Watch your Back: Week September 25 to October 1
8 games will be launching next week, so let me take a deep breath and let's get started.
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First off, Terraforming Mars: The Dice Game. This is the dice version of the hugely popular engine building game, and it once again supports 1-4 players. Like in the original game, you have a hand of cards and your aim is to terraform the planet.
In this version, however, a card market has been added, and of course, dice. You can only play the cards you select if you have the required dice results. The main deck acts as a timer, and the game ends when the deck runs out. It is launching on Kickstarter on September 27.
Personal opinion: I will back this. TM is one of my favourite games, and I believe I will be able to use my deluxe tiles in the Dice game too. JW told me it's rumoured to be a family game, so probably a bit dumbed down, but in the solo playthrough video I saw, it seemed just fine.
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Continuing with popular games, a new installment in the Tainted Grail saga is coming out on Gamefound on September 27. Kings of Ruin is a standalone expansion of the 1-4 player narrative adventure game.
Three kings reign in ruined lands, and your hero will get to journey there and engage in various events and encounters. Gameplay is based on resource management and card play, with the story unfolding through the accompanying book.
Personal opinion: I have played the base game and one of the expansions. Good narrative, mediocre gameplay - for me. Awaken Realms said they have improved the game system after receiving feedback, so Kings of Ruin is supposed to be better. I won't be testing it.
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Moving on to the reprint of Materia Prima: The Alchemists Guild and the Inquisition expansion which makes the game soloable. The base game supports 2-4 players, and your goal is to create the philosopher's stone.
You do that by exploring the land, fighting enemies, researching recipes, and creating homunculi as helpers. The expansion adds a cooperative campaign. It is launching on Kickstarter on September 27.
Personal opinion: I am interested in this game and want to see if the co-op campaign makes it worth backing.
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Then we have Mine Your Business: a 1-4 player spatial puzzle that can be played solo, cooperatively or competitively. In each round, you manipulate the cards in the grid so that you can collect resources if they are aligned, and also try to avoid the hungry goblin. It is launching on Kickstarter on September 26.
Personal opinion: This one is lacking in the artwork department. Spatial puzzles need to be attractive for me to notice, and this doesn't make the cut.
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Ghosts Love Candy Too: Roll and Fright is a 1-99 player roll 'n' write print and play game inspired by the Ghosts Love Candy card game. You play as ghosts who steal candy from kids during Halloween but have to be careful not to scare them away. The PnP features three different games. It is launching on Kickstarter on September 27.
Personal opinion: Pass.
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Let's move on to Temple of Horrors: a 1-4 player cooperative adventure game inspired by D&D. Your goal is to find the hidden artifact and escape the temple unscathed.
Heroes will explore the map tiles and fight creatures along the way, with combat being based on dexterity: you throw cubes on a separate board and calculate points depending on where the cubes landed. It is launching on Gamefound on September 27.
Personal opinion: When games have dexterity elements, I feel they are more fun to play with others.
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One Two Many Rabbits is a 1-4 player card and dice game in which you have to get rid of the rabbits that have infested a house.
You start with a hand of many rabbits cards and decide whether to roll one, two or three dice to match the numbers needed for the rabbits to go away. In the multiplayer game, your opponents will try to send their rabbits to you. Solo rules haven't been revealed yet. It is launching on Kickstarter on September 27.
Personal opinion: This is a take that game which means not suitable for solo, so let's wait for the solo rules.
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And the last one for today is Rone: Invasion. A 1-2 player post-apocalyptic deck building game with customizable dice. It can be played cooperatively against the invasion of Celesta, or competitively against other players.
What stands out here is the screws. You use little plastic screws to upgrade your dice, and also as markers for other things like e.g. wounds. On your turn, you reveal as many cards as you want to form your hand, but you can only activate the cards if you have the required screws on your dice. It is launching on Kickstarter on September 27.
Personal opinion: I'm intrigued. I'm not so much a dice person but the premise sounds interesting, and I will certainly think about backing.