We’re trying a little experiment here at Polyhedron Collider. We’ve rather enjoyed putting together a regular burst of noise and we feel it needs a little expansion. So we’ve also decided to do a regular round up of crowdfunding campaigns.
The aim is not to be just a splat of every tabletop Kickstarter going, but a carefully crafted collection of the games and projects we ourselves are excited about.
Rory’s Top Pick - Thrive
In the context of board games there are a few words that get me really rather excited, these words include “Abstract”, “Batman”, “Strategy”, two of which appear in the description of this game.
Thrive is a two-player abstract strategy game about a lotus flower that wants to rule the pond...okay, so that last bit may sound a little flat, but it’s an abstract game after all. Most interestingly about this game your playing pieces evolve over the course of the game. Each turn you move one piece and then place two pegs on any of your pieces, the arrangement of these pegs dictate how it can move in later turns. Move into a space containing an opponent's piece and it’s removed from the board.
Think of it a little bit like Onitama, except rather than being limited to just 5 possible moves, the moves are limited by your own planning.
Need to know more? Then you can download the rule book, get your hands on the Print & Play or even just play on Tabletopia
Steve’s Top Pick - Paladins of the West Kingdom
I have a guilty secret to admit, I have never played anything from Garphil Games. Their North Sea series were a set of three games that always gets a lot of praise and the design process is being repeated in their second series; the Western Kingdoms.
Paladins is all about protecting your domain form Viking invaders and Byzantine outsiders. You’ll build fortifications, defend the city and spread faith were you can. You’re not alone though, as the King has sent his Paladins to assist.
Paladins of the Western Kingdom is a worker placement game and promises multiple paths to victory, a healthy level of player interaction without take-that and a huge amount of replayability and depth. As with all Carphill Games, it’s beautifully illustrated by The Mico and, of course, is resplendent and with wooden tokens.
You can also grab Architects of the Western Kingdom as part of the same Kickstarter, and it comes to the bargain prices of less than £40 per game!
Andy's Top Pick - Iwari
Iwari is an abstract-like euro game where players represent different tribes who endeavour to define their identity by travelling and expanding settlements into five different types of regions in a strategy game of majorities. Iwari re-imagines the award-winning game Web of Power by Michael Schacht by adding new layers of strategy, different maps with their own set of rules, modules that can be added to the game and a unique cooperative and solo modes.
Iwari comes from the same publishers (Thundergryph) as Tang Garden and Spirits of the Forest, which we made special note of in our “Upcoming in 2019” article for being pretty, even though you don’t get points for being pretty any more. Yes, Jon was confused too.
Ending Soon: Chocolate Factory
This game made our Awesome Games List of 2019 and with good reason. It’s awesome and has (fake, wooden) chocolate in it. If you haven’t gotten in on this sweet treat of euro style conveyor belt construction then you’ve only a few days left.
You can listen to Andy, Steve and Jon discuss the game on the podcast here.
Coming Soon - Kingdom Rush
It was AireCon this last weekend, and Steve and Jon got to play the prototype for Kingdom Rush from Lucky Duck Games, which is coming to Kickstarter in just a few weeks.
Based on the popular tower defence mobile game, you will build a series of towers to defend against invading orcs, goblins and other beasties. We only played an introductory scenario but already I can tell you that at least one member of the Polyhedron Collider team will be backing this.
Why you may ask? Because this is a really clever take on the tower defence genre. True it may look all cutsie but it’s really a difficult puzzle where you have to decide when to add towers, when upgrade towers and where to place your damage, with damage placement being a polyominoes puzzle in the same vein as Barenpark and Cottage Garden.
Coming Soon - Exodus Chronicles
Exodus Chronicles is a re-implementation of the Exodus: Proxima Centauri and its two expansions Edge of Extinction and Event Horizon. However, this isn’t just a reprint or re-dressing of the original but the game has had a complete mechanical and aesthetic overhaul to be slicker, more streamlined and with more interactions.
The game will feature new sculpts for each factions ships, new game changing mechanics and the addition of a solo mode to play against the “evil” Centaurians.
Exodus Chronicles will be live on Kickstarter on the 19th of March
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