Top 5 Anticipated Backed Kickstarter Games

5. Horror on the Orient Express

This is one of the more recent games that I’ve backed, but I’m really excited for it. Mainly because the aesthetic of the game is really neat. You are on a train and you need to figure out who might be a cultists and stop bad things from happening before really bad things happen. But from what I can tell there are mechanisms that make it feel like a train. And you get a train as your board, so you move around something that is thematic. It is intriguing that way and I like that I is one off game.

My expectation is that this is going to be fun and challenging cooperative experience. Ideally one that I lose more often than I win, but that I feel like if I’d just done a tiny bit better I could have won. I also don’t expect to see this one for a while.

4. Stonesaga

Next up is Stonesaga, and the order of these is mainly made up. This one I’m very excited for, but it’s a bit less exciting because I’ve been on the playtest for it now twice. Not that that is a bad thing, it just means that I’ve experienced some of the game through TTS (Tabletop Simulator), so I think I know what the first bit is about. Again, not a bad thing, just means I’m a bit less excited about it, maybe.

But once I get it to the table, there is going to be a lot that is cool about it. I’m excited to see how this campaign game works where it isn’t as narrative, it more just remembers what you’ve done before and you build on that. And there is a lot of game that I haven’t seen, so that is going to be exciting to see how it builds upon those main actions with new challenges.

3. Horizon Forbidden West: Seeds of Rebellion

I have middling hopes for this one. Mainly I’m not trying to get too excited about it because the first game around Horizon was just okay, from what I’ve heard. I need to play my copy of it to see what I think about it. But this one adds more to it. It isn’t just the “new” setting of the Horizon games, it is also a campaign game. And we know I love campaign games. So that has me interested in it, it feels like it should add more depth to the game. But it depends on the level of the story.

From what I’ve heard about the original game is that it’s fun but it doesn’t feel enough like Horizon. And I say fun, I think for some it’s disappointing because you compete on hunts and that is about it. But if this can add even more to the system and it is cooperative, I like the sounds of it.

2. X-Men Dice Throne

Honestly, I shouldn’t write that much about this. By that I mean, I love Dice Throne. It is 8 new characters that I get to play in the game. But let’s talk about the extra stuff with it. It isn’t just the characters, it is also a new cooperative mode. I’m meh on the idea of Dice Throne being cooperative. And Dice Throne Adventures, while it looked interesting in theory, it never got played. I think what threw me off about that was that it seemed too long with too little feel of story. These missions now seem to be a whole lot shorter, so it is more likely to hit my table.

1. Rogue Angels

Finally, no shock here, there is Rogue Angels. I love the game, I love my plays of this game. And the updates that Emil is coming out with and how massive the story is getting, I cannot wait to play it when it finally ships. I don’t expect it for a while and I am okay with that. When it comes in, it is going to be a game that I get to the table quickly, and I hope that I can find a great group for it who are as excited about it as I am.

Honorable Mention

Of course the list can’t just be five. The one that I want to talk about here is the 25^th Century Import Collection. I’m excited for a lot of the games. Hamster Roll is probably the one that I want to get the most, but there are a ton in there. But because it is a bunch of games, I kept it off the list. It’s hard to weigh 8 games, or more I think versus a single game.

Final Thoughts

I won’t talk about more, but I want to talk about a few more. I plan on slowing down some on crowdfunding campaigns, but so many interesting games are coming out that I want to try. The simple solution is play more games, figure out which are the best for me. Do you have a game that you’re excited about from Kickstarter? And let’s keep in mind this is just for Kickstarter, my Gamefound list is coming.

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Top 10 Games to Demo at Gen Con

Let’s start out by cheating with two honorable mentions.

Honorable Mention:

Kinfire Delve – Kinfire is a game that I might pick up, it’s a big campaign game. Delve looks like a smaller game set in the same universe. But if it builds on that world in a fun away, even without being a campaign game, it is one that’s on my radar. And it’s still cooperative, so it might be more of a bite sized game.

The A.R.T. Project – Another cooperative game and another one that looks beautiful. I obviously like cooperative games, and I’m hoping that this one won’t be too complex. The idea of trying to figure out certain scenarios to stop an art thief, but again not be a campaign game, that sounds like a lot of fun. And with the look of the game, not a company I’m always drawn towards, but this game is.

Onto the main list.

10. Super Squad High

Let’s start out with the most important thing. There is a narrative dating mechanism. This is a high school for super heroes, of course there is going to be that. Plus it’s cooperative and it’s super heroes, and honestly, I don’t know what’s in this game not to love. Maybe the fact that secretly one of your classmates if the villains. But it doesn’t sound like a hidden traitor game, it sounds like one of the people you interact with through the game will be. So I hope I don’t end up dating them.

9. Spellbook

Phil Walker-Harding puts out good balances of interesting games, but not too complex games. This is fun that they are advertising there are 2100 different spell combinations. That means that the game is going to be and feel unique. And those spells are going to be unique and changing as the game goes on. Plus the whole main concept, feeding your familiar with the “materia” from the spells, that is interesting. Finally, you decide when you spit out those spells. Get an affect now, or you hold onto your spell and launch it later with more power.

8. Reign of Hades

Exploration, fighting monsters, dealing with whatever adventure is thrown at you? The only question is, why is this one not higher on the list for me? Honestly, it probably should be. It’s of course cooperative and hand management. I hope that it’ll be one that stands out as  unique and not too big, but one that I’m curious about as it’s a style of game I love.

7. Charcuterie

Build the best charcuteries board, that sounds fun. I do love a good charcuterie board. The downside I will want to eat charcuterie while playing Charcuterie. From the game side of things, it uses one of my favorite mechanisms. That being I split you choose, so I might want olives, but how do I make it so I give you something good enough that you’ll take it and leave me my olives? But I don’t want it to be too good so I make it harder on myself later on.

6. Diced Veggies

While I prefer charcuterie, this game also looks interesting and it looks simple. Honestly, this is one I’d have over looked except that the YouTube channel Thinker Themer were in on it. And I like what it looks like, you are cutting dice off of a big block of dice. Always need to cut at the edge and no more than 10 pips worth. So can you setup some good cuts so you get great turns and don’t leave anything great. All the while using those dice to fulfill cards for points. Simple, but sounds like a fun time.

5. Defenders of the Dictionary

Cooperative word game, like I said, I like cooperative games. And this one sounds very interesting. You are working together against some force in the game that is trying to stop you. And you do that by building words and working with each other. They do a good job of making it sound really fun, and if it’s a strong word game then I’m very curious. It also talks about it being grid based, so I’m not sure if you’re building up words or not? I think that just sounds unique.

4. Weirdwood Manor

This game sounds really interesting because it’s a horror themed game. But not just a horror themed game, one with a haunted or weird house. And the house, from what I can tell, rotates, so how it’s setup at the start of the game might not be how it ends. Maybe should be lower on the list, but I like a cooperative game, and when you have a weird horror theme, that makes me quite interested.

3. Horror on the Orient Express

Have I said that I like horror. And then there is a whole lot more. It’s a cooperative game. There is story and adventure to it, you need to deal with cultists and really a lot of the standard Lovecraftian things. But that doesn’t stop me from wanting to play it. I like the them, I like the setting. And if it can have story and depth to the game, not just a simple dice chucker, I am excited to see what it can offer.

2. Ticket to Ride: Legacy

A legacy game, I love legacy games. Ticket to Ride, my favorite gateway game. What do I think this is going to offer, I’m not even sure. And what can you demo on it, I’m definitely  not sure. But I love the idea of it and I like the idea of it for being that gateway plus game. Kind of like Pandemic Legacy let me play Pandemic again and feel like there was more without being too much. I hope that Ticket to Ride Legacy falls in line with those.

1. Star Wars: Unlimited

This one no shock that it’s on my list. It’s a competitive trading card game. But it’s Star Wars themed, I really like Star Wars. And there is a collectible aspect and deck construction. But I like how they are doing a few things. Firstly, “rare” cards are less rare than you’d think to keep the game accessible. But alt art cards, or foil, those are going to be the chase cards in the set. And I like the deck building because you are battling on different fronts. So you might build a deck that is very focused on attacking and defending on the ground in hopes to overwhelm your opponent. Of course, that means that you are weaker in space, so there is going to be a lot of interesting strategy and deck theory crafting that I hope to dive into.

What Is Your Must Demo Game?

Let me know what game or games that I might be missing on my list. There are so many games, even more than I put up on video, which you can find below. But which ones stand out to you as games that you’d like to get demoed when you go, or ones you think should be on my radar?

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