So here we are once again to look at a roundup of Kickstarters for the week of 18 Nov 2013. Truth be told? Scraping the bottom of the barrel a bit this week.
Best of the lot seems to be this board game. I’m not a big fan of the horror genre, but from time to time there is a board game with minis that are kinda useful or interesting. I keep an eye out in case I can reuse the minis elsewhere. This one has a few that looks to be useful to use as accents in a fantasy setting, but YMMV.
What makes this interesting is the add-ons that you can purchase.. building packs, older minis from an earlier project, that kind of thing. Problem is I can’t get a good sense of the scale of the minis…
(I did say this week is kind of scrapping the barrel. And this one is probably the best of the lot…)
Next is an accessory for Heroclix. Interesting idea here…
Space games always suffered from the fact that we don’t game in the third dimension very often, and rules don’t usually cater for that either, since the majority of players won’t be too bothered. But it does add an interesting twist to games when the rules do cater for it.
In this case the basic idea is simple, have multiple clear shelves so that minis can be placed in three dimensions. Interesting and conceptually can be extended to other games like superheroes etc. I do find that 8×12 area a bit limiting (especially with big honking spaceships), and that inherently the lower levels are going to be difficult to reach to place and move minis.
It’s good that they constrain to 3 levels, to be honest do you really need more than above me/ level with me/ below me? How far away can be abstracted by the grid in both dimensions, so the only real thing is to differentiate the relative positioning.
So an interesting idea, and one that’s not too difficult to replicate with substitute material. I think I can hit up the local arts and craft store to whip up a acrylic + stand replacement… ahem, well, so much for this Kickstarter…
Scraping around further…
Yes, it’s an anime theme chess set. Look, if it’s your thing and you like it, by all means support this. It’s a bit too sugary for me, so I’ll pass.
So the last new Kickstarter for this week would be a terrain project.
Seems like they are licensing Hirst Arts parts to put together a collection of kits to create dungeons, which to me makes sense and is fairly reasonable. They also have paint colour options and additional stuff to unlock as the funding goes up.
So there’s some sell point to this.. but, Canada; my experience with Canada post is reliable but bloody slow. And this would be heavy post, so double whammy.. and it’s already fighting in a market that is fairly niche, and dominated by companies like Dwarven Forge, which just delivered — not concluded, but actually delivered — on a Kickstarter for a similar product. So, direct competition in a uphill market….
And the last Kickstarter for this week is a repost. It’s an interesting one, about the Chinese classic Journey to the West. It’s also stupidly successful, so if you want to get in before the thing closes, don’t say I didn’t highlight this… There’s even an Angry Panda in there somewhere. Eats, Shoots and Leaves indeed…
And yes, that’s a gender-flipped Tripitaka. No, I have no idea why a nun of purity and virtue would be running around the countryside in a low cut cheongsam with ample cleavage with leg slits up to there…
So that’s a wrap, y’all. See you next week.