I wrote a little something a while back about Kickstarter and how it might impact tabletop gaming. Recently, Kickstarter continued its friendly march to world domination by expanding its service to Canadian creators. As one would expect there are a number of interesting and odd projects that appeared out of the gate. So I want to look at the interesting and odd gaming projects you can back.

This is also my official call to Canadian tabletop game creators to get on the ball. The reason I’m only doing four Canadian gaming Kickstarters today is because that’s all there is! I know you’re out there, dammit, so get to work. I want to support Canadian gaming stuff and I can’t do that if you don’t put up a campaign.

In no particular order:

Give It To The King – Give It To The King is a board game in which 2-4 players are Royal Messengers trying to deliver the most messages. Production values and art look great, and the demo video makes play look like a lot of fun. The project is already fully funded and they’re into their stretch goals (custom etched die is unlocked, with resin game pieces replacing cardboard up next), so if you want to bet on a pretty sure thing this would seem to be for you. There are tonnes of game reviews and the company (The Flux Capacity) really seems solid and on the ball. As of this article there are seven days left in the campaign, so don’t delay!

Infected – Infected is a role-playing about surviving (or maybe not) the coming zombie apocalypse. According to the campaign page the game is and will always be a free download, so you may wonder why you should pay anything to the Kickstarter. Creator Levi Kornelson is offering a series of patron/creator benefits to folks that support the project, and I think it’s an interesting method to use. As such, this is really a campaign that appeals to the gaming nerds that want to get really involved in the project. The RPG rules and the options you can add to the system are all available to read from the Kickstarter campaign page. Also, I’m particularly happy to see this Kickstarter because it is a local offering, and I like that one of the first RPGs offered is from Edmonton. It has fully funded as of this writing, which is great; I am dismayed by the lack of stretch goals, however, since there are still 26 days to go in the Kickstarter. Hopefully something will pop up to entice new patrons.

Mutiny – We come to the first of our games not full funded! And I really hope these guys do it, because Mutiny looks like a lot of fun. In the same vein as party games like Werewolves of Miller’s Hollow, players are pirates enjoying a feast and in true pirate fashion, one of you is trying to poison the others to keep all the plunder. The trick is to discover who before you end up poisoned or accused (right or wrong) of being the poisoner and executed. The game has a neat look, though the art is a little rough in some places. It allows up to 18 players, so it would make a great addition to your party game collection. Plus, and there’s no getting around it, you get to talk like a pirate for the duration of the game. How can that be bad? 26 days left in the campaign, so if pirates and games are things you like, this is the booty for you.

Road/Kill – I was a huge fan of Steve Jackson Games’ Car Wars, and Road/Kill looks to fill that niche just fine. A tabletop strategy game for 2-5 players, you drive armed and armoured vehicles (represented by cool looking modular miniatures) trying to survive against your opponents. Infinity Gate seems to have done a bunch of play-testing and demoing, and early reviews are promising. The production values are impressive, from the full-colour boards and bits to the aforementioned modular vehicles. That last is a neat touch, and seems to promise a goodly amount of re-playability. The play rules are all laid out on the campaign page, which is sort of cool. I’d rather those rules were accessible through a link, however, so important stuff like the stretch goals were closer to the top of the page. There are 26 days left in the campaign and they are about a third to their goal. So you have some time, but if you need a Car Wars fix I’d get on it sooner than later; I’d personally like to see some of the stretch goals get hit.

That’s our four! Repeating what I said earlier: I’m counting on you, Canadian creators, to give me many gaming things to Kickstart. I have faith.

And if you are a Canadian creator getting your Kickstarter campaign off the ground, drop me a line so I can take a look at your project, and maybe talk about here.