The Board Game IPs

So how did I create this list, let’s start there. This is based off of a video by Foster the Meeple, which you can find here. Their list was mainly IP’s that didn’t already have a board game with them. Or they only had more mass market games. I didn’t quite do that. Mine might already have a game with them, but I want more games with that IP. Or I want better games with that IP.

Let’s run down the list quickly.

10. Mutant Chronicles

I’d want to see this as a Project Elite type of game. Mainly something where you go after lots of monsters, play real time, and just have fun scenarios and powers.

9. Sonic the Hedgehog

For Sonic, I’d like a game like Downforce where you have a specific car that is yours though and you are racing to get as many rings as you can. Player with the most rings at the end wins.

8. Shadow and Bone

Shadow and Bone, it could go two different ways. One way is playing at character level. Get into that dungeon crawl or adventure style of game. The other way would be to pit all the factions against each other in a race for dominance.

7. Locke & Key

Chronicles of Crime or Destinies from Lucky Duck Games would be the one that I’d base a game off of. Give it story and give it that dynamic element of the app. Especially with the VR element that Chronicles of Crime can add it’d really show off the weird world that can be Locke & Key.

6. Stormlight Archives

This one is coming, in some form. But another game that I think would work well in two ways, like Shadow and Bone. I think the idea of factions is even easier with the different lords you could play as and control. But there is so much rich story and history to the world, an adventure game would be amazing.

5. Keeper of the Lost Cities

Keeper of the Lost Cities has that Harry Potter like vibe to it with the displaced kid finding where they are really supposed to be. For this game idea, I’d want that adventure or dungeon crawl type of game. I think even exploring the school, Foxfire, over years as you level up your character and gain new skills would be interesting. Place some big mystery over everything, kind of that adventure type of game makes the most sense.

4. Stranger Things

For Stranger Things, I would love a Mansions of Madness style of game. Solve mysteries and fight monsters like the kids do. And the location tiles, when you eventually go into the upside down, which you might not always do, you flip everything over and on the reverse side of the tiles is the same location but just the upside down version.

3. Arcane

Arcane definitely needs to be a story driven dungeon crawl game. I think I suggested something to Middara. It’s a rich world with a lot of story to reach and choices to make. But then there is a dungeon crawl element. I’d want that dungeon crawl and campaign element for Arcane because of again a very rich world.

2. The Dresden Files

The Dresden Files, I bounced around a while where I wanted this game idea to land. I want it to be a Tainted Grail style of game. It’s dungeon crawl adjacent but really more of a of an adventure game. Give me a game set in the world of magic, monster and fey that Dresden Files has. I don’t even need Harry Dresden in it, well maybe some references to him, but a big campaign about what other wizards are doing would be amazing.

1. Sword Art Online

Finally, the IP I’d love most to have a good game for is Sword Art Online. There is a little card game but it’s not that great. The rules are definitely poor. But I want a boss battler, but not just a boss battler. A game I haven’t played yet, but is coming soon, Oathsworn or another one like that ISS Vanguard, would be solid examples. Oathsworn, in particular, has story/mystery that you play through and then fight the boss monster. That’s what I’d love for an SAO game.

Upcoming Streams

So change to the schedule. I can finally get some more games played on Thursday so I am pushing off the stream. Now, possibly, I am going to do my first Crowdfunding BIG and little on Friday. But I’ll know for sure soon. Life just got in the way of a lot of gaming over this past week, so I don’t want to miss out on more.

But tomorrow at 8 PM Central I will be streaming again. This time more Pathfinder Adventure Card Game. You can find the upcoming video here. So join me then on Malts and Meeples to chat and watch some game play.

And then next Monday there is not going to be a stream because it is the 4th of July. So no stream for the holiday mainly because I’ll probably be wrapping up driving by the time I’d normally be streaming and if not I’ll be tired out. So I’ll be streaming on Wednesday next week.

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What Crowdfunding Did I Back in March?

Surprise! Four Secret Novels by Brandon Sanderson

This was a surprise for sure for me. I really love Brandon Sanderson’s writing. Stormlight Archive is one of my top series, might have dropped to #3 now. But surprise writing over COVID would be a bit crazy to do four, if it weren’t Brandon Sanderson. I know that one is tied into the Stormlight Archive. I only backed at the level for an ebook, I thought about more, but it added up quickly.

HotRod – A Roll and Write Revolution Game

One thing I’ve been doing a bit of this year is backing print and play roll and write games. I think that it’s something fun that I can do for a small creator. Often times these things are little passion projects. And while I am always ready for a big one, like a Dinosaur Island: Rawr ‘n Write, it is fun to help a smaller dream come true. This one is going to be a car roll and write game. We’ll see if it is good, but I am curious.

Unsettled

I already mentioned it is a better one that I backed. I forgot that it ended in March, so it counts for the month. Unsettled is a space exploration game, where each planet lets you explore, and try and solve the problem that is going on. I immediately backed this because it is already out, and the reviews are good. It, to me, feels a bit like a TIME Stories where it plays with a lot of different things within the same system. And each planet or scenario is different and feels unique.

Wine Management

Wine Management is another one of those little roll and write projects that is just print and play. I actually have the files for this already, though I do need to reprint the game board. I think the idea of playing a game where you are making wine. But some of the bigger ones, Vihnos and Vitaculture, the style of game looks a bit too dry to me. So I hope that this is a nice light and fast game.

Overisles

Finally, I backed Overisles for my wife. I normally try and avoid backing RPG’s. If you remember from a bit back, I got rid of most of my RPG stuff. Not because I don’t like the systems are am not interested in trying other things, but I know I will mainly play Dungeons and Dragons. I don’t need the other systems. Overisles, though, is a unique sounding game. Yes, it is an RPG, but it also teaches you sign language. That is awesome, a way to gamify a skill that more people should have.

Final Thoughts

Outside of Unsettled, I didn’t back much that was expensive. Like I said, I only backed Sanderson’s at the e-book level because of the price. And Overisles is also only in PDF format. Really, the only physical game that I backed was Unsettled. The rest are offering me digital files for print and play or digital versions of books.

What did you back in March?

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10 – Good Omens

I like some humor in by books and this one has a good amount of it. Good Omens is the story of an Angel and a Demon who are working together because they don’t really want to see the apocalypse come around. Unfortunately, nothing is really working like they think it will and can you actually avoid the apocalypse? Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman do a great job with this story and it’s a fast and really enjoyable read.

9 – Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

More humor, this time even more absurd as Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy asks you the big questions in life as you fly around on a crazy space ship that just doesn’t quite do what you think it will. And you’d think that the universe would have some normal parts, but that’s very questionable. Douglas Adams is an author who’s writings I generally enjoy. The other Hitchhikers books are fun, though not as good. And Dirk Gentley’s Holistic Detective Agency is a new side of crazy. If you’re up for something completely absurd, anything by Adams is worth checking out.

8 – Daughter of Smoke and Bones

You’ll also see a fair amount of fantasy on the list, and Daughter of Smoke and Bones is the first one to kick it off. And it’s very different in terms of fantasy. It’s not your normal knights on horses riding off with the wizard to slay the dragon. No, this takes place partially in a modern world. The story is interestingly woven together, and while there are some stumbles in writing where it dumps backstory for too long, it’s very enjoyable. It also feels so different from standard fantasy. Laini Taylor does a good job on the story and a good job creating a world that feels unique.

7 – Swallows and Amazons

This is a series that I grew up on. We read through it multiple times growing up and it’s just a ton of fun. It’s a kids style adventure story, almost kids on bikes, but because that was really the common term for the genre. It follows three families of kids as they go exploring the lake country of England, camping under the stars, and having crazy adventures. Good wholesome fun for the whole family. Arthur Ransome really can tell a tale of adventure. Now, I will say that there is some from the times that shows up in the writing, considering they were published in the 1930’s and 1940’s, mainly in Missee Lee, and while that one is a fun romp, it is skippable in terms of the story as a whole.

6 – Stardust

Back to another story by Neil Gaiman, this one again leans into the comedy, but also a lot of fun world building. What happens when the normal world and a world of magic collide. Stardust is an absurd story of that. It has high stakes adventure, romance, and so much going on in the story. If you’re looking for something that is just a fun romp, Stardust is that, and you can blow through it quickly. Again, one that leans into that British absurdity in it’s humor like Good Omens and like Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

5 – Harry Potter

I wish JK Rowling would just go away at this point in terms of her world. She’s ruining the world that she created by continually trying to fill in holes in her world and just in general, but I won’t get into that further, because the series itself is still enjoyable. Yes, there are massive plot holes, but for a series, it builds over time and they are almost always enjoyable. I like how the stories grow up with the characters, the first one is a pretty light and simple romp and story, but in the last one, they are dealing with much weightier things. I still recommend the series for kids who need something to read, and since I’ve read them a few times now, it’s something that I can breeze through quickly.

4 – The Reckoners

Brandon Sanderson is one of my favorite authors. The man is a machine when it comes to turning about books, and while I like some of his epic fantasy stuff better, you’ll have to find out what it is, I love the Reckoners series. It’s a good young adult superhero book where it isn’t just your normal superheroes out there saving the world, the powers affect the heroes negatively so that if you have powers, you are a villain, and the Reckoners are a group of people who are taking down the worst of the worst, but you have to find out the weakness of those with super powers. Really well written, some heavier things to think about, and a ton of fun.

3 – It

Only Stephen King book on the list, though, I do enjoy a lot of his stuff, and I really need to read some of them again like Dreamcatcher. But It is a book that I can just read over and over again. He does a great job of creating the horror and the tension in the book while also having a kids on bikes adventure feel to it, almost like you get in Stranger Things. Pennywise is a great villain, and there’s a lot of depth to the story. It’s a big book, but it tells such a good tale that if you’re thinking about reading some horror or want to see what Stephen King is all about, I think that this one is a great starting point.

2 – Stormlight Archive

Second Brandon Sanderson series on the list, this is a massively epic fantasy series, I mean massive. The third book in the series, the audiobook for that is over fifty hours, it’s insane. But the story in it is amazing. Sanderson weaves together several different characters into a story about the end of the world, but also about how it could be saved. There are spren, creatures that embody everything, there are wind spren that you can see when it’s windy outside, light spren, dark spren, death spren(?), and more that people research, and it’s just a unique twist to the world. I feel like there are a lot of fantasy tropes, but also so many amazingly different things that make the series worth spending the time on.

1 – The Dresden Files

I really enjoy urban fantasy which Daughter of Smoke and Bones is in some ways, and Neverwhere, which just misses the list by Neil Gaiman, is as well. But the best urban fantasy that I’ve found has been The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. He weaves a masterfully grand tale and always world ending events that keep the stakes high, but without feeling silly like so many massive series can. Harry Dresden is just a well created character, you know he’s going to win, but it’s going to be hard along the way. Nothing ever comes to him easily, and that’s fine, and he’s never going to be a perfect character, he’s written well with flaws and that makes him seem such more real, as do all of the characters in the series. Definitely a big series, definitely an easier series to read, one to checkout if you’re having trouble finding good urban fantasy.

Now, I’ve mentioned a few other books that I like as well that almost made the list, Dirk Gentley’s Holistic Detective Agency is just out there and weird but really enjoyable. I have liked Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan is massive and enjoyable. Classics like Dune, Lord of the Rings, and Chronicles of Narnia all just miss the list as well. How about what, what are some of your favorite books? Have I sold you on checking out any of my favorites?

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