In perhaps one of the most fascinating board game crowdfunders I've ever seen, The Altered: Anomaly Containment Archives has you and up to three other players participate in a narrative-driven game of bureaucratic horror where you have to assess the essential humanity of a group of poor unfortunates. It's creeping, otherworldly horror, reminiscent of foreboding internet sensation the SCP Foundation, critically acclaimed supernatural thriller video game Control, and recent horror blockbuster The Backrooms.
You'll do this by interacting with over 1,000 pages of physical documentation as part of four interconnected cases (seven if you back the Kickstarter campaign at a higher tier). There are also over 40 props, which the developer calls "tactile artefacts," for you to assess as you make your judgements. Though narrative-driven, The Altered doesn't require a GM and isn't, strictly speaking, a TTRPG. Instead, the intrigue and facts of each case are presented to you as you play through the game.
The Kickstarter campaign has already raised an impressive £260,000 ($325,000) and still has 40 days to go.
Set in the techno-dystopian city of New Harbor, the Covenant Life Assurance Company requires you to act as a life insurance assessor for the Biological Asset Risk division. You'll be investigating anomalous cases amongst underwritten clients. Each sigantor you investigate is a human (or former human) who got a little bit too close to an anomaly. Your job is to assess the extent to which they're still human. It looks to be gruelling, high-stakes stuff, and exactly what you'd expect from the best board games of the genre.
One downside of the campaign, however, is the sheer number of stretch goals and additional goodies that you can get your hands on. The exact list is too complex to lay out in detail here, but expect additional maps, commemorative medals, fancy seals, an art book, and stretch goals galore. However, if you can wade through the eldritch complexity of the campaign itself, you'll be rewarded with a look at a fascinating project.
You won't find any eldritch anomalies on the Wargamer Discord - honest!