Kickstarter Picks for the Week of June 02, 2014

What is this post all about? Well, it should pretty straightforward, but, if there's any confusion, this is where I'll be talking about a handful of Kickstarter projects each week, focusing on a few projects that recently launched and a few projects that are about to end. Will I be focusing only on projects in need of funding? No. I will simply be focusing on projects that interest me, regardless of whether they've only raised $5 or raised ten times that of their original goal. Anyway, I think it's about time I got to the actual projects, eh.

(There haven't been many games that have grabbed my attention in the past week or so, in large part because I don't have much experience with miniature gaming and can't say anything other than, "Oh, those look nice...")

• Recently Launched

LUGU a storytelling card game

• Ends Mon, Jun 30 2014 12:04 AM CDT.

LUGU is a card game about creating stories and it reminds me of the party game, Dixit. In LUGU, the storyteller takes four random cards from their deck--everyone has a deck of the same 22 cards--and creates a story, grabbing inspiration from the four selected cards at random times during their story, placing the cards facedown as they use them--which then prompts everyone else to try and guess which of their 22 cards best fits that particular story moment. I'm not sure if the game will work in practice, having not played it myself, but I really like the idea and would love to try it out; plus, it's something different.

Twisted Counters - Customizable Discs for Tabletop Games

• Ends Sun, Jun 29 2014 6:09 PM CDT.

Keeping track of numbers in board games can sometimes be annoying--I'm not the biggest fan of score tracks where pieces can easily move around, ending up in the wrong place, forcing everyone to recount their scores at the end of the game--so, the second I saw Twisted Counters pop up on Kickstarter, I backed it almost immediately. Twisted Counters don't do anything incredibly unique, but they keep track of information in the palm of your hand and, if you're one of the many who are currently addicted to Marvel Dice Masters--like yours truly--these will be perfect for keeping track of one's health points.

• Ending Soon

More Castles! A Castle Dice Expansions

• Ends Mon, Jun 2 2014 7:00 PM CDT.

More Castles! A Castle Dice Expansions is an expansion for Castle Dice--"Thanks for stating the obvious"--a game where each player takes on the role of a King's son or daughter, doing everything they can to build the best castle possible. I've heard many good things about the original game--there's a pledge that will get you a copy of the original game (or both the original game and the expansion)--so, if you're a fan of chucking dice, More Castles! is definitely a project to check out. (And do so quickly because it's ending very soon.)

Code Monkey Island - making programming child's play

• Ends Fri, Jun 6 2014 6:49 AM CDT.

Code Monkey Island is a game made with the hopes that it will teach kids (and unknowing adults) about the basics of programming and, if it really can teach the basics [of programming], I think it's a game worth backing, whether you care about programming or not, because the more ways something can be taught, the better. Now, the game doesn't look that appealing to me, but, as already stated, this game is designed with children in mind first, so do keep that in mind. Anyway, I backed it and, if you're a fan of alternative forms of education, you should definitely give the game a few minutes of your time.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anyway, that's it and that's all for this week's edition of Kickstarter picks. If you have any thoughts about the projects mentioned or want to highlight a project not mentioned above, leave a comment below--I'm always interested in seeing what other's think about various projects and what projects interest others.