Presidential Meeples!

So, a few months ago we reviewed a great little deck builder of presidential proportions called Pixel Lincoln. They're plugging away on production and unfortunately we don't have a release date to report. But they did leak out a photo of the production sample Lincoln Meeples on their Kickstarter page, and I have to say they look AWESOME!

When we reviewed the game it was a print on demand prototype version so we had to use our own tokens to mark our movement in the game.  And a game like this, while it doesn't rely solely on ascetics, it certainly was born of a theme, and having a glimpse of the meeples we can see how they're going to add to the game play experience!

We interviewed Jason Tagmire and President P. Lincoln last year, and you can read it here!

You can also read our full review of Pixel Lincoln here!

And you can check out the Pixel Lincoln website and pre-order your copy right here!

Thanks for reading! Check us out on Twitter, like us on Facebook, and be sure to answer our question of the day! 

Dice Tower Launches their Season 9 Campaign—Kickstarter Weekly

Tom Vasel and the gang over at Dice Tower have launched a Kickstarter campaign for their 9th season, and have already rocketed past their funding goal. It seems that Tom has decided to make Dice Tower his full-time gig, and so they're asking their loyal fan base to help them produce more content than ever before! While the biggest reward for backing this is that you'll get to see more high-quality productions, podcasts, and reviews, Dice Tower has gone all out on some pretty cool rewards with lots of promo swag.

You can check out their campaign right here.

Dice Tower has been leading the way for gaming sites, blogs and podcasts for 8 solid years and they're gearing up for year 9; here's wishing them all the best as they help promote the hobby we all love!

Thanks so much for reading, and as always we ask that you like us on FaceBook, and follow us on Twitter!

Hegemonic—Kickstarter Weekly

Minion Games, makers of games such as The Manhattan Project and Kingdom of Solomon have launched a Kickstarter for Hegemonic, a 4x space game. The four x's stand for explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate. Hegemonic is for 2 to 6 players, and claims to play in 30 to 45 minutes per player. According to the Boardgamegeek description, "Each player assumes the leadership of a Great House. Players will explore sectors of the galaxy; build up their empire's industrial, political, and martial capacity; employ far-reaching technologies to outmaneuver and out fight competing empires; and perform calculated actions to plot their way to hegemony. Hegemonic is distinct among empire-building games because the industrial, political, and martial systems of your empire each expand your overall economy, can be used to initiate direct conflicts across lines, and contribute power towards victory. Players earn points at the end of every turn based on the relative power they have in each galaxy region. Players able to strategically hold and maintain a majority stake in the regions through industrial expansion, political leverage, and military force, will be poised for victory. But never underestimate a well-timed and daring move from your opponent – they may snatch victory from your grip!"

They've already hit their goal and there are still 17 days to go in the campaign. If you like complex, low-luck board games, consider backing Hegemonic.

Thanks for reading! And make sure you like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

12 Realms Heads to Germany

A few weeks ago we told you about the Kickstarter for the 2011 Best Print and Play nominee 12 Realms. Well that campaign was super successful and things stateside are well under way to get the game to market. We just received word today that the game has been brought to the German crowd sourcing site spiele-offensive.de. No, this isn't a site for offensive games; it's basically a German version of Kickstarter.

It seems like a lot of extra effort to go through another campaign and have the game published in two separate countries and in two different languages. But I think that's what's intriguing to me about this situation; Mage Company isn't just taking the easy road. They're doing what they can to get the game into the hands of their fans, and go the extra mile to help them save a little cash in the process. That is customer service that is rarely seen!

You can check out the campaign right here.

And as always thanks for reading, please tell your friends, family, loved ones and even  your worst enemies about us! And don't forget to follow us on Twitter @TheologyofGames and like us on FaceBook!

Mayday Crokinole Board—Kickstarter Weekly

Mayday Games has launched a Kickstarter campaign for a Crokinole board, a clock, and a carrying case.

What's crokinole, you ask? Well, I (Firestone) have played nearly 600 different board games, and Crokinole is my #2 game of all time. The game uses a gorgeous, wooden board, and wooden discs you flick across the board with your finger—like shuffleboard. You're trying to whack your opponents' discs off the board, while keeping your discs in the scoring circles of the board. I've played probably 100 games of this, and it's still not old.

I invested in a nice board a few years ago, and it now sits on the wall in my house. But it also cost $200...

Mayday is offering their board for $100. ($95 if you're one of the first 50 people to order one.) That includes shipping! They're also offering a clock that's designed to rest on the pegs of the board when it's hanging on the wall—so when you're not playing, it's not just beautiful, but functional, too. And finally, they're offering custom carrying cases. These boards are big, and if you've ever tried lugging one to a game night somewhere, you'll quickly realize how useful a case can be.

You can get all three for only $150—if you're one of the first 100 backers.

They've already hit their goal, and there's still a month to go. They're planning some stretch goals, so consider jumping in on this one.

12 Realms - Kickstarter Weekly

 

This week's featured Kickstarter campaign is a production version of one of the most beloved print and play board games on The Geek. 12 Realms is a cooperative adventure game set in the 12 fantasy realms. The campaign has a few less expensive options but you won't get a copy of the game until you hit the $65 mark as a backer. The new minis for the game look great too! The bottom line is if you loved the print-and-play version you'll want to look into this; there are a ton of stretch goals and the campaign has already blown past the initial goal and is chewing up stretch goals quickly—and with 25+ days left!

You can check out the full details of the campaign here. Have you played the original print-and-play version? We'd love to hear your thoughts about the new production version! Leave 'em in the comments below!

Thanks for reading!

Party Like a Wok Star!

by Firestone Back in 2010 I got to play a neat little co-op game called Wok Star. It was a self-published, 500-copy indie game where you and your teammates own a restaurant and you're trying to get ingredients and make meals before the timer goes off—otherwise, the people eat for free and you lose money. There was enough interest that Z-Man Games signed on to publish a bona fide copy.

Well, it's now 2012, and with no sign of the game in sight, designer Tim Fowers announced he's no longer under the Z-Man contract and he'll be starting a Kickstarter for this soon. He also mentioned that he's "spent time improving Wok Star - the game plays faster (4 rounds) but still has the strategy and teamwork."

We'll let you know when the project goes live. Thanks for reading!

Candle Quest - Kickstarter Weekly

In 2007, Yehuda Berlinger designed and released It's Alive!, a quick-playing auction game where players take turns trying to acquire enough body parts to bring to life their grotesque creation. Well Yehuda has teamed up with Gilead games and Springboard to launch a Kickstarter campaign for a re-themed version of It's Alive, called Candle Quest. Candle Quest uses the same mechanics of It's Alive! but with a much more family friendly theme: Instead of body parts, players are collecting 8 different colored candles for their Menorah.

The Kickstarter is pretty affordable too; a $25 backer will receive a copy of the game with free U.S. shipping. Of course, the higher your backing level the better the rewards (including naming rights to  a few cards, etc.) And the stretch goals culminate with a free iOS app of the game for all backers!

We'll be interviewing the game's designer Yeduda Berlinger, and reviewing the game here at TOG, so be sure to stop back for more about this title soon! Until then you can check out the Kickstarter campaign right here!

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to tell your friends about us, and subscribe to the blog!

Modular Settlers of Catan Board—Kickstarter Weekly

Here's a way cool project for all of the Settlers Of Catan fans out there: Modular hex-pieces that hold the Catan tiles. Each hex is made of plastic and holds the land tile inside. Each edge of the frame also has a small magnet, so when you start forming the board, the magnets hold it to the neighboring tile perfectly. Once they're "stuck," the whole board can move around as one piece—no more fidgeting, fidgeting, fidgeting to keep the tiles in place throughout the game. You can keep the tiles in the frames, and they'll fit in the box once you're done. This is such a simple and wonderful and useful idea. I hope they do this for other hex-based games, such as Twilight Imperium III!

Hands Free Gaming! Kickstarter Weekly

UPDATE: This project was cancelled on December 8. Hat tip to Sandra for letting us know. Our featured Kickstarter campaign this week isn't a game, but instead a nifty little accessory for those of us who enjoy card games and a hot beverage during the winter months.

Another Springboard-powered campaign, these Origami Card Holders by GameBits come as a flat sheet of card stock with instructions on how to masterfully fold them into a 1- or 2-tiered free standing card holder. They're decked out with some pretty fantastic art from several different gaming genres, and the backer levels are pretty reasonable! As with any good Kickstarter campaign there are also a fair amount of stretch goals and this one is no different: The higher the funding goes, the more artists, themes, and designs will be added and made available!

You can check out the campaign and all the different backer levels right here.

Thanks so much for reading, and have a great day!