Tag: gamefound

Geekly News: July 27, 2025, MCU Ready to “Reset”

Published on by KyraLeave a comment

Happy Sunday, Geekly Gang! Kyra Kyle here. It’s the beginning of a new week, and it’s time for us to break down the geek news from the previous week. A lot happened over the past week, but we’ll begin with some fun MCU news.

MCU Will “Reset” After Avengers: Secret Wars

“Reboot is a scary word,” President of Marvel Studios Kevin Feige said during a media bonanza this past weekend. Instead of a “reboot,” Feige claims the MCU will “reset” after the Multiverse Saga concludes with Avengers: Secret Wars. This MCU reset will include Marvel Studios recasting The X-Men. Geekly may have jumped the gun with this recasting. We did our own X-Men Geekly Casting a couple of months ago, and personally, I thought Deadpool and Wolverine was the Fox X-Men’s swansong, but we only saw a handful of mutants in Deadpool and Wolverine, and I’m okay with one final sendoff.

The X-Men may not be the only ones getting recast. Feige suggested that the MCU will recast several of its characters after Avengers: Secret Wars. While Feige cited Superman (2025) as a great show and didn’t expand on the statement more than that, Superman’s success could have pushed Marvel Studios to make this decision. The MCU was always going to do something after several box office failures; the young DCU’s success shows that the MCU could find success by “resetting.”

The MCU has already shifted to projects (like Fantastic Four: First Steps) that require less homework before viewing. I’m all for less MCU homework. And while Thunderbolts* was one of the MCU’s best recent films (here’s a link to Geekly’s Thunderbolts* review), Feige made another statement last week that Thunderbolts*’ poor box office sales could be attributed to the film having too many characters who originated on Disney+ shows. Feige has a point. I count at least five members of the main cast who came from Black Widow (released exclusively on Disney+ due to the pandemic) and Falcon and Winter Soldier.

The combination of the MCU organizing their releases on Disney+ and theaters to certain character types (Disney+ shows are for street-level heroes, while MCU films are for larger-than-life characters) and an MCU “reset” should result in more cohesive storytelling. And the MCU would mirror its source material. Every decade or so, the major comic book publishers “reset” their universes. Now, we only need to see Thor crying over Deadpool’s death.

GameFound Buys IndieGoGo

For five years, GameFound competed directly in the board game industry with crowdfunding giant, KickStarter. On July 20, 2025, the Polish-based crowdfunding giant GameFound acquired the tech-centric crowdfunding website, IndieGoGo. This merger opens GameFound to other avenues of innovation.

IndieGoGo has raised billions of dollars since its inception in 2008 (note: IndieGoGo was the first crowdfunding site), while GameFound has revolutionized the board game industry over the past five years, offering flex spending (allowing donors to pay over time) and insurance for online pledges. GameFound raised over $165 million in 2024 for board games alone. Think of how much business GameFound can do by absorbing tech giant IndieGoGo.

GameFound not only protects backers, but it also offers a lower cost of entry for creators on its site. IndieGoGo has struggled with campaign costs in the past. The GameFound-IndieGoGo merger may cause a seismic shift in the crowdfunding landscape.

Pixie Trails Prepares to Launch on GameFound

Speaking of GameFound, Pixie Trails will launch in the next two days on the crowdfunding site. Pixie Trails is a light strategy game. Pixie Trails uses a simultaneous selection game mechanism. Each player simultaneously picks the direction their Pixie (denoted by a standee) will move on a three-by-three tile grid. After everyone reveals their direction (card), they take the actions pictured on their tile, gaining extra instances of the action for each other pixie on the tile. I love this trend in modern board games. Your choices can improve if others choose the same action. And Pixie Trails sounds like it has a lot of meaningful choices in a small game.

You win the game if you’ve eaten the most food at the end of four rounds, or you can alternatively win the game if you reach seven (the max level) on the Friendship Track. I don’t yet know how the Friendship Track works, but I wonder if this has something to do with landing on the same tile as another player. A twist like that could pour gasoline on the fire of each player’s choices. Color me intrigued.

Since Pixie Trails has yet to launch, we don’t have information on the various pledge levels. Pixie Trails also marks publisher Mystic Circus Game’s first release, so we also don’t have previous campaigns for comparison, but Pixie Trails should have a few pledge options in a day or two. Feel free to follow Pixie Trails’ GameFound page.

Scratch Island Sets a Course for GameFound

Publisher Garlock Games is another relatively new board game company, but they have a stellar reputation with 2023’s deckbuilding game, Dorian. The company’s follow-up title is Scratch Island, a treasure-hunting game. Scratch Island has an exciting new game mechanism of scratching the board to play.

As of the time of this write-up, little is known about Scratch Island’s gameplay aside from scratching various locations on the game pad and the tagline of “Kingdoms Rise and Fall,” which is similar to Garlock Games’ first title, Dorian. Scratch Island may be set in the same world. Either way, a scratchable board is good enough of a hook. If you’re interested in Garlock Games’ latest title, check out Scratch Island’s GameFound page.

Goats & Goblins Emerges on KickStarter

Full Disclosure: I may have played a very early version of Goats & Goblins at a Lincoln or Omaha, Nebraska, game designer meet-up. I may be a little biased.

Goats & Goblins is a great twist on the push-your-luck mechanism. Each round, one player is the expedition leader. They choose how deep into a cave they intend to go (how many facedown cave cards they will draw). Everyone else chooses if they’re “in” or they’re “out.” The expedition leader flips over the number of cards from the cave deck that they chose, and then players can play cards to help or hinder the expedition. If the expedition succeeds, the players who were “in,” including the leader, split the gold. If the expedition fails, the players who were “out” split the gold. Whoever has the most gold at the end of the game wins.

Goats & Goblins offers a couple of pledge options and some add-ons. The base pledge is $20, while the “All-In” runs $38. You can also pick up a copy of B. A. Games’ other titles, Cult of the Deep for $35 or Forges of Ravenshire for $65. Goats & Goblins is a phenomenal gateway game that’s sure to pack a lot of giggles. Check out Goats & Goblins’ KickStarter page.

Melancholy Happy Trails

This past week saw the passing of a lot of geek culture icons. Typically, we don’t include too much about celebrity deaths, but this past week was brutal.

Malcolm-Jamal Warner

Malcolm-Jamal Warner, best known for his role as Theodor Huxtable in the 1980s sitcom The Cosby Show, died Sunday, July 20, 2025, in an apparent drowning off the coast of Costa Rica. He was 54. A preliminary investigation found Warner allegedly swept away by a current while in the Caribbean Sea. I always liked Warner in The Cosby Show. Warner was also known for his role as Malcolm McGee in the 1990s UPN sitcom Malcolm & Eddie and as Dr. AJ Austin on the Fox medical drama The Resident (2018-2023). Thank you for the memories, Malcolm-Jamal Warner. Rest in peace.

Julian LeFay

Father of The Elder Scrolls Julian LeFay passed away Tuesday, July 22, 2025, after years of battling cancer. He was the chief engineer behind The Elder Scrolls: Arena and Daggerfall. In 2019, he cofounded game studio OnceLost Games and began work on the spiritual successor to the original Elder Scrolls, The Wayward Realms. LeFay’s visionary design continues to inspire open-world RPG development. Thank you for your guiding light, Julian LeFay. Rest in peace.

Chuck Mangione

Legendary composer and jazz musician Chuck Mangione passed away on Tuesday, July 22, 2025. He was 84. A virtuoso flugelhorn and trumpet player, Mangione began taking music lessons at age 8 and played in a jazz combo with his pianist brother, Gap, during his high school years. Mangione made jazz cool again in the 1970s with hits like “Feels So Good.” “Children of Sanchez” is still one of my favorites, and don’t be surprised if Mangione’s album An Evening of Magic, Live at the Hollywood Bowl makes my Geekly Tunes post for August 2025. Thank you for the good vibes, Chuck Mangione. Rest in peace.

Ozzy Osbourne

Heavy metal legend Ozzy Osbourne, the Prince of Darkness, passed away Tuesday, July 22, 2025, in Birmingham, England, at age 76. Osbourne died weeks after reuniting with Black Sabbath for a final concert. Osbourne, born John Michael Osbourne, found rock ‘n roll stardom as a member of Black Sabbath before branching out on a solo career. Osbourne found success later in life as a reality television star with his wife and children. I’ll piggyback on Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan’s idea, and add that I’d love to see Ozzfest return as an annual tribute concert to Ozzy Osbourne. I always liked how Ozzy did things on his own terms. The next life got a lot more interesting with Ozzy. Rest in peace.

Hulk Hogan

Hulk Hogan passed away Thursday, July 24, 2025, in Clearwater Beach, Florida, at age 71. Hogan (born Terry Bollea) died from a reported cardiac arrest. Hogan rose to prominence as a wrestler in the 1970s but attained superstardom in the 1980s as part of the World Wrestling Federation (now the WWE). I’ve never been a huge pro wrestling fan, and Hogan had some problematic political and ideological views, but our thoughts go out to his family.

That’s all the geek news we have for this week. Thank you for reading and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.

Geekly News: June 29, 2025, Fantastic Four Final Trailer

Published on by KyraLeave a comment

Happy Sunday, Geekly Gang. Kyra Kyle here with another week of Geek News. I wrote this post a day or two early because my birthday is this weekend. Yay! I’m leveling up another year. But before I eat my body weight in key lime pie and beef stroganoff, we have some Geek News to cover, starting with the final Fantastic Four: First Steps trailer. I know. I know. We’ve covered every Fantastic Four trailer. Somehow, I keep missing some of the Superman trailers. I’m equally excited for both films.

Marvel Releases Fantastic Four: First Steps Final Trailer

The MCU released the final trailer for Fantastic Four: First Steps. I appreciate that we didn’t get too many new spoilers with this trailer, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t some peppered in. We may venture into spoiler territory.

The trailer begins with the Fantastic Four at the Ted Gilbert Show when an alarm on their watches sounds. The scenes before this moment give us the longest looks we’ve seen of Marvel’s first family using their powers: Mr. Fantastic stretching, Invisible Woman throwing up a force field and manipulating objects, The Human Torch flying past a Coppertone billboard of himself and setting it on fire, and a bystander wanting The Thing to say, It’s Clobbering Time.

I love the running gag of everyone trying to coax The Thing into saying, “It’s Clobbering Time.” This is a trope used in certain Fantastic Four comics, where The Thing may have said Clobbering Time once, or it was used for a television show (in First Steps, it’s a cartoon), and I can’t wait to see the payoff because, undoubtedly, he will say Clobbering Time, perhaps in the scene where Johnny carries The Thing (with a beard–look at his rock beard, that’s awesome).

A few more moments stick out. We get a better look at Shalla-Bal. I’ve talked about how I didn’t like the CGI for this Silver Surfer, and I’m glad to see an improvement with this trailer. We get an extended look at Galactus, but not a straight-on look at the titan. The Fantastic Four fly into a black hole, and it’s implied that Sue may be pregnant with Franklin at the time. Flying into a black hole while Sue is pregnant with Franklin could supercharge Franklin’s powers. Someone in the crowd by the Fantastic Four carries a sign that reads, Earth Believed In You, which implies that the Fantastic Four have already failed in some way.

And there are those three massive devices. One is by the Eiffel Tower. I’m unsure where the other two in the distance are from Paris. Could this be what Reed was working on with his massive blackboard? We’ll have to find out. I’ll paraphrase one of the top comments on this trailer. The marketing team is doing a great job by holding back three things: 1) Galactus’s face, 2) The Thing saying, “Clobbering Time,” and 3) Johnny saying, “Flame On.” I agree. It’s best to see and hear these things when Fantastic Four: First Steps hits theaters on July 25th.

Grail Games Launches The Pixel Series on KickStarter

Grail Games returns with a trio of retro-art board games. Even though Aliens Attack!, Ohio Bob, and Harvest Valley use the same 8-bit art style, they couldn’t be more different in gameplay. Aliens Attack! is a tower defense game, Ohio Bob offers a fun adventure, and Harvest Valley is a farming sim. All three games are smaller, easier to store and transportable.

The Pixel Series even features some board game designing giants like Bruno Faidutti and Hisashi Hayashi. You can back this project and receive individual games for $10 or the entire set for $26.You can even throw in a fourth game in the series, Level 10, which is a reprinting of Okey Dokey.

I like Level 10’s retheme of guiding Izzy through a video game level without the character perishing. If you’re interested in Grail Game’s Pixel Series, check out their KickStarter page.

Mesopotamia by Meeple Pug Launches on GameFound

Even though it isn’t the Mesopotamian Royal Game of Ur, the board game Mesopotamia does include knucklebone game pieces, which were game pieces in the classic board game. Meeple Pug’s Mesopotamia puts players in the role of civilization leaders in this stunning 4X game (explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate). Mesopotamia foregoes a tech tree for research tiles that make each player’s civilization unique.

I love Mesopotamia’s customizable player boards. This gaming component could spark a series of games with a similar component. Mesopotamia’s gameplay encourages trading, exploration, and combat. Those knucklebone game pieces come in handy when attacking one of your opponents. Mesopotamia’s game pieces are top-notch. This is a gorgeous game, and that’s before considering the prelaunch Hanging Gardens Miniature.

That miniature looks amazing, and Mesopotamia has plenty of other detailed miniatures. I like the addition of note one, but three solo-player modes: exploration, siege, and castle defense. Mesopotamia offers a lot of gameplay options. It launches early next week, so we don’t yet know how much this campaign costs. If you’re interested in Mesopotamia, follow its GameFound page.

Modern Classic Board Game Colosseum Receives a Glow-Up on GameFound

Yes! If you’ve ever been interested in the Wolfgang Kramer and Markus Lubke design Colosseum, The Grand Spectacle may be the edition to add to your collection. Ian O’Toole is one of the best board game graphic designers/artists working today, and Colosseum: The Grand Spectacle is a feast for the eyes.

I’ve always liked Colosseum’s take on the roll/spin and move game mechanism, which is often maligned and hated in the board game community. Colosseum does it right; take some of the chance out of rolling dice. I also agree with the Dice Tower’s Tom Vasel. Colosseum works at 5-players, which is rare in a game of this type.

If you’ve ever wanted to run your own Colosseum, you should check out Fantasia Games’ reprint of this modern board game classic. Colosseum: The Grand Spectacle has a variety of pledges, ranging from $80-140.

Death Stranding 2’s Mysterious Update

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach was released this past week and topped video game sales. In case you haven’t played the original, the first Death Stranding is on sale for most systems. Modern video games have updates during their first week, so Death Stranding 2 adding one a day after its release doesn’t raise any eyebrows. Oddly, we know nothing about this Death Stranding 2 update. The update offers no information about what it’s patching. The Death Stranding 2 team offers no clues. No one seems to know what this patch does. Hopefully, it fixes some of the game’s audio issues. Perhaps Hideo Kojima likes keeping this update a mystery.

Tamagotchi Plaza Releases on the Nintendo Switch 2

Tamagotchi Plaza, a shop simulator, was released for the original Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2. It looks adorable. I have fond memories of Tamagotchi, and I’m happy if Tamagotchi Plaza popularizes the pet raising sim to a new generation of gamers. Tamagotchi Plaza looks interesting–I may check out this title at some point–but Tamagotchi Plaza continues a disturbing trend for Nintendo Switch 2. If you already own a game for the original Switch, you can play it on the Switch 2 for a small Switch 2 upgrade fee.

While the upgrade fee isn’t the same price as a full-fledged game, it comes off as a shameless cash grab. Why should I have to pay an additional $10 for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild when I already own the game? Yes. $10 isn’t that much, but if you convert each one of your original Switch titles to the Switch 2, that adds up quickly. And this practice will embolden other console producers to do the same. We already got a Horizon: Zero Dawn remaster for the PlayStation 5 when it was released on the previous console.

Tamagotchi Plaza is a new game, and players would have to buy the Switch 2 upgrade for a game they just bought if they were to pick up a Switch 2 later this year. Okay. I get it. You could play the original version of Tamagotchi Plaza, but the Switch 2 version adds new shop types. Why would you want to play the Switch version if you were to upgrade to a Switch 2 after it becomes available again? I’m concerned about this business model for the video game community. But, hey, many of us–myself included–have purchased Skyrim eleven times. How’s this any different?

That’s all we have for Geek News this week, Geekly Gang. Thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.