones as well. Plus you can get the person their favorite character again. Almost every character has had an action figure come out of it. And if an action figure isn’t quite right, you can always look for something like Funko Pops as well. A bit more limited, kind of, in characters that they have, they make a good thing for someone to show off their nerdiness just a little bit as something to display in a cubicle at work, or maybe where you are working from home from.

Now, normally I do five different things, but I’ve covered more than that already with the different games, types of action figures, and more. Obviously, there are going to be things like the movies that you could get someone as well, or with Wandavision coming out January 15th, you could gift someone a subscription for the year to Disney+. So there are a lot of things that you can consider for gifts when it comes to super heroes, it’ll be down to what you think is best for the person you are giving the gift to.

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Trade Paperbacks/Graphic Novels – Like I just got done saying above, this is probably not for the comic book fan, they are going to have a number of these, but there are plenty of options for people who like the shows or the movies to get them a trade paperback or two. I’d recommend sticking to some big storylines that the person might be a bit more familiar with, or the start of an authors run with a character. If you want to get a Thor trade paperback, don’t grab Thor volume 12, that might be confusing. But there are a lot of great options, volume ones for characters, or compendiums, as often those cherry pick out a few of the bigger story arcs for a character. But then there are bigger stories that you can look at as well. Infinity Gauntlet, Civil War, or Secret Invasion would all be good Marvel comics to get a fan of the movies. The DC shows are currently doing or starting soon Crisis on Infinite Earths, that’s a TPB you could grab, or an iconic Batman story, like The Killing Joke.

Funko Figures – You’re familiar with them, the big headed toys that are for a million different types of characters. I currently have two Stranger Things and Alice Cooper with me at work. But there are a ton of Marvel and DC ones for this. And you can even get it in game form if you want with the DC Funkoverse game. But you can also find unique ones to give as well, there was a whole run for Marvel Funko figures where they were all gold, so if someone already has some, it’s a unique different one. There is also Deadpool dressed up as Bob Ross. There are so many unique ones that it would take a while to list them all, and there can be rarer ones that, if you want, you can track down on eBay. I personally like them as something to put up in my cube at work, because they are pretty small.

Action Figures – Slightly different from Funko figures. Those are more of a caricature of the characters they are. Action figures are going to be closer to the comics and often tied directly into a storyline from the comics. I had a Magneto standing over a destroyed Xavier’s School for Gifted Children. Or Cat Woman stealing a gem from a safe in a Spiderman scene. These figures are also articulated so that you can pose them. Depending on what you get, they can run a little bit more than a Funko figure would. I personally really like the Diamond Select Marvel figures, which may or may not be made anymore, but I have been able to find on Amazon. DC has some nice ones as well. With these, since they can tie into a story as well, you can sometimes tailor it to a big event in the comics that is the person’s favorite.

Disney+/HBOMax – Give the joy of streaming this Christmas and give someone a few months of Disney+ or HBOMax, I could say, give the person a movie or a season of a TV show, but that is something they might already have. With Disney+ or when it comes out the new HBO streaming service (I believe it’s HBOMax) will have Marvel and DC respectively. If someone has been curious about the DC shows like Titans or Doom Patrol, that’s going to be a spot for them to check it out. Or if someone has been a Marvel fan for a long time, they can go back and watch classic episodes of the 1990’s animated Spider-Man or X-Men on Disney+. Plus, Disney+ has more streaming, like the majority of the MCU movies.

Marvel Legendary/Champions – I found a way to fit board games onto this list, and this is for someone who already likes board games. If they are a Marvel fan, both Marvel Legendary and Marvel Champions would be enjoyable for them. The games are two different types of deck builders where the players are trying to take out a villain and stop their evil schemes before it’s too late. Marvel Legendary is later in it’s life cycle where it has a million expansions, which aren’t needed. But if someone already has the game, you can probably find an expansion that they don’t have. Marvel Champions will be getting more expansions over time. The other good thing about Marvel Legendary is that you can tailor it, with the expansions, to make sure the person is getting their favorite character in the game.

Five Minute Marvel/DC Spyfall – Now, if you want lighter games, these are a couple of other options for board games. DC Spyfall is a social deduction game with the DC characters. You are trying to figure out who the bad guy is, but each character has their own unique powers as well that you can use. In Five Minute Marvel, it’s a very fast card driven game that plays, as the name says, in five minutes. It’s also where I got the name for my podcast #10MinMarvel. Especially Five Minute Marvel is going to be good to play with kids as well, because it is a fast paced game and the theme works while being a simple game. Both of these will work well with adults also, so it’s not just for kids, in fact, DC Spyfall, while being fairly simple, might be a concept that is a bit trickier for younger kids.

Artwork – I don’t think that you need to do commissioned superhero pieces, but there are plenty of cool art pieces out there. You can find unique ones on Etsy, or official ones, such as movie posters or even frame some comic books. In our house, we have a couple of pictures that are framed comic books. I have generally used a slightly larger frame with double glass, so no back cardboard on it, and then you just center up a comic in it. I also like using older comics as it gives the look a coop retro vibe. And while there are certainly very expensive older comics out there for beloved stories, you can find a lot of cheap ones that also have cool covers. This is a good option for someone who likes the comics and the movies, and has a lot of those things, but maybe is moving out on their own or needs someone to hang up.

There are going to be more options to give to that superhero fan in your life. Lego, for example, does awesome superhero sets, or there are video games, other board games, RPG’s (though not specific to Marvel or DC currently) and more. I think what I’ve listed out is going to do well for a good age range of superhero fans and you’ll be able to tailor it to them a little bit more. They are also not extremely expensive whereas some things, like Lego, can be quite expensive for larger sets. Hopefully there is some idea for that superhero fan in your life.

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Avengers: Infinity War
Now, this is going to be for both the trade paperback and the movie. For those who aren’t familiar with the term trade paperback (TPB), that is when comics from a given run, generally six or so issues, are put into a single book, so  you can get the whole story arc without having to track down the separate comics themselves. If the person is a big super hero fan, I wouldn’t be shocked if they already had Infinity War, the movie, but they might not have the TPB. And my guess is they would like to read it.

Marvel Legendary
A massive game if you consider all of it’s various expansions, but even in the base game, you have a lot of fun to play with. In it, you are building a deck of cards by spending points and then also having to attack villains. The game gives you a solid super hero feeling, and since my initial review of it, I’ve come around on it being a better game a bit more. I think it is possible with this game to get some bad combinations of characters when you have more expansions. However, if they already have the base game, consider getting them an expansions for the game as they do add in fun new characters.

The Reckoners
A book series about super heroes, this is a great trilogy of books that looks at a group of insurgents who are trying to stop all the super heroes, because none of the super heroes are good. It’s a young adult book series written by Brandon Sanderson, and they are really fun and enjoyable as adults, not just for teen age kids.

The Reckoners Board Game
Maybe you know someone who already likes the series, the board game would be something to consider getting them. The game has some pretty simple mechanics, but is extremely hard to win. Also, the components in the game are amazing.  It is also a lot of fun because you get to see the Epics as the super heroes are known from the books, and you get to play as various members of the Reckoners team. Both The Dice Tower and Watch It Played have good information on the game.

Cold Steel Wardens
Maybe you want to go in a different direction and the person is a super hero fan and an RPG fan, Cold Steel Wardens one of the possible super hero RPG’s. This game is grittier than your standard super hero fair leaning into the Iron Age of comics where things were tougher and grittier in the comics. You still get to have super powers, but the world isn’t going to be flying around and having flashy parades, it’s going to be doing the grunt work and worrying about being attacked. Kristen wrote a nice review on it a little while back, or at least the system, so you can go check out her article on that.

Action Figures/Funko Pops
Maybe they already have the books and the games, there are plenty of other things that are super hero related to consider. One of the biggest areas is the action figure realm. There are tons of amazing action figures out there. I personally am a big fan of the Marvel Diamond Select figures as they are bigger than your standard action figure and come with nice props and amazing details. DC also does some very nice figures as well. Or maybe you don’t want to spend that much money or a looking for a stocking stuffer, Funko makes figures with large heads and very cartoony looks that are very popular right now.  Try and find their favorite hero in those and give them that. 

Super Hero Legos
Maybe you want something for a younger kid who might not what something that people would consider collectible. Lego now has a ton of super hero sets that you can get. They often tie into the movies, so if they have a favorite movie, see if you can track down the characters in Lego form. This also works well for adults.

Blackest Night/Brightest Day
Finally a dip into the world of DC. If you have someone who is into the DC universe, consider the TBP for those two sagas. In particular Blackest Night tells a really good story. It also something that is very different from your standard super hero fair in Blackest Night, while you do get plenty of hero moments there is good depth in the story being told.

TPB
Finally, there are a ton of classic stories and TPB’s that you could look at getting.  From Marvel, House of M and Secret Invasion are two that stand out as really strong options. DC has Infinite Crisis that is really good. Then there are non-Marvel and non-DC options that are strong. I personally am a huge fan of the Powers series by Brian Micheal Bendis. It’s super hero adjacent as it follows around a couple cops who are dealing with super powered criminals.

There are a ton of other options for super heroes as well. There are a lot of movies, obviously, in the Marvel world, so if someone who is a big Marvel movie fan, help them fill in their collection. Or go into a lot of other areas as well, movie posters, custom artwork, or clothing.

Have you gotten a super hero themed gift before? If so what did you get or what have you wanted to get?

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