This Week in Kickstarter – 80s Slasher Fun

A mech board game, a heads up display for your car, and Jason Voorhees. All that and more This Week in Kickstarter.

Scythe

Create an empire with monstrous mechs and industrious workers in this alternate-history.

Scythe is a boardgame set in an alternate history of 1920s Europe. The game tells the story of 5 factions, each competing over land surrounding a mysterious factory that once produced mechanical monsters of war. The game can be finished in about 2 hours and played by 1-5 people.

Scythe brings a number of features that flesh out its gameplay into its own. The upgrade systems allows players to increase action points while decreasing a cost. Each faction brings its own mech abilities, and resources are always on the board. Encounter cards present thematic choices, and random pairings of faction and player mats create asymmetric and varied game sessions. 

Scythe looks to be an engaging marriage of warfare and resource gathering. The two-part upgrade system, asymmetric set up, and varied factions present a fully realized game supporting a unique and interesting world. Scythe has all the makings of a successful board game, and its pledge count proves that, smashing its goal by nearly 3000 percent.

Skybuds

Truly wireless earbuds with a battery-boosting smartphone case for charging and storage.

The Skybuds combine four everyday products into one: earbuds, Bluetooth headset, extra battery for phone, and a protective case. Really that's just two things (Bluetooth earbuds and a charging phone case) but they do their job well. The case simultaneously charges your phone and earbuds, while conveniently storing the earbuds in the side.

The earbuds are made for unparalleled sound, as well as passive noise cancellation and an algorithm for producing richer sound and robust bass. They're also sweat proof for the exercise people out there, and there are changeable bud-tips for different sized ears.

If these buds can promise not to fall out of my head (or get stuck inside my ears), I'd drop some cash immediately for this. I have some wireless Bluetooth headphones, and even though they are much more freeing, the cord that connects them can still be annoying from time to time. Having no cord at all, and quality sound, makes this device hard to ignore.

Friday the 13th: The Game

Unleash horror icon Jason onto the camp grounds of crystal lake in this 1 vs 7 game.

By now you've heard the news, so we'll keep this brief. In this asymmetric game, players will take the roles of Jason Voorhies or the terrorized camp counselors. When playing as Jason, you'll roam the grounds hunting your next prey and covering the place in blood. As the counselors, you'll work to find a way out. You can work together, but if push comes to shove, your goal is to survive, and if that means betraying your fellow counselors ... so be it. The game takes place in a semi-open world environment as well.

It must be said that this games greatest feature isn't its license, nor its gameplay, but its authenticity. Bringing in Kane Hodder to do Jason's motion capture, bringing in the original composer of Friday the 13th's soundtrack, and the focus on making a game that feels like the movies. The game looks stellar and promising, and the use of Jason brings something any newly designed monster couldn't. I can't wait to see this game come out and try it; I think I'm actually more excited to play as a camp counselor than as Jason and see if I want to try to lead the group to safety or be the betrayer that leaves them behind.

BLOCKS

The world's first modular smartwatch.

BLOCKS brings modular functionality to the smartphone world, allowing users to make their smartwatches their own. The core has phone notifications, activity tracking, voice control, a 1.5 day battery life, a color touch screen, Bluetooth, WiFi connectivity, and haptic feedback.

The modularity of the device forms from strap, where several varied modules can be swapped out, including things like heart rate, an LED, finger print scanner, GPS, a camera, a stress tester, NFC payments, and more.

The BLOCKS low profile design and utility through modular switching make it an enticing device to back, which at this point has cleared its Kickstarter goal and then some. Some modules are definitely more useful than others, but the choice is what's important. BLOCKS manages to be relevant in an increasingly saturated market, and being future proof easily makes me prefer this over countless others.

The Forgettable Dungeon

An online & offline co-op dungeon crawler, featuring custom characters & dungeons.

The Forgettable Dungeon is an online/offline cooperative dungeon crawler. The goal with designing this game is to combine elements from various genres and games without losing what makes them unique.

The game has 2-4 player offline split screen and a real time combat system. The dungeons are procedural, so items and enemies are randomly placed. Each time you play, you'll have to figure out what each item and scroll does. The game employs permadeath, and your teammates revive you by carrying your corpse to the nearest ladder or with powerful magic. If everyone dies it's over, and you'll never return to the same dungeon again.

Ok, this is more a criticism of the trailer than the game itself, but wow was watching this video just a montage of references. I could practically see the Reddit upvotes in front of me as Zelda, Futurama, Mario, Shovel Knight, and Street Fighter were being referenced in one messy assortment, like some kind of toy chest taken video form. The trailer demonstrates an overwhelming majority of these user created content will be uninspired references to Rick and Morty or something. The combat looks particularly dull, and the level design looks bland. Overall nothing about this game is unsound or broken looking, the experience just doesn't seem in any way attention grabbing or interesting.

Hudway Glass

A universal vehicle accessory turning your smartphone into a head-up display for any car.

The Hudway Glass turns your smartphone into a HUD, so you don't need to take your eyes off the road. According to the video, 75 percent of drivers drive distracted by their phones, and Hudway can help fix this by showing your screen in a more convenient way. Your phone's screen reflects against the panel display, giving a see through view of your phone and the road.

The Hudway Glass is really easy to use, taking only a couple of seconds to set up and go. Using it can keep your eyes on the road and keep you and the other drivers safe on the road. Any app that supports heads up display mode is compatible with Hudway Glass.

Any device that keeps people's eyes on the road is worth checking out, and for such a simple concept, I think this device works brilliantly. The ease of use ensures there's no reason for someone not to use it, and keeping the phone out of reach will help dissuade people from trying to check Twitter or texts while driving. I greatly approve of this product and hope to see more like it.

Disclaimer: The author (Bryan Heraghty) does not back any Kickstarter projects he writes about, nor are any of these inclusions sponsoring TechRaptor. These projects are included solely because the author thinks they are interesting.

What are your thoughts on some of the Kickstarters we saw this week? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below! If you have a game or technology Kickstarter you think deserves attention, you can either comment below, email TechRaptor, or tweet @techraptr or @greyhoodedbryan your suggestion!