This month is all about epic crowdfunding concepts that either focus on innovation or take you into the world of the gods. One could almost get the impression that the real board game highlights come from the big Kickstarter platforms. Next Tiny Epic Quest by Gamelyn Games and Mythic Battles: Pantheon by Mythic Games and Monolith Boardgames LLC starts the Swiss Trading Card Game Circles of Imora a funding attempt.
Have fun with the Kickstarter Report in November 2016.
Tiny Epic Quest from Gamelyn Games
This time we cannot avoid the new Gamelyn Games project as part of the monthly Kickstarter report. Tiny Epic Quest not only appeals to role-play lovers and fans of so-called sandbox games, but also creates a real innovation: ITMeeples! It doesn't take much to take the ordinary meeple to the next level of evolution. Take a standard Meeple in its familiar form, punch two hexagonal holes in each character's "hands" and the colorful alter ego jumps across the game board with adaptable equipment. Experienced players have known similar systems for decades from the tabletop area, where, among other things, Space Marines were allowed to be equipped with various batons and firearms. As a crowdfunding project, Scott Almes' sandbox board game is doing pretty well. A sensational 13.250 supporters are already paying homage to the fantasy board game and have raised an unbelievable sum of 450.000 US dollars. With a funding goal of just $15.000 Tiny Epic Quest therefore to be classified as quite successful. 11 days remain, so more than enough time for fans of fantasy board games to participate in the latest offshoot from the series of Tiny Epic Games to think.
Equippable meeples are of course not all that this sandbox adventure board game will offer. In short game rounds of a maximum of approx. 45 minutes, 2 to 4 players enter the battlefield, optionally Tiny Epic Quest can also be played alone in a solo mode. For reasons of balance, more than 4 players cannot participate at the moment, the symmetrical structure of the game board does not currently allow this. When the Kickstarter campaign ends, the fantasy board game will be available in English. Further language versions will follow through localization of the game through the corresponding cooperation with the publishers.
The story of Tiny Epic Quest follows the traditional paths of classic fantasy: an evil force threatens to conquer the kingdom and it's up to the players to prevent it. In this competitive game, each player controls three heroes on the hunt for fame, honor and fat loot. The game world is made up of world maps and offers a total of 34 locations that you can travel to - albeit in compliance with the special and somewhat restricted rules of movement. The players have a variety of locomotion options to choose from. And so the heroes travel on foot, on horseback or griffin back, and by ship or raft. Each movement card depicts a fixed movement rule. This ensures tactically clever (or unwise) decisions when choosing the means of transport. Completing quests grants you various bonuses. In addition, by dividing the game rounds into a day and a night cycle, a "press-your-luck" mechanism is accommodated in the game system. Particularly successful players equip their heroes with powerful weapons, which they then insert into the punctured meeples in order to make an even more heroic impression from now on. The game always ends after five rounds. The winner is then determined by counting the points.
If you want to see the ITEMeeples in action with your own eyes or simply more information about the fantasy board game Tiny Epic Quest is required by Gamelyn Games, which is available on the Project page find.
And who the idea of Tiny Epic Games* thinks it's brilliant, you shouldn't miss out on the variants that have already appeared.
Circles of Imora - The Beginning
All good things come in twos, at least according to the saying Kickstarter-Career of the project Circles of Imora - The Beginning is based on. The idea for the Trading Card Game comes from the Swiss Dominik Hanisch, who is responsible for the implementation of Circles of Imora has partnered with the British William Eardley. The latter is responsible for the artistic design of the TCG. It is unusual for a fast trading card game to come straight from Switzerland - after all, our neighbors are not necessarily known for their speed. And yet, the basic information is too Circles of Imora - The Beginning Interesting. On closer inspection there are similarities too Magic - The Gathering can hardly be assigned by hand, which is a quality feature overall. As is usual with trading card games, a starter box provides players with a set of base cards with which to build an initial deck. Strategic subtleties are then worked out by purchasing so-called boosters. Each booster pack contains 6 cards, which can be of different quality or rarity. In addition to common, uncommon and rare cards, players with a lucky hand can also draw much rarer cards from the expansion packs - up to cards with the rarity level "secret rare". Each card is assigned to one of the eight nations or regions that come from the fantasy world of Imora.
The game is played in a classic duel mode, i.e. 1-on-1 with two players. A deck of cards may consist of up to 60 cards, but it will only become clear how extensive a deck of cards can be in order to be flexible and powerful at the same time. If you follow comparable titles, you will find efficient play decks at Circles of Imora - The Beginning contain around 40 to 50 cards, of course depending on the deck building rules. Fights are fought in one of the four skill areas: knowledge, magic, strength or endurance. In addition, each skill area is divided into offensive or defensive use. The winning conditions have almost become a tradition: Each player starts with 20 life points, which must be reduced. If a player loses life, he loses the round. When all cards have been played, the player with the higher life point value wins. Sounds very simple, but it is more standard in a trading card game. More important than the victory conditions are, after all, smooth game processes and hundreds of efficient decks, which must first be discovered, especially with new types of TCGs. This is exactly where the charm of Circles of Imora - The Beginning lie: it is undiscovered country and thus opens up a new trading card experience for beginners and professionals alike.
The Kickstartercampaign by Circles of Imora - The Beginning has recently started. Card players and TCG fans therefore still have 29 days for possible support. In the second attempt, Dominik Hanisch certainly wants to bring the financing to a successful conclusion. 38.000 Swiss francs are required, which is the equivalent of around 35.000 euros. An ambitious goal that we will keep an eye on. To get more backers, will Circles of Imora - The Beginning be available in a German and English language version. Good prerequisites for international success. More information about Circles of Imora - The Beginning you get through the Project page on Kickstarter or on the Website to the game.
Mythic Battles: Pantheon
The gods must be mad. After all, they have let 6.300 people on Kickstarter's project Mythic Battles: Pantheon have indicated their support. This resulted in a total of 890.000 US dollars - with a financing goal of only 80.000 US dollars. Monolith Board Games LLC and Mythic Games are working closely together to make the tabletop game an international success. The strategy seems to be working so far, because detailed tabletop models are always well received by fans and elicit one or two extra dollars from fans. Indeed, the images of the models look excellent. A game with gods is thematically well chosen because players can then use gigantic powers against equally gigantic opponents. 2 to 4 players, ages 14 and up, slip into the roles of well-known and less well-known gods of Olympus. In different game modes you follow campaigns and scenarios or go directly to the battlefields of ancient Greece in tactical skirmish battles. Each of the gods and heroes, but also each monster, has a unique set of skills with which the players fight their opponents. In the medium to long term, this ensures a lot of motivation and variety and makes Mythic Battles: Pantheon an investment in the future. Several elements come together in a playful way when the combination of an army, good card management and a portion of luck turns into a full-length spectacle. Mythic Battles: Pantheon will be one of those games that you like to work through several times on a game night. The gods serve the players as commanding warlords around whom an army is built. Limitations result from the number of recruitment points, so that the players have to choose which war strategies they want to pursue purely personally.
In campaign mode, on the other hand, the player is given a predetermined set of units to replay the story. Due to the division into four basic classes, only a well thought-out combination of different units will lead to a powerful army. Gods, heroes, monsters and troops each have their own strengths and weaknesses, so that the composition will ultimately follow a rock-scissors-paper principle. A balance between offensive, defensive and available resources does not only appear smart, but also expedient. Those who, on the other hand, want to pursue exotic war strategies can of course do so.
Changes in values are shown on the character boards using practical plastic clips. The skills are of course based on Greek mythology: while Zeus can throw lightning, for example, Athena has superior war skills. Hades, the god of the underworld, on the other hand, benefits from defeated units on both sides. On the hero side, you choose from well-known greats from history such as Achilles, Odysseus or Heracles. Who prefers that 300 would like to know gathered behind him, falls back on Leonidas, who relentlessly dissects his opponents with spear and shield. All sorts of well-known cattle from Greek mythology are also represented in the ranks of the monsters: Medusa, Minotaur and Co. ensure a lot of variety. The troops are then more of the disposable items of the ancient Greek war machine. The game boards are detailed and stylishly designed and the illustrations on the cards are also convincing. Overall is Mythic Battles: Pantheon a jewel among the current Kickstarter projects.
You can find even more information and lots of videos on the Project page of the crowdfunding tabletop.
