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, Gamefound, and Indigogo to find projects that interest us.

There are certainly some exciting projects out in crowdfunding land. Let’s take a look at a couple of games that we think you should check out.

Corps of Discovery

Our first game this week is Corps of Discovery from Jay Cormier on Kickstarter.

Corps of Discovery is a cooperative 1 to 4 player survival game set in the world of the Image comics series Manifest Destiny. The comic follows adventurers Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Discovery Expedition in an alternate history American frontier, as they explore the wilds and fight demonic monsters.

In the game players will join the Corps of Discovery and venture out into the wilderness aiming to explore and survive the wild frontier. Players will choose a Chapter and a unique map to start the game. Chapters have unique objectives that usually involve hunting down and killing a monster. Players explore the map by revealing path tokens and gathering resources from the terrain that is uncovered. Players will be able to use a unique deduction system to find specific terrain that they need. In addition to explorations players will take actions to use their character’s special abilities, use gear cards, build shelters and fires and kill monsters. Each chapter has its own specific rules for killing monsters. You will also face threats and challenges on your path that will require the players to spend specific resources to complete. each day brings new challenges and you must be able to feed your troops at the end of each day.

Like many coop games there are many ways to lose and the players will only win by completing the Chapter objective – such as killing three monsters. The game features multiple chapters of play and several different maps which can be used with any chapter allowing for some good replayability. With the unique setting, great looking comic art and some fresh mechanics, this looks like it could be a very interesting title.

Corps of Discovery pledge levels start off with the Retail Edition for $39. The Deluxe Edition at $59 features some upgrades with a wooden board and wooden path tokens and an improved box insert tray. Further up the line is the Ultimate Edition for $119 which includes the Deluxe Edition and 4 expansions included in the box. If you are ready to join Lewis and Clarke on a trek through the monster filled American frontier check our Corps of Discovery before the campaign ends on May 14, 2024.

Castle Up

Our second game this week we have Castle Up from Marti Ganduxe Pregona on Kickstarter.

Castle Up is a 2 to 4 player medieval kingdom building and combat and tableau building card game. In Castle Up players are competing to build a medieval city made up of structures in four suits: military, merchant civilian and wonder. Players start the game with a unique castle for their city and then are able to purchase new building cards each round and execute a battle phase. Some cards like the Tax Office, Town Hall and Cathedral provide passive bonuses while others have actions that can only be used once each round.

Buildings come from three different eras and become more powerful as the game progresses. Military buildings like the Archery Range or Soldier Barracks provide attack points that you can use during a battle phase to attack other players’ buildings. If you do enough damage in your attack the building becomes damaged and the opposing player must repair it before it can be used again. Players may also purchase the use of special action cards instead of buying buildings on their turn. These special actions let you prepare defenses against attacks, loot the peasants, gain the first action in the next round and impose taxes to gain more resources. Managing your resources and buying the right buildings is the key to victory. The score for each building increases based on the era it’s from and you will score additional victory points if you control more buildings in a given suit than any other player.

This quick and easy to learn card game is available on Kickstarter starting at $24 which includes the base game and any unlocked stretch goals. For a few dollars at $27 you can get the base game along with your name in the rule book credits. Other interesting options include the Behind the Scenes Edition for $107 which gets you the base game and a prototype copy of the game that was used in play testing, and the Build Your Own Castle Edition for $257 with the base game and the opportunity to design your own castle card for the game. The campaign for Castle Up ends on May 30, 2024, so make sure to make a 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 our social media or email.

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