In Go Extinct, educator Ariel Marcy has developed a card game for teaching about the evolution of different animal species. The game is variation on Go Fish but involves a bit more strategy. Tied in to the idea of evolutionary trees, players (mostly kids) can call for cards at different levels of association.

They call it a “steampunk cosplay action card game”. I’d describe it as a selection of thematic LARPing rules printed on decks of cards. Either way, Citadel of the Sky Pirates is definitely something different. The idea is that each card presents a different approach to resolving a question or conflict, with cards grouped in to different thematic decks, such as “Explorer” or “Intrigue”.

Transylvania: Curses & Traitors is a monster-fighting adventure game set in the homeland of Dracula [also my maternal grandfather, though he was more a fan of garlic than blood]. WIBAI Games says that in Transylvania “dying is half the fun.” Players that don’t survive as the adventurers turn in to vampires, werewolves, and zombies for a second chance to win.

Daft Concepts is offering individually handcrafted wood Chess boards for $380+.

On Ulule, Aurélien Lefrancois is raising funds to conduct beginner board game design workshops across Europe.

Pull is a trick-taking card game about trap-shooting. Like a number of other trick-taking games, Pull is played in partnerships, however, it has no trump suits and each round players compete for two tricks at the same time.

Running concurrently on Kickstarter are two projects for deck boxes. The one from Dog Might Games allows backers to select from numerous wood options and customize their boxes with various handles, fasteners, hinges, corners, bands, nails, studs, and more. What makes the DECA box special, however, is a unique design that allows it to function also as a card tray during play.

One thing about standard pyramid-shaped four-sided dice is that they don’t roll much. If that bothers you, consider backing Leo Atreides’ latest project. In addition to promoting more rolling, his pinched-dice design also features the number to read on-top instead of on the sides.