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 projects are:

Read on for why they stood out…

Manatee Sanctuary

Let’s dive into our first project this week with Manatee Sanctuary from Warped Reality Games on Kickstarter.

Manatee Sanctuary is a family friendly game for 1 to 6 players where you will play as a conservationist competing to build the best manatee sanctuary you can. Manatee Sanctuary is a quick playing game with only 3 rounds of play. Each round you will get 5 sanctuary cards and use an “I split you choose” mechanic to draft them. You’ll give one of your neighbors a choice of two piles of cards, one with three cards, one with two cards and you will get whichever pile they don’t choose. You will also be choosing from a set of cards that another player has passed to you. Once all choices are made, you collect your cards and expand your sanctuary! 

Sanctuary cards have a top and bottom half that are used in different ways. The bottom half of a card has flowers on it and allows you to build out your sanctuary. On the top half of the card you get different actions like taking manatees to put in your sanctuary, collecting food or a combination of the two.

You will need to make sure your manatees stay well fed. After using your cards each round you will need to feed your hungry hungry manatees, some of which eat more than others. Well fed manatees will stay in your sanctuary and earn you points and after 3 rounds the player who has built the most successful sanctuary will be the winner!

There are actually two editions of Manatee Sanctuary in this campaign (the Seacow edition and the Mermaid edition) which are actually exactly the same except for the box cover, player colors and main board color. This is primarily to allow the game to be played with up to 12 different players! But let’s take a look at what the pledge options are below:

  • Manatee Sanctuary – Seacow Edition – $29 – One copy of the Seacow edition. 
  • Manatee Sanctuary – Mermaid Edition – $29 – One copy of the Mermaid edition. 
  • Manatee Family and Friends – $49 – Both editions of Manatee sanctuary – Seacow and Mermaid edition.
  • Manatee Lovers – $89 – Both editions of Manatee sanctuary plus the green manatees mini expansion, 2 “Mana-tee shirts” of your choice and your name on the back of the box!

If you are looking for a cozy family game with some unique card drafting and card play consider pledging for Manatee Sanctuary before the campaign ends on March 27, 2025.

Run Raptor Run

Our next project is the zany looking Run Raptor Run from Mana Project Studio on Kickstarter.

Run Raptor Run is a self described “Roleplaying Party Game” for up to 6 players where you will be taking on the role of dinosaurs – specifically raptors- racing across the varied landscape of the multiverse dodging traps, gaining magical artifacts and engaging in cartoon violence. The wild race will take place using a set of 40 hex shaped racetrack tiles which each represent some strange new location in the multiverse. You’ll be racing through jungles, deserts, volcanoes andc crazier places like circuit boards and shark tornadoes which each bring in a special condition that will affect the race.

Your racer is a unique “Metaraptor” like the Dragon Raptor or Rapthor (the Viking raptor) that has its own special skills and edges. The game also includes 20 item cards to enhance your racing abilities or wreak havoc on your competitors. Because this is partly a roleplaying game there is GM involved (GM screen included) but the game encourages players to take on the narration of their actions and how they traverse obstacles and use actions. Your successes and speed will earn you sprint points and the player with the most sprint points at the end of the race will be crowned the victor. 

Run Raptor Run looks like a truly unique and unusual game and seems like it would be a blast with the right group of players. If you are still in the race at this point let’s take a look at how you can get your hands on a copy with these pledge levels:

  • Raptor – $42 – One copy of Run Raptor run with any unlocked stretch goals
  • Turbo Fan – $156 – Everything from the Raptor pledge plus the special bonus of getting your likeness added to the audience on the Run Raptor Run GM Screen!

The campaign for Run Raptor Run will end on March 18, 2025 so if you are interested, race on over to Kickstarter to make your pledge before then.

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 social media or email.

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