FANBOY PLANET.com .: rb-FanboyOnKickstarter-10 :.

Welcome back to Fanboy on Kickstarter, the column that tries to clue you into the can't-miss fanboy fantastic opportunities in the world of crowd sourcing. I only publish when I can find products that meet two simple criteria 1) I've actually invested in the project and 2) I think it's a unique, valuable, and inexpensive project for Fanboys to similarly fund. For more information, check out the archive!

I like to travel with games. They make waiting in airports or restaurants so much easier and more fun. I've spotlighted a couple of inexpensive, small, fast, and fun games this week to give you something to do while you're out and about.

Bezier Games is on a roll. They've got a line of Werewolf games under their belt, as well as a series of great urban planning games in the Suburbia series, and... well now a game to help you figure out who starts the next game!

It's not uncommon to take a popular game and make a dice version of it for faster and more portable play. The convention is to add "Express" to the title, so seasoned gamers will recognize that is is likely "one of those conversions." And they'd be right, as this is a dice version of a card "game" called Start Player.

Start Player answered the question "how do we fairly decide who will be the first player in the next game we play?" Players would shuffle the Start Player deck, draw a card and read it aloud. Typically it would say something like "Longest beard" or "Most recently got a speeding ticket" or some other arbitrary way to decide who got to be the first player. Let's let the video speak more to this...

Obviously the game could be used to decide other issues like "who gets the last piece of pizza" or "who has to rush the machine gun nest" making this an invaluable set of dice to have in your pocket at all times. You're already probably figuring out additional uses for them already.

Name		Start Player Express
Summary		Dice that let you fairly pick the next first player or so many other things!
Sweet Spot Donor Level		At $10 you get the set of four custom dice. For $8 more you can buy a second set for a friend.
Funding Status		Currently just under $18k of their $5k goal, this seasoned Kickstarter runner has four successful prior projects and a good history of making their dates.
Background		Located on a secret island fortress somewhere in Northern California, Bezier Games is the publisher of dozens of games and expansions, including One Night Ultimate Werewolf, Castles of Mad King Ludwig, Ultimate Werewolf, and Suburbia.
Links		Kickstarter page http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tedalspach/start-player-express

A game that plays in seconds and keeps everything fair? No more tearful arguments about "you went first last time!"? All for the price of a couple of vanilla bean lattes? I'm sold and you should be, too.

Battle for Hill 218 and Sector 219!

I bought and enjoyed the original Battle for Hill 218 while traveling, looking for a quick and portable game with just enough strategy to make it worth replaying. And it was just that, a World War II card game that played like a strategy board game and could be transported around in your pocket.

The original designer wants to reissue the game, upgrading the card stock and the graphics, and providing an alternate version with futuristic vehicles but the same great and simple rules.

(To put your mind at ease after watching the video, we're 75% sure that Chad is not a disembodied head floating around in the dark.)

How can a game be both simple and deep? Rather than summarize, here's a second short video with instructions for the game. Again, once you know one of them you know them both.

Note: It's best to view this demo in full screen as the icons are a little small to figure out otherwise.

Name		Battle for Hill 218 and Sector 219
Summary		Card based strategy war game, quick to learn and play with plenty of depth and replay value.
Sweet Spot Donor Level		At $10 you can choose either the classic WWII version or the future war version. $20, predictably enough, gets you both for those times you play with people who don't want to play historical games, or those who don't like science fiction. (But you really should stop hanging out with anyone who doesn't like science fiction.)
Funding Status		Solidly sitting at just under $8k of their $3k goal, this looks pretty slam-dunk. An experienced publisher with reasonable goals makes me pretty sure this one is a good recommendation.
Background		Chad Ellis founded Your Move Games almost a decade ago with the mad genius Robert Dougherty. YMG has mostly published two-player card games since then, ranging from quick standalone games like Hill 218 and My Kind of Town to our flagship line of Battleground: Fantasy Warfare and its twin, Battleground: Historical Warfare.
Links		Kickstarter page http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/36468537/battle-for-hill-218-and-sector-219

Card art upgrades are clean and clear, losing nothing of the original simplicity of interpretation while improving the theme. Samples of the Hill 218...

Again, at $10 for a game with ease of teaching and depth of play, this is a pretty good value if you're looking to travel light and still have something to play while you wait for a plane or your meal.

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

Episode 10: Start Player Express
and Battle for Hill 218 and Sector 219!
July 12th, 2014

Two Easy to Recommend Games for the Fanboy Gamer this Week

Battle for Hill 218 and Sector 219!

Episode 10: Start Player Express and Battle for Hill 218 and Sector 219! July 12th, 2014

Two Easy to Recommend Games for the Fanboy Gamer this Week

Battle for Hill 218 and Sector 219!

Episode 10: Start Player Express
and Battle for Hill 218 and Sector 219!
July 12th, 2014