Watch your Back: Week May 22 to 28
As we're nearing the end of May, 6 more games are popping up on Kickstarter and Gamefound. Here's what they are.
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Bark Avenue is a 1-5 player pick-up-and-deliver game about being a dog walker in New York. The theme is similar to that of Dog Park, but the designers claim it plays differently.
Your goal is to gather the most points by walking up a number of dogs around the city, picking up their poop (it is represented by brown squishy tokens), and respecting each species' particular needs. There will be a solo mode, but details haven't been revealed yet. It is launching on Kickstarter on May 24.
Personal opinion: I like the theme but I don't know how solo-friendly it is.
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Season 3 of Batman: Gotham City Chronicles is going to add a solo-cooperative mode to the game which will allow players to solo the Adventure mode missions from all three seasons.
This is a 2-4 player game set in the Batman universe, in the gameplay style of Monolith's previous game, Conan. The Kickstarter will launch on May 24 and will feature a new rulebook, an expansion, and an RPG.
Personal opinion: I have no interest in Batman, so pass.
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The Breach is a 1-4 player competitive adventure game set in a cyberpunk universe. Each character has different skills and their goal is to breach the Genesys database and steal information.
In order to achieve this, they have to fight the ARM AI as well as each other. Gameplay is based on action selection by allocating cubes to the available actions. There is no information on the solo mode yet. It is launching on Kickstarter on May 24.
Personal opinion: I watched a brief introduction video, and I must say the game looks good. Since the players are mostly fighting against the AI, it shouldn't be hard to make it soloable but I suspect one will need to purchase expansions for a richer experience.
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Hacktivity is another cyberpunk-themed game launching this week (on Kickstarter on May 26), and it is cooperative. Your goal as a team of hackers is to eliminate a number of viruses, and you will do that through card play.
In each round, you reveal virus cards from the main deck and choose to either face them or discard them and suffer the consequences. You may check the Kickstarter preview.
Personal opinion: Comparison between this and The Breach is inevitable, and the latter wins in table presence by a mile. Hacktivity has the advantage of built-in co-op mode though, so we'll see when they both launch.
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The Castles of Burgundy is going to be blinged up in the upcoming Special Edition that's launching on May 25 on Gamefound. Bigger tiles, castle minis, acrylic overlays, metal coins, you get the idea. You may check the preview page.
Personal opinion: I haven't looked into the solo mode of this game, suspecting that's it's better multiplayer. I would probably buy the deluxe things if I owned it though.
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And lastly, we have the reprint of Ukiyo: a 1-4 player abstract microgame in which you are overlaying cards trying to fulfill a set of objectives. It is launching on Kickstarter on May 25.
Personal opinion: These games don't hold my attention for long, unfortunately. I have Orchard and haven't played it in over a year.