This Week’s Crowdfunding Spotlight 4/7/23
Unmatched Adventures: Tales To Amaze
Unmatched is a fantastic series of head-to-head battles between famous figures in history, literature, cinema, and more! Unmatched Adventures: Tales to Amaze has a pulpy adventure theme that has players take on the roles of Mothman, the Martian Invader, Nikola Tesla, Annie Christmas, The Golden Bat, and Dr. Jill Trent. These heroes and villains will be aided in their fight against each other by inventions and gizmos and minions like The Blob, Tarantula, and the Jersey Devil. As with other sets in the Unmatched brand, you can mix and match characters from Tales to Amaze with other Unmatched games to make for exciting new battles!
Despite not being into player-vs-player kinds of games, I really do enjoy the Unmatched series. Each character feels unique, yet the asymmetrical nature of the game doesn’t get too complex. If you like games where you can test your strategic mind against your friends, then totally check out Unmatched Adventures: Tales to Amaze here on Kickstarter.
Shuffle Kerfuffle
Shuffle Kerfuffle is an elemental push-your-luck game with a fun twist. The goal of the game is to collect as many points as you can while avoiding bad cards. On your turn you can draw as many cards as you like from the deck. If you stop before you reach a bad card you get to keep all the points and utility cards you drew. If you draw a shuffle card your turn will end and you will lose all the cards you drew that round. The dreaded Kerfuffle card will make you get rid of any point cards you have collected throughout the game that are not protected by a utility card. The twist in Shuffle Kerfuffle is that you can shuffle the deck any time you like on your turn. This can come in handy if you have the utility card that lets you peek at the top 3 cards of the deck.
Shuffle Kerfuffle looks a light card game that will be easy to teach and play with a variety of players and the small box means you can take it on the go. Visit Shuffle Kerfuffle on Gamefound here to learn more.
Taiwan Night Market
Taiwan Night Market is an auction game where you are a vendor looking to get the most profitable locations in the night market. Each turn you will be bidding on spots on the map to build your stalls. Once everyone had bid, locations will be assigned and you can set up shop. Each stall serves different types of food and drink. Customers will be revealed and start their journey through the market. As soon as they find the food or drink they are looking for they will stop at the stall offering it and not move forward. You want to get as many customers as you can so getting the right location and products is key. Whoever earns the most money by the end of the game wins!
I really like the theme and art of the game. The cute but feisty vendors all look ready to throw down for their prime locations. The meat of the game comes in the bidding portion. You get a set of coins in different denominations to use to bid with and each location has multiple value spots so you have to balance how much you spend and where you spend it. Outthink your opponents and you can rake in the customers. You can learn more about Taiwan Night Market here on Kickstarter.
Mycology
Designed by an actual mycologist, Mycology is a cottagecore game about cultivating and harvesting fungi. Each turn you will roll the dice to determine if the season changes and what resources you will collect. Then you can use resources to pay for mushrooms, add them to your basket, and collect feast tokens. When the first player fills their basket with 10 mushrooms, the game ends and players tally up their points earned from mushrooms, feast tokens, and magic mushrooms. The player with the most points wins.
Mycology looks fun and relaxing to play and is beautifully illustrated. If you have any interest in mushrooms or like a laid back set collection game, then make sure to explore Mycology on Kickstarter here.
Crown of Ash
A game with of battling necromancers mixed with worker placement and area control? Count me in! In Crown of Ash players vie for control of the lands and seek to build up their power. Each turn of the game you’ll be gathering resources, raising undead to fight for you, building strongholds, and fighting your enemies. After each round players add up their victory points from controlled structures and if they occupy the central citadel. After four rounds they also get points from leftover resources and end game goal cards they fulfilled. Who ever earned the most points is crowned the leader of the kingdom.
An interesting aspect of the game is that during battle both sides get something no matter the outcome, so you sometimes want to lose a battle in order to gain a specific benefit. I feel like this adds a neat twist to the strategy and lessens the bed feelings when fighting opponents – which is one of the things that I am not of fan of in battling games. Raise up a copy for yourself by backing Crown of Ash on Kickstarter today!
What projects are you backing this week? Let me know in the comments below or on Twitter with #GameCrowdfundSpotlight and check back next week for more fun projects!