Board games are my Kickstarter kryptonite

A couple of years on from Kickstarter becoming a real thing that we all sling money at every few months, its left the world feeling a little weary of crowd funding. I think we all got pretty excited by it in the early days, but its hard now to swing a stick (or a cat, your preference) without bumping into someone with their digital hat out for their latest project and I think think we're all starting to get a bit jaded. Not because the projects are getting worse or because we're less generous, it's really just because there are only so many people you can give money to for something that isn't going to show up for six months.

Because of this, a lot of people (myself included) are beginning to be a bit more selective with what we fund. For me at least, that means a few little rules. Unless I'm really excited by it, truly, genuinely excited, I'm not backing it. If the product is coming in over a year's time, I'm not backing it. If the required funding total is in the millions, I'm probably not going to back it.

I reserve the right to break these rules whenever I want – they're my rules – but for the most part this helps keep me in check and with enough money to still pay my rent at the end of the month. Unfortunately, one weakness I seem to have at the moment is board and card games. I'm finding it harder than ever to resist slamming down my card and excitedly waiting for my new tabletop experience to arrive.

Here's a few board game related projects I've been keeping an eye on and desperately trying not to break my rules over:

Modest Magic's card graveyard

This one caught my eye because of my recent descent back into the money sink world of Magic the Gathering. As it stands I use an app on my phone to keep track of life totals and the cards just sit on the flat tabletop, but look at this, it's a real graveyard for when cards get destroyed or discarded. All we need now is a library card holder and then we could have… you see how this goes? Damn excitement.

Kickstarter link,

Pixel Dungeon's paper miniatures

Eurgh, these are just so damn cool. I half want to play with them and half want them just dotted around my house. Each pixel miniature features a front and a rear pose along with a mounted one and in the first set you get a selection of good guys and a handful of enemies for them to fight. There's expansion plans for buildings, but for now, these 2D wizards and warriors are the main attraction.

Kickstarter link.

Xia: Legends of a Drift System

I'm a big fan of space faring games, especially on the tabletop. My usual gaming group is currently battling its way through Space Cadets at the moment and its given us a real taste for the great black beyond. Xia is a competitive experience, where you take control of various ships, shipping commodities, battling pirates and upgrading your systems and weaponry as you go. Guys this is a 4X system on the tabletop, what's not to love? The map is modular, there are different ways to win, thanks to the system of becoming a legend – it's all about fame.

On top of this, the creator is going to release plans for 3D printing upon completion of the campaign, meaning players will be able to make their own starships.

Kickstarter link.

KitGuru Says: I kid you not, I almost backed all of these while writing. I held off though… Ok I backed the first one. I caved. 

Become a Patron!