It’s a lack of accountability and it’s a huge peeve of mine… yet it’s status quo for crowdfunded boardgames (and many other crowdfunding niches).
When it comes to Kickstarter, I will give any given publisher one shot (regardless of their prior track record in many cases); if they impress me, then I’ll consider them for future campaigns. If they disappoint, I cut my losses after that.
Unless, apparently, you’re Jordan Draper. Who has, by any account, stopped caring (?) about Import/Export Definitive Edition and has kickstarted two new campaigns while still waiting for I/E:DE to fulfill… and one of those I’ve pledged for.
So, I maintain a list of publishers I won’t pre-order from or back on crowdfunding sites. I don’t publish the list because there are a number of those resources out there already and I don’t feel as though I curate the list well enough for others to use as a foundation for their own decision making process.
It’s actually only the second game by those designers to really catch my interest (the first being Tzolk’in, but as it doesn’t seem to scale as well it’s dropped lower on my wishlist).
I know there are some issues with their estimates, but that doesn’t bother me as much. It really only does when they say it’s in containers or on the boats, and it’s not. Beyond that, I take every date with mountains of salt, lol.
I’d consider waiting for retail, but I really want the Deluxe edition (I love fancy bits), but if I was looking at the standard edition, I wouldn’t even consider backing it, as it will be cheaper online once it hits retail (and their games do seem to hit retail fairly quick after delivery).
If I had more “Euro-ass Euro games” for this to compete with, I’d be less intrigued. That said, I’m waiting until the final 48. Mostly because that’s what I do for most games, but especially ones that I’m actively ignoring until they launch and catch my attention. I want to give it time to summer in my brain and make sure it’s not just “ohh, this looks nice”. Obviously that will be part of it regardless, but there needs to be more.
The fact that a few people I follow seem pretty hot on it after playing it on TTS (or having a prototype), and the built in scaling mechanisms are pretty strong pulls though.
I do love the combination of biology and evolution theme with voyage/travel. I want more games with this combined theme. Probably because at one time I wanted to be a field ethologist.
It’s only because of the designers that has made me look twice, otherwise hard pass. The publisher’s games in the past have been all deluxe components and light on game development. But with these designers, I feel the gameplay will be more locked down.
Very true. Usually, I’m all for fancy bits also.
Yeah, this is a really good idea. I’ve had to do this a lot more in the past couple years to avoid repeating the mistake of backing a game based on appearance and hope on my part about what the game will be like. I have a bunch of pretty games I don’t play because the gameplay isn’t much fun, sadly.
Yeh, this is what soured me on Thundergryph. They make really pretty stuff, but that just sucks you in to waiting ages and then being underwhelmed by the game
-Northguard: Uncharted Lands
-Endless Winter
-Bardsung (late pledge, I was sold by the writers collaborating)
-Townsfolf Tussle
-ISS Vanguard (on Gamefound)
As of last week with receiving my War of Whispers KS, I have nothing pending and no plans to back anything for the foreseeable future. I have plenty of games that sit unplayed, and I hope to remedy that rather than purchase more. Any expenditures will go more towards expansion content for games I already have and enjoy than new stuff.
I’m a big fan of 1862, Mike Hutton’s sequel to 1860. 1860 is often cited as the “best” 2-player 18xx game. It’s been tragically out of print for quite some time, after ZMan published it and it did not do well. Fortunately, 18xx has had a resurgence and small publishers like All-Aboard Games is capable making a go of it.
I have rode the trains in Isle of Wight. There’s the old Tube train that goes from Shanklin to Ryde. If I’m not wrong it’s the only commercial passenger train, and it runs on the eastern side of the island.
There’s also the cutesy touristy steam train. I forgot where it was exactly
Seriously though, I have been to the Isle of Wight a few times and it is quite nice there, but even in the late 80s it felt at least 30 years had passed by without any changes.
Last I was there was probably 2017 auditing a small meat processor (on a Friday of course) and the feeling is still there, the gap probably extending from 30 to 40 years behind. Which is nice.
