Welcome to Kickstart Monday! This is our weekly series featuring 2 or more crowdfunding projects that have caught our eye. We scour over platforms like Kickstarter and Gamefound to find projects that interest us. This week’s games are:

  • Earth 2053: Tipping Point
  • Camping Season

Read on to find out what made these games catch our eye

Earth 2053 Tipping Point

Our first game this week is Earth 2053 Tipping Point from designer Dario Reinhardt on Kickstarter.

Earth 2053 Tipping Point is a cooperative game for 1 to 4 players where you must collaborate with other countries to resolve climate crises and disasters before the earth is pushed past its tipping point into collapse. The game centers around a unique physical seesaw known as the Climate Seesaw.

Players will face many different kinds of climate disaster cards such as melting ice sheets, shrinking groundwater and pandemic outbreaks. Each of these disaster cards will add a Pollution token to one side of the Climate Seesaw. If the seesaw tips down to the pollution side the game ends and all players lose together.

To avert disaster players must work together as a representative of their country to gather enough influence to solve disasters which will add Preservation tokens to the Climate Seesaw balancing it back to the winning side. To achieve this, players will need to pay project cards and manage the fulfillment of critical needs for their country that include Justice, Housing, Infrastructure, Energy, Water, Nutrition, Health, Education and Work. Increasing the supply of one of these need categories will provide more Influence which is critical to resolving disasters.

To gain influence and improve fulfillment of needs you’ll need to play Project cards that include things like environmental protection, insect cultivation, education or groundwater protection. Playing  one of the 126 different projects in the game requires a careful consideration of resources to pay for them. You will use credits from the various need categories which may drop the fulfillment level of that category or other ones.

Projects also have a variety of effects and will impact the fulfillment of country needs by increasing or decreasing them. Projects can even directly remove pollution tokens from the Climate Seesaw. If you manage to use your resources wisely and coordinate your efforts well with other countries you may just avert disaster and save the planet! For even more information and a behind the scenes look at Earth 2053 Tipping Point be sure to check out our interview with designer Dario Reinhardt on the WiscoDice Board Gaming Podcast. 

The campaign for Earth 2053 Tipping Point is live now on Kickstarter and is available for $49. If you are looking for a unique conservation minded cooperative game I highly recommend you take a look. The campaign will end on November 14, 2024, so get your pledges in before then.

Camping Season

Next up this week we have Camping Season from SweaterBear Games on Kickstarter.

Camping Season is a game for 1 to 4 players with bag building mechanics where you play as founder of a campground that you will build and manage to compete against your fellow players to attract the most guests and gain the most profit.

Over six seasons (rounds) you will compete to have the best reviewed campground. You will expand your campground by purchasing new land to  add different kinds of sites to add capacity to your campground from simple tent sites to expensive but valuable cabins. You’ll be responsible for improving your campground through projects which add basic upgrades like new fire rings, Wi-Fi and laundry facilities.

You will also add special amenities using beautifully illustrated and colorful cards, that add attractions and features like ATV rentals, restaurants, live music, dog parks and swimming pools. Guests will arrive at your campground when you draw guest token from a bag each season until you hit your camp’s capacity but you will need to make sure you have the right kind of facilities for the guests that arrive.

You’ll also need to be sure to keep up with maintenance of your sites as leaving locations unkempt will cost you points. All the guests that were able to visit will provide money which can then be invested into the camp for the next season and you will score points at the end of each season for successfully filling campsites and keeping a tidy park. After 6 rounds you’ll total your points from  your campground upgrades and amenities, your profits and your endgame bonus points to find out who has designed the most successful campground!

Here are the available pledge levels for Camping Seasons which is currently live on Kickstarter:

  • Retail Edition – $49 – Basic retail edition of Camping Season
  • Deluxe Edition – $79 – Deluxe edition of the game including upgrades to all tokens to premium wooden components.
  • Campfire Bundle – $96 – The Deluxe Edition plus the Holiday Season and Excursions mini expansions.
  • All-in Collectors Bundle – $299 – The Deluxe Edition, 5-6 Player expansion, both mini expansions, 6 custom dice towers, 6 metal money dials and card sleeves.

Just be sure to reserve your site for Camping Season before October 27, 2024 when the Kickstasrter campaign ends.

Did we miss your favorite project?

Thank you for checking out this week’s Kickstart Monday! If you find these interesting or want some attention on a Kickstarter or other crowdfunded projects that you would like to read more about please share your thoughts with us via our social media or email.

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