Watch your Back: Week February 26 to March 4
I was afraid I wouldn't make it for this week's post but thankfully here I am. Let's rush to the games!
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Nevermind The Distraction is a solo card game in which you are trying to become Zen Master through meditation.
Your goal is to prevent thoughts from distracting you by quieting them. The more thoughts you manage to let go, the closer you are to winning. Cards are arranged in a 3x3 grid, and you are playing against the Mind. You will be revealing cards and placing tokens, alternating turns with the Mind which also reveals cards and causes distractions. The game is launching on Kickstarter on February 28.
Personal opinion: I appreciate the uncommon theme but there is something about the gameplay that doesn't sit well with me. It may be the push-your-luck element or the moving around of the tokens. I'll let my mind think about it some more.
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Moving on to Sally Face: Strange Nightmares: a 1-4 player cooperative game in which Sal and his friends are exploring the mysteries inside Addison Apartments.
The game is based on the Sally Face video game. You will be rolling dice and taking actions to solve mysteries. If you fail, the powers of evil spread corruption, and the heroes may die or become insane. They may still continue as ghosts or while mad, but this gives an advantage to the demon. It is launching on Kickstarter on February 28.
Personal opinion: I'm interested in this even though I wasn't aware of the video game. I'm waiting to see a playthrough and may back it.
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Star Tycoon is a 1-6 player sci-fi economic game in which you are trying to do profitable business in space.
In each round, you will be producing resources and buying cards from the market in order to fulfill the requirements of planets and gain points. Solo rules haven't been revealed yet. It is launching on Kickstarter on February 28.
Personal opinion: Let's see the solo mode first.
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Spirits of Christmas is a 1-6 player cooperative game in which you play as the spirits of Christmas guiding Ebenezer Scrooge through his life and trying to convince him to spend money.
You will be using Compassion, Contentment and Charity to complete scenes from Scrooge's past, present or future, and playing cards from your hand to interact with the given chapter cards. It is launching on Kickstarter on February 28.
Personal opinion: Really bad timing for this one. I understand they are aiming for Christmas delivery but, in my opinion, what matters the most is to tempt people to buy it. And right now it's out of season.
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An Age Contrived is a 1-5 player engine building and area control game in which you are a god of the Eldranic pantheon, trying to become the most powerful god by securing the belief of the mortals.
Each god channels their energy into the mortal realm. Energy can be used to perform actions such as constructing monuments or claiming tiles. In the solo mode, you are playing against a bot. It is launching on Kickstarter on February 28.
Personal opinion: Not for me.
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Encounters: Shattered Wastes is a 1-4 player cooperative boss battler in which a group of heroes face enemies in the battlefield.
If a hero's health deteriorates, they turn into their shattered state which makes them at the same time more powerful and more vulnerable. Fights are performed by rolling dice and applying any special abilities the characters have. The boss is defeated if their cards are discarded while they are fatigued. It is launching on Kickstarter on February 28.
Personal opinion: It seems to be a nice game, but nothing more than that.
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Ancient Terrible Things: Reawakened is a 1-4 player dice rolling push-your-luck game in which you are facing the dangers of a jungle river.
You will be selecting a location to visit each turn, gaining any bonuses it may give you, and rolling your dice to match the required result. In the solo mode, an 'opponent' blocks one of the locations each round. It is launching on Kickstarter on February 28.
Personal opinion: I am tempted. I love the artwork, and will probably enjoy some tense dice rolling, so I'll take a look when it launches. The riverboat dice tower does not come with the base game, and I don't know if I want it. It sure looks cool.
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Hellbringer is a 1-4 player cooperative card-and-dice dungeon crawler.
You will be going through a deck of cards until you reach the final boss. Every time you encounter an enemy, you will be first equipping weapons or potions or a companion, and then attacking by rolling custom dice. If you fail to do enough damage to kill the enemy, they fight back also by rolling dice. It is launching on Kickstarter on March 1.
Personal opinion: It looks like an okay game. I may look into it if it ever hits retail, but it doesn't excite me enough to back now.
I find myself hesitant about Ancient Terrible Things. I love dice games and it looks like a neat dice game. And the price seems fair. Is anyone backing it?
I am still very much lukewarm about Hellbringer. I have read the rulebook twice and I can't see how it plays in my mind. So I guess I'll pass in the end. Besides, asking backers through an update to rate Hellbringer on BGG so that the game can finally get a rank is to me very much a misconception of what these ratings and ranks are supposed to mean. But if the game really does what it claims it does, then I certainly want to play it.
An Age Contrived looks like something I would like. The theme interests me, as well as what I can see of the board art. I am also interested in Ai play, as long as its not overcomplicated/fiddly. I prefer games that stick close enough to a multiplayer feel without tackling too much responsibility for managing an artificial opponent. Thanks, Athena.
Yeah! Athena's post! I'm really happy you smuggle the time to write it in the end!
This week is a true March KS week, with plenty of tempting offers.
I will most likely back Hellbringer. I had already done so back in November. The rulebook, however, was not really clear, and therefore I was not 100% confident in keeping my pledge. I hope the creator has made some progress on that in the meantime. Anyway it has all the hallmarks of a game I should enjoy: simple rules and mechanics, card-driven abstract dungeon crawler, lots and lots of dice to roll every round.
I must confess that I am more interested in Encounters: Shattered Wastes than I expected. The rulebook…
Thank you Athena for the post! Glad you could make it :) We have so many games this week!
And it's one of the very rare instances where the listing contains a game I know I'm backing (cause I already read the rules thoroughly multiple times and I know it's my kind of game). It's Nevermind the Distraction and not just for the theme (since I know nothing about meditation outside of what I read in the rulebook), although it's refreshing (and maybe one I may be tempted by in March too, since Mandala Mind will be on)... the gameplay's push and pull is something I tend to like in games. It also has multiple levels of difficulty where you…