One of the first games that we ever backed on Kickstarter was The Island of El Dorado with the Thieves expansion. After that we fell into a never-ending black hole of Kickstarter backing.
We’ve learned a lot about how to choose games well (i.e. not simply because they are SO FREAKING BEAUTIFUL) and love the suspense of waiting for each game to arrive at our door. Most of all though, we love supporting small board game publishers bring their dreams to life because we want to be them someday, too. Here’s just a few of the games we backed and why we did.
Potemkin Empire
Potemkin Empire struck our interest by its premise first. The players are attempting to impress the Empress by convincing her that they have the most prosperous village in the land as she floats on by them on her journey down the river. You don’t necessarily have the resources to build a bunch of actual buildings though, so instead you create a beautiful facade that will fool her from the river. As a player, you have the option of building a real building and reaping its benefits throughout the game, or build a fake building and reap its benefits until someone else calls your bluff. We’re excited to try a bluffing game that requires a bit of strategy in your decision making.
On Mars
We are so excited for Vital Lacerda’s newest game, On Mars, with gorgeous artwork done by Ian O’Toole! As is typical of Lacerda’s games, it is a complex strategy game that we expect to fully burn our brains (we are looking at you, Lisboa). Players are attempting to contribute the most to the first colony on Mars by shuttling important supplies from space to the surface and developing technology to help the colony function. Each player is alto constructing buildings on the surface and trying to produce enough resources to keep the colony functioning. This game initially caught our eye with its sheer beauty and size. It also came out right as we began to delve into heavier games, so it seemed like a perfect fit. Market value on Lacerda games only goes up, right?
Atlantis Rising
The first thing that struck us about Atlantis Rising was the incredibly unique board. The idea that you are working cooperatively with yourself against a slowly sinking island was very interesting! The board components themselves “sink” throughout the game and slowly constricts the amount of island and worker spaces are available for each player to use. Elf Creek Games is revamping this classic with beautiful graphics by Vincent Dutrait and we are so excited to receive and play this cooperative, worker placement game! It can also play up to seven players which is a huge plus.
Kingdom Rush
This board game spin off of the classic mobile game caught our attention immediately. Both Travis and Andrew have played the mobile version and Melissa and I were both super intrigued by the board game mechanics. This is another cooperative game (can you spy a pattern yet?) that also includes a tower defense element. We all thought that this game would fill in a hole in our current collections with beautiful artwork and some really innovative components. It also doesn’t hurt when we see games on Kickstarter that have a Rahdo seal of approval – we definitely enjoy his reviews! We have quite a wait for this one but we are looking forward to defending the castle together!
