Casual Game Crowdfunding: Odd Inspirations

Pretending to Grownup (Jason “Anarchy”) — Illustrator Megan McKay and game designer Jason “Anarchy” have joined forces to create this casual and humorous card game which pits players against each other in a contest to see who can adult best. Players draw cards that provide the three resources used by all adults: time, money, and energy. During each turn players can issue an opponent on their right a challenge and compete using any one of the values on their cards. The player with the highest numbered value for the challenged resource wins and gains all the cards that were used. These cards also act as the points with the first player to reach 12 being declared the winner. Careful though, special unipegasaurus cards allow these “adults” to use their imaginations and bend the rules of the game.

Illimat (Twogether Studios) — Originally conceived as a photoshoot concept for the band The Decemberists, this unique game board sat in the back of their minds for years until 2015 when they connected with designer Keith Baker to make a real game for their custom board. Fast Forward to the present day and Illimat is now well funded on Kickstarter. The 2-4 player game seems to be a highly stylized set collection game that revolves around stockpiling certain cards on the board. Player actions and options will also be affected by a center piece on the board which periodically rotates to change the current season for each participant. While the rules and mechanics of the game don’t seem perfectly clear from the Kickstarter campaign alone, the artwork is crisp and the concept seems interesting so it may be worth a glance.

Ghost Court (Bully Pulpit Games) — This live-action party game plays with as few as six people and as many as 20. In an effort to design a game that mimics television shows like The People’s Court, only with added ghosts, creator Jason Morningstar designed a light-hearted game that encourages dramatic court proceedings. Participants choose from a number of different roles, in order to play out mock court cases between the living and the deceased. Actual play sessions focus on a few players at a time with mock cases taking a just a few minutes each. Players are given cards which describe the case, and their respective roles as Plaintiff or Defendant. The game seems pretty heavily reliant on improv skills and roleplay, but with the right crowd this concept could certainly prove humorous.

Steal This Game (LudiCreations) — Born out of disaster, this game was conceptualized after independent game development company LudiCreations was the very real victim of a significant theft during this year’s Essen Spiel fair. In an attempt to turn lemons into lemonade, the designers at LudiCreations sat down the same night of the robbery and developed a nano-game for 2 players. One person takes on the role of an exhibitor while the other plays as a thief trying to steal the cash box. The exhibitor has been clever however, and has hidden the cash box amongst decoys, forcing the thief to roll dice to try and determine which boxes are fake, and which has the loot. As the game progresses, however, it becomes easier and easier for the thief to be caught, and if the exhibitor catches them, it’s game over.

Lazer Ryderz (Greater Than Games) — This 2-4 player game ramps up the 80s neon action aesthetic and puts players in control of interdimensional racers in a competition of speed and tactics. The game comes with 4 unique character boxes all done up in retro movie style, and even goes the extra distance to appear like old VHS cassettes. Each character box contains the pieces that will mark that racer's path, as they race around the stars. Whatever table players decide to set-up on essentially becomes their race-track. Players adjust their speed and positioning to try and maneuver their path into the various Power Prizms that get set up around the table. Strategy and planning can be vital to success, however, considering the fact that if a Ryder slams into another player’s pathway, they crash and lose all their momentum.

Dracula’s Feast (Blue Bear Entertainment) — Most people are probably pretty familiar with social deduction and bluffing games like One Night Ultimate Werewolf, Mafia, or The Resistance. One thing most of those games have in common though is that some players will end up being ordinary innocents with no additional powers other than being the good guys. Designer Peter C. Hayward set out to correct that issue with Dracula’s Feast. Players take on the role of classic monster movie characters who are all attending a masquerade ball. Each monster has a special ability or win condition meaning that no one gets stuck with a generic role, and every action by every player can have meaningful consequences on the game round. This slight yet significant twist on a well-known game type makes this an intriguing project to check on for fans of hidden role and logical deduction games.