Interesting Kickstarters (Week of 2/26/2018)

We're well into 2018 now, and there are plenty of solo-playable Kickstarter games vying for a chunk of our attention—and our hard-earned cash! I am currently only backing Aeon's End: Legacy and Donning the Purple (both featured last week), but there's a lot of other intriguing stuff out there.

1. Argonauts

The second edition of Argonauts is now on Kickstarter, and if you enjoy mythology, monsters, and ancient Greek heroes, it might be of interest to you! Argonauts is a cooperative game in which your heroes must obtain the Golden Fleece and get it safely back to Iolcus without losing too many crew members—or the Argo itself. Fight monsters, manage resources (heroes gotta eat!) and hope that the whims of the gods don't mess you up too badly... This one is on my "saved projects" list. 

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2. Robin Hood and the Merry Men

This game doesn't technically have a solo mode yet, but one is included as a stretch goal and I think it's going to happen. If the campaign hits $200,000 (it's currently around $180,000 with 23 days to go), then Robin Hood will come with a solo variant. I do not entirely trust solo modes that are added as stretch goals because I am afraid they will be tacked on and that they'll feel that way, too. But the Robin Hood theme looks fun and there is clearly a lot of enthusiasm for this project. I like that the game includes mechanics like building traps and barricading the roads to slow down the planes of evil Prince John and the Sheriff of Nottingham, as well as straight up combat. The game looks like fun, and I hope the solo mode will be, too. 

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3. Laruna: Age of Kingdoms 

Its name isn't terribly evocative, but Age of Kingdoms is a high fantasy 4x game for 1–6 players. (If you're into Dreamscape, Laruna probably means more to you than it does to me!) Players can choose to play different kingdoms and rulers each time, for highly variable games involving different asymmetrical powers. There are also multiple paths to victory, so you can go the economic route, choose combat instead, etc. The game also, however, advertises "heavy social interaction," and I'm not sure what consequences that would have for the solo variant of the game. The art looks good, and the plans for the minis look good, But the rulebook is clearly still a work in progress, and as of today, I did not see any solo rules in there. I would personally feel more comfortable if the game were less aesthetically developed but had a complete and polished rulebook. ​

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