Why Go Through This Crowdfunding?

I think that it is interesting, every now and again to look back at what I’ve backed. And there are a number of games out there. But the interest is often tied to how my gaming tastes have changed. What did I back on Kickstarter when I started in 2014 and what am I backing now.

It provides an interesting opportunity to see that growth. Normally, you get a game and it leaves and there is no way to track it. I could go through Amazon, CoolStuffInc, and Miniature Market Purchases, but a lot of those are more recent. Kickstarter and now Gamefound give you a history of what you’ve backed over that longer period of time.

Plus Jesse from Quackalope went through his backing history, shorter, but larger than mine, with Devon from Devon Talks Tabletop. He had something like 225 games to go through and that’s almost a five hour video. I should have known that mine would take longer than it did. I thought probably two hours would be enough, it is not.

The Drink

Last nights drink was a Negroni. Back to a classic for me. I really like the flavor and it is a good summer drink. With how large I made it, I wish I’d started streaming and sipping on it sooner, but the flavor is always good. It’s also a nice mixed drink to make because it’s a 1 to 1 to 1 ratio with gin, sweet vermouth, and Campari.

Upcoming Streams

So, clearly I have some more to talk about here with Kickstarter and Gamefound. My hope is that it’ll be about an hour and a half to finish up with no thunderstorms. So that is going to be on Monday at 8:30. Then on Wednesday, I plan on playing some more Paper Dungeons. Like I said, I want to get through that campaign. While I am working on an idea for a bigger game in the roll and write campaign space, you can see my Designer Diary here, I want to finish off the one that I already have.

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Not Going To GenCon Before 2019

I’ve only been to GenCon once in 2019, though I guess I did the digital version 2021. And while the digital was fun, I’m really looking forward to getting back to GenCon this year. Even if the year isn’t fully normal. It is just such a good board gaming experience. And while I don’t need to get every game, I am excited to see new games always.

Not Backing Vampire The Masquerade – CHAPTERS

This is probably my biggest regret in terms of a game that I didn’t back. Mainly because I didn’t look into it that much. I saw Vampire the Masquerade and moved on from it. But the game looks amazing. Quackalope has a great playthrough of a scenario and it makes me want it even more. I like the choose your own adventure elements then going down to the table level to fight monsters and interact with things. Just great looking campaign that I really want for the game and story.

Backing Zombicide: Undead or Alive

This one I am still very excited for Zombicide: Undead or Alive. I love weird west as a theme, which I talked about on last nights stream. And there aren’t that many weird west games out there, to add in zombies to the mix, and I’m interested. Why I’m regretting it is that Marvel Zombies is a thing. And a thing and theme that I like better. Plus, in Marvel Zombies you can play as zombies or as heroes. There is a decent chance that I will just trade or sell my pledge when it comes in.

Buying Scythe

This one is interesting, I’d guess for some people, because people love Scythe. And I very well might love Scythe, when I play my friends copy. I picked it up and I never played my copy and it wasn’t high on my list of games to learn. So I got rid of it, and I’m fine with that, because I know people who have it. It’s just one that I probably wouldn’t have bought in the first place.

Backing Satanic Panic

Now, this is probably the only Kickstarter that I backed which will never fulfill. The guy who is running it showed back up again for a little bit in the fall but then disappeared yet again. Satanic Panic is a role playing game that basically is a D&D style system, if I remember correctly, set in the 80’s during the Satanic Panic that happened. So it’s a fun idea, but it was a game I supported for the creator, and needless to say I’m not pleased. Nor do I ever expect to see a finished product. At least I didn’t back it for a physical book.

Doing Single Wave Shipping on Etherfields

This one I do regret, but only a little bit. I’m not sure how much Etherfields I’d have played to this point. Etherfields is a big Awaken Realms game where you explore through dreams. That sounds amazing, and I’m really excited to get it, but another campaign game. So it might be better that I waited on it until it was all coming at once. Still, the game looks really cool, and the endless slumber mode, I think that’s what it’s called looks great.

Backing Village Attacks

This is another one where I kind of regret it, and I kind of don’t regret it. I mainly regret it because it’s well delayed at this point. It is a game that I really like. Village Attacks is a great tower defense where you play the bad guys dealing with the villagers. The game is a lot of fun, but man, the game is delayed. And not only is it delayed, the communication is really lacking. I knew it’d be the case, the longer it goes, the more frustrating.

Final Thoughts on Board Gaming Regrets

I honesty feel like that isn’t too many. Now, a number of the early games I backed on Kickstarter, I have moved on from those. But I don’t feel bad about backing then. Eduardo Baraf and Pencil First Games is a great company and makes fun games now, Planet Lift Off, that was even a fun game. But I moved on from it as the first one I backed.

I also don’t regret backing so many big campaign games. I have toned that down some, but there’s always something new and cool out there to checkout. So now I’m being more discerning. But backing Chronicles of Drunagor, ISS Vanguard, Frosthaven, Isofarian Guard, and more, I don’t regret that at all. I will eventually play those games, and that is exciting to me.

What is something you regret passing or getting in the board gaming hobby?

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I’m going to talk a bit about each game, what drew me in and then how excited I am for the game still. Some of them have waned a lot, others, less so. And we’re going from longest outstanding to newest two games that are still active.

Crowdfunding Games

Satanic Panic

I backed this RPG when I was more into playing other RPG’s than Dungeons and Dragons. While I’ll still gladly play them, I did just sell a number because I know that I’m just going to run Dungeons and Dragons games. Satanic Panic was an interesting idea for a game, but it’s been out there since 2017 and the creator disappeared from the campaign for a long time. He did come back recently to try and finish it up, but now he’s gone missing again, but only for a few months.

The concept for this game was kind of fun and pretty unique. It basically takes the short lived Satanic Panic of the 80’s around Dungeons and Dragons and turns it into a game. It has secret government organizations who are trying to stop people from playing RPG’s, and it’s fairly meta that way.

Excitement Level: 0 out of 5 – it’s just been too long. Like I said, I’m not likely to run it anymore. I’m glad that I only backed it for the PDF level, not a print book. I also don’t have hope it’ll actually come out, though, it might.

Etherfields

This one has been out there for a while, but some of that was my choice. This is an Awaken Realms game where you are playing through dreams and unraveling a story as you go. The concept is great, and I’ve heard really good things about the game. I chose single wave shipping. That means that some people already have it, I will get it when the expansion stuff ships. It was maybe a mistake to wait but I probably wouldn’t have had time to play it.

Excitement Level: 4 out of 5 – I am really looking forward to this one. But it’s been long enough that I kind of forget about it from time to time. I hope stuff ships soon, but sounds like production just started on it.

Time of Legends: Joan of Arc 1.5

I late pledged Time of Legends: Joan of Arc, so that’s why I probably haven’t talked about it before. This is more of a two player miniatures game. Though, with the 1.5 version, they did create a solo scenario or scenarios as well. This takes place, well, around the time of Joan of Arc. The twist on it is that all the legends from that time, monsters like werewolves and dragons, those are in the game.

The game isn’t my normal style of game, but I’m excited to try something different. These head to head combat scenarios that have some story to them, as well as the solo game play. This one is overdue to arrive, but sounds like production is moving along and is about ready to ship.

Excitement Level: 4 out of 5 – I want this one because it is different. It’s not like anything else that I have on my shelf and I’m excited for the setting. I didn’t get the giant dragon that you can get, but everything I did get seems awesome.

Oathsworn: Into The Deepwood

Oathsworn is a big adventure game, and we know I like big adventure games. This one intrigued me because it plays in two acts. Or every scenario plays in two acts. You have the first act where you are exploring a mystery in the Deepwood or in a town. The story unfolds around you, then when you’re ready or have solved the mystery or found the boss monster, you get into a boss battle.

But it also has another cool mechanic. For all the checks you make, skill checks or attacks, you can either roll dice or draw cards to see if you get a success. The cards don’t reshuffle until you go through them all, so you know if there are good or bad cards left in the deck. And cards are safer because there are only so many blanks or failures in there. But it also limits how good it can be.

Excitement Level: 5 out of 5 – This one still just intrigues me. I like that boss battler aspect as well as the mystery or story driven piece. It reminds me of Tainted Grail, without the Arthurian legend stuff, but you have those two things, the combat being more tactical but still story and combat.

Village Attacks

I backed this one because it was impossible to find anywhere and I liked my play at GenCon of it in 2019 a lot. This actually funded in 2019, but we’re still waiting on shipping. I hope now that the company is shipping/delivering their other game this one will move along.

This is a tower defense game driven by scenarios. It’s a ton of fun because you are the bad guys, not the good guys. The townsfolk have come to your castle with torches and pitchforks, and you need to fend them off. Game play works really well, and while it is thematic through scenarios, it isn’t a campaign game, which is a nice thing to have, since you’ll see a lot of campaign games on this list.

Excitement Level: 3 out of 5 – I’m a bit less excited, it’s been a long time without that many updates. I’m still interested in the game and think it’s going to be awesome to get to the table again. It’s a dark game in terms of artwork, but plays, for me, a bit goofier.

Frosthaven

This is the sequel to Gloomhaven, I am very excited for it. I could leave it just at that. One cool thing about this game compared to Gloomhaven is that it has an element of town building. You are in the north from Gloomhaven and it’s less settled, so you need to build a town up there. And you have to decide how to use resources to build new buildings, improve existing ones, or get items crafted.

Excitement Level: 5 out of 5 – I love Gloomhaven. This is going to be another massive game like it but with more, count me in.

HEL: The Last Saga

From Mythic Games and a Viking/Norse theme, I knew I was interested in this game. It’s a campaign game kind of chapter based as you are heading out to see what happened to the rest of your village. But it seems to do some cool things. This is one that I’ve been waiting on for a while, and I’m not as excited.

That said, I know when I get it I will be excited again. And it’s Mythic Games, so they make a lot of really cool games. My big concern is that basically all their games end up needing errata, and I hope that because this is being a bit delayed from it’s timeline they’re putting extra effort into that.

Excitement Level 3 out of 5 – It’s Norse and it’s a campaign. I’m very interested in it, and it seems mythical in nature.

The Reckoners: Steelslayer

This is an expansion for a game that I need to play still. I should get The Reckoners off of the shelf soon. But I’m still really excited for Steelslayer because I really like the book series a lot that it’s based on. And it’s a really tough cooperative game that this expansion is supposed to help with some of the balancing.

Now, I don’t mind really tough cooperative games. In fact, that’s what I like to play a lot of, I don’t want to win too often. This expansion though adds in other bosses from the different books besides Steelheart and I’m excited for that. Plus other epics, evil superheroes, to play around with as well.

Excitement Level: 3 out of 5. This one for me is all about the cooperative game play and the theme. 3 might not seem like that excited, but I am very excited for it because it is something different and it’s a game that should be easier to get off the shelf.

The 7th Citadel

I still need to play The 7th Continent, it’s been on my shelf for too long. That said, I am more excited for The 7th Citadel. Why, because it has more story to it, it seems. Every time I watched someone play through the opening scenario as the campaign was on Kickstarter, I was more and more interested in it.

I love the idea of the exploration in The 7th Continent, but I know that it’s less story focused and the mechanics while good aren’t always amazing. But the exploration and map building is really cool, and this game has that as well and cleans up some of the mechanics it seems. Plus, did I mention that there is more story, I’m always in for more story.

Excitement Level: 5 out of 5 – it’s high excitement, and I’d even forgot that it was coming. But the mechanics of the game seem fun, and did I mention story?

Project L + Finesse

This one is kind of different than most on the list, and I believe it’s shipping now. This is an engine building Tetris-esque game, that’s the only way I can describe it. You are collecting Tetris like pieces to fill in shapes on cards and when you fill them in, they give you points and more shapes to use to fill in more cards.

The game play seems like it’ll be a good one to play with my wife, family, and at game nights with most anyone. Plus the pieces are amazing. This one falls outside of what I normally back, but when a game looks like a ton of fun, I’m going to back it.

Excitement Level: 4 out of 5. I am hard pressed to be as excited for it as a campaign game, but I want this one to play with friends more casually.

ISS Vanguard

This one, another one from Awaken Realms, spoiler, is the one I’m most excited for. This game has you exploring planets, fighting monsters, maybe, finding out secrets of the universe as well as then maintaining and traveling on your ship. It’s a grand game that looks to tell a fascinating story in an very open universe.

There is a signal that has been sent across the cosmos, Humanity has translated it and it’s coordinates that seem to lead towards nothing. But of course, we’re curious so we fly out there, and find a puzzle that just needs to be solved. This seems like a very ambitious and grand game, but if any company can pull it off, Awaken Realms can.

Excitement Level: 5 out of 5. The story just intrigues me. I love the idea of the ship phase where you upgrading your ship, researching things, and dealing with crew events. Plus the planets seem so unique and interesting.

Dice Tower 2021

This isn’t so much a game, though I did pick up a few promos for Lords of Hellas I believe with it. But I mainly backed it to help support a YouTube channel that I love. But also beyond that to get a plush dog that is in the shape of D4, I believe. That’ll go with a D4 cat and a D20 panda that I’ve gotten from their Kickstarters.

Excitement Level: 2 out of 5. It’s low, but that’s because I mainly backed it to help support. But now thinking about Lords of Hellas promos, I want to play that game again.

Primal The Awakening

This is basically Monster Hunter the board game, minus the fact that Steamforged Games actually did Monster Hunter the board game. But this one is much better value in terms of what you get at the base pledge. Combat seems to be less tactical or at least less roaming across the map.

Primal was interesting and is interesting because it can either be a campaign style game, or you can just do a one off fight against a monster. And even the campaign I don’t think is that long. Game mechanics seem solid as it’s about placement and I like how the monster activates.

Excitement Level: 3 of 5. This game is going to have amazing minis, so I need to learn how to paint. That said, the game is still really interesting to me, just less excited because less story than some.

Alba

This one is kind of different from everything again. It reminds me a bit of the Graphic Novel Adventures that Van Ryder games has come out with. But it’s not a graphic novel, more a novel. So it might be more like some of the puzzle books that I have. It just seems bigger and more story driven than a lot of those.

Alba caught my attention because it was talked about on the GloryHoundd YouTube channel, and it seemed different and unique. It’s also one of those things that I hope when it comes I can just do a little bit of it to unwind at the end of the day before I go to bed, at least that’s how I plan on using it.

Excitement Level: 3 out of 5. Again, it’s something different, I think it’s going to be cool for what it is, and that’s going to be something I can relax and do to unwind.

Zombicide: Undead or Alive

I wasn’t ever all that interested in Zombicide. I had Green Horde for a little bit because I won a copy of it. But Undead or Alive drew me in because of the western theming. I love the idea of Weird West stuff, if anyone has a book recommendation in that genre let me know, and this gives me that.

Also, I’ve heard that Zombicide generally improves with every version. So it’s a game that I’ve kind of wanted to try but never was too interested in. This version is the one that sucked me in, though, because of the theme.

Excitement Level: 3 out of 5. I don’t know where this is going to fit on the shelf, but I’ll figure that out when it comes in. It’s definitely going to be a fun scenario based game to get to the table.

Aeon’s End: Legacy of Gravehold

You saw me play through Aeon’s End Legacy on Malts and Meeples. This is another Legacy version of Aeon’s End, and I’m here for that. It should be hitting the US soon and probably deliver before the end of the year, so one of them that’s coming the soonest.

Aeon’s End is a cooperative game where you fight monsters that are coming through breaches. Aeon’s End Legacy was a fun version of that with some story, and they’ve done story in the subsequent expansions. This one returns to that narrative focus but also stickers to put on cards and ways to create your mages yourself.

Excitement Level: 4 out of 5. I really liked Aeon’s End Legacy, it was 28 in my Top 100 list this year. It’s a great way to learn the game, I hope that this time it’s bit more in-depth a story and legacy elements.

Tiny Turbo Cars

When Horrible Guild puts a game onto Kickstarter, I generally take notice. They did Potion Explosion which I love with great toy factor. They have Similo which is a fun party game. Tiny Turbo cars is completely different than that. You basically program RC cars to go as fast as possible and race across your house.

The little slider puzzle for how you maneuver your cars is great. Like Potion Explosion this game is going to have a lot of toy factor, I hope that the game isn’t too difficult to play, but I think it’s going ot be a bit like Galaxy Trucker where it is chaotic, but the real time piece and the chaos will add to the fun of the game.

Excitement Level: 4 out of 5. I just want to have a silly good time with this game.

Super Fantasy Brawl Round 2

This was an instant back for me, because I really like Super Fantasy Brawl. So getting more characters is amazing. Now, I need to fix the storage in the base box because it sucks. But when I do that, I can store everything in one giant box which will be great.

Super Fantasy Brawl is a two player head to head battling and objective completing game. You are racing to get to 5 points either by knocking your opponents out or, well objectives. It’s fun to draft your team and just see what you can manage to get done. The big box already has a good number of characters, 12 I believe, and this adds in even more.

Excitement Level: 4 out of 5. I’ve only played this game with one friend, I really need to introduce it to more, because I can see a number of my friends liking it. And maybe I should get the playmat so that I can have two games going at once and do a tournament.

Marvel United X-Men

I don’t know where I’m going to store this game. It has so much coming for it. I do already have the base box of this one that I need to play. But I’m really excited, the game is so easy to get to the table, and I feel like it’s a great Marvel game that anyone can sit down and play. You grab some heroes, some bad guys and just get going so fast.

Plus, there were about one million minis unlocked. Okay, that might be a bit high, but it’s over one hundred which is a ton. And I get to play as Gambit which is very exciting to me because I love Gambit. Another game that has me needing to learn how to paint minis.

Excitement Level: 4 out of 5. I haven’t played through everything in Marvel United, and that’s okay, I still want more because it’s so easy to just grab a character and go. I need a way to display all the minis though.

Canvas + Reflections

This is actually a reprint. Canvas is a game about creating weird paintings to score points. You can either optimize what you are doing to get points or you can just make cool paintings as you layer cards. Clear cards is always a cool gimmick and I like it it Gloom. This one gives it an artistic flair.

This is another one that I picked up because I think it’ll make a fun game night game or a fun one to play with my wife and friends more casually. Plus, it’s just a pretty looking game.

Excitement Level: 3 out of 5. I know some people will optimize their scores, and I probably will too, but sometimes the perfect image might win out over scoring the most points.

The Witcher: The Old World

This is an IP that I’m very interested in with The Witcher. I need to play the most recent video game still. I have a book to read as well, so I need to catch-up on my knowledge. The Netflix show had a cool world but was just okay to me. I’m hoping this game will be great.

It’s one off plays which I like and you are all competing to be the best Witcher. It kind of reminds me of something like Zona: The Secret of Chernobyl in some ways ways. You are all fighting and racing to be the first to, I forget what it is in this game, but some end point. And you can fight each other, improve your stats and get more items.

Excitement Level: 4 out of 5. The theme is cool and I’m pretty excited for the game play. It’s a game that looks like it has a lot of theme while also not being a massive campaign which is nice.

Isle of Cats: Don’t Forget the Kittens

I’ve really enjoyed my plays of Isle of Cats. It’s one that I want to get even more plays of because I think it’s a neat game with drafting and then rescuing cats. This just adds in more modules you can play with, different ship configurations, and a roll and write game that is totally separate, and obviously kittens.

One thing I’m very interested in is the organizer that comes with my pledge level. The game is a bit harder to get to the table because you need to sort things out for different player counts. This helps make that sorting faster and easier to get to the table.

Excitement Level: 4 out of 5. More for a game I know I already like is never a bad thing. And will the organizer make it simpler to get to the table, I hope so.

Valor & Villainy: Ludwick’s Labyrinth

I almost didn’t back this one. I pledged $1 because I was on the fence and it drew me in. Enough so that I even got the original Valor & Villainy on my shelf. This one takes that main game mechanic of upgrading your heroes dice as you level up and kind of dungeon crawling and makes it cooperative. The original was one versus all.

This is also more of a campaign game, and you know I’m a sucker for campaigns. But it’s a bit different than a lot of campaign games that I go with because it’s more tongue in cheek and goofy. So it feels like one that I’ll be able to play with a different group than my normal campaign group.

Excitement Level: 3 out of 5. I’m very much excited for this one, but it’s maybe waned a little bit since I backed it. Still, I think the goofiness is going to make it fun and it is a different type of campaign game for me.

Chronicles of Drunagor

Yes, another campaign game, and another one that feels different. Now, dark storyline, not super different, I’ve done that before in games. But the mechanics are what drew me into it, plus the 3D terrain that seems a bit like Descent: Legends of the Dark.

I like how activating abilities goes, you basically have a pool of cubes that you use to activate and do different things. When you want to gain those cubes back you then pull the cubes back but block off one of your abilities with a curse cube. So you need to figure out what sort of things you’re going to want to keep available, and figure out when to pull back so you don’t block off too much.

Excitement Level: 4 out of 5. I need more shelf space for this game as well. It’s going to come with a lot, but I’m excited for the story and for the 3D set-up and for how the dungeon unfolds.

Spire’s End: Hildegard

Big games to a smaller game that is just some dice and a deck of cards. But it’s still a campaign game as you play through a few chapters. This is a game that I’ll likely stream because it’s one that seems like it should be good for that. You go through a story and fight monsters with some interesting dice mechanics.

The art really drew me in as well. It’s kind of a pen drawing style, I guess I’d call it, some pops of color on stuff, more so on this one, almost cartoony. It’s hard to describe, it just looks really cool as you can see. And while you can play two player, it seems to be mainly a solo game which I like.

Excitement Level: 4 out of 5. I was excited enough to grab a reprint of Spire’s End when that came out because I didn’t want to pay the $100 mark-up on the game on eBay or Board Game Geek. It just seems like a fun and immersive gaming experience.

Mythwind

You can see some of why I backed Mythwind here. To recap, I like that each character plays differently. That reminds me of Merchant’s Cove which I really liked. Plus it’s an interesting concept for a game.

A game without a win condition just sounds confusing but intriguing. It’s kind of a game that I wish I had an extra table so I could just leave it set-up and play a little bit. You are going to achievements, if you want. Or you can go for making the best town possible, it’s really up to you. I hope that it’s good, but it’s one that just felt so different.

Excitement Level: 4 out of 5. It’s unique, and while I haven’t played Animal Cross and Stardew Valley, it intrigues me more than play either of those ever has.

Too Many Bones: Unbreakable

Too Many Bones has been on my radar for a while. I got to demo Too Many Bones: Undertow at GenCon in 2019. I thought it was pretty good, but it’s always been pretty expensive to get into. Now, I’m afraid, I might have started down that rabbit trail with their final crowdfunding for the game, at least that’s what the Gamefound said.

What drew me in, and this I am blaming GloryHoundd for, is that the characters were so unique. The ones from Undertow were cool, but these are even more interesting. And it felt like the right time to dive into the weird world that Chip Theory Games has created.

Excitement Level: 4 out of 5. It’s going to be a fun one to play around with, I’m confident on that, and super high quality production. It just won’t be here for a while.

Grove

Another 9 card solitaire game like Orchard, this one has some different things going on which seem interesting. Orchard is my top played game of 2021 and I don’t see any game passing it, I’m almost to 100 plays. Grove will be a nice one to mix in with that.

What I hope for this one is that it’ll be another fast solo game that I can pull out and play anywhere or while doing anything kind of like Orchard is. And from what I can tell, since the mechanics overlap with orchard as you layer cards (word play intended), I think it should be that.

Excitement Level: 3 out of 5. It’s a bit lower just because I feel like I kind of what what I’m getting with the game, and that’s a good thing. Just means that there is less mystery for me to get excited about.

Marvel Dice Throne

Now we’re onto the two that are still active. The only way that I drop this is if I win a copy of the game in a drawing I entered. I love Dice Throne. I love Marvel. This is the perfect game for me combining the two. And we have a lot of cool characters. I really want to play Doctor Strange and Scarlet Witch because, well, they are just awesome Marvel characters.

I really like the variety of characters that they have, and I like that it’s compatible with all the other Dice Throne. The Gunslinger can face off against Loki if I want. Or I can just do a massive tournament like I’ve wanted to do. I don’t know how or when, but a tournament will happen.

Excitement level: 5 out of 5. Like I said, I love Marvel and I love Dice Throne, of course I’m exicted.

Hanamikoji: Geisha’s Road

This one I could wait for retail, but I want to help support the company that makes Hanamikoji. This is a new version of the game that isn’t just trying to win the favor, but there is an element where you move around the the different Geisha to different establishments to gain favor that way.

I don’t know all the details, I just know that it keeps the same core. And I really love Hanamikoji because of how simple it is to play but also how much thinking there is in the game. It’s a game that makes you make tough decisions and I don’t see Geisha’s Road being any different, might even add more.

Excitement Level: 4 out of 5. Could be higher, but I already have Hanamikoji. I backed this for more of the same goodness, at least that’s what I hope I’m getting.

Bonus game coming up, I forgot I late pledged it so just added to the list now.

Uprising: Curse of the Last Emperor

Now, it’s not a negative that I forgot about it. It was one that I backed well after the fact, and so it didn’t show up on my Gamefound or Kickstarter list. This is an interesting game because it is a 4x cooperative game. And a game where you have 2 different enemy AI’s that everyone needs to beat.

Plus, this game has some of the best standees that I’ve seen. They are up there with the clear acrylic ones. I don’t know how to describe them, but they are much more substantial than the normal cardboard ones. And I believe that each different faction that you can play has their own standees which is great.

Excitement Level: 4 out of 5. I want to play a 4x game baldly. And that is probably going to be true that I want to play it a lot but also that I’ll play it poorly. This one or Heroes of Land, Air, and Sea need to come off the shelf sometime. And this one might not be too far off from delivery.

So there’s my massive list. Which one of these games, if any are you looking forward to getting yourself? Which one would you want to play?

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Unfortunately, that’s part of Kickstarter. Kickstarter at it’s heart, is meant to be a crowdfunding platform for someone who has an idea that they want to see come to life. It isn’t meant to be a pre-order system. I’m highlighting that, and I’m going to say it again, Kickstarter is for bringing an idea to life, not for a pre-order. This line has been massively blurred though as there are some companies that are going to do a limited run of a product or want to control their distribution completely and they have used it as a pre-order system. That’s not what Kickstarter at it’s heart is meant for. That doesn’t mean that it was meant to be used that way.

When I look at Kickstarter, I ask myself, is this money that I will hate to lose? Now, I don’t like losing any money, if I had enough money that I didn’t care about losing it, I would personally just fund some of the small Kickstarters just so someone can have their dream happen, but I don’t have that type of money, and you d on’t either. So first ask yourself, is this an amount of money that I’m willing to risk. Now there are some companies, CMON and Awaken Realms are two that come to mind, where it’s not 100% a pre-order system because they do need the money to make the game, possibly, but I am not remotely worried that they won’t fulfill.

When I’m asking myself if I’m willing to lose money, I ask myself based off of some of the criteria that I talked about in the Picking a Campaign article. If it doesn’t hit most of those criteria, I’m worried about it. For example, I backed a game Calico from Flatout Games. I would have been a bit hard pressed to back it because it was their first game, but they had some playthroughs and previews on the page, plus I saw the game at GenCon, because of that, I was willing to put more money into the game than I would have otherwise. And while I haven’t received the game yet, I keep on getting good updates that it’s moving forward, so I was fine putting money into that. Compare that to Third Act Games Satanic Panic. For multiple reasons I didn’t put a lot of money into that, first, it’s an RPG, I can do PDF, so I did PDF. That was going to be a cheaper option, and I can always just print it off. However, do to mismanagement and overextending, that campaign might never fulfill and the person is leaving the RPG community at least for a little bit. Now, they did it to themselves, but because it was a first project for them, or an early project and they hadn’t delivered on one before, I wasn’t as confident that it’d actually get shipped. So I put less money into it, because I was okay losing that money since Kickstarter is an investment in someone’s dream and the hope of getting a return on it.

All of that said, though, it does suck when you don’t get something from it. What recourse do you have? There are some things that can be done, you can take legal action, you can rate poorly the creator, and you can file a complaint with Kickstarter. Let’s talk about the options in escalating order.

You can rate the creator poorly: To do this, they give you an option of satisfied, neutral or not. Click on not, that’ll show up that people have a negative experience with the creator. Plus, you are still able to leave negative comments in the comment section. When venturing into the comments, remember that it’s the internet and comments can be a scary place. So be aware that it might not be the best place to leave feedback, but when you do, leave respectful but fair feedback. Don’t resort to name calling, but don’t hold back from telling the truth. If they aren’t being responsive, if the creator over promised and under delivered, let people know. If what you got was different than what was promised, let people know, that’ll help weed out the bad Kickstarter creators.

File a complaint with Kickstarter: This one is a bit more of a challenge to do. They give you that spot for your feedback, so you can do more than just click a smiley or a frowny face. But Kickstarter isn’t the most responsive for the people who abuse the system. Gold Bell, I won’t go into the details, was a part of way too many Kickstarters before Kickstarter finally banned them. They were abusive, they held products hostage for more money post Kickstarter and they ruined peoples projects. But eventually Kickstarter did ban them, and hopefully that’ll be precedent for the really bad creators and collaborators getting banned in the future, but it might just take a while. With this, again be truthful about it and highlight what has been bad with the kickstarter and why the creator should be looked at. I doubt Kickstarter would ever refund money, it’s already out the door for them at that point, but it’ll help them know who to keep on eye on.

Finally, you can take legal action: This is the trickiest one out of all of them, because it requires more than a few minutes of time and effort on your behalf as well as money. Plus, you need to be able to prove that they were disingenuous with their initial Kickstarter. It could be that they are just really poor and planning and running a business and burned through the money way faster than they thought they would so they aren’t able to deliver on what they promised. That’s not something that’s illegal, it might be bad on their behalf, but not something you can sue about. However, if you can prove that the company is not operating and did not operate their kickstarter in good faith, legal actions are definitely something you could consider.

Now, all of that was scary. Let me put it this way, with 40 kickstarters backed. I’ve given precisely one of them a frowny face from the first option, and I gave negative feedback to Kickstarter on that one as well. 1 in 40 is really good, and I haven’t received the final reward from some of the, but that’s okay. Those don’t get frowny faces because I knew that it might take a while. If you use, again from my Picking a Kickstarter article, the criteria for selecting a Kickstarter, you’re not that apt to get burned on it. And also use the advice from this article. Kickstarter, again, is a crowdfunding site, not a pre-order site, that means that something might fail. Only use the above when the person is not just failing on the business planning side of things, but is actively lying or failing at what they have promised, and again, that was only 1 in 40 for me and even that isn’t remotely close to me considering legal action, this person was just not the business person they thought they were, and then they got scared, and then they failed, that’s all it seems like. Which is a shame, but they did it to themselves, not because of negative or threatening actions from the Kickstarter community.

This was a bit more of a negative article. I would normally ask for some feedback or response, like what negative experience you’ve had on kickstarter, but instead, I want to highlight those that are good. So when thinking about Kickstarters that have maybe had a hiccup in production, what are some shining examples of where Kickstarter creators went above and beyond what they needed to to make sure, even on a tough Kickstarter the backers were taken care of? Let me know in the comments below.

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(this is image free, mainly because I don’t want to assign any Kickstarter with this negative article because it’s been basically positive for me in my Kickstarter experience, and I don’t want to imply t hat any of those are bad.)