Actually, now that I look back at the one in May, I haven’t backed a lot of new things, but there are some chewy updates.
Battlestations: Lightspeed (backed July 2026, expected December 2026)
I don’t think I’d ever heard of the Battlestations game before I played it at Origins a couple years ago. It’s a cooperative multiplayer board game that has a dozen or so people manning stations on a starship (represented by a tiled board that in our case was about twelve feet long) as the ship is attacked by aliens or just dealing with the hazards of being in space.
It was super fun, but I knew we’d never be able to bring something so large and requiring so many people to the table.
But the developer is making a smaller, faster edition — Battlestations Lightspeed — which preserves all the cooperative gaming fun in a tighter package for four people. Well, okay. But there was a stretch goal that allows up to six players.
Bingo. This is our sweet spot. Six lets my granddaughter join in. If my grandson also wants in, well, we’ll figure something out.
My biggest issue with this game is that I think the board might be too small….
trillo (Backed May 2026, expected September 2026)
I play a bunch of instruments. Or rather I have played a lot of instruments. Most of my instruments are too loud to be played with other people in the house, and so I usually play my mandolin or kalimba, both instruments that know how to be respectful of other people’s soundscapes.
My Pearl silver open-hole flute sits in its bag. Sometimes when I’m alone, I take it out and play it. I’ve been thinking of getting a wind controller for some time; they have some shaped like saxophones, some shaped like clarinets. Trillo here is recorder shaped, and recorder is among the instruments I can play. Most of these send MIDI to a synthesizer, which turns it into sounds that go to an amp, or headphones if you’re trying to be quiet. Thanks to being in a band once, I have a synth and an amp (although my synth, being old, uses incompatible MIDI cords).
This controller has built-in sounds; apparently you don’t need a synth at all to get tones out of it. I think it might solve a couple of problems. I can play it around people, and I can finally lay down all those Renaissance recorder ensemble pieces I’ve been ignoring. I’ve done a few by just recording me playing each part individually on my recorder collection (alto, soprano, and tenor — I don’t have a bass but got there by shifting tenor down). This should make that sort of thing easy.
There’s no way this ships in September.
The Doom of the Dark (arrived)
Looks great. We played Dungeon Crawl Classics awhile ago; I’ve been waiting for the new Tunnels & Trolls rules to get here before introducing people to another TTRPG system, so I haven’t played this yet. But I might see if people are interested in a one-shot. This module isn’t part of the new edition anyway. Just hate to confuse people.
What else has arrived…
ResoTi Titanium Guitar Pick — received. Sounds terrible on my mandolin. Not sure where it even is at the moment. Since then they are trying to sell me a lot more titanium crap. Kinda not caring now.
Red Dragon Inn 10 — received. It came in a plain white cardboard box, an option I chose because I have the Big Box That Fits Everything. Next time it seems like a RDI night, we’ll haul it out.
The Vegiterribles Completer Set — received. Actually I only ordered the butter dish, but it did come and looks nice and I’m using it.
Nexus Cube — not received, and I didn’t order one. They are apparently manufacturing these as we speak, though there’s a lot of skepticism in that they have never actually shown a working production unit. Not even one. They’ve done two more Kickstarters since, all with different company names, all based at the same home address in Iowa. The newest one claims this is their first project, but it’s using the components from previous ones. I’m just here for the popcorn.
Well, that’s it for now. I’m hoping to see a Vectrex Mini in the mail next month; that’s the one I’m really waiting for.
