Wallet Kickers of the Week

Another week, another round of Kickstarters as things start to ramp up for PAX Unplugged this weekend.  First on the list is the second game from Mathew Sisson and company, makers of the card game Spaceteam, this time all about surviving on an uncharted island instead of a falling apart spaceship.  The game is called Ravine, and in the game you will crash land on an island, with each person starting out at different levels of being hurt, and from there it's up to you to survive.  You will risk your health to forage for food and supplies, then use those supplies to build helpful items like spears, shelter, baskets, or fires in order to survive.  Come night time you will flip over a card that will try to hurt you in some way, but comes with a way to avoid it if you have the right cards.  If you and all your companions are able to survive through all the night cards, you will be rescued and win the game!  If you like this kind of cooperative survival game, and found the Spaceteam card game enjoyable, check out the Kickstarter today. Next is the latest in the line of Wallet Games from Button Shy Games, and that is HeroTec, In Vino Morte, and Kintsugi.  To start this trio we have the drafting game HeroTec, where you want to outfit your hero with the best gear possible to impress everyone.  You will do this by drafting cards into your stockpile, and then from your stockpile you will use them as resources in order to build the gadgets for you hero.  Once you have fully outfitted your hero you will compare with everyone else and the most stars will be the winner.  Kintsugi is a tile laying game where you will be taking cards and overlaying them, keeping in mind placement rules, in order to score the lowest score.  You and your opponent will be alternating placing cards on the board, trying to make your secret color dominant, but without letting your opponent know which one it is.  If you get figured out the your opponent gets to reduce their score, if you are able to keep it hidden, then their score will go up, lowest score is the winner.  And finally, In Vino Morte is a very light social deduction game where you are trying to be the last one standing at the party.  Each round a new bartender will be chosen and they will pass out the drinks, with at least one of them being poisoned.  On your turn you can either drink what is in front of you or trade, after everyone has a turn and it gets back to the bartender then everyone else drinks.  People who are poisoned are out and the rest stay in for another round.  So if any of these games sound interesting to you, head on over to the Kickstarter page to back for one, some, or all of these games. Next up is a game called Mountaineers, which takes the 3D aspect to a whole other level.  In this game your goal is to complete climbing routes in a ticket to ride type fashion by hiking around the ground and climbing the massive mountain in front of you.  And when I say mountain, I mean a three sided spire of a mountain that you will be placing your pawn on as you climb up it.  Each round different events will be happening that give you supplies, the main currency of the game, and alter the game conditions in either good or bad ways.  Then each player will get the chance to use the supplies they have to buy upgrades, move around the board, or mess with their fellow players in a bid to gain the most climbing points.  Rounds will continue and players will keep climbing until they have run out the event deck, at that point routes are scored and whoever has the most points is the winner.  Thus if you like mountain games, or are just a fan of 3D games with an impressive table presence, check out the Kickstarter page. After that we have a new cooperative deck building game called Direwild, a first design by Vas Obeyesekere.  In this game you Animists, mages who summon animals to aid them, and are trying to stop the evil Karn, a member of your own order that turned evil.  During the game, which is a mix of dungeon crawl and deck building, the minions of Karn will move around the board, trying to take you out and keep you from stopping him.  On your turn you will do typical deck building actions of drawing cards, playing cards, and buying upgraded cards.  After that then you use the cards you just played to summon an animal to move around the board and fight the evil monsters.  Cards will often have a basic animal on them for you to choose from, but they also have text that is upside down, and so if you rotate the card, it then becomes an add-on to an already summoned animal.  This way you can turn a smaller animal into something formidable to fight along side you.  If you and your friends are able to defeat the minions, find and defeat Karn, you will be the winner of Direwild.  To find out more about this game check out the Kickstarter page. Finally we have the freshest Kickstarter on the list, and that is the second Kickstarter for Ogre miniatures from Steve Jackson Games.  This campaign offers a whole new set of miniatures for the latest edition of Ogre, and all the models being offered are not the same as the ones in the first set.  Backing this set means you will be able to upgrade a good variety of units in the game from cardboard chits, to full blown minis.  Included in this set are: 1 Paneuropean Fencer with extra Fencer-B turret, 6 Superheavy Tanks, 4 Mobile Howitzers, 6 GEV-PCs with 3 infantry each (infantry are compatible with those from Set 1), 12 Light Tanks, and 12 Light GEVs.  So if you want more minis for this classic game, check out the Kickstarter now.