The Ones to Watch - March 2013

March means three things: College Basketball, Shamrock Shakes, and games worth actually paying attention to.  And boy, are there some massive titles to look forward to this month.  Let's take a look at March's Ones to Watch.

Tomb Raider - Multi Platform - 3/5/13

Tomb Raider caught all eyes at E3 2011 when this franchise reboot hit the screens.  We explore Lara Croft's origins in this gritty take on the series.  I'm very much looking forward to seeing how it pans out.

Sim City - PC - 3/5/13

 

 

Gamers are excited about checking out Maxis' latest offering in the Sim City universe, but many people are wary because of the always on connection to the internet that is required to play.  Blizzard barely pulled this off and they're a beloved company.  EA is hated by all, so it won't take long for pitchforks to come out if it doesn't have a very successful launch day.  Update - It didn't, surprise!

 

God of War: Ascension - PS3 - 3/12/13

 

The second of the prequels this month, God of War: Ascension focuses on the relatively already pretty well documented time between finding his family slain and makes his oath to slay Ares, which was done in the first one, so I'm curious to see how this actually all comes together.  In any case, God of War fans know what to expect here, and it likely won't let down.

 StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm - PC - 3/12/13

RTS gamers have the new StarCraft II expansion, Heart of the Swarm, to look forward to this month.  Blizzard's StarCraft II was very well received when it first came out, so this will breathe some new life into the community.

Gears of War: Judgement - Xbox 360 - 3/19/13

 Gears of War: Judgement follows the prequel crazy adventures of Baird and Cole as they fight the locust in the early Emergence Days.  Now players 1 and 2 will know what it's like to control the tertiary and quaternary (had to look that one up) characters from the GoW Universe.

Wow, that is some lineup for March!  Lots of prequels and alternate takes on existing unive.. what's that?  We're not done yet?  Seriously? Alright, what's left?

Bioshock: Infinite - Multi Platform - 3/26/13

Our pick for the month goes to Bioshock Infinite.  This one breaks from the underwater city of Rapture and takes to the sky city of Columbia.  Little is known about the story, but you can bet there's going to be some surprises in store for players up in the clouds.

Ok, now we're really done for March.  And April.  And May.  It's going to be a quiet couple months after this with the next game worth mentioning is Last of Us in June.  E3 is right around the corner, though, and we'll have LOTS to talk about thanks to Sony's PS4 announcement in February and Microsoft's soon to counter Xbox announcement.  Until then, we have lots to keep us busy.  Happy Gaming!

  

Kickstarter 20 - Part 20 - Kingdom Death: Monster

Kingdom Death: Monster

Completed Funding on January 7, 2013 with $2,049,721 of $35,000 Goal

What did they offer: Kingdom Death: Monster is a boutique nightmare horror cooperative board game.  It's Kickstarter is the most successful table top game by more than double it's next competitor.  Backers of the game would receive a base copy, with options for quite a few add-ons.

When was the expected delivery date:  November 2013

What did VG30 pledge for:  We won't disclose the dollar amount on this one, but VG30 backed the game, all expansions, and any add-on figure that included settlement rules.  

Status of Project:  Nothing shipped, but nobody is expecting anything for another 9 months.  

What the creator is saying:  The creator is thrilled with the response to the project, and seemed to keep realistic expectations when throwing in add-ons.  He seemed to understand the budget of both time and money to be able to make the project happen, which comes from him already creating and selling miniatures to get the game started.  Backers are being updated every couple weeks with renderings of figures, sculpting, and finished product.  

What the community is saying:  The community has died down some since the excitement of the Kickstarter, but is still actively posting feedback on models, creating groups to play when it comes out, and sharing modeling and painting tips.

What we're saying:  VG30 is very excited about this game, as evidenced by the large backing we provided on it.  While the creator seemed to know his stuff, a November ship date seems too good to be true for just the sheer number, variance, and complexity of minis that are being provided.  I think a March 2014 date is more realistic, but I can only base if off of the other Kickstarters that we've backed.  So far Adam Poots is running a great campaign full of updates, stretch goals, and freebies, so fingers crossed.

Kickstarter 20 - Part 19 - Guilds of Cadwollon

Guilds of Cadwallon

Completed Funding on December 21st, 2012 with $116,938 of $5,000 Goal

What did they offer: Guilds of Cadwallon is a area control game in which players place pawns between randomized locations in a city.  At the end of the round, players check how many of their pawns are around each piece, the player with the most scores the tile.  Backers could receive the game, additional pawns and tiles for more players, higher backers could receive a game board and a box to store everything in.

When was the expected delivery date:  March 2013

What did VG30 pledge for:  VG30 pledged $40 for a copy of the game and gameboard with box.

Status of Project:  CoolMiniOrNot has been quiet on the production of this game.  Nothing physical has shipped, but it's also not due for another month.  The only thing that has happened so far is backers have received links to their pledge manager.

What the creator is saying:  Whole lotta nothing.  Backers had trouble communicating with the creators on this from the get go, and only drew attention when the stretch goals were smashed so handily.

What the community is saying:  Also, not much.  Players are excited, and inventing new board layouts to add additional ways to play, and beginning to ask if March shipping is still going to happen or not.

What we're saying:  Despite the lack of communication, CMON's projects have gone off really well in the past, and are known for shipping pretty close to on schedule.  We'll know for sure in a month.

Kickstarter 20 - Part 18 - Dungeon Heroes

Dungeon Heroes

Completed Funding on December 2nd, 2012 with $22,302 of $15,000 Goal

What did they offer:  Dungeon Heroes is a two player board game in which one player plays as the Dungeon Keeper, and the other plays as the Heroes.  The Heroes are trying to find three treasure tiles that are randomly drawn and hidden face down amongst traps and monsters by the Dungeon Keeper.  Backers would receive copies of the game, and expansions.

When was the expected delivery date:  July 2013

What did VG30 pledge for:  VG30 pledged $40 for the game and expansions

Status of Project:  Dungeon Heroes didn't make the stretch goals that everybody wanted, which was meeples of the monsters and heroes to play with instead of chits and dice.  To make up for this, the creator launched a second Kickstarter to make those goals and was successful.  He has promised the second Kickstarter would not slow down production at all.  Backers have received a Print and Play copy, which is also available to anyone else that wants it.

What the creator is saying:  The creator says everything is going smoothly and he's just trying to merge all the data between two successful Kickstarters for essentially the same project.  There's no reason not to believe him at this point because the project is still young and July is a long way away.

What the community is saying:  The community has helped pick up some rule inconsistencies which are being fixed, but are so far happy with how everything is going.

What we're saying:  I have some concerns about how the project is going to turn out, in the demo videos the tiles are nice thick pieces and the box being presented looks much smaller.  I want something small and portable out of this with nice quality, and I hope that it doesn't become card board pieces in a hard to transport box.  We'll have to wait and see what the components turn out like, the meeples look great though.

Kickstarter 20 - Part 17 - Boss Monster

Boss Monster

Completed Funding on November 18th, 2012 with $215,056 of $12,000 Goal

What did they offer: Boss Monster is a card game in which players select a 8-bit based Boss and construct a dungeon to lure adventurers to them, and then defeat them before they escape with their treasure.  Backers could receive a copy of the game, exclusive bonus cards, a mini expansion, and even naming some of the poor hapless heroes.

When was the expected delivery date:  February 2013

What did VG30 pledge for:  VG30 pledged for the game, Kickstarter exclusives, and mini expansion at the $40 level.

Status of Project:  A print and play version has been sent out to backers, as well as beta copies of the game, t-shirts, and a very comprehensive player's guide PDF. The actual finished product has been delayed until May.

What the creator is saying:  The reason for the delay is completely their fault for underestimating the time frames required for printing and shipping.  They've been very open about it, and are providing regular updates with where things are and getting out the Print and Play copies to the players.

What the community is saying:  The community is happy to have the Print and Play versions in their hands, and are excited to have the final product coming in May.  They're enjoying the game quite a bit so far.

What we're saying:  We've never been one for Print and Play versions of things, so we're holding off, but it's nice to have the option there.  Brotherwise Games put a lot of little extras into this with foiling their boss cards, adding in the mini expansion for free, and the PDF player's guide that could just as easily be a small magazine, it's turning out to be a pretty good project, even with the delay.  If it were to be pushed back again I think we'd see trouble, but we won't know that for another couple months.