Raccoon Tycoon – from the art to the game play this game looks pleasant in the best way possible. The art is the real stand out, but not far behind that is the fact that this is a comprehensive campaign. The team at Forbidden Games have ensured that there are plenty of previews and playthroughs on the campaign straight away, which means it is far easier to make a decision on it. This game is an economic/resource building game with a great theme to it and I would highly recommend it from what I have seen.

Tang Garden –  The Zen and calmness of both Tang Garden and Raccoon Tycoon is what really draws me to both of them this week, although they are super different games. Tang Garden is a tile placement/Euro game with a great Chinese inspired art and theming. A ton of stretch goals have already been unlocked, so the base game will come with a bunch of extra tiles and miniatures. Lots of chatter online about this one, I am looking forward to hopefully being able to lay my hands on a copy.

Overturn: Rising Sands – this looks incredible, and it has CROCODILE MINIATURES! The game itself is tactical, turn based with semi co-op play. Now I have put it on the list for it’s production value and it’s looks, however it really is a matter of time whether it lives up to this hype. This Kickstarter has a very strong ‘Zombicide’ feel to it, in both game and in the campaign itself – there are tons of add-ons and extras. Will quantity also equal quality when it gets to tables? Unfortunately, there is only one preview up at the moment, I hope that we see more about how this game plays before too long.

UPDATE: Please consider dropping your pledge for Overturn – there have been numerous issues with this campaign. There are major issues with copy pasting rule books and company info, the company are not who they say they are and all miniatures are in CGI render form (ie there is no actual product).

Special mention: So Long, My World – The world is coming to an end and soon you will lose your life, how will you spend the last few hours? So Long, My World is a simultaneous action strategy card game with a unique theme.

The post Kickstarters of the Week 22 June appeared first on Next Player.

Queen Games are re-releasing a few Stefan Feld classics – Amerigo and Merlin, for reprints on Kickstarter. Amerigo, in particular, is quite highly rated and is currently sitting at around #260 on BGG. To get just Amerigo, plus some bonuses, it will be around $70. The 2013 version is still available in Australia, however is out of print and won’t come with the bonuses.  Further, because this is being made by a publisher, the expected release time in November of this year.

Solomon Kane has been hovering on The Hotness on BGG for a few weeks now, and the time has come for the release. This game looks incredible, from the art to the sculpting of the pieces. It is also testament to the fact that high quality games are now costing more and more as hobbyist delve further in. Unlike the Zombicide effect, though, the developers haven’t gone for oodles of add-ons – so the around $185 (with postage) won’t blow out with a Pledge Manager that means adding on another couple of hundred dollars. I really like this one for the dark theme and the incredible sculpts in particular.

From the designer Jeff Beck of Hardback comes a 2-player game Getaway Driver – with art from Ryan Goldsberry (Burgle Bros) this competitive asymmetric game has you playing the role of Police or ‘The Driver’ who will pulls stunts to get away. A unique mechanic in this game means that the things on your table (the edge of the table, a water glass) all form part of the obstacles in the game itself. This game has already well met it’s target but with a $35 price tag for Australians, this should well and truly go above and beyond that. Another great thing is that you can pick up the PnP for around $4.

Gorus Maximus gets the nod this week as well for taking  a simple trick taking mechanic and turning it up to 11 through art and theme. Not to mentioned that this will get to you, posted for a little less than $30 (or $3 PnP). The art is by acclaimed illustrator Kwanchai Moriya of Dinosaur Island fame, and straddles the line between cartoon and hardcore gore. This little game looks super fun and looking forward to more of what this company puts out.

Special mention this week to Solar City, brought out by The Games Factory who also publish big hits like Dominion and Roll for the Galaxy.

The post Kickstarters of the Week 15 June appeared first on Next Player.

Red Alert – Space Fleet Warfare – designed by Richard Borg (Command and Colors, Memoir ’44, Battlelore), this game hit it’s goal within  the day of release. The game is a space warfare (hence the name) game based on the Command and Colours combat system. The only criticism that I have of this game is it’s price. To get the base game you are looking at $158 AUD plus shipping.

Neta – Tanka – a worker placement and resource management game with a Native American theme. Each player is vying for their place as the next leader of their tribe. Funded in 24 minutes on Kickstarter and 1-4 players, this seems like it will appeal to a lot of people. Only around $70 plus postage to here in Australia.

Mythic Battles: Pantheon 1.5 – Well, I complained about the cost of Red Alert a minute ago and here we are with Mythic Battles…it will cost you around the same as Red Alert at $158 for the base game, but if you want to go all in, it will $700+ for all expansions etc. I love the miniatures for this game, although not so sure about the game play – there is a big discrepancy on BGG between the weighted ranking of 6.9 and the community ranking in the 8’s. Not sure how this will translate to playing, but gosh is it pretty.

Special mention – Until the Bitter End – a simple 1-2 player combat game based on WWII that is print and play only – at $7 this has already reached it target (several times over) and I can see it earning even more. Proof that games don’t need to be massively in-depth and immersive for players to seek them out.

Anything else that you are particularly interested in this week?

The post Kickstarters of the Week June 8 appeared first on Next Player.

Heroes of Land, Air and Sea – This was massive when it first hit the market and has had a lot of hype when it hit KS again this week. There is an extra expansion (Pestilence), plus the ability to purchase the base game. To purchase everything you will be looking at around $220 (although postage is only about $40 for that much product – almost worth it just for that). This game has rave reviews, so be sure to check out their campaign and see if it has what you want.

Infected: The Carrier – this dark social deduction game looks incredible, especially from the art. This expansion adds on to Infected with several different characters which change the mechanics of the game to make it somewhat more challenging by the looks of it.

Vast – The Mysterious Manor – The follow up to Vast: The Crystal Caverns looks just as good as it’s predecessor. Given the popularity of the original, this new stand alone game is definitely worth a good look.

The post Kickstarters of the week 2 June appeared first on Next Player.

What makes Ex Libris so lovable? Well, it could be the Meeples that are all shaped in the portrait of your player (Golem, Witch, Goblin etc), or it could be the puns on the spines of the book, or maybe it is just the fact that this is a great fun game that runs exceptionally smoothly after only a few rounds of play.

The goal of the game is to have the highest scoring library (or cards) at the end of the game. Scoring depends on the type of books, the structure of the bookshelf and whether you have used any banned books. Each player has a specific character that they play, which also has a special ability that can be activated once per round.

Essentially what you are aiming to do is build a library of cards in front of you that complies to several conditions:

1. It has structure – that is is a contiguous grid of cards;
2. It is alphabetical;
3. It doesn’t contain too many banned books;
4. It contains plenty of the books that you have been allocated as your ‘special’ books;

Although I was thoroughly beaten every time that I played, I found Ex Libris to be a super enjoyable game to get to the table. It is a relatively quick play (easily coming in under an hour for 4 players), the artwork is fantastic and it straddles that fine line between between too simple and too brain burning. Whilst you have plenty to think about – card placement, worker placement, alphabetical order – it never becomes overwhelming and I actually found the cognitive effort in the pleasant range, not having to think too hard, but also my mind wasn’t wandering either.

If you like worker placement, looking for a good family game for kids 10+ (or those who are a little more advanced in board games) or are looking for a game that appeals to the heavy and light gamers alike, I would highly recommend Ex-Libris.

You can buy Ex-Libris by Renegade Games here at Mighty Ape

The post Ex-Libris Review appeared first on Next Player.

From the publisher