What's Kickin' on Kickstarter 6/2
Musings on the State of Kickstarter
You may notice a theme in the entries for this week. A number of them seem overpriced for what they offer. Sometimes that is just the nature of the Kickstarter platform. A product can be overpriced for a number of reasons; while this may disqualify it for some backers, many still opt to back it. For independent game creators, the added cost may be going toward the first manufacture of a small order. For the more established companies, the added cost may cover the anticipated stretch goals and Kickstarter exclusives that will be included.
Even though cost should always be considered, a higher cost doesn’t necessarily turn me off to a game. I can know it’s not worth that much, and still be willing to pay that much for it. Such decisions are up to each individual backer to decide.
You may also notice I haven’t included the usual section for a game that is ending in two weeks, but hasn’t been funded yet. Most of what is ending soon has already been funded, and those not funded aren’t strong enough for an endorsement. I am not going to just fill the section for the sake of it.
As always, we want to hear from you. Is your list different from mine? Did you back any games lately (whether from our list or otherwise)? Or am I way off base with my assessments? Leave us comments below, on the FlipSide Gaming Facebook, Twitter, or wherever you found this article!
Game Backed Last Month
This game certainly wasn’t the best of the bunch I looked at last month, but sometimes you just have to opt for cute and simple. In that, Frutti Di Mare, fits the bill. Seafood warfare on a pasta-plate battlefield? Sign me up! Winning the game via battle or area control provides a few different avenues for strategy and victory. This game just hit full funding.
My Top 4 Games of the Last Two Weeks
Minerva is a tile placement game where players can build new cities within the Roman Empire, looking to be the best militarily and economically. The specifics of resource production and management are greeted with a unique dynamic in this game. Unlike other games of similar means, all the buildings in a row will resolve in order. This means that the specific placement of each building may benefit or detract from your overall standing in the game; strategy and synergy are needed at every turn. The basic backer level is set at $40, and shipping hasn’t been determined yet, so this is something to consider with Minerva.
Ends Saturday, July 1st
Zombiecide: Black Plague was a hit, and I love CMON games, so Green Horde is on my list and looks to meet expectations. The game is a dungeon-crawler, where players take on the roles of survivors, traveling along a board filled with obstacles while battling undead orcs and leveling up to increase their skills. Miniatures tend to be overdone on Kickstarter, but CMON’s are usually spot on – the survivors and undead orcs in this game are no exception. The price-tag is extremely high at $120, with another $10-20 for U.S. shipping, which is usually the case with miniature games that have tons of components. But with nearly 15,000 backers with still four weeks to go, this is likely to include plenty of Kickstarter exclusive stretch goals.
Ends Tuesday, June 27t
In this game, players play pirates on a treasure hunt, and place treasure map tiles to move closer to the booty, or hamper their opponent’s efforts to do the same. I’m a sucker for Tsuro as a quick and simple tile placement and route building game, and Scuttler’s Island is in the same vein. It capitalizes on that simple gameplay mechanic while adding extra depth with the introduction of various elements like booby traps. It will be $46 to back this one, with shipping unspecified.
Ends Thursday, June 22nd
Dreadbound is a sci-fi themed tower-defense game, where players play as specialists plundering an abandoned facility on an uncharted planet, when they are besieged by monsters. One end of the board is the players’ defenses, and monsters spawn at the other end and travel down their lanes toward the players. Players have to defeat the monsters before they breach the defenses and take away their health. I admittedly haven’t played any tower-defense games in board game form, but have been quite hooked on several video game renditions, so I think this game may scratch that itch. The game will cost $40, there still are no shipping details, but I think this may be in the early running for my pick this month.
Ends Thursday, June 29th
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