Casual Game Crowdfunding: Wonderland, Pandas, and Supercomputers | Casual Game Revolution

Casual Game Crowdfunding: Wonderland, Pandas, and Supercomputers

PlayMe: Alice in Wonderdice

This month features several games with intriguing themes, from adorable pandas to supercomputers attempting to hack each other. There are also a couple of two player games, if you’re looking for something to play when you can’t bring a big group together. Also worth noting is the re-launch campaign for 9-Shooter Quick Draw, a game we originally featured last October.

PlayMe: Alice in Wonderdice

PlayMe: Alice in Wonderdice (LudiBooster) – You are trapped in Wonderland and must catch the white rabbit in order to escape back to the real world. It's a real time game in which you roll your dice as quickly as possible while everyone else is doing the same. Your goal is to create a sequence of dice from 1 to 6. When you roll your dice you may take one action. You can pick one die to add to your sequence (you must build the sequence in an increasing order), you may block other players by placing one of your dice into their sequence, or unblock your sequence by matching a blocking die's number. Each player takes on the role of a special Wonderland character and begins the game with a special ability. The first time you make your sequence, your character goes mad and the ability is replaced with a disadvantage. You must then make your sequence a second time in order to catch the rabbit and win the game.

Adorable Pandaring

Adorable Pandaring (Asmadi Games) – This is a card game about pandas. Do you really need to know anything else? However if the sheer cuteness of pandas is not enough, then here's some information on the gameplay as well: it's a quick, casual ten minute card game in which you attempt to collect bamboo by having lots of adorable pandas. How adorable your panda is, is dictated by the ever changing Panda Laws of Adorableness. Some pandas are played face down, while others are played face up and activate special abilities. When a certain number of adorable pandas are played, the red panda hands out bamboo and a new Law of Adorableness is drawn.

RESISTOR_

RESISTOR_ (Cardboard Fortress Games) – Two players race to connect lines across seven cards that are laid out on the board. Each player has two cards in their hands and each card is double sided, however you are not allowed to look on the back of your own cards. You take three moves on your turn. You may choose to flip a card on the board, take a card from the board and replace it with one of your own cards or an opponent’s, or you may draw a card from the deck to replace one of your own or your opponent's. At the end of your turn, you then check to see if either player has a connecting line. If they do, they score a point. As the game continues, the board gets smaller, with cards being removed from the line — this speeds up gameplay as you approach the end of the game.

Between Two Cities

Between Two Cities (Jamey Stegmaier) – This is a 20-minute game with an interesting twist on cooperation. You must work with your neighbors to build two cities (one with each player on either side of you). Every turn you pick two tiles and can then discuss with the other players the best strategy for where you should place them. At the end of the game, your score will equal that of your lowest scoring city, so it's important to help build both, which is why co-operation is so key, but you have to remember: there will only be one winner.

Vault Wars

Vault Wars (Floodgate Games) – Players are aspiring heroes, bidding and bluffing their way through auctions of the vaults of fallen heroes. At the start of the game you are given gold and two aspiring hero cards that are kept secret until the end of the game, when they can award bonuses on specific types of items. Each vault has different attributes which limit and change the ways players can interact and bid on them. When you win a vault, you may choose to sell items you find inside for more gold or save them to count towards your victory points at the end of the game.

Bottom of the 9th

Bottom of the 9th (Dice Hate Me Games) – This 2-player card game takes place during the last three outs of a baseball game. One player is the pitcher and one is the hitter. Each turn the pitcher chooses the type of pitch and the hitter attempts to guess it, with special abilities awarded to one of the two players, based on the results. The pitch is then thrown and dice are rolled. There are multiple character cards for both the pitcher and the hitter, each with their own special strengths.

Birds of a Feather

Birds of a Feather (Teale Fristoe) – In this card game about bird watching, each round you will secretly choose a card to play, which will determine where you go and what bird you will spot there. You also see any other birds that are spotted in the same location. Bird cards remain in play for two rounds, giving you an opportunity to see birds spotted in other locations in the previous round and the chance to manipulate where the other players will want to go next turn.

Full disclosure: unless otherwise noted, we have not seen or played any of the above games. Our assessment of each is based on the information given on the crowdfunding project page.