Octopus Overlords

I seem to be supporting a lot more board games on Kickstarter lately instead of computer games. While not risk free, I feel like you have a much higher chance of getting something worthwhile since many of these games already print and play prototypes and have been play tested for months or even years in advance.

Knowing that there are quite a few board gamers here I thought I would share a couple I saw recently that got my attention.

Lift Off!

Lift Off! is a 45 minute, semi-cooperative game for 2-5 players. Race to get your aliens off the planet before it explodes!

I love the aesthetic of this one a lot. It seems like a fairly light family friendly game but still has a good deal of strategy involved. You collect cards to pay for your escape from the planet but the phases of the moon (turn counter) changes the costs of lift off. You can combine resources with other people to get off the planet faster but space is limited, so eventually, someone’s aliens are going to get left behind. The player that gets the most aliens off the planet before it explodes wins.



Asteroid Miner

A fresh take on worker placement featuring a unique orbital mechanic. Asteroid Miner is a game of skill and strategy set in deep space.

This one is a bit too complex for me to sum up completely but I really like the sound of the mechanics. Watch the video preview on the bottom of the kickstarter page to get a good idea how it plays.

Each person controls a mining start-up. Players must plan ahead, anticipate asteroid orbits, hire workers to leverage their skills and sell ore to make money and keep their business running. All the while trying to keep other players from taking their ore and stealing their business!

Each game is unique. Each player starts with a randomly selected specialist and workers for hire are drawn from a deck. Players can never be certain what specialists will be available and when.

The impact of luck has been deliberately limited to reward skill and planning. Asteroid Miner incorporates several self-leveling mechanisms. These serve to keep the leader on their toes and keep everyone in the game all the way to the end!

I'm a bad person. I rarely buy a game without having played it before. I don't know why but I feel like I need to know I'm going to have fun for $40 - $60 before I give it to them, even it looks like these games are going to be bit intensive.

LordMortis wrote:I'm a bad person. I rarely buy a game without having played it before. I don't know why but I feel like I need to know I'm going to have fun for $40 - $60 before I give it to them, even it looks like these games are going to be bit intensive.

That doesn't make you a bad person, that's how it's supposed to work, especially with board games. Sometimes they come out and are really good, but sometimes you wind up with messes like Myth.

How exactly does that work? If you can play a board game before you buy it, surely someone you know already owns it, so why buy it when you could just continue to play it with them? Not saying these two games will definitely be great by the way; just curious how the try before you buy thing works with board games.

I almost never get to try a game before picking it up and instead rely on reviews and word of mouth from places like Boardgamegeek.

I am a Lordnine, but I am hoping to become a LordMortis.

I made the first step yesterday cancelling two outstanding CSI orders. Then I cancelled a KS pledge.

Lordnine wrote:How exactly does that work? If you can play a board game before you buy it, surely someone you know already owns it, so why buy it when you could just continue to play it with them?

In my case I go to BGGcon annually and DGM a few times a year (monthly game marathon in Dallas). Both have large libraries and lots of people that bring games. It's a great place to be exposed to games without buying them all where you might not have access to them next time you want to play.

I also have a couple different groups I try to play games with. If I buy the game it's available on both sides.

Lordnine wrote:How exactly does that work? If you can play a board game before you buy it, surely someone you know already owns it, so why buy it when you could just continue to play it with them? Not saying these two games will definitely be great by the way; just curious how the try before you buy thing works with board games.

I almost never get to try a game before picking it up and instead rely on reviews and word of mouth from places like Boardgamegeek.

OctoCon, The Ann Arbor Game Group, The Canton Board Game League, gaming in different circles, B&M demos, etc... When I was heavy game buyer I also did gaming at a lot of conventions. In the absence of the hosts of demos I used to get to play all of the time, now it seems like I wait for reviews at places like OO.

I have hit the point where I do subscribe to what you state though, where I ask "why would I buy this if the only person I'll ever play it with is x and x already has a copy" and I've taken it one step further. I don't tend to buy a game any more if I think x will buy another copy of the same game after I buy mine. That happened after I looked dozens of $60 duplicate games of mine that only ever got played once or twice. I can't justify that $$ sitting in my basement spent on games played once at the wage I make.

Lordnine wrote:How exactly does that work? If you can play a board game before you buy it, surely someone you know already owns it, so why buy it when you could just continue to play it with them? Not saying these two games will definitely be great by the way; just curious how the try before you buy thing works with board games.

I got involved with a board game meetup group here in St. Louis years ago, that became my way to try a huge variety of board games and then decide which I wanted to own. Buying them for myself, even though I had the meetup option to play them, gave me the option of being able to play those games with family and other friends. Nowadays, that's how I try out new games that I might want to own and play with my kids.

I have a buddy who introduces me to lots of new games - he turned me on to Mage Wars, Descent, all kinds of stuff. I only get to see him maybe once a month, though. If I buy those games myself, I can play them with my kids anytime I want.

My state is deprived it seems. We don’t have conventions, gaming groups or even really that many people…

Lordnine wrote:My state is deprived it seems. We don’t have conventions, gaming groups or even really that many people…

I had no idea Vermont had such low population. Can you be a state with less than a million people?

There's not an actual population requirement. Nevada became one with less fewer than 40k people in 1864.

Lordnine wrote:My state is deprived it seems. We don’t have conventions, gaming groups or even really that many people…

Have you considered visiting an FLGS (Friendly Local Gaming Store)? They're usually more than willing to let you try before you buy, and even teach you how to play most games they sell.

e.g. Quarterstaff Games is located in Burlington, VT, and appears to host plenty of gaming events from the looks of it.

Lift Off has been funded with 4 days to go!

Asteroid Miner ended up in a name dispute with another company and so decided to restart their campaign next month with the new name.

Anonymous Bosch wrote:e.g. Quarterstaff Games is located in Burlington, VT, and appears to host plenty of gaming events from the looks of it.

I was going to mention this. A good friend of mine managed it for years.