Crowdfunding Spotlight - Horizons

Daily Magic Games is back on Kickstarter with their newest game Horizons. Horizons, designed by Levi Mote, is a space themed 4x-Euro game mashup that is already, in it's prototype form, one of the best games that I've played this year. The Kickstarter campaign for Horizons runs until September 22nd, with an estimated delivery date of July 2018, although if you can't wait until then to get your hands on the game, there are quite a few options available to you.

• There are only 4 pledge levels in the Horizons campaign, with one being exclusively for retailers:
• $10 gets you premium Print and Play files of the game
• $39 nets you a copy of the game, any and all stretch goals, and gives you the option of adding on additional copies for $45 each
• $150 is the Retailer tier, and includes 6 copies of the game for retailers in the USA
• $199 nets you a copy of the final game, all stretch goals, let's you add on copies for $45, and you will receive one of the preview prototypes (possibly even the copy that I have in my possession now) shipped to you by October 31st

The campaign was seeking $20,000, and at the time of this writing, has already surpassed its funding goal. There are currently two Stretch Goals revealed for backers to chase once the funding goal has been reached. The first, at $24k is a new 0 Class Ultraviolet Star that will have different game properties than the basic stars in the game, and at $34k a new set of Ally cards called the Viliox will be added, which will give players the option of adding "Exterminate" gameplay to the game.

The rulebook is available on the Kickstarter page, and if you want to jump straight into the game and have a copy of Tabletop Simulator, you don't even have to wait to print out the Print and Play files, as Daily Magic Games has also posted a version of the game that can be played now. Horizons is an excellent game, so I strongly encourage anyone and everyone to give it a shot. The game is easy to learn, it plays quickly, and it is full of meaningful choices. Everyone that I've played the prototype version with has really enjoyed it, and so it's incredibly easy to recommend Horizons to just about anyone.

From our preview:

Every turn in Horizons, from the very first to the very last is filled with viable, satisfying options. Tension mounts as the game unfolds, but it’s a crunchy, interesting tension that never slips into frustration even when your opponents snag an Ally that you had your eye on or take an action to block your progress. In this game there are always so many different things you can do on any one turn, and everything that you do is good for you in one way or another. Horizons makes you feel like you are always moving forward, always progressing, and always gaining something, so every turn is filled with small satisfactions that add up to an excellent overall experience.

Daily Magic Games has a ton of experience crowdfunding their games, and a great track record with their previous Kickstarter campaigns, so all signs point to a smoothly run campaign and fulfillment for Horizons. If you are a backer of one of Daily Magic Games' other Kickstarter projects that are still in the works, there is also a section on the progress of each of those games, just in case you haven't actively been following along, but that information also gives some insight into how Daily Magic Games communicates with their backers and the community surrounding their games. The Horizons project is EU Canada and Australia Friendly. Rewards from those regions will be shipped from inside their borders means that backers in those regions won't have to pay customs fees.

What do you think about Horizons? Do you like sci-fi themed 4x games that focus more on player choice than inter-player conflict? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.