Watch your Back: Week March 6 to 12 (Part 2)

We continue our crowdfunding preview with 4 more games - here is Part 1, in case you missed it.

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There was a time, not too long ago, when Cthulhu-themed games reared their tentacled heads on Kickstarter almost every week. Then the trend died out. Now someone had the epiphany to combine Cthulhu with theme parks, and thus Cthulhu Island was born. This is a 1-6 player area control game in which players are directors of theme parks competing for the creation of the most fearsome park.

Each player picks a director, an Ancient one and a player board. Actions on the player board are powered by tokens which slide from one action space to the next via a mancala-inspired mechanism. If too many tokens pile up on a spot, a portal opens up, spilling out monsters in the park. You will be building attractions, summoning Old ones and damaging your opponents to gain the most popularity. Solo rules haven't been revealed yet. It is launching on Kickstarter on March 8.

Image source: BGG

Personal opinion: Even though I had fun when I visited EuroDisney when I was 15, theme parks in board games don't really interest me. As for Cthulhu, I hadn't missed him.

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Next, we have Far Cry: Beyond: a 1-4 player cooperative adventure game based on the video game series by the same name. I have never played the video game, so didn't know what it is about. With no description on the BGG page, I had to search on Wikipedia for the video game theme of "taking the player to a lawless frontier where values and laws of today are non-functional, along with elements of having to survive in the wilderness including hunting and crafting".

The board game has 'soft legacy elements', meaning that you will be opening envelopes and using stickers as you progress the campaign, but the game is resettable. Combat is dice-based, and players can intervene in each other's turns to contribute with their actions. It is launching on Kickstarter on March 7.

[Update: postponed to April 11]

Image source: Funforge Facebook

Personal opinion: With no emotional connection to the theme, this is for me just another fighting adventure game.

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The Fog: Escape from Paradise is a 1-6 player abstract racing game in which islanders are trying to escape a threatening fog cloud by running along the beach and jumping onto boats. Your goal is to save as many of your people as possible.

On your turn, you will be spending movement points to move your people on the beach. The beach is crowded, and free spots are hard to reach, but you can use your available actions to run, swap places with another person, push them, squeeze through them, or jump over them. Different islanders offer different movement benefits. You score the islanders depending on the way they land in the boats. Solo mode hasn't been revealed yet. It is launching on Kickstarter on March 8.

Image source: BGG

Personal opinion: As I was watching Boardgame Brody explain the gameplay, I almost felt the panic of running for your life amongst a crowd. It looks very cutthroat, and therefore not suited for solo, but let's see how they devised the solo mode.

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Last, we have the Deluxe Edition of Alban Viard's Small City: a 1-4 player city building game in which you are a mayor trying to get re-elected by developing your city, attracting more residents, and keeping pollution under control. In each round, you will be placing tiles on the board according to placement rules, receiving resources from the different types of buildings, and moving citizens on the various locations. In the solo mode, you are trying to get a good score.

The Deluxe Edition comes with new art by Kwanchai Moriya, and a revised solo mode. It is launching on Kickstarter on March 8.

Image source: BGG

Personal opinion: The only city building game that ever captured my attention was Suburbia, and even that I eventually sold. This one seems too dry and puzzly, I believe I would quickly get bored of it.