A small Greek studio has quietly put together one of the summer's bigger crowdfunding results. Alexandria, a fully asymmetric competitive Euro set during the city's golden age of the Great Library and the Lighthouse, has raised more than €314,000 from over 1,270 backers on Gamefound against a goal of €20,000. The campaign closes at 7pm on Wednesday 29 July.
Looking for board gamers near you? Browse local communities and find your next game night.
Find events near youThe speed was the striking part: it opened on 14 July and hit its funding goal in nine minutes.
Alexandria comes from Meeple Pug, an indie outfit based in Thessaloniki. Their pitch is a competitive game built on what they call "constructive, positive interaction", which is a polite way of saying nobody is going to burn your library down. Every player takes a different asymmetric role, and games run about 90 minutes for one to four players. Backers have also unlocked a co-operative version as a stretch goal, so the box will support groups who would rather work together than compete for scrolls.
Got a regular group? Create a private community, poll for the best date, vote on games, and let your friends RSVP in one place.
Set up your group for freeAsymmetry is a big promise for a mid-weight Euro. Done well, it means your second play feels like a different game because you are holding a different set of tools. Done badly, it means one role quietly wins more often than the rest. The reception so far suggests backers think Meeple Pug have landed it, though the proof arrives when copies reach tables.
The one thing the campaign page keeps close to its chest is the moment-to-moment engine. You know the roles differ and that interaction is meant to be constructive rather than cutthroat; you do not get a tidy one-line summary of what a turn looks like. If you like knowing exactly what you are getting before money changes hands, that is the sticking point. If a co-operative mode and a fully asymmetric take on the Great Library sound worth two days of deliberation, the clock is already running.
Sources: Gamefound | Board Game Quest
