Casual Game Crowdfunding: Pandas, Pancakes, and Planes

Hidden Panda (Blue Beard Entertainment) – In this adorable social deduction game, the panda team is sneaking into the panda camp to rescue the panda babies, the keepers are trying to help the pandas, the grandma leads the panda team, and the bandits are trying to capture the pandas. On your turn you hand out three baby pandas to players and place a piece of bamboo in front of another player. When someone gets their third piece of bamboo everyone votes on whether or not to net them. Netted players must give away all their baby pandas to another player. If all the panda players are netted, the bandit players win immediately. Otherwise at the end of grandma's third turn, the team with the most baby pandas wins the game.

Yummy Yummy Pancake (Mayday Games) – This family game blends dexterity with memory, as you flip pancakes and attempt to keep track of the toppings. The starting player (the chef) places eight pancakes into the plastic frying pan and flips them. If at least two pancakes were flipped over, the chef picks a player and asks that player to identify what the toppings on that pancake were. If the player is correct he may keep the pancake, otherwise the chef keeps the pancake. The chef keeps selecting players and asking them to guess the flipped pancakes until all the hidden pancakes have been allocated. The pan is then passed to the next player who adds more pancakes to the pan, and the flipping begins again. The first player to collect twelve pancakes wins the game.

Planecrafters (Paisley Board Games) – Build and sell airplanes! On your turn, you follow a turn order: hire, acquire, flyer, and buyer. During the hire phrase you bring in new employees, each of whom has specific special abilities. While acquiring, you draw part cards. During the flyer phase you play these part cards to build planes in your factory. You may play two cards per turn and may only work on one plane at a time. Finally, during the buyer phrase you may sell your plane, earning more money the more matching parts the plane contains.

Inoka (XYZ Game Labs) – Inoka is a two to four player game in which each player selects five cards from a deck of nine at the beginning of each round. Rounds take place over a series of clashes, in which two players lay down cards. Each card belongs to one of three tactic types with attack beating taunt, taunt beating block, and block beating attack. The winner of the battle takes the leaf totem. If you're left holding the leaf totem at the end of the round, you win a sacred stone. Win three sacred stones and you win the game. You can read our preview of Inoka here.

5 Stack (Jackson Robinson) – In this chip stacking game there is a board with spaces marked by a number and a letter. The goal of the game is to score points by clearing stacks of five or more chips. If a stack under your control reaches five or more chips you remove the entire stack off the board and set it aside. A stack is under your control when your colored chip is on top of the stack. On your turn you may move chips or add a new one. If you choose to move, you may move any stack that is under your control in a straight line. You may not have the stack jump over another stack but you can combine it with another stack that is under your control. To place a chip, you roll two dice (one with a letter and one with a number) and you place a chip on the space on the board that corresponds to what you rolled, placing it on top of any chips already there. The player with the most points at the end of the game wins.

Evil Overlord (Shades of Vengeance) – In this five minute game, each player is an evil overlord collecting an army. You are dealt seven cards. Cards belong to one of four factions and each card has a power level and some have special abilities. After being dealt cards, players may trade cards, announcing how many they wish to trade (though they may say nothing further about the cards). Other players can either accept a trade offer, exchanging the stated number of cards, or propose counter offers. There are no turns and players may make as many trades as they like. After trading is completed, each player chooses which faction will be their army, discarding any cards that do not belong to that faction. Card abilities are then resolved, and the player whose remaining army has the highest collective power level wins the game (or the hand if you are playing multiple rounds). You can read our preview of Evil Overlord here.

Escape the Dark Castle: The Legend Grows... (Themeborne) – Themeborne is running a campaign for two brand new expansions to Escape the Dark Castle, plus one previously released expansion. Escape the Dark Castle is a cooperative fantasy game with simple rules. Each player has a single die and may collect a couple of items along the way. The castle is created with a deck of cards that players go through one at a time. Players read out the cards and resolve them, sometimes being met by combat, other times making decisions or having to choose whether or not to push their luck. The new expansions include new cards for the castle, new end game bosses, and new item cards, as well as new mechanics, introducing companions who will help you in your quest and plague which can infect your characters. You can read our review of the base game here.