Starting this week, I will be highlighting live and upcoming Kickstarter campaigns that recently caught my eye!

The campaigns I mention in these roundups will likely be games I'd want for myself if I had the budget, games I think specific users in our community might like, or games I want to share because it looks too cool not to.

With that in mind, here's my #1 pick:

1. Oros

I love the theme of this game.

It's a giant puzzle of plate tectonics where you take on the role of demigods to manipulate the landscape (move plates, erupt volcanoes, collide landmasses, form immovable mountains, etc). While doing this, you'll be moving around your followers to trek across these lands and bulid sacred sites, gain wisdom, and increase the potency of your actions.

Here's an overview:

The clean look might not be everyone's cup of tea, but it works for me and unique meeples are always a plus. Most importantly, the mechanics seem to provide solid puzzly fun and tie nicely with the theme.

Possible downsides include gamers wanting a more theme-heavy presentation. Another is that it appear to be a heavily tactical game. If you're playing at a 4-player count, the board state could change too often and turn off those who like to plan ahead.

You can check out the current version of the rulebook here.

The publisher seems new to the scene, but I think this project has high potential to reach $100K on day 1. With the right media coverage and marketing, I could even see it getting to $500K by the end of the campaign.

 

2. Transmissions

I watched the video on the campaign page and it left an impression of a relaxing puzzle game with lots of charm (see pictures of the miniatures here by Meeple University). It's appealing to those wanting lighter games in their collection, and seems to provide a nice introduction to mechanics such as hand management, rondel, and engine building. And really, the art by Matt Dixon is great.

If I had the budget and the shelf space, I would back this for three reasons:

1. Looks at those bots!
2. The campaign page mentions that this edition of the game will likely never see retail.
3. Seems like a nice pick for family game nights once my son is old enough.

 

3. One Deck Galaxy

Sci-fi or fantasy?

For some people, sci-fi is always the answer. I'd say I'm somewhere in the middle, but my history of movie and anime favorites suggests that I'm closer to a fantasy fan.

I mention this because One Deck Dungeon is getting a sci-fi adaptation. The original game funded at $122K on Kickstarter back in 2016, and has since placed at #39 on 1-Player Guild's 2020 People's Choice Top 200 Solo Games.

I downloaded the One Deck Dungeon app a few months ago and have since put in around 3-4 hours of playtime. I recommend it if you're a fan of dice rolling, upgrading character stats and abilities, chance encounters, and puzzles involving luck mitigation. If you're a fan of "roguelike" games where you'll repeatedly die but get back up stronger every time, you should give it a go!

 

That's it for this week. Are you interested in any of the games I mentioned? Which Kickstarter game has been on your radar?