Highlights this week: Tonaba Strategic Card Game, Lions of Valletta

No theme, just two excellent Kickstarters. Tonaba: The Book of Secrets is a richly-illustrated, furry strategic card game, with an emphasis on narrative and strategy over luck and war. Then we calm down a bit with “Lions of Valletta,” a thoughtful graphic novel in the indie/talking animals school.

And then a bunch of other stuff.

Tonaba Strategic Card Game

I really don’t know where to begin with this one. I’ll start with the game itself. Tonaba is a collectable card game. Its ties to the granddaddy of CCGs, Magic: The Gathering are strong, but they’re good ties–rules-light cards with good artwork and color text and an icon-driven design. Its departures from MTG are interesting, though: tight, 14-card decks step away from randomness and toward skill and strategy (it’s a high-agency game, in tabletop parlance.) The story elements of the game are unique: rather than pitting commanders and wizards in an epic war, the players are authors, using precious ink to scribe their minions into existence. It’s a refreshing lens.

The art really shines. Robert Cain has assembled a team of a dozen artists to bring the Tonaba world to life, and it’s good stuff! Nothing to disappoint a fan of realistic furry art.

As a crowdfunding wonk, I’m seriously impressed by the project launch. The timetable’s tight, just a month, but that builds buzz. The layout is clean, with a snexy infographic showing off the business plan. And if you visit Cain’s FA account you can help build more buzz: he’s offering Tonaba prizes to people who help with his awareness campaign. Excellent! The goal is high: $80,000. But not impossible. Check it out!

The Lions of Valletta

Amazingly, this sweet graphic novel met its goal in three hours. I’ve seen that with big company products buoyed up by strong fan bases, but on something firmly planted in the indie comic tradition? That’s frankly amazing. So, no gamble here, just reward. Take a look.

Lions is set in Malta, Spain, and even glancing over the project’s Kickstarter page is immersive, a 10-second tour of a distant–geographically and in every other way–land. The characters are your typical talking cats, graceful and sweet little things, one a happy semi-feral dock cat, the other looking for a home.

It’s a story about home, philosophy, art, culture, architecture, and of course cats. And absolutely the sweetest graphic novel I’ve seen this year.

Art/Web

Vilious Art-Pack1 (Ends: 6/25/2013)
Sergals and other alien creatures in their natural habitat.
More of the artist’s work on FurAffinity.

Turn John Rosenberger’s Clay Creatures to Molten Metal !!! (Ends: 6/27/2013)
Surreal critters scuplted in clay, kickstarting for metal casts. Unfortunately, you can’t take them home with you, but worth a look-over.

Dustbunny Pictures Comics (Ends: 7/17/2013)
A collection of five web comics, including Popiki’s Island, gearing up for an expansion and relaunch.

Audio

Masters of the Tooniverse podcast (Ends: 7/1/2013)
“Two highly animated nerds seek funding to aid in their quest to create the universe’s best cartoon podcast.” Help two nerds build their recording studio for a weekly cartoon–vintage and modern–review.

Books/Print

A Bear’s Life: Teenage Stuffed-Animal Angst (Ends: 6/14/2013)
A bear’s photographic journey through a world that doesn’t understand him.
I wasn’t going to include this one, but the photo of the bear out on the streets in a cardboard box house pushed me over the edge.

The Moscow Metro Dogs (Ends: 6/30/2013)
An exploration (book and blog) of the complex society of the semi-feral dogs of Moscow who have–really!–learned to commute and adapt to the city.

Children’s Products

The Audrey Amaka Storybooks (Ends: 6/22/2013)
Sweet, cartoony illustrated book, featuring Audrey (a neckless giraffe) and her frankly awesome shoes.
Re: the promo video: Ventriloquist’s dummy. *shudder.* Also I have a profound, viceral reaction to the word “heartwarming.” But it IS pretty cute stuff.

Laslo the Lark (Ends: 6/29/2013)
A cute little cartoon-book about a bird who has to sing, even though he’s going to be eaten by a fox.
Okay, it’s not great, and more “talking animal” than anthro, but the illustrations in this one are really charismatic, give it a look :)

Foxy & Quilly (Ends: 7/3/2013)
Educational animation project: the animals of the Empyrean Forest seek shelter as their forest home is invaded by big machines. Cute stuff.
Fans of South Park will know why naming your lead character “Foxy the Fox” is a bad idea.

The Great Safari Adventure Show (Ends: 7/13/2013)
A costumed, musical Las Vegas family production, with lots of chances for kids to get up and move. Plot: Child lost in Africa, finds magic talisman that transforms the local animals into exercise-obsessed mentors.
This would have been benefited by MORE exposure to the fandom, working through some anthro issues. Heart’s in the right place though!

Clothing/Costumes

Electro Bear Paw Graphic Bear Line (Ends: 6/15/2013)
Launching a tee shirt collection with bold, abstract non-anthro bear designs.
Cute designs. Bears need more love out there.

Halo Mini Illuminated Pet Collars (Ends: 7/26/2013)
LED-illuminated pet collars with deep color and flash mode.
I know, these are for dogs. But they’d match one of my costumes!

Comics/Graphic Novels

Jade Dragon Book 1 (Ends: 6/19/2013)
American Manga graphic novel: Gathering together the beasts of the Zodiac to fight a world-threatening evil.
You can find the artist’s work at Deviantart. Look for “Friendship is Sisterhood” in particular.

The Lions of Valletta (Ends: 6/28/2013)
A graphic novel of cats, philosphy, and the meaning of life, with loving background detail and very charismatic cats.
Amazingly, this one reached its goal in three hours!

A Tiger’s Last Song (Episode 1) (Ends: 7/10/2013)
A graphic novel of the final days of the thylacine/Tasmanian wolf, in the talking animal-survival story genre.

Antarctic Press: Keeping it Cold in the Antarctic (Ends: 7/15/2013)
An ask from Antarctic Press to help restore their financial balance after some mass-distribution experiments and other financial challenges.
Before there was the Internet fandom there was Antarctic Press, makers of Albedo Anthropormorphics, Furrlough, Shanda the Panda…See also Radio Comix, who took on the furry mantle.

Film/Animation/Theater

Urge for Going (Ends: 6/14/2013)
Mixed media, a girl chases her idol and her dream. Puppets, animation, foxes.
Maybe calling this “furry” is a stretch, but check the leading video, it’s got a great vibe, and foxes in suits.

Trek to Trot: A Fandom Tale (Ends: 6/15/2013)
A documentary about the greater world of fandoms, including Trek, Anime, Furry, Brony, keeping the lens tightly on the fans themselves.
It feels a bit like this is covering well-travelled territory, though looking at the greater tapestry of fans in general is novel…

The Pokémusical (Ends: 6/17/2013)
Pokémon, the unauthorized satirical musical. I don’t think there’s anything more to say, really.
So, the “End Pokemon Cruelty” public service announcement vid is well worth the price of admission. Or you can check out the big

Valeyard “Be Prepared” song and Animatic (Ends: 6/20/2013)
Seeking funding for a Brony song parody and animation of “Be Prepared.” Great publicity shot, worth checking the project just for that…

Rabbithole “Summer Days” music video (Ends: 6/30/2013)
Help this band from Manchester add visuals to their journey down the rabbit hole in their video, “Summerdays,” featuring human butterflies and a really BIG rabbit.

Animals of the Urban Jungle – a Nature Documentary Series (Ends: 7/7/2013)
Animals in the cities, a six-episode web series in HD of the life and struggles of urban wildlife and their interactions with humanity. Foxes!
Plusses: It’s British, so MORE foxes. Negatives: The author did his PhD work on spiders.

SOLO Cannibal World (Ends: 7/13/2013)
One rat’s war in a post-apocalyptic word. This isn’t Redwall. Check the artist’s blog (it’s in Spanish) for more art and world.
This must be the buffest rodent ever. Now I have to learn Spanish.

Fursona Non Grata (Ends: 7/30/2013)
A play written for the fandom by the creator of American Dragon: Jake Long. What happens when a young woman brings her fiancée home to meet her all-furry family?
“This will be awesome if you can make it to California” seems to be a running joke in the fandom.

Tikis & Mikis Show ()
A quirky, animated tiger faces off with a quirky, animated alien with a disintegration ray. Fun stuff!
Check the animated shorts on Youtube

Tabletop Games

Terreria Tactics (Ends: 6/24/2013)
A tactical, armies-of-fantasy vs. armies-of-SciFi card game, loaded with anthro dragons and eagles, simulating classic console RPG battles in a tabletop game.
Great illustrations for a card game! Supervising artist is Megillakitty, check her on Furaffinity.

Tonaba: The Book of Secrets Strategic Card Game (Ends: 7/7/2013)
A richly-illustrated card game focused on small decks, agency over luck, and a theme of narrative, authors, and writing.
This is a well-planned Kickstarter, with a hefty goal. Good luck!

Tech Stuff

Tanuki tails for USB devices (Ends: 7/3/2013)
With this flash drive in the shape of a faux-fur raccoon-dog tail, any USB compatible device instantly becomes a tanuki.
Where is the line between “effing BRILLIANT” and “incredibly stupid?” Is there any line at all?

Video Games

Lilly Moon (Ends: 6/15/2013)
RPG/visual novel hybrid featuring a cast of anime-styled werewolf girls and their quest to overthrow Beautiful Red Moon Queen.
Very old-school feel to this game, the graphics of the late 80s console meets the modern supernatural romance.

Beast’s Fury (Ends: 6/18/2013)
An anthro-vs-anthro 2D fighting game, with great-looking characters and bosses!
Someone give me $7500 so the world can finally play a Mexican hairless blogger in a 2D fighter.

Pawtergeist (Ends: 7/1/2013)
Protect your house from a ghostly cat in this 360° gyroscopic shooter.

Goatlings: Virtual Goat Petsite (Ends: 7/7/2013)
It’s sort of “My Little Pony” meets “Neopets,” but with cute candy-sparkle goats and their human (or anthro) friends.
It’s sort of the “sparkledog” concept, but with goats. Diabetics probably shouldn’t play this game.

Fleish & Cherry in Crazy Hotel (Ends: 7/11/2013)
An isomorphic period adventure game and puzzler set in a 1930s wacky black and white cartoon. Lots of anthro characters and dancing furniture!
It’s a neat role-reversal to have the damsel save her boyfriend, but unfortunately for fox-lovers, you have to play the human :( Maybe there’ll be a fan-mod someday.

Stray Cats (Ends: 7/17/2013)
Alley cats fight for food and territory in this quirky game for Android/IOS.
Not madly in love with the art or business model. Wasn’t sure if I wanted to include it, but the sketch art won me over.

Adult

Pixel Vixens on DVD: My Little Pony Cosplay Parody (Ends: 7/2/2013)
Fandom-inspired parody porn by the Pixel Vixens, who are ready to commit Rule 34 for the masses.

Neko Adventures: Real Cat Girl Porn (Ends: 7/29/2013)
DVD/web release of cat girls, free from their imprisonment on DeviantArt and sexing it up IRL. Not just for manga anymore.

Chimera Labs: Realistic firmness sextoys, lubricants (Offbeatr voting period)
Crowdfunding for a startup business with a variety of product, with a goal of artistic, detailed, and reasonably-priced, toys.
I can think of no better description than “lovingly sculpted.” Check the poster’s art and sculpts on FurAffinity. Not, you might imagine, safe for work.

MANDROID – The Pervy Adult Tamagotchi of Online Hookups (Offbeatr voting period)
Smartphone app for hookups with some personal safety features and a virtual pet/avatar, theoretically for all genders and orientations but mostly targeting gay men. Not so furry maybe, but aimed at a community reflecting “every race, ethnicity, body type, and species.”
Furstarter does not condone this applet. But we would seriously consider condoning that wolf.

Pocket Pussies: The Legend of Seven Purity Seals (Offbeatr voting period)
Zelda/Pokemon hybrid exploration/battling seizure monsters game, loaded with cheesecake pokemon, cat girls, and assorted anime-esque hotness.

…Meh.

Love Me Cat: Puppet Talk Show (Ends: 6/20/2013): A bit “Triumph the Insult Dog,” a bit “Space Ghost Coast to Coast,” a bit of voodoo, but ultimately, kind of unappealing.
Super Dog-Man vs. Retirement (Ends: 6/22/2013): Comedy pilot about an aging super hero–Super Dog Man–who tries to go back to work in the real world. I’ll be honest, I’m only including this because of the costume.
Chronicles of Jason Vann: The Case of the Melted Fox (Ends: 6/27/2013): The last kickstarter for this Gshep police drama failed–well, it was pulled 10 days before close–it’s reposted at half the goal. *sigh*
JR & Ollie Adventure fun game (Ends: 6/30/2013): A story-driven puzzle/adventure game in a world of anthro characters. Click, look at the cute angry foxes, move on.
Ginger Doctor (Ends: 7/17/2013): Starving artists seeking support for their Dr Whooves/Pony blog/comic. I’m not really sure what’s going on here, maybe the cliff’s notes would help.

…Causes

Blue Wolf Sanctuary and Village (Ends: 7/6/2013): A sustainable community of simple houses with bed and breakfast, workshop space, etc, and a sanctuary for both wolves and humans.
Preservation of Dingo Records (Ends: 7/7/2013): Campaign to preserve archives of Berenice Walters, “The Dingo Lady,” a body of over 30 years of dingo research and preservation.
The Desert Kit Fox Project (Ends: 7/11/2013): Non-invasive ways to study the desert kit fox in California
Save the African Wild Dog (Ends: 7/11/2013): Working to preserve the Wild Dog–veterninary costs, snare removal, tracking collars, research materials

…Just For Fun

Gatekeeper – A Meeting of Giants (Ends: 6/21/2013): Star Wars ACTUALLY meets Star Trek in this 120-minute film featuring original actors.
The Untold History of Japanese Video games (Ends: 6/30/2013): An ambitious book unpacking some early video game history, with extensive interviews from Japanese developers.
Sexy Bowser costume (Ends: 7/4/2013): Okay, so, it’s mostly an alarming scaled codpiece over a skimpy scalemail bikini. And I’d give it a bigger callout if it was funnier, and possibly favorite it if there were pictures. But…sexy Bowser cosplay. Click, laugh, move on.
Monster Slayer (Ends: 7/7/2013): The god Coyote unleashes monsters and chaos, and two Navajo teens have to fight him. A short film. Possibly with a stop-motino minotaur.
Blaster Battle Royale: Attack of the Foam (Ends: 7/18/2013): A Guinness record attempt for largest foam-dart-blaster battle EVER. With Star Wars burlesque, sci-fi costumes, and other awesomeness. Geek history in the making.

…Coming Soon?

Come Find Me (Posted 5/19/13): Fox Amoore’s next album, recorded in the “Abbey Road” studio.
Digger: The Omnibus (Posted 5/26/13): An indie B&W graphic novel–one wombat’s journey through a dark subterannean fantasy world, in which there are also lizards and hyenas. Beautiful work!
The Incredible Hare (Posted 5/26/13): Writer JoeStrike is getting ready to launch his illustrated novel on Kickstarter. One for the rabbit lovers.
Leptailurus’s Tarot (Posted 5/26/13): Leptailurus is preparing to open a KS for a lucious Furry tarot deck. My credit card is waiting.