Quinns: Ah, you’re here! Take a seat behind the screen while I wash my hands. Injection of table gaming news direct to the brain, was it?
Not a problem. Relax and close your eyes just as I… insert the needle down your ear canal… Done! Wasn’t that easy. Now, the news will begin in just a moment.
…What’s that? You can only see Kickstarters?
Oh no. This might have been the wrong syringe. Nurse! NURSE?! Look, just stay calm. Everything’s probably going to be ok.
You’re seeing ghosts? Ah, yes, that would be Cryptozoic’s new co-op Ghostbusters board game that’s been making a waves this week.
As a doctor, I couldn’t recommend you get involved. It’s a by-the-numbers type affair. The big money in board game Kickstarters is in huge boxes, packed to the brim with miniatures, with more and more elaborate sculpts getting added as the Kickstarter tumbles upwards into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
I’d stay away from it, though. Yes, you can get Stream tokens for when you use your proton packs and there’s a little plastic ECTO-1 car. It’s all very quaint. But rarely are these games ever any good, and if they are then they’ll stick around, and be available for purchase afterwards.
If you are a massive fan of Ghostly Busting and have $125(!) to spare, I’d hunt down a copy of the legendary Ghostbusters RPG on eBay where all the players play as themselves, starting up a Ghostbusters franchise. It’s so perfect. Ghostbusters is about a group of nobodies hitting it big. Of COURSE you should play yourselves.
Stay with us, now! You’re dribbling a bit. Nurse? Can you clean him up? Nurse?
You’ll probably be seeing Good Cop Bad Cop: Bombers and Traitors roundabout now. This is a good one!
Remember our coverage of Good Cop Bad Cop? It’s a game of hidden roles, like The Resistance or Werewolf, but where it ends with one player shooting another one. If they shot the leader of the other team, their team wins. we’ve not played it but it’s gathered a host of positive press.
This week they’ve launched their Kickstarter for the expansion, and as usual, that means everybody has a chance to grab the base game if they missed it the first time.
The expansion sounds nice, if unexciting. It means that as well as the murderous team game you were playing before, one player might be a Bomber who’s trying to get themselves shot, or a Traitor who everyone has to work together to eliminate. Bombers and Traitors also adds some new equipment, and it’ll all come in a larger box to put the base game into.
Can you still hear me? Nurse, we’re losing him.
What’s your name? Come on, now, stick with us. None of this is real.
Oh, except for Trickerion. That’s a real game of illusions that will become real when the Kickstarter ships. Are you ok? Your eyes have kind of… well, they’re sort of rotating in their sockets.
Anyway, the Trickerion Kickstarter is absolutely mental. You’re all magicians working to put on the best show, a bit like The Prestige except… well, more openly prestigious. Just take a look at that board. Look at the wooden discs, the custom dice. Over 600 gorgeous components in all. The Kickstarter will even ship the base game and a massive expansion together!
Each turn you’ll visit the town’s various locations, take your new tricks and discoveries back to your workshop, and conclude each turn with a show. The scale of the performance is up to you, and you can even perform together with other players, if that suits you.
Honestly, just go and look at the Kickstarter. I’ve never seen such a grandiose labour of love. The above picture doesn’t do it justice, and the stretch goals are just making it more beautiful.
Oh, I suppose you’re having trouble looking at anything else right now. Hmm.
Maybe you can see Floating Market now? An accessible game of dice speculation where you all play grandchildren racing to collect fruit for your grandma?
Paul and I didn’t rate Fleet (from the same designer) an enormous amount, but those “chopped fruit” dice you can see on the pageare absolutely to die for. I also like the sound of the game in general, combining resource management with a tense bit of die rolling. It worked OK for Stone Age.
Are you coming around, now? Good. Good. Here’s some ice water. Now, you won’t tell anybody else about this little mishap, will you? It’s almost certainly the last time this will happen. Probably.
