As those of you who follow us regularly know, I like to check in over on Kickstarter, that teeming mass of stuff of ineffable joy and unutterable horror, and when I see a few games of interest, I like to do a little update on them, because sometimes these Kickstarter game go on to big things, and sometimes the Kickstarter is your only chance to get them (or your only chance to get the fancy versions). And, lo, it is that time again:
Wield – It’s a fantasy roleplaying game – you’ve got enough of those, right? Move along, nothing new to see, right? Not with this one! In Wield, your character is an ancient and powerful artifact, manipulating a line of disposable “heroes” to accomplish your objectives (you also play the wielder of another player’s artifact). Each artifact must give power to its wielder in order to accomplish its goals, but as it gives power it also cedes control, requiring a perpetual balance between the two. Wield is a “little game,” so you’re looking at something like a 50-page, 6″ x 9″ book – but, then, you can get the PDF for only $5, a softcover for $15 (in the US), or a softcover plus decks of power cards for $25. Wield ends in about a week, and is fully funded. Oh, and for our L5R fans, it may interest you to know that Wield is being produced by this John Wick guy you may have heard of (and not just because Matt Wilson insulted him in the art for the Bayushi Kachiko Thunder) .
12 Realms: Ancestor’s Legacy – This is an expansion for 12 Realms, adding more realms, more heroes, and more Dark Lords (it’s a lot in the box, but it is not a standalone expansion). I you haven’t checked out our written and audio reviews of the original 12 Realms from last year, it’s a fully co-operative game where the players control fairy tale heroes as they must defeat swarming hordes of monsters who are overtaking the fairy tale realms. The heroes must balance the need to keep enemy populations down, improve their own fighting skills, and acquire mystical artifacts, or else the Dark Lords will enter and conquer the realms before the heroes are able to defeat them. Ancestor’s Legacy also adds new Plots (scenarios) to increase replayability. 12 Realms: Ancestor’s Legacy has already funded without three weeks left in its funding period. Just the expansion is $45, or you can get the expansion and the base game for $75.
Evolution – This entry comes from North Star Games, which is best known for party games like Wits & Wager or Say Anything (and if you Kickstart Evolution, you can select an option where you get a copy of one of the party games for a few bucks), but Evolution is an … ummm … well … let’s say a step in a different direction for the publisher, marking their first foray into strategy games. In Evolution each player will guide and modify several species of animals as they compete for food, which may come from eating a pool of plants in the middle, or eating other animals (including the option to have your carnivores eat your own herbivores). A card-driven game, Evolution requires players to balance between using their cards as species traits, food generation, increasing population or body size, and creating new species. Food eaten during the course of the game becomes victory points at the end, along with points for population and traits. Evolution has already funded and unlocked the first few stretch goals, with almost a month left to go. It’s $50 if you just want the game.
Pixel Glory – OK, OK, the whole “pixel” thing is overplayed by now, so let me start by saying that this game is getting zero bonus points from me for that, so it’s making it here based on what looks like interesting gameplay (in a very affordable package). In Pixel Glory, each player is a fame-hungry wizard. In the first stage of the game, the wizards will assemble their spellbooks using an auction mechanic, with all of the obtained spells (and some number of basic attacks as dictated by the spells won) into a deck. The wizards will then go out and slay monsters as a “team,” but with the glory only going to the individual wizard who slays the beast. I like deckbuilding-plus, so I think this one could be worth checking out. And, unlike all of the other Kickstarters in this post, Pixel Glory is not yet funded, but is sitting at about 70% of its goal with less than three weeks to go. That’s still on pace to hit its goal, but is the one that’s mostly likely to be hard to pick up if you don’t get it now. You can pick up the just the game for only $17.
Bonus: If you were interested in The Agent’s after reading Jay’s review (or listening to us talk about it on the podcast), its update The Agents Return is on Kickstarter for about another day and a half.
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