As I look at my shelves, I see a lot of crowdfunded games. They stand out, not only because they’re good, but also because they’re massive boxes that no store would ever want to stock due to cost and probably local labor laws about lifting heavy objects. As someone who likes games with miniatures, crowdfunding really talks to my inner 10-year old self.

Last year I did a top 10 list of my crowdfunding campaigns that just missed the mark. So channeling my inner Monty Python to look on the bright side of life, what have been some of my favorite games that I’ve gotten from crowdfunding? I could probably fill another top 10 with my next favorites and games I need to play more but enough excuses, it’s showtime.

Top 10 Favorite Crowdfunding Campaigns

10. Fireball Island : The Curse of Vul-Kar (2018)

I remember the original but never played it. When I saw the campaign I thought my son (who was 4 years old when it was delivered) would love it when he got older. And he did, when we played it the next day. With a huge toy factor, this has hit the table a lot since late 2018 starting with simplified rules I implemented and slowly growing to the full version. I’m glad this is in big box stores to enchant a new generation with the simple joy of knocking figures over with marbles. This isn’t my favorite game, by a long shot, but the memories my son and I have made playing this together ranks it higher than it would’ve been if I was just rating the game by itself.

2-4 Players • Ages 13+ • 60 minutes

9. Everdell (2018)

The world of Everdell is charming and I always enjoy building my tableau of constructions and critters. From the gorgeous art to the fun resources, everything (except the tree) about Everdell brings me joy. Adding in the modularity of the expansions there’s a ton of content to explore. Arguably there’s too much, but it’s a good upper body workout to heft the condominium-sized complete collection box around but I would still recommend starting with the base box and then piecemeal expansions unless it becomes an all-time favorite.

2-4 Players • Ages 13+ • 60 minutes • $60

8. Oathsworn: Into the Deepwood (2022)

Swappable equipment on the miniatures, branching narrative, and three giant boxes full of content (plus terrain) is a lot to take in. Any game doing one of those things would be ambitious but for a first-time creator to do all of them was completely bat guano crazy. The battleflow system and player choice between dice and cards are two examples of the mechanics that support the bling. Oathsworn was my game of the year for 2022 and is one of my favorite games that is hard to get to the table. I’ve recently restarted the campaign with some friends and it reminded me how fantastic this game is.

1-4 Players • Ages 14+ • 30-90 minutes • $150

7. Masters of the Universe – Clash for Eternia (2023)

This will likely move up over time both because of nostalgia but also I love the flexibility of the scenarios and how different teams will give different experiences. A player may fret over whether to spend power knowing the controller is going to do something horrible back to them later. But that same player gets to pick new skills as the game escalates which just ratchets up the stakes. As I stated in my review, this game tells stories as it plays out and some of the magic is that emergent narrative the players create.

1-5 Players • Ages 14+ • 45-60 minutes • $120

6. Tanares Adventures (2023)

I’m about 16 scenarios into the Tanares campaign and I love it. Tons of choices for quests and an adventure phase that has branching paths that affect the board you set up. And once there, each scenario has been a different puzzle to solve as you manipulate the board and enemy AI. Each character has four abilities that allow you to do something cool each turn. Sure, I had some quibbles about advancement (getting addressed in the ultimate edition) and limited gear progression but the only reason it doesn’t hit the table more often is its game length. It’s also a dungeon crawler that I can see keeping after completing the campaign because I know there’s a ton I haven’t experienced yet. This is high up on my list to paint too because of that.

1-8 Players • Ages 14+ • 45-90 minutes

5. Roll Player Adventure (2021)

My Game of the Year in 2021 and still one of the best RPG-simulators as it’s not as combat-focused as a lot of dungeon crawlers. Skill checks and combat are performed by drawing dice from a bag and trying to fill slots on the skill check or enemy card by manipulating the dice drawn or rolled with cards that represent your equipment and skills. As you adventure you gain and lose reputation with three factions which can open up or close off new paths. The Nefra’s Judgement expansion adds secondary story content while Gulpax’s Secret is a second campaign to explore. It also sets up and tears down quickly which makes it less intimidating than its large box size suggests.

1-4 Players • Ages 14+ • 90-150 minutes • $120

4. Marvel United (2020)

If this list was most played, Marvel United would probably be #1 by a long shot. Easily the lightest game I regularly play but the sheer variety between all the heroes and villains is astounding. Do I have too much? Probably and I don’t even have the all-ins. The basic system of using the symbols on your card and the one played before you is brilliant and keeps everyone engaged. Meanwhile, each villain has different objectives that make them a unique puzzle to solve. When Multiverse comes out there will be four core boxes to choose from and I really think any of them are a good starting point. The Avengers is the simplest with each subsequent box adding features but I’d suggest if you want to dip your toe in, just grab the box with the characters you like the most and then see where you want to go from there.

1-4 Players • Ages 14+ • 40 minutes • $30

3. Chronicles of Drunagor (2021)

I love the action selection system used in Chronicles of Drunagor as I get to do cool and powerful things every turn. I also get to feel clever by selectively using cubes to defend and cover slots with curse cubes so I can still take epic turns and maybe even get rid of that cube later with a different ability. My biggest complaint was that the world was fairly generic. The mechanics are fantastic and relatively streamlined keeping the action flowing like an 80’s action hero’s mullet in the wind.

1-5 Players • Ages 12+ • 120 minutes • $139

2. Conan / Batman: Gotham City Chronicles (2016 / 2019)

As kind of a cheat, I’m going to combine both Conan and Batman: Gotham City Chronicles by Monolith as functionally the same game. If I could only keep one, it would be Conan as I feel the looser rule set and the focus on combat is a better experience. The central mechanic of this dice chucker is energy management as you spend stamina cubes to take actions, re-roll dice, and defend. That same pool of stamina sits in three piles—Reserve (usable), Fatigue (where spent stamina goes), and Wound zone (where stamina goes to die). The Overlord player has a dashboard with various units they can activate by spending their own cubes. Much like Masters of the Universe, scenarios can have memorable moments such as giant snakes chasing players around the map or players leaping between ships. But, just as memorable, are the blunders where a player heroically throws an evil totem from the roof of a building into the River Styx, only to fumble the roll and have it plop on the ground just short of the water.

2-5 Players • Ages 14+ • 60-90 minutes

1. Cthlulhu Death May Die (2019)

Modern sensibilities aside, I like pulp stories from the 1920’s. HP Lovecraft’s cosmic horror is interesting in how a glimpse of the vastness of the universe is too much for our minds to comprehend thus starting many of the protagonists down a path of insanity. That’s where Death May Die picks up, the heroes are already insane with their afflictions becoming powers that can be devastating when properly triggered. This is pulp Cthlulhu, or as I wrote on BGG, it’s as if Robert E. Howard wrote the final chapter of an HP Lovecraft story. It’s cinematic action with monsters and cultists popping up all over the board before a big bad appears and starts really trashing the joint. This dark-themed game also sports a surprising sense of humor. DMD allows you to mix and match scenarios and Great Old Ones, much like Marvel United, which changes the feel of each combination. Seasons 3 and 4 should deliver this year and I can’t wait to see all the horrible things that are going to happen on the table.

1-5 Players • Ages 14+ • 90-120 minutes • $100