Like many people in 2020-2021, I got heavily into retail therapy while stuck at home. To make it worse, I was just getting into board games and only had a cursory understanding of what “crowdfunding” in the board game industry was like. Of course, I couldn’t know that so many board game parts and components were made in China - I mean, in retrospect, I should have but it didn’t become clear to me until I started to recieve the updates from sad game designers and publishers, trying to explain why that delivery date they put in the initial campaign was not going to happen.
Did that realization stop me from backing more games? Not…really? I tried to slow down but sometimes the FOMO gets you. I’ve gottena lot better recently now that I’ve seen my FLGS gets Kickstarter copies all the time, but every now and then the siren song of “exclusive components” or “special pricing” tricks me into backing something…
So here I sit in 2023 with several backed projects finally arriving stateside and shipping out soon! Here are a few that should be arriving (if the “We are locking down your address soon!” emails are to be taken as a sign):
Rising Waters by Central Michigan University Press
This was a game that sounded so very unique to me - I love the idea of using board games to bring attention to American history. I was not familiar with the 1927 Mississipli Flood or the aftermath so it has already enlightened me in that way! These are hopefully shipping to backers starting 9/15!
Self Careless by Jason Anarchy
Yes, I backed at the “Cat Deck” level because how could I not? This card game has a solo mode also, which I am a sucker for. And the art style really pulled me in. The estimated shipping date is 9/12 for backers so hopefully I have it by the end of the month.
Unmatched Adventures: Tales to Amaze from Restoration Games
This was definitely a FOMO back. Unmatched is a pretty well known franchise and I’m sure this will appear at my FLGS soon after it arrives on my doorstep. But there were promos and I was weak. It’s a cooperative game too! I saw it on the table at GenCon and it looks fantastic.
Color Field by 25th Century Games
Yes, there are 3 games in this image, but I only backed for one - Color Field. I follow the designer, Mondo Davis, on TikTok and when he said his game was signed to 25th Century, I wanted to support him. 25th Century puts out solid, high quality stuff too!
I’m realizing now there are more games, tucked away on Backerkit, Gamefound, Crowdfundr … but let’s just start with this little group.