Watch your Back: Week January 15 to 21
Happy New Crowdfunding Year, everyone! This is our first preview for 2023, and things are starting out slowly but surely. Let's see what the coming week has in store.
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Arborea is a 1-5 player worker placement game in which you are a forest spirit trying to rebuild a ruined ecosystem. You will be sending your villagers out to gather resources, go on pilgrimages, and attract creatures into your habitat. Solo rules haven't been revealed yet. It is launching on Kickstarter on January 16.
Personal opinion: At first glance, this seems to be quite an involved, complicated game. It will most likely include an AI to play against. Nothing for me here.
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Moving on to Once Upon a Line: a 1-5 player scratch off cooperative adventure game in which you play as a hero trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic environment. This is first and foremost a word game: you will be scratching letters off a board to reveal words that will allow you to progress the storyline and complete quests. It is launching on Kickstarter on January 17.
Personal opinion: The word game element sounds both fun and frustrating. As a non-native speaker, I wonder how easy it will be to figure out the crosswords. I'm also slightly annoyed at the idea of cleaning the shavings from the table but that's minor. An interesting idea but I don't think I'll bite.
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Then we have Hollywood 1947. This is a 1-9 player social deduction game in which you play as an entrepreneur in the movie industry trying to push forward your political agenda: either patriotic or communist. You will be rolling a die and playing your cards to gain influence while also keeping your goal hidden. It is launching on Kickstarter on January 17, and it has not yet been announced how it can be played solo.
Personal opinion: I don't see how a social deduction game can be fun for one player. I don't really like the theme either.
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And lastly, we have Marvel United: Multiverse: a 1-4 player cooperative adventure game in which you play as Marvel heroes taking action against the Multiverse villains. The game expands on the original Marvel United board game and also adds a true solo mode that you can play by building a deck of allies. It is launching on Kickstarter on January 18.
Personal opinion: Never been a Marvel comics fan unfortunately.