My Newest Fascination

I know I’ve been gone from here for a long time but I’m still playing games–it’s just that nothing has wowed me enough to trouble writing about it. Until now.

 No, not my new fascination with the scroll saw. This is a BOARD GAME blog!

I’m talking about Kickstarter, the crowdfunding site where many new and innovative board games can be found. For the last couple of years, I was feeling that I had seen all I needed to in the board game community, either because it felt too much like the same old thing or it didn’t interest me more than games I already own. Then I found the fun in being part of a Kickstarter campaign, trying out a homemade Print & Play version, commenting on the rules, waiting and watching to see if and when the goal(s) would be met. It’s all very exciting and a little bit addictive.

I’ve seen some new ideas (and clever twists on old ones) come out of the minds of dedicated board gamers who would otherwise not have their games see the light of day. I like supporting these young visionaries even though I know it will be months before I have a game in hand to play–and in some cases, never, because it can be a bit of a gamble. Disappointment is part of the package deal sometimes.

My most recent backing is for Masamune: Shining Forge Academy.  This is a deck-builder where the deck you’re building will be used to fend off attacks in a tower-defense form of play. The art style of the game is Anime and it’s fabulous–beautiful with a dash of cute. Here’s part of the description to whet your appetite:

Masamune is a game for two to four players, and takes place over the course of an academic year at Masamune Shining Forge Academy. As a pupil at Masamune Shining Forge Academy, you and your opponents will start the game with identical 12-card decks. Over the course of the game, you will forge sentient weapons called Chibis and teach them powerful special techniques to defend the Academy from attacking monsters. Alternatively, you can use Chibis to gain more powerful cards and bolster your deck.

If you have chosen to ignore the crowdfunding bandwagon, I understand–it involves risk and patience. Funny, I don’t think of myself as a risk-taker and I definitely don’t qualify as a patient person, but there you have it: sometimes you jump feet first into something because it touches you in a way nothing else does. I’m presently waiting for my copy of Tiny Epic Galaxies to arrive and it’s like Christmas a couple of months early.