Interesting Kickstarters (Week of 11/26/17)

As usual, I spent a bit of time this week messing around on Kickstarter and looking for games of possible interest. I am not backing any of these projects, but it makes me happy to see that there are so many solo-playable games on Kickstarter. The more game designers who cater to solo play, the better!

Obsession

This game is set in the world of Jane Austen, and it might be a good match for fans of Regency or Victorian England. The premise of the game is that your family estate is falling into ruin, but you've just acquired a sizable inheritance with which to repair it. The game seems to incorporate several different mechanisms and to have a lot of things going on at once. Deck building, worker placement, improvement tiles, and various ways of earning VP all have a role to play. I am not totally sure that everything will gel together well, but the theme of the game appeals to me, and I'll be keeping an eye out for reviews after backers have received their copies. The graphic design as displayed on the Kickstarter page also leaves much to be desired, but I don't always judge a book by its cover, or I never would have read Pride and Prejudice to begin with! 

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Claims of Gold

In this game, you are trying to lay claim to a rich plot of land during the gold rush. To keep it for yourself, you need to mine the most gold. To do that, you place workers, claim actions, and push your luck just a bit in hopes of squeezing out every last bit of profit from your efforts. Although it is a worker placement game, Claims of Gold bills itself as an easy game to learn and play, even for non-gamers. It also has a relatively short projected length (30 minutes), which makes it possible as a filler or a relaxing game for work nights when you don't have the energy to play something intense. 

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Dragon Canyon

Dragon Canyon is a skirmish game for 1–5 players in which each player controls a tribe aiming for dominance and glory. Players must accumulate resources and maintain control over various territories. To gain resources, you can either use heroes to acquire them or have an outright battle with your fellow players to steal what they have. You can also eventually summon dragons, which sounds pretty good to me. Depending on stretch goal progress, you might also be able to connect with a spirit dinosaur. The solo version of this game will involve use of an AI deck, which will hopefully make for a quick and entertaining puzzle.

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