Kickstarter: A Cautionary Tale (Doom/Atlantic City)

I haven't read much about the game, but you don't have to look long to know that it's not exactly a Monopoly clone. Yes, they made a board that looked like a Monopoly board, but that was - as far as I've read - more of a reference than because of gameplay. The prototype did get quite good reviews, however, not something a Monopoly clone would get I should think.

It is not a monopoly-clone. It is set in AC - which is almost where the similarity ends. It does parody the game. For example there are Chants cards. Get it?

The game is about the elder gods moving and destroying houses in AC. Plus you can fight other elder gods. Plus you can move backwards, move through gates (create gates through total destruction of houses), cast events through using cultists and houses. elder gods have abilities which you can add to and change. You can also be banished and require cultists (and luck) to come back into the game.

There are lots of funny things in the game - funny titles, effects, etc. There are ways to win other than opening 5 or 6 gates - you can complete a Doom for example.

It is not a monopoly clone.

I played a demo version of this. I thought it was a lot of fun.

bfkiller wrote: I see this claim quite often, but are there any actual examples of (good) games that simply wouldn't exist if not for crowd-funding?

It's an RPG, but there's a good chance Better Angels wouldn't have come out without crowd-funding. And it's an absolutely stunning game, easily one of the best indie RPGs of the past five years.

However, as risks go, Greg Stolze is a pretty low one. We're not talking about an unknown. We're talking about a RPG professional with years of experience. He knows what he can accomplish and keeps it realistic. (Previous to this, REIGN was released on the ransom model. Again, I don't know it would have come out without that).

RPGs are obviously a bit different in terms of production costs etc, though.

One thing that I think is causing the problems we're starting to see is the stretch goals arms race that's happening. That's partly the fault of the designers (who are failing to keep these things realistic) and partly of the backers (who are getting more and more demanding). We're getting to a point where games are arriving late specifically because of the stretch goals, which is farcical.

I back very rarely and realistic stretch goals is one of my main factors for when I choose to. With Kremlin, which is the only thing I've backed this year, Jolly Roger Games were keeping the stretch goals tightly reigned in. And that's despite the pressure to go overboard that was coming from certain backers to go stupid.

If Kickstarter doesn't want to collapse under the weight of its own contradictions, this needs resolving. The current combination of inexperienced designers and gamers with an overblown sense of entitlement is toxic.

Cryptozoic is awesome. Do they publish any awesome games?

Epic Spell Wars is most definitely awesome.

For those who have not heard the news:

www.cryptozoic.com/articles/cryptozoic-s...ntic-city-board-game