4 Upcoming Kickstarter Board Games – Ancient Temples and Plastic Mars

June and July are often packed with rereleases and expansions but this year keeps on giving. Sure, we’ll talk about one (quite massive) rerelease but there are also tons of completely new games coming. Expect another preview article around Tuesday. Happy reading!

Maztec – June 2nd

Let’s begin with a quite unique take on the puzzle genre. Why unique? Because the game merges jigsaw puzzles with modern board games and puts heavy focus on competitiveness while allowing up to 4 players to play together. 

In Maztec a number of ancient ruins have appeared in our world overnight and revealed a mysterious temple that is simply begging to be explored by all sorts of adventurers. The whole situation may sound exciting, but many are unaware that failing to discover secrets hidden in the temple fast will lead to the end of the world.

Each game players have exactly 28 turns to solve the puzzle. Take one more and our universe is gone. Jigsaw puzzle pieces are the main component here and they are all two sided. Many of them contain red or green gems that we want to collect and some hints about where to place them. 

Players need to complete the entire map of the temple before the time runs out. Each turn you take a piece with the turn number and add it to the temple, which leads to even more places to add other puzzles. Next you can add some pieces available or discard them to draw new ones later. What’s really fun is that you can take a puzzle piece and add it to your opponent’s board to bring some chaos into their strategy. Maztec feels innovative and fast enough to work as a fun filler game or a solo experience to challenge your brain cells. 

Terraforming Mars Big Box – June 9th

Terraforming Mars – one of the most popular board games ever and the third game on BGG top 100 list is about to come to Kickstarter in a completely new shape. The game is getting a deluxe component edition with all cardboard tiles replaced by 3D ones with proper cities, forests, oceans and of course every single special tile. To make the game look even better and realistic, tiles have a few different design variants and they won’t all look identical. Apart from these, we can expect some promo cards, but this might need some more confirmation. 

Let’s not forget about the Big Box mentioned in the campaign’s title. This cardboard colossus will not only be able to hold all of new, plastic tiles but also all content released in the franchise until now. All cubes and other elements will be stored safely in their own compartments. Card dividers are also planned and will help in separating expansions and various types of cards.

The Age of Atlantis – June 23rd

Daniel Aronson is known for his highly successful game called The Island of El Dorado. This summer he’s planning to hit Kickstarter with The Age of Atlantis, a completely new game where he worked as the designer.

The Age of Atlantis is an euro, civilization-style game with heavy focus on engine building and worker placement. The action takes place in the mythical kingdom in the middle of the ocean. A certain legendary civilization thrives there, mainly thanks to Orichelum – an element so powerful, that owning it can easily lead to world domination. It’s no surprise that all major powers in the world have turned their eyes to Atlantis. 

During the game each player will lead a powerful noble house and try to fight the invading enemies back. All houses have their own “Myths” – colossal, mechanical monsters created for protecting the kingdom. 

Relics of Rajavihara – July 7th

Solo gaming is becoming more popular with each passing year. Nowadays, many board game creators are almost expected to release a solo mode in their own game. Many of these efforts feel forced, but there are still enough well made solo modes to make their fans satisfied. Solo only games are also starting to show up more, especially since the last 2-3 years. The Relics of Rajavihara by Joe Slack also belongs to this subcategory.

Relics of Rajavihara could be classified as a puzzle game with a high focus on adventure. The protagonist, who was obviously inspired by good old Indy, meets his nemesis in an ancient temple filled with treasures and deadly hazards. Your goal is to defeat the bad guy while snatching tons of riches for yourself. The main mode of the game is the campaign consisting of 50 levels, but you can also play single ones outside it. Gameplay consists of strategic movement of boulders, avoiding traps and creating block structures that allow you to go higher. Each set of 10 levels is packed in its own box, creating a legacy-like experience.