Jess’s Fave Five Kickstarters of the Week 9/10/21
EOS – Island of Angels
EOS – Island of Angels is an asymmetric engine-building game where players take on the roles of Captains navigating their ships through the dangerous waters that surround the island of EOS in order to free the angels trapped there. During the game players will assign heroes from their crew to locations to take actions, plot a route across the sea map, upgrade their heroes, deal with curses from the demons that inhabit the seas, and try to awaken angels. Many of the actions, such as waking an Angel, killing a Demon, or fulfilling an Epic Adventure, will give a player a score on the Chronicle track. Once the last entry on the Chronicle Track is filled in the end of the game is triggered. Players total up the points scored for their place on the Chronicle Track, bonus points earned, and any points earned from missions. Then points are lost for Demons on the Nation or Ship boards. Whoever has the most points wins.
EOS – Island of Angels is really beautiful and I like that each crew is unique so that players will have the opportunity to try out different strategies. I’m also a fan of engine-building games, so the ability to level up your crew during the game sounds like a lot of fun. You can learn more about EOS – Island of Angels here on Kickstarter.
The Artemis Odyssey
The Artemis Odyssey is a sequel to Grand Gamers Guild’s The Artemis Project and is a revamp of Ad Astra. Having established a society on Europa and utilized the alien artifacts found within, the players now control a factions that look to explore space, seize resources from distant planets, and establish colonies to expand your civilization. The game ends on the round where a player earns 77 victory points or if all planets have been discovered and whoever has the most victory points wins.
The game uses an interesting programmatic system where players will play action cards to the communal planning board. Once all spaces are full the cards will be flipped 1 at a time and ever player will take the actions listed on the cards. The person who played the card gains a major benefit while everyone else gains a smaller benefit. I like that everyone gets something so you always feel a part of every action. If you are a fan of 4X games then make sure to check out The Artemis Odyssey on Kickstarter here.
SHASN: AZADI
SHASN: AZADI is an expansion to SHASN which can be played as a standalone game. In it the Imperials have taken control and it is up to the players to work together to free the nation from their rule, but with the understanding that at the end of the game there can only be one winner. The revolution is formed of four fronts: USA, Russia, South Asia, and Egypt. Players will need to gain influence with the people by playing leader and ideology cards, but for every turn the players take, the crown will advance their agenda. Players must balance helping take down the imperials while furthering their own majorities in order to win. The player with the highest number of majority voters wins the game.
SHASN: AZADI, like its predecessor SHASN, is a jaw-droppingly beautiful game with a thought-provoking theme. The real interesting part of the game are the Ideology Cards, which pose important policy questions that will give you two options to choose from. Your choice will net you different sets of resources and help you unlock powers associated with different Ideologues. SHASN: AZADI looks like an intense political struggle strategy game all on it’s own and a fascinating addition to SHASN if you choose to combine them. Learn more about SHASN: AZADI here on Kickstarter.
Dungeons of Infinity: Kingdom Cost
Dungeons of Infinity is a dungeon crawler with multiple ways to play and a full campaign to explore. Whether you decide to play it solo, cooperatively, or competitively, you’ll choose a scenario or campaign to start with. The dungeons will be generated randomly with a variety of monsters, treasures, and events. Monsters will be drawn to heroes by the noise they generate and each hero makes noise in different ways which informs their strategies when exploring. The campaign includes 10 chapters and 30 scenarios to play through. Kingdom Cost is the expansion to Dungeons of Infinity and adds new heroes, dungeons, locations, enemies, and scenarios. It also introduces a new mechanic, called Enhancement Cards, which give characters powerful bonuses for completing locations.
I really enjoy good dungeon crawlers because they often feel like playing a fun roleplaying game, but everyone gets to play instead of someone being assigned to the game master role. If you are a fan of dungeon crawlers then Dungeons of Infinity and the expansion Kingdom Cost might just be for you. Check them out on Kickstarter here.
Solar Sphere
In this dice-placement and manipulation game, players are competing to build the Solar Sphere so that we can harness the energy of the sun. Use your ships, which are represented by dice, to gather resources, hire crewmembers, fight off the Resistance, and construct the Solar Sphere. Each player will have their own unique power, that can be traded out for an extra crew member during the game, as well as a bunch of drones which can be used to manipulate your dice or as support when fighting aliens. The aliens are a constant pressure that the players must address for if no one fights them then everyone loses points. The player with the most points at the end of the game wins.
I like the semi-cooperative nature of Solar Sphere and that you can gain points from almost everything you do in the game. It looks like a neat take on dice placement. You can find out more by visiting Solar Sphere on Kickstarter here.
What Kickstarters are you backing this week? Let me know in the comments below and check back next week for more fun projects!