Ranking The 10 CMON Campaigns We're Still Waiting On

0:01 Hey, I'm Alex Radcliffe from Board Game Co, and last week on the channel, I did a video of the 10 upcoming crowdfunding campaigns I'm most excited for. And then I had the idea of doing a video that's a little different, a little less optimistic, although I will say I still hope these games show up. But let's go ahead and talk about 10 crowdfunding campaigns that I am excited for some. That's probably the wrong title. Th- Th- This is basically uh CMON. We're having a conversation around CMON, cool mini or not, and the 10 outstanding CMON campaigns. And I'll be going through and ranking the order of how excited I am for these from least excited or even honestly not at all excited all the way to dear lord, I hope this game arrives. I really do want it to show up. But first, a little bit of background for those who uh don't know what's going on. CMON, cool mini or not, uh one of the epic crowdfunding creators in the space.

0:49 Like I I I have to look at the numbers, but they're like in the top two or three as far as most funded across the time. Like they have over 100 million uh more than that. They have like 120 million in funded campaigns over who knows how many years, uh putting out tons and tons of campaigns before uh they finally uh started to run into problems. Uh last year was the start of what is hopefully not quite a We don't know where this is going to go. We don't know where it's going to go. They have a bunch of outstanding campaigns that they had not delivered when things started to um rear its ugly head, uh but they have since delivered a bunch of their outstanding pre-orders, and I don't know if campaigns I have to double-check. There have been a bunch of things that have slowly shown up. Uh Dune started showing up. Uh The Witching Hour, Marvel United Witching Hour. Uh I believe of their outstanding uh The Dark Providence showed up. So a bunch of their campaigns have still been showing up even after all the these money issues have happened. But there are still 10 outstanding crowdfunding campaigns, which is not necessarily the end of the world. They've had more than that in the pipeline before. But with them not running more things, it's now a weird situation where there's money problems in some capacity, and there's 10 outstanding campaigns. And without cash flow for more campaigns, what's the next step? And that's uncertain. They put out updates still. They still talk about how they plan on fulfilling everything. They have raised money. They had a funding raise, I think $2 million had a funding raise, whatever it is. There's still hope out there, but it's uncertain which of these campaigns will show up and in what order. I do believe Zombicide might be next on the docket. I think I'd have to double-check their exact list of what they said, but there are a bunch of campaigns still coming from CMON. This

2:20 is a lot of background. Very large company creator kind of didn't go belly up, but all their problems came to a head last year, and now we have 10 campaigns left to go. That brings us back to this, which they probably should update their website as well. They're advertising a lot of campaigns that are not currently active, but I don't know exactly who's on payroll. They still have people on payroll, but I don't know exactly who. So, with that said, we're going to go ahead and talk about the 10 outstanding campaigns and the ones I want in order from least to most. But first, a shout-out to our channel sponsor, Allplay. If you missed it, Allplay is a channel sponsor. They sell board game tables and board game bags and board game play mats and board games from them and their partners, but right now, the thing I want to talk about is they have a new thing going on for the next 30 days or so, depending on when you watch this video, of course, where they're starting these new like custom table drops. So, they're basically saying, "Hey, we're making we're making 20 of this particular table." In this case, it's the Helga, and they're available for the next 30 days. It's something different. It's not your standard Allplay table. It's a little different, a little unique. If you're interested in this, here's what you can go ahead and get. Here's the options. Go ahead and tweak the play mats, the the the things you want for it, adjust the cup holders, all that stuff. You can go and check this out. I'll link to it down below, but effectively, Allplay is doing custom tables as a new experiment. Uh but they're not custom custom. They're boutique, small batch selection tables.

3:34 Uh this particular one is the Helga. With that, let's go ahead and dive into these CMON campaigns, starting with number 10, A Song of Ice and Fire Tactics, a tabletop miniatures game. I don't care for this. I nothing against it. I've played this. This is not a bad game at all. I I thought it was totally fine. It's a good skirmish game. The problem is I just don't care about it enough to get heavily invested in building my armies and learning the whole system and gathering all the various expansions. I like the world of a Game of Thrones of A Song of Ice and Fire. I like the world of it. And the game itself is fine, but fine does not make me obsessed. And a a lot of people like this more. I thought it was great miniatures, good rule sets. If you like this kind of skirmish experience, it might be more for you. For me, this was a very cool game with a very giant dragon miniature. This is a very cool giant dragon miniature. It gives me vibes of the original Joan of Arc dragon. If you ever had that, that was one of the coolest miniatures. Cool mini has gone through some weird times and weird places as far as the massive behemoths of plastic that that sometimes show up your way. But the dragon's cool. The dragon's cool. That's the part I probably want most out of all of this. But outside of that, I just don't care enough about A Song of Ice and Fire Tactics. Nothing wrong with it.

4:37 I'm just not the target audience. Coming at number nine, we have Super Fantasy Brawl Reborn. This one is a little bit a step up. I'm still not super interested in it. Don't get me wrong, Super Fantasy Brawl is a game system that I loved once upon a time, but over enough plays I found that it didn't have uh legs. It didn't have longevity. It was great for diving into a few rounds here and there. This particular campaign added Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, like you know, a new tie-in if you want the thematic aspect of that. I never cared for the world of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, so that's not particularly a draw for me. The overall game is a solid game. I have I also played this one. I played Super Fantasy Brawl Reborn. I played the original Super Fantasy Brawl. Great miniatures, great sculpting, all those things are solid, but ultimately for me, it's a game system I've played out. So, even though I enjoyed it significantly more than A Song of Ice and Fire Tactics, I feel like I've seen what I need to see out of this. And so, more content for it, just not super excited about it. Then we have The Adventurers.

5:26 The Adventurers from CMON. This one it only ranks a little higher than Super Fantasy Brawl. I almost had this lower, but I realized I've only played one of the three boards, and I'd like to play all of them. See, The Adventurers was an old school game that CMON brought back. They reprinted it, and they did two of the original two plus a third version. I've actually played the third version, A Tomb of the Vampire Queen, but I have not played the original two. And I'm interested. I I want to see what the game does as far as the extra elements. The basic premise is you're gathering treasure, you're trying to escape various bad things, you know, trying to hurt you. Uh Indiana Jones giant ball of doom roll hurtling towards you in one of the maps. Uh but again, there were three there were two different original games, they brought back three total. I played one of them. It was fine. It was cool. I do want to play more of them, but I'm just not I'm not super obsessed with Based on the one I played, this is a fine game with decent mechanics and a sense of try to get out of jail free, get out of jail free, get out before things fall apart around But I think this kind of game system has been done by Clank at this point better. I think Clank gives you thematically the system.

6:21 This probably feels a bit more thematic or immersive in the way they handle it. But ultimately, if I'm a game mechanic standpoint, I just think Clank does this better than the Adventures do does. So, not bad, but again, not super obsessed or excited about it. It's a good game. Then we have Masters of the Universe the Board Game: Clash for Eternia. This one shows up at number six over here or number seven, whatever it is, only because there was a small new content for the game. There are a few new characters. I want the new characters. That's basically it. I have everything else for Masters of the Universe. So, this is a great game. The only reason it's this low on the list is this is functionally mostly a reprint of the game, so that people internationally could go ahead and get the game. And the new content is for those who, you know, if you wanted the new content, the few new characters, which I do want. I want uh Sky Le Clone and Jitsu by all means, but I don't need it. I have plenty of Masters of the Universe content as is. I still have everything for this game.

7:08 This one does fall into that range where I have so many big box games that don't don't always get tabled that honestly, I even look at this and I just think, as much as I love the system, I don't play it a ton. Should I hold onto this or should I just get more Zombicide and Cthulhu: Death May Die to the table? Those are uncertain questions, but the very least, this is still on the list because it's more content for a game I love, just a minor amount of more content. Coming in number six over here, we have Massive Darkness: Dungeons of Shadowreach. At this point onwards, we now mark a shift between the less interested to the more interested. They're still tiers, make no mistake. They're still levels as far as how much I want any of these next six campaigns, but the first four over here, including Massive Darkness Universe, if they never showed up, I'd be very sad for all the other people affected, but for me personally, it wouldn't make a big deal. Massive Massive Massive Darkness Dungeons of Shadow Reach is the first one from these campaigns that I would be really sad if it didn't show up, because I love Massive Darkness. I think it's an excellent system. I have everything from the original content. I have everything from the new content. It's an accessible dungeon crawler that is a lot of fun.

8:08 And from playing the prototype, I didn't have access to all the new characters and classes, but I enjoyed the ones that they did have. This gave you This gave me more Massive Darkness content that was great to play. I think it's an excellent system. The only reason this comes in at number six is I have so much Massive Darkness content that if this doesn't show up, it's not the end of the world. Massive Darkness is a game I play twice a year, three times a year. I don't need that much more content for it. Do I want it? Yes. Unfortunately, I don't always have self-control when there are systems that I I enjoy and love, and I love the miniatures. I love the accessibility. It's just a good all-around dungeon crawl system that is very easy to table and very satisfying and rewarding. I do find I pull out Cthulhu: Death May Die and Zombicide more often. Par- Par- Partially because I just know the system is better. I think probably That's probably mainly because I know the system is better.

8:53 Massive Darkness I always have to like slightly refresh myself in how elements work, because I just haven't played it as much, but it is very satisfying and very fun. And yes, I do want more content for it. I just have so much that it wouldn't be the end of the world if it did not show up. Coming in at five, we have Mordred. To be clear, by the way, I definitely think that Massive Darkness is something that's more compelling overall. Uh but Mordred over here, uh this is one that that I I I want. I was interested in this game. The The system looked cool. It might be a total bust. I do not know. At the end of the day, any game system I I haven't played, and I will say from the list, actually, from the list of games we're going over today, Mordred is the only one that I have not played from all of the games, both the before uh this one as well as the after. Mordred is the only one I have not tabled. But Mordred looked cool. Area control, some interesting elements, the board folding into itself, all those things looked intriguing, but I don't have actual any knowledge around is this a good game system or was it just a crowdfunding campaign that honestly didn't do particularly well by Cmon Sanders, that I don't know. Uh but it again looked interesting, the art style, the miniatures, uh the rule, the the area control genre, all of those things I definitely want more dread. I don't know exactly when this one is showing up. At one point it seemed like this was coming sooner rather than later, but then I think the most recent update What's the most recent update on more dread? Most recent update is Cmon overall project status um October 1st, 2025. So I didn't get the most recent batch of updates, unfortunately. Yeah, Wishing Well and Dark Province, those have shipped over there. So yeah, Dune Dune Desert War shipped. So it just seems to be not a um I don't know. I don't know what happened with this one. It seems to be a little bit ghosted at the moment. Um like many

10:24 of these. Some of these project updates get updates, some of them less so. I'm interested in this one. Again, if it doesn't show up, I will not lose a ton of sleep over it. But I I I do want more dread. Coming in at number five over there, that was five. Coming in at number four, at four we have DC Superheroes United. Now make no mistake, I have more Marvel United content than any human being needs in their collection ever. I have everything for Marvel United. I have all the all the expansions, I have all the I think I have all the promos or most of the promos. I have the retail packs that weren't even available on crowdfunding. I love Marvel United. It's a game system that is very accessible, very fun. My kids recently started getting into it a lot more, so it's been even more fun table because they are enjoying it and I like playing this. I play this solo, I play this with adults, I play this with my kids. I have played this in so many different ways and it's such a fun system. And I like DC Superheroes United. I enjoy the the putting it all together, the different systems. I mean, you can mix and match and I probably will. Oh, that's going to be hard because I probably wouldn't mix and match. See, when I say I probably will, what I mean is my kids will probably want to do it and I as a somewhat decent father who doesn't have the heart to tell your kids you can't mix Marvel and DC, they are different systems and also it's going to make my own OCD about collecting and and and storing it a nightmare, I will still let them.

11:38 Because what am I supposed to say? They're toys. First and foremost, they are toys. Above all else, they are fun toys. But I do want this. I absolutely want all the DC United. I really hope it shows up. I hope the licensing makes this a higher priority than something I don't know. I just I want this to show up. I like the system even though I don't need more of it, which is a common trend from what I'm saying so far, you know. I don't need more Masters of the Universe. I don't need more Masters of Darkness. I don't need another Area Control game in the sense of War of the Dread. And I don't need more Marvel United of any kind. All that said, I I do very much hope that this one does show up at some point because I mean, first of all, like look at that. Look at the giant star. This is such a fun campaign. This It's Listen, I'm happy that Asmodee has taken over from what CMON was doing. I'm happy that they are continuing in whatever capacity. They recently just had the Zombicide campaign and that one did not just did well, but had like an incredibly passionate end game with all the various people trying to hold on for like five and a half days to be able to get that $4 million stretch goal. I'm happy that the type of campaign that CMON has done still exists. So few companies do those types of campaigns and CMON, despite the fact that they had issues recently, they were able to maintain that model for a very long time and become one of the most successful crowdfunding companies out there. So I'm I'm happy that another company is stepping in and continuing it. The world can use a little excitement as long as it doesn't come with, you know, 10 undelivered projects at the end of it.

12:54 But either way, DC United, not just a fun campaign, a whole lot of content and I'm very excited for it if it ever shows up. Coming in number three, more DC. This time we have DC's. DC's over here are from CMON. This giving you Let's go to the campaign part of things. This bringing you the Zombicide. It's more Zombicide, but it's more Marvel Zombies again with DC's. I have the core box that's available for the retail box. I have that. If you missed that, you can go check that out on Amazon or whatever for like 40 bucks or something. It's a pretty good price and honestly, I've I've I've played that like three or four times already. But I had a lot of fun playing through this prototype. I thought they really made a They did an excellent job of making it an incredibly difficult experience, and I like difficult Zombicides. Uh for me going through this, I can't remember which missions we played. I think we played all three. I want to say there were three missions to play through, but we had our butts handed to us on this one. It was well done. It was I like the DC characters. I like the complexity of the system. I like how challenging it is to try to make your way through it. I like Zombicide. I like Marvel Zombies. I like Deceased. I like it all, and I want it all. And I I I I don't know. I kind of wrestled with which one do I want more? Do I want Deceased more, or do I want DC Superhero United more? Like more United system. And I decided that DC's is the one I want more. I personally overall enjoy the Zombicide system more.

14:06 As much as Marvel United is very accessible and fun to play, or the United system is accessible and fun to play, I just think that Zombicide is a more rewarding experience overall. I I I really hope that all the content for this shows up because it was such a good implementation. It was a good implementation. That's all. It was a good implementation. I And again, the campaigns were exciting. I'm like looking over all these stretch goals that I've covered in the past, and like I want it. I want all the things. Man, these are good times. These are good times. Look at all this stuff. Uh good things. Good things. Lex Luthor over here. I've done so much content around these games, both covering the actual games, covering the crowdfunding. These These were fun campaigns to go through. I really hope they show up. Coming in at number two, we have the Dead Keep. The Dead Keep over here from CMON. Oh, all from CMON here. The Dead Keep is basically a a kind of cross between Massive Darkness and Zombicide and with a dash of Cthulhu Death May Die thrown in. It was very much built on the Zombicide system. Like it's not a Zombicide game officially, but it's built on the Zombicide system. Uh very reminiscent as far as the overall action structure and the enemies and all that uh heading your way, but it's just built a little bit different in a way that I thought they did a really good job with it. I had a lot of fun playing through this one. Uh my biggest critique and complaint is that I did feel the end game of it. I felt that when you're facing off against the final boss, they were trying to do a Cthulhu: Death May Die system as far as the final enemies being harder to defeat. And I felt that they could have they should have leaned more into Cthulhu: Death May Die because as it was, it felt like a step too far.

15:36 It It felt like it wasn't polished enough. I felt Cthulhu: Death May Die did a great job and I think that combining overall Zombicide with a Death May Die end game aspect, that could be very fun. But it's not what they did. And again, I don't know where development will take us on this one. This is not a giant tons of expansions, tons of content for it. They kept this very limited. It's more of a pre-order. They get core box, a few expansions, and that's it. But it was really well done. I I hope people have the opportunity to try this one. I think they will enjoy it a lot. For me, this has the potential to be a five out of five. It was not a five out of five when I played the prototype. I give it a 4.5 out of five. And again, that's because some elements around the boss did feel like they could have been polished more. And prototypes, so we'll see where things go. But of course, I'm less optimistic about where things go given the state of how the company has gone. But the Dead Keep is one that I I would want this one more than DC Super Heroes United, more than Deceased because this one felt more distinctive.

16:26 Make no mistake, I still between between Death May Die and between Zombicide and between Massive Darkness, I am covered on this kind of game. But it did feel like they did a good job with what they were trying to do. And I I very much hope that the people who backed it have an opportunity to get their hands on it and play it and enjoy it. But that brings me to my number one, the one I am most excited about, the one I want the most, which is God of War: The Board Game. I had so much fun with this one. And this is one I'm going to go on a tangent there. We're going to go on a bit of a tangent because this is a game that when I covered this one, I got accused of being a shill big time. It's like, "Oh, you work for Game Found. You've done three videos on this campaign." Which I do work for Game Found and I did do like three videos on the campaign. But like the problem is look for consistency. This is like my biggest pet peeve is look for consistency because things like for example, Song of Ice and Fire, I did a sponsored video. I think I did two sponsored videos on this game. And then nothing else. Those are sponsored paid videos from CMON covering the game because they they they tell me, "Hey, please cover the game." Great, no problem, would love to. Didn't do a single video past that, but then we have things like God of War and over here and I loved it. This one I absolutely I covered this one. I think I put a three, maybe four videos covering it. Not a single one was paid for because I was into the game. Like if it's just about if it's just about CMON, then where's the consistency see it in A Song of Ice and Fire? If it's just about Gamefound, why wouldn't I do it for A Song of Ice and Fire? This is where like I just liked the game. God of War was such a good implementation. It did feel a little reminiscent of Death May Die. So, it did kind of have that facing off against a bunch of small enemies, but trying to complete your quest, facing off a big bad who is challenging to beat. Overall, it felt a little reminiscent, similar to the way that the

17:56 Death Keep's end game aspect, the final boss felt like they were trying to lean into that. God of War felt if anything a little bit more than that. But, it was a interesting unique two-player system. And they have a three or four-player mode. I only ever played it solo and two-player. And when you're doing it solo, you're controlling the the other character as well. But, it has this interesting tie-in where you want both your characters dealing damage to be able to level up. If you both contributed to the death of another character, of another enemy, then you're able to move up on this track and power up your characters. And I really like that system. I felt that it was a really fun system that I really enjoyed playing through. It felt unique and distinctive amongst other games within this line. That teamwork element really came through even when you were playing it solo. It really forced you to approach things differently and think about it differently. Now, the actual bosses, I still think Death May Die does it better. So, it's one of those aspects where sometimes you try to be different and being different is not always better because sometimes the thing that's done best is the best way to do it. But, either way, the as an overall package, I thought God of War was familiar and yet also distinct from other systems within the CMON universe and I really liked it.

18:56 And I want to see this one delivered so much because it was so good. It was so much fun. I'm not saying it's the best game ever. I'm not saying that. But, I am saying that it was a different way to approach things that was really really fun to get into. And I would love to uh I'd love to get my hands on a copy. Even a base game would be a good start. Uh but of course I want all the goodness because why wouldn't I want all the goodness and all the things I I don't know if I care for the three to four player expansion. I'm not against it, but I really like the the the I I have to look into more how it would how what the rules are for it, but just the way that the two player mode worked was so smooth and I don't see that being replicatable in a three to four player mode. So, I'm interested in what other things they do, but it primarily primarily it's just the core system and of course the world of God of War God of War is an excellent universe and world to dive into as well. So, that has me interested too.

19:42 That's basically where we are. These are the 10 outstanding campaigns I think. I also realized as I was going through this as a side note, I think I missed the Assassin's Creed one. I don't know the stats on that, so there might be an 11th. Uh but I don't know where that one was or if it was I don't remember where I don't know much about Assassin's Creed. They had a role playing game for that. Be either way, just a quick recap. Song of Ice and Fire not for me. Uh Super Fantasy Brawl I've already played it out. The Adventurers I want to try the other two maps, but that's about it. Masters of the Universe two new characters not a big deal. Massive Darkness I do want all the Massive Darkness stuff, but I have plenty of it. I'll be fine. Mordred uh excited and interested, but also I might I might actually get it and then be like eh it's not that great. There are better area control games. DC Superheroes United I want it all, but also I have so much. Deceased I want it all, but also I have so much. Zombicide not Deceased. The Dark Knight Keep very interested in this one and also between the other systems out there I I I am probably covered, but I still want it. And then God of War the one I want the most not even remotely a question. From all of these campaigns I want this one more so than every other one. That has been a recap a walk down memory lane for all the various uh CMON campaigns that are currently outstanding. I hope that a year from now when I'm when I'm doing a video like this that's like hey here's the final three and my thoughts on those. It'll be a very short video, but I'd be very happy to make a video like that because I would love to see not just for myself cuz I just talked through my own preferences, but there are people out there who backed Deceased and it's their only Zombicide game. There are people who got heavily into A Song of Ice and Fire and really were looking forward to the sheer amount of content for this cool war game in a universe they love.

21:09 Everyone, there's like thousands of backers out there, thousands and thousands of people who are looking to get their games delivered and I hope for all of their sakes that they that they do get delivered. In any case, until next time, I'm Alex from BoardGameCo. I hope you enjoyed or weren't too depressed by this particular video and as always, I hope you have a good one.

21:48 My girlfriend told me, "You act like a detective too much. I want to split up." I was like, "Good idea. We can cover more ground that way."