I vowed, this year, to back fewer crowdfunding projects. They always arrive long after I’ve forgotten about them, usually. If I had a real need, I’d have just… bought something compatible. I dunno. I still get sucked in by slick presentations and, well, then I write about them.
Let’s go.
Mystery Dice: The Trilogy. Backed July 2024, Scheduled July 2025, now expected Fall or Winter 2026
I’ve backed several of these, shilled for them in social media. The idea is that you order some dice, sight unseen, and then are thrilled by the surprise when they eventually arrive. The special thing about them is not the dice, so much, but the Weird Stuff — unusual dice.
But you don’t know if you’re going to get what you want, and in fact you don’t even know what they are — it’s part of the surprise. These sets — and most of the cool Weird Stuff — are sold online and at conventions after the backer rewards are sent, so… might as well just wait. I have bought dice several times since I backed this, because I needed them. If there is a fourth one of these, I’m sitting it out. I’ll just buy dice I need.
This still makes the list as I just had to pay more money for tariffs. I thought the tariffs were gone, but I guess not.
Terraforming Mars: The Legacy of Mars. Currently running, Scheduled May 2027
Terraforming Mars is one of those games I enjoy bringing to the table. Everyone has a good time, and it’s as competitive (or not) as you want it to be. Legacy of Mars is a campaign game set over four different maps, and you keep your corporation and some key cards with you between maps.
You can still play each map separately, as a standalone game, but the intended experience is to play through the maps in turn. Starting with an expanded Mars map, then moving onto Ganymede, and then two secret ones, though one of them is hinted to be a planet in another solar system. LoM is not compatible with the original game, but it’s similar enough that the developers say experienced players of TM will pick it up quickly.
One minor quibble: the developers admit to using AI artwork.
For full transparency, AI has been used to:
Render images or part of images used as card illustrations and box illustrations in Legacy of Mars.
In many of these cases, substantial work has gone into 1) Providing AI with sketches or previous TM artwork, 2) Re-prompting and feed AI new inputs, and above all: 3) Doing the necessary work-over in Photoshop to fix so called artifacts, and adjustments, work-overs, and sometimes mash-up work to get to the final artwork.
Not a deal breaker for me; might be for some.
The Doom of the Dark. Currently running, Scheduled for July 2026
This is a standalone Tunnels & Trolls adventure intended for more recent versions of T&T, but not the most recent one. This was developed by Patrick Stuart of False Machines fame (one of the bloggers I feature in the Daily Blogroll).
The twist that made me an instant backer was that this is a real time adventure. The players have six hours of real time to save the world. Now, I don’t think I will ever be able to find people willing to sit still for six hours to play the game, but the developer suggests groups should be able to do it in two. Two hours, I think we could manage.
If you want me to back your project, just be a blogger. It’s really that simple.
Bastl Instruments Kalimba. Currently running, Scheduled December 2026.
Hey! I know how to play the Kalimba! And what’s more, I stopped playing it mostly because it was too quiet and just made kalimba noises. (To be really honest, I liked that it was a quiet instrument. I mostly stopped playing because I took up the mandolin.)
Anyway, what Bastl Instruments has done is made a kalimba-style MIDI controller and pocket synthesizer. It is incredible the sounds they can make come out of this. I still have my BOSS Dr. Synth from the 90s, where I’d use it to make my electric piano sound cool. Project seemed like something I needed, so I backed it. Cue me playing Tubular Bells on it this winter. And maybe some kalimba songs.
Micro Hero: Ulysses & Achilles. Backed April 8, Scheduled for September 2026
I enjoyed the previous Micro Hero: Hercules, a cool solo deck builder that had you, as Hercules, completing the 12 Tough Jobs assigned to him for killing his family. (He was tricked, but one must still take responsibility). Along the way, Hercules can recruit the monsters he defeats in order to build strength for the trials ahead. It was really innovative, and the “pay what you want” pledge level is tantalizing. I think I backed for €25, might have been slightly less. But those who backed for just €1 would still get the game. Amazing.
Tunnels & Trolls: A New Age. Backed March 17, Scheduled May 2027.
The thing about Tunnels & Trolls is that I have never played a game of T&T in any edition. I did write a game based on a T&T solo adventure using a mixture of several rule sets that I bought and devoured. And to be honest, I’m probably not going to play this one, either. But I value a world that has T&T in it. Me, I plan to run Dungeon Crawl Classics just to provide a rule set that has just a little more structure to it. T&T just seems more like… like an ongoing dungeon improv session. And there is nothing wrong with that. I backed it, didn’t I?
Nexus Cube: Your Very Own Infinity Dice Cube. Backed February 2026, Scheduled May 2026.
I’m not sure how this came to my attention, but the campaign was so janky and so obviously almost entirely AI generated that I just had to back it just to watch the slow train wreck happen. And they want to charge me tax on my $1, no reward, donation! I’ve written about this extensively on the other blog, so no need to recap here. The creators have gone radio silent when they were supposed to be shipping them out by now.
ResoTi | Titanium Guitar Pick with Sweat-Activated Grip. Backed January 2026, Scheduled May 2026
I said above that I picked up the mandolin, post-kalimba? Turns out you need a pick to play it correctly.
Meh, I have a lot of picks, but I was just jazzed to see something relevant to the instrument I play. Most mandolin-related kickstarters seem to assume I want to slice and dice vegetables for some reason.
Developers seem like they are close to shipping, though I don’t think they will make the end of this month.
Vectrex Mini. Backed November 2025, Scheduled September 2026
I wrote about this last fall so there’s no need to recap all of that. The developers still have an active campaign going in Japan. They do seem to be on the road to making this thing. Will it hit the States by September? I doubt it. It’s a tech project and tech projects always run over. I do expect it to show up before the end of the year and I will have fun playing it and I will put it next to my actual Vectrex and take pictures and they will be friends.
The Red Dragon Inn 10. Backed October 2025, Scheduled August 2026
The long running dungeon themed party game continues with its tenth mainline expansion. Well, ninth, I guess the first one was the base game. The game remains the same: What do adventurers do between adventures? Well, they go to the local tavern and attempt to drink each other under the table and gamble their money away.
It’s really a lot of fun, and as many people who want to play, can. Each expansion adds more goofy characters and play modes. New RDI? Instant back for me.
Everything from the last edition of “Confessions of a Superbacker” has arrived, except for Pocket RPG. That one seems to be approaching production readiness; I would expect it by the end of summer, so a slip of a few months past the December 2025 scheduled date.
Maybe people are just really bad at estimating how long things take to ship.
Anyway, assuming I am not able to shake this crowdfunding monkey off my back anytime soon, I’ll probably be back in a few months with another edition of….
