What KICKSTARTER(S) are you BACKING and WHY?

Grudunza wrote: Build and manage your own Jurassic Park? Heck, yeah. That color scheme? Hell, no.

www.kickstarter.com/projects/pandasaurus...island-1/description

I appreciate that it's different and going after a certain 80's/90's vibe, but it actually physically repels my eyes to look at. Way too bright on that green. And with the pink and light blue, it looks like some unicorn pony Easter TV special that a 5 year-old girl would watch. Too bad, as it seems like it might be a decent game.

The bright colors are a crude attempt to compensate for this being another boring spreadsheet game that is likely won via euro vp salad. The game also has "dice pool as a resource (DNA), set-collection, turn-efficiency, a clever auction mechanic" and a pasted-on theme. This game exists only because of the bullshit euro bias that continues to dominate discussions at BGG. The game has already been adequately funded at Kickstarter, so my only consolation is that proud owners of this game will likely play it 2 or 3 times each before it begins to gather dust like an insanely colorful shelf toad.

So its Jurassic Park meets AGRICOLA ?

Um, no thanks. I think Shellhead nailed it. I don't care if Franz Vohwinkel spent a year on the graphics, it would still hold zero appeal.

All the excitement of being chased by out of control dinosaurs in ONE spreadsheet!

High Frontier finally made it after an additional loop around the sun, and jeez that's a heavy box full of cardboard. The board looks great- the double-sized version is huge and in no way fits on my table. After all the complaining about components I'm sure I'll find many more on BGG when I check there, but to me the stuff in the box looks great.

Also arriving this weekend was Ahead in the Clouds which I got for the solo game. It comes in this cute little wallet thing that's no use at all, and the game doesn't fit inside.

JEM wrote: High Frontier finally made it after an additional loop around the sun, and jeez that's a heavy box full of cardboard. The board looks great- the double-sized version is huge and in no way fits on my table. After all the complaining about components I'm sure I'll find many more on BGG when I check there, but to me the stuff in the box looks great.

That's great! I'm looking forward to getting my copy of High Frontier too. It is my first Eklund game.

Hoo boy, that Kickstarter campaign was really something, wasn't it? Lackluster communication from the publishers combined with off-the-charts whiny entitlement from backers in the comments section. I'm so thankful that there are people out there who are willing to put up with that kind of thing in order to produce cool games for what is almost certainly very modest compensation.

Side note- the map says Eklund 2015 on it, so it's probably five revisions out of date by now!

Someone was angry that there were extra, undocumented components in the box apparently. They promised fancy water tokens in the campaign, but players wanted tiddlywinks, so they included both.

I'm not backing this, but this one is "almost" there... www.kickstarter.com/projects/hexploreit/...?ref=profile_starred

My issues are that they seem to be channeling Mage Knight a bit too much, and when I look at the components, all I see are WALLS of text. I like the idea though. I want to clarify that I think Mage Knight is awesome, but I already have it and barely touch it, so I don't need another one.

It looks like we'll all get a second chance at Gloomhaven:
www.purplepawn.com/2017/03/gloomhaven-returning-to-kickstarter/

Feelitmon wrote:

JEM wrote: High Frontier finally made it after an additional loop around the sun, and jeez that's a heavy box full of cardboard. The board looks great- the double-sized version is huge and in no way fits on my table. After all the complaining about components I'm sure I'll find many more on BGG when I check there, but to me the stuff in the box looks great.

That's great! I'm looking forward to getting my copy of High Frontier too. It is my first Eklund game.

Hoo boy, that Kickstarter campaign was really something, wasn't it? Lackluster communication from the publishers combined with off-the-charts whiny entitlement from backers in the comments section. I'm so thankful that there are people out there who are willing to put up with that kind of thing in order to produce cool games for what is almost certainly very modest compensation.

There was blame on both sides IMO. For a game that was more or less a reprint to take 21 months from funding to delivery is pretty pathetic IMO. Some of the updates from the publisher were both entertaining and indicative of them being in over their heads. Considering they weren't a start up but an established game company, albeit a small one, it looked like a total shit show on their end. Why they went to different printer from the one that did the prior edition - and then bitch when they wanted clarifications - is beyond me.

My copy is most likely waiting for me when I get home tomorrow night, I'm glad they finally delivered it.

Msample wrote: Why they went to different printer from the one that did the prior edition - and then bitch when they wanted clarifications - is beyond me.

Costs, most likely.

I believe the printer they went with in the end was Panda, which is generally regarded as pretty legit and hardly a problem to work with. From the updates I read it seemed like the publisher wasn't getting files in the format they wanted from Eklund and they were not being exactly pro-active in fixing the issues. Given the time it has taken, and the examples of (in my opinion) much improved graphics for Greenland 2nd edition, Neanderthal and Bios Genesis, I wish that Eklund hadn't stuck so rigidly to his guns on not updating the graphical design. It seems like he "saw the light" of improving that for those other games, but after HF 3rd Ed was under way.

www.beastsofwar.com/wreck-age/vehicles-coming-wreck-ageyes/

UM, YEEEES!

www.kickstarter.com/projects/1470715003/...?ref=category_newest

If you've been ignoring the Shadow War Armageddon thread, this is MDF terrain made in the Necromunda style. It's chugging along nicely, and supposedly anyone who pledges before he hits $10k will get delivery in July.

JEM wrote: Also at $100 I expect there to be some retail expansion(s) included, basically like Blood Rage. If it is like Blood Rage, you may even wait for retail discounts down the line- there's nothing vital in BR exclusives at all, unless you really, really like purple.

Speaking of Kickstarters I am not backing and why, I cancelled my pledge for Rising Sun. I'm pretty much done with the CMON tactics. If I want a complete, matching components game, I have to put down $170 (with estimated shipping) to get the game plus the foreign clans. Alternatively, I can let it go, and buy the base game at retail for $60 six months after release. I don't want to get the KS edition now, and then find I don't have little plastic houses for the expansion clans from buying those retail. A silly argument, maybe, but a silly argument that convinced me to save $120 for something else.

I'm also not at all a fan of the KS exclusive monsters in The Others (I think the Mayor kind of breaks the game in one scenario), and ditto the Blood Rage ones which I almost never played with. That seems to be the CMON way- find a way to up-sell over-sized minifigs by finding any reason to throw more of them into the games.

Agreed that CMON is irritating with their exclusives. Strongly disagree that the KS exclusive monsters in Blood Rage are fluff - the mountain giant and wolfman especially. I went for the big pledge on Rising Sun even though the price is too high.

Probably going to back the new Impulse kickstarter. This is another one that bothers me though. I have no problem with the design in the original Impulse and really like the game. But this seems like the only way to get the actual expansions and it will bother me if I don't get a chance to try them.

Sigil is one I hope funds. Monster army vs monster army on a hex map with factions. No minis just standees like Gloomhaven. Looks like a straightforward battle system with room to expand. If I can summon or recruit some type of demon in a game and have it attack my friends I'm pretty happy.

Edit for the link. www.kickstarter.com/projects/392906378/sigil-powers-of-war