FANBOY PLANET.com .: rb-Episode 6: Mad Science and Monster Madness :.

As we continue our Fanboy on Kickstarter articles, I renew my goal to clue you into some of the prime Kickstarter Fanboy opportunities. I scour Kickstarter for projects that will appeal to the Fanverse in the area of comics, games, media and gadgets. For more information, check out the last column!

This week I have two recommendations, linked by two different types of madness! The Mad Science of Studio Foglio's Girl Genius, and the Lovecraftian Madness invoked by Cthulhu's Vault! These games' Kickstarter projects end on May 2nd and May 15th respectively, so there's still time for you to investigate and act!

Sure, you can read the adventures of Agatha Heterodyne every week on Girl Genius Online, but some web comics really cry out for the physical printed form, and Phil and Kaja Foglio's work is a great example of something that you get for free, but end up wanting to pay for. The art and stories are fun, lavishly illustrated and colored, and the overarching tale of Mad Science is simply wonderful. Great book for girls, and even boys.

Name		Girl Genius Volume 13: Agatha Heterodyne & The Sleeping City
Summary		Yes, it's the 13th volume, but these are typically great reads on their own. Of course you can buy earlier volumens too, or read it on the web, or... well there are just so many options.
Sweet Spot Donor Level		Depending on your preference: $10 for the PDF version, but I'd actually recommend $30 for the softcover (and since they've hit stretch goals on this you get the PDF too!)
Funding Status		They're almost double their goal at the moment. This will do well and hit quite a few stretch goals.
Background		The Foglios have been publishing this Hugo award winning series for over a decade. This is their second Kickstarter, so that's under their belt, and they've a proven record of scheduling and producing their books.
Links		Kickstarter page: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/girlgenius/girl-genius-volume-13-agatha-heterodyne-and-the-sl

The short and sweet

The Girl Genius, Agatha Hetrodyne, is the often-unwilling participant in mad science, a genetic inheritance where mechanical objects and their creation are almost magical. Sweet and unintentionally sexy, Agatha is surrounded by colorful companions, wicked and often laughably incompetent enemies, and more intrigue and mystery than most people would wish for. Oh yeah, talking cat too.

The stretch goals and backer rewards are a good reason to buy a book that you might otherwise wait to pick up on sale at a lower price. Book plates, medals, chibi figure patches... oh so cute.

Funding on this is pretty straightforward. $30 gets you the book and backer rewards, including met stretch goals (the PDF version) and the ability to buy add-ons enabled by other stretch rewards. I'm probably fine with just the book, but the old medals look pretty cool!

Cthulhu's Vault

Who doesn't like a good game of Elder God induced madness? I know I can't get enough of this. Cthulhu's Vault is another, but with some interesting twists not available in the five other games I have that use that familiar Lovecraftian theme.

Name		Cthulhu's Vault
Summary		Beginning as a cooperative game, action shifts as one player becomes the Elder God and fights back against the other players. Ages 10 and up of course.
Sweet Spot Donor Level		$20 gets you the game, and stretch goals.
Funding Status		As of this writing they're just under $2000 from their goal, and 28 days left to make that up. They'll likely hit a few of their stretch goals.
Background		Richard Launius is the designer of two great Cthulhu games, Elder Sign and the classic Arkham Horror, both worth playing if you haven't already. Jolly Roger Games has had three prior successful Kickstarter projects.
Links		Kickstarter page: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1649598142/cthulhus-vault

The Short and Sweet

What's so cool about Cthulhu? Don't let him hear you asking that. Monsters the mere sight of which can drive a man mad, or cause him to do unspeakable things in the name of... well, science, religion, love, whatever.

To begin, this is a cooperative game, where all players are fighting on the side of right and good. But at some point in the events, one of the players will "go bad" and start fighting on the side of the vile Elder Gods, in fact they will actually become that tentacled, slimy, viscous, shimmering mad entity from outside our reality and try to destroy the other players. Fun for the whole family!

At $20 this is one of the least expensive Cthulhu Mythos games available and looks like a great game boardering on party experience. Yes, I throw some weird parties. And yes, the madness is temporary.

That's it for this week. Again, send me your feedback and your own Kickstarter picks via the Fanboy Planet Facebook page!