A Year of Slacking - JW Pledges 2023

So, crowdfunding became an expensive hobby. Shipping, VAT and customs push most campaigns out of my reach. I take my chances of games reaching retail these days, and spend the saved money elsewhere. But I did still back some stuff this year, so let’s take a look.

The workaround

A good way to save on crowdfunding costs, is by joining group and retailer pledges. That’s what I did for my single big box pledge this year: Rogue Angels: Legacy of the Burning Suns. After the somewhat disappointing experience with ISS Vanguard (I’ll give it another try though), I really really really hope this one will finally be my grail game: Cardboard Mass Effect. The box cover sure gives off those vibes.

I actually backed two expensive games this year, but unfortunately Midhalla was cancelled.

Cthulhu of the Year

I also joined a group pledge for Roll for Great Old Ones. I don’t like roll and writes, but I keep trying them out. 🙄 At least this one looks to bring some thematic fun. And I would never forgive myself if a year went by with me not buying a Lovecraftian game.

British Grenadiers

Of all the world’s brave heroes, there’s none that can compare! Despite Brexit, some small publishers still manage to get their games to us for exceptionally reasonable prices. I can’t imagine them making any money. We salute Man O’Kent Games and Word Forge Games. Your sacrifice is appreciated.

The Classis Caetera expansion for SSO adds a new challenge deck, crew and locations. I’m especially looking forward to crawling through the vents towards experimental Bio Domes. New ways to die!

D-Day Dice Reinforcements adds more cards to a game that absolutely needs no more. But it’s hard to stop collecting. 😁 I regret that I did not add the deluxe version of D-Day Dice Pocket to my pledge. It’s an addictive litte game and I could have given away my old copy to a friend. Pity.

Print & Play & Throwaway

I threw away some money on Print & Plays this year. I fear that both One Page War and Battle Card won’t be that good and should have been free P&P’s like we used to have when I was young. But we’ll see. I may be pleasantly surprised.

Ada Lovelace: Consulting Mathematician was one of the first polyomino games I played, years ago. This actually was a free P&P, and I had my fun with it so I’m happy to support the designer for the expanded Ada Lovelace: Legacy of the Analytical Engine (2nd Edition) and play through the campaign in 2024.

Dangerous Space could be fun, it promises to be a more crunchy version of Dungeon Pages. Plus it’s set in space and has a tech tree, which is my favourite kind of tree. The Kickstarter campaign also offered Overland Adventures for the original dungeon crawler.

'Tis the Season

Yule and Ostara are two decks from the Wheel of the Year playing cards series, with illustrations by Evgenia Zhade (you can see me playing For Northwood with her deck The Dark Kingdom elsewhere on this site). They arrived just in time for Yule. Perfect. Let’s play some Patience during the winter break.

Images from the crowdfunding pages and BGG.