Watch your Back: Week March 6 to 12 (Part 1)
So. Many. Games. I mean, I know it's good to have options but when I see 9 new games launching on the same day (give or take one day), I feel a bit overwhelmed. In any case, let's go through them one by one.
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I'll start with the relaunch of Tiwanaku, formerly called Pachamama, about which Zerbique had written a detailed preview when it first launched. This is a 1-4 player deduction game in which Incan tribes are competing for the cultivation of crops and veneration of the Goddess Pachamama. It is launching on Kickstarter on March 9, and the creators have now added a co-op mode. (Solo is played against the 'Otoma' AI).
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Hamlet is a 1-4 player tile laying game about building a village, transporting resources and contributing to the construction of the local church. Not much is known about it yet, other than that each tile can be used by all players and not just the player who built it, and that the placement has to form interconnecting paths. The solo mode will be developed by David Turczi and Nick Shaw. It is launching on Kickstarter on March 8.
Personal opinion: There's barely any info to base an opinion on, but I can already tell Hamlet is not for me. So far, rural-themed games have mostly failed to keep me interested, and the promise of a bot means I'm out.
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Moving on to Monster Pit, a 1-5 player tower defense game (the description says it's not tower defense, but I say otherwise) that can be played solo, co-op or 1 vs. many. This one is by Elzra, the company behind the flicking game Catacombs. Monster Pit is taking place in the same universe but it is not a dexterity game.
You will be rolling dice in each round to move the monster around the citadel, and then sending your Captain to various buildings in the town to gain benefits and special abilities. Combat against the monster is also dice-based. You win if you take the monster's health down to zero before it reaches the citadel. It is launching on Kickstarter on March 8.
Personal opinion: I unfortunately don't like this cartoony style of illustration at all. Gameplay sounds good, I'd probably enjoy playing it but won't back it.
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Warpgate: Beyond is an expansion to the 1-6 player area control sci-fi game Warpgate. It adds two solo AI decks and replaces all the cards in the base game with new ones. In Warpgate, players are leaders of alien tribes that seek to colonize space, and fight each other for galactic dominance.
The game is card-driven, with each player selecting 4 cards to play on their turn and performing the associated actions. Whoever has the most points at the end is the winner. It is launching on Gamefound on March 8, and you can check the preview page here.
Personal opinion: From now on I will spare you from reading my opinion if it's just my 'I don't like automas/bots' mantra. Which is the case here.
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We'll close off today's post with Motor City: a 1-4 player roll-and-write game in which you are running a car factory in pre-crisis Detroit. If you enjoyed Fleet: The Dice Game and Three Sisters, it is likely that the game will appeal to you, as it's by the same designers. In the solo mode, the auditor AI will be blocking spaces on your player sheet.
In each round, you will be rolling your dice and placing them on the designated action spaces on the board. Then, you will choose the dice you want depending on the action they give you, and mark off the associated spot on your player sheet. The auditor will alternate turns with you. Actions allow you to sell cars, do research, and test cars on road tracks. It is launching on Kickstarter on March 8.
Personal opinion: Sadly, roll 'n' writes feel too much like school homework to me. This particular theme doesn't move me either.
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We'll continue with the rest of the releases in Part 2 hopefully tomorrow.
I was a backer of Tiwanaku back when it was still called Pachamama. I still love the deduction here and playing against the AI seemed very straight forward, even if it was tough. But I do like it, I may go for it again even now. (To explain, I'm constantly making harsher bars of admission to my collection and especially with current situation.)
Some interesting ones, I thought, but so far I'm still stickin' to my 2022 resolution of not backing or purchasing multi-player games. I had to draw the line somewhere, and my no multi-player (>3) games is workin' so far.
Warpgate looks like a lot of fun. I don’t think I’ve heard of this one before today.
I guess the thumbnail picture is from Hamlet, but it looks to me that this is the destination of the Pilgrim meeples from the previous post!
Monster Pit sounds really cool! I'll gladly take a look at the campaign, but the games from this company have usually been very expensive.