Originally posted by Melissa Johnson on June 3, 2015
And we’re back with another roundup of the best ways to spend your money on Kickstarter! I’m excited — a few days ago I got my Exploding Kittens backer survey and I can’t wait for that to arrive in July. In the mean time, though, I need to find myself something else to obsess over… Maybe one of these great games?
1. Foodtown Throwdown
Generally, if I’m not at my laptop or doing something with friends, you can find me in the kitchen. I love food. So I love the idea of a food-themed card game like Foodtown Throwdown. The idea is simple: every player is trying to their their food truck off the ground. You do that by collecting ingredients for various recipes and sabotaging other players.
There are 59 unique ingredients like jelly beans, mashed potatoes, or banana bread, which fall into one of 6 categories. Every recipe indicates which categories you need items from to complete your recipe. Once you have all the components you need, play your cards…and be sure to reach off your brilliant recipe. The winner is the first person to collect 10 victory points, which you earn by completing recipes and promoting your truck.
You can get the base game for $19, or the 5-player expansion, which adds even more cards.
The project ended on June 11 and raised $7,915
2. 10′ To Kill
10′ To Kill, or 10 Minutes to Kill, is a bluff and deduction game where the goal is to be the best hitman (or hitwoman) of the group. The board is set with 16 characters. Each player is assigned a character, as well as 3 targets to eliminate. As you move characters around the board, check the identity of characters, and quietly eliminate your targets, you need to be wary of other players, who are also investigating and completing their own missions.
The whole point is to be sneaky. You can’t eliminate a target unless no one is watching. But even if you are caught, you can still win the game by deducing who the other players are, so there’s no player elimination. Which is good because the game is meant to be played in just 10-15 minutes.
This particular project comes from France, and so the prices are all given in Euros. €19, which is about $21 USD, will get you the full copy of the game.
The project ended June 22 and raised over $70K.
3. Bill Shakespeare is Dead
Bill Shakespeare is Dead is a party game with a simple premise: The Bard himself is dead, leaving his scripts unfinished, and it’s up to you to finish them. Players submit their suggestions for nouns and verbs to fill in iconic lines. The sillier the better! Yup, you can think of it as Mad Libs gone Shakespeare.
Every player takes on a character from one of Shakespeare’s works. Those character roles give them special abilities. However, in each round you’ll have two players — essentially, actors — and a stage manager. It’s everyone else’s job to provide silly suggestions for word fillers. You’ll generally need at least 5 players, but you can adapt the game for 3- and 4-player variants. If you and your friends are theatre-types, this is probably the game for you.
The Bill Shakespeare is Dead project ended June 21 and it was unsuccessful.
4. Dungeon Dice: Colosseum
I’ve mentioned Dungeon Dice before, and how I think it’s a fantastic game. There’s already one expansion, Guilds, available. Now, Potluck Games is doing another Kickstarter for a second expansion, Colosseum. On the plus side, it’s already fully funded, so it’s guaranteed to happen.
Imagine Dungeon Dice as an entirely dice-based Munchkin and you’d be pretty spot on. You go looking for monsters, fight them with help from your allies, and divide up the treasures. The expansion introduces new spells, even more fierce Epic Monsters and improved player-vs-player combat.
The expansion will run you $34. But for a $49 pledge, you can get the base game, Dungeon Dice, and the 7 Kickstarter-exclusive dice. That’s a good deal considering Potluck sells the game for $59.95 on its website. For the base game and Colosseum expansion, it’ll run you $79, and for the base game and both expansions, $109.
The Dungeon Dice: Colosseum project ended on June 16 and raised over $96K
Honorable Mention: Doki Doki Love!
I’ll admit it, I’m a sucker for the occasional silly anime, especially if it involves a harem. Doki Doki Love! is an anime-themed card game that plays on some common anime tropes. While it’s not definitely NSFW, there’s definitely a promise of some fan service, so be warned.
Game play seems pretty standard to other card games: the goal is for each player to find a romantic partner for their Hero before another player does. You generally have one of two options: You can play an action that could sabotage another player or help your own Hero, or you can make a chance encounter with your romantic interest. Build up enough encounters with a love interest and the two become a pair and enter your Score Zone. Draw a new hero and begin again.
The Doki Doki Love! project ended early and did not reach its goal.