Welcome one and all to the time of year where we can put jumpers back on, enjoy enough hot chocolate to raise the GDP of several cocoa producing nations and crack on with some great board games. As we move into the festive period as well, the crowdfunding scene can slow down a little, but as we are before the period starts and wallets get tighter, we can see some truly brilliant releases. Don’t forget to check out last month’s amazing games as some of those will still be active!
The Lord of the Rings: The Kings Gambit
This was the easiest game for me to recommend this month. Very hot out of the gate by Restoration Games, The King’s Gambit gives you the final battle in the war for Middle-Earth across four fields of conflict.
You start with Minas Tirith, where the great city bastion must stand strong against the forces of Mordor. Whilst there is a disclaimer on the Kickstarter page that states that the final pieces and imagery are not final, so all of this is open to change, what the page does show of the Minas Tirith board is a thing of beauty. Its rather large, so storage is one thing I am interested in working out, but that’s future John’s problem.
The next field of conflict is that of Pelennor Fields where the Witch-king and a mighty orc army face off against Theoden and the Rohirrim, along with Blackroot Vale Archers. The Great Port is the next port of call, so to speak, with Wild Men of The South against The Free Peoples. Lastly, Mount Doom is where Frodo and Sam must try to slip past and put the final blow to the servants of shadow.
The most amazing thing about The King’s Gambit is the system of play means that one battlefield can influence another. Like 3D chess in Star Trek. You can achieve something on one field of battle and that can give you a bonus on another. Or you might make a sacrifice somewhere to benefit later on. I think that this gives us a very unique game and one open for a great deal of replayability.
There are two ways to win The King’s Gambit. Either you can, as the forces of evil, conquer the top level of Minas Tirith, or you can sap the will of Sam and Frodo and they never complete their journey to Mount Doom, while the forces of good can push the orcs back on the Pelennor Fields, or throw The One Ring into the fires of Mount Doom.
Gameplay is managed through four action cards that you choose the order in which they are played, each card contains two possible actions and you choose which upon their reveal. There are also combat dice, which will help offset a very powerful hand of cards against a weaker hand by introducing an element of luck.
I will say, the top tier – to get the snazziest of these sets – is not cheap. And as its on Kickstarter, you can spread the cost, but only to three monthly payments. I do think that if this is your cup of tea then it could easily be the crown in your collection, and I can easily see this being as much of a unicorn game as Foundations of Rome has been for the past few years. I want this so badly I can taste it, but I think it might be beyond my grasp, but if it’s within yours, please send me some pictures when it arrives. And if you want to invite me to a game, I’ll bring cake!
Until then, check out the campaign on Kickstarter
Foundation – Isaac Asmimov
Now, this is an upcoming one, but I feel that we might be seeing it launch this month. There aren’t many science fiction universes quite as influential as Isaac Asimov’s Foundation, so turning it into a tabletop game is certainly an ambitious undertaking – just as the TV series has been over the past few years.
In Foundation, from Crerdo, you are thrust into the distant future where the Empire is succumbing to its age, and you, as one of the many factions, are looking to take advantage of that chaos.
Foundation seems to be an asymmetric, card-driven strategy game where you take control of one of the five factions, each with its own abilities, style, starting resources and approach. On your turn, you’ll play cards from your hand onto your faction board, with both the card itself and where you place it determining the actions and special abilities available to you. These actions allow you to deploy agents across the galaxy, which immediately makes me think of Dune Imperium at a basic level, you can recruit important characters, develop technologies, establish contracts and gather the influence needed to further your ambitions.
What makes things particularly interesting to me is the way the different factions approach their objectives. Empire (I know its Galactic Empire, but I REALLY like the TV show), for example, begins with considerable resources and influence, but its power gradually deteriorates as the game progresses. The Second Foundation, meanwhile, starts relatively weak but specialises in espionage and manipulation, while the Mule relies on psychological influence to control opposing agents and disrupt their plans. Other factions, including the Clergy and Merchants (which I hope are more interesting than I found them in the books), offer their own approaches to building power, meaning that players will need to adapt their strategies depending on which side of the galactic struggle they’re representing.
At the heart of everything are the Seldon Crises, pivotal moments that determine the direction of the galaxy, I see them as being like Epidemic cards in Pandemic, but MUCH more powerful and game changing. Each game features five of the six available crises, with players competing to gain the necessary influence to determine their outcome. Timing is just as important as having the right amount of influence, as crises occur at predetermined points in the game rather than simply when a player meets a particular objective. There’s also an interesting element of unpredictability, with hidden tokens potentially accelerating the arrival of a crisis and forcing players to reconsider their carefully laid plans. Successfully influencing these events earns victory points and allows players to determine how the galaxy develops.
With a combination of resource management, card placement, area influence and asymmetric faction abilities, Foundation looks to offer a substantial strategic experience, particularly for those who enjoy games where long-term planning and adapting to your opponents are equally important, I could see this being somewhat like Twilight Imperium.
For fans of The Foundation, this could be the way for you to feel like you live in its world beyond what your mind creates from the pages of the amazing books, or the stunning imagery we have been shown in the TV show. Can you bring about the dream of Harry Seldon, or watch the universe burn in anarchy? Lets find out with it here on Gamefound.
Headway
Now, after facing a conflict of galactic proportions and one for the fate of Middle-Earth, maybe its time we look at little bit smaller.
Here at Big Boss Battle we’ve already played a bit of Headway, and have a preview that’ll be going live once the Kickstarter hits. Losing your bones is what you’ll be dealing with in Headway, designed by Chris Cooke and published by Mean Hyena Games. This rather unusual strategic game sees players taking control of a collection of animated skeleton bones, with one rather important objective: Get your hands on your opponent’s Mojo before they get theirs on yours.
Headway is a free-form, card-overlapping game for 2–6 players, with the option to play head-to-head or in teams. Rather than using a traditional board or grid, players place and move their individual bone cards directly onto the table, with each bone offering its own unique abilities. Setup is always random as well, so this means that your game should always be a little different. Arms can throw other bones around, legs can move together, and skulls can roll across the playing area to reach otherwise awkward positions. The challenge is working out how to use these abilities, positioning your skeleton strategically while trying to outmanoeuvre your opponents.
There’s a lovely bit of originality in the way Headway approaches spatial strategy, with no fixed playing area restricting where your bones can go. Instead, the cards overlap one another, creating an evolving battlefield where positioning and clever combinations are key. It’s a nice silly premise wrapped around what looks to be a surprisingly tactical little game, and if you’ve ever fancied playing a game where the fate of your soul depends on a well-positioned skull, this might be one to investigate. I am also always a sucker for a game where the cards are transparent backs. I always think that means they are higher quality that can stand a little throwing around, and maybe some spillage which in some gaming homes I’ve been in, is a necessity. Headway seems to me to be simple enough to keep coming out to your table, but complex enough to stimulate the almighty “one more game?” reflex.
Check it out here at Kickstarter when it goes live, but in the mean time here on its webpage.
And that’s another collection of crowdfunding curiosities to add to the ever-growing pile of games competing for our attention, shelf space and, rather importantly, disposable income. Whether any of these end up making their way onto your gaming table remains to be seen, but there’s certainly no shortage of interesting ideas out there. Until next time, happy gaming, and may your wallets survive another week of tempting cardboard! As my US colleagues like to tell me: Happy spooky season!
