Satchel Quest, a board game where you play adorable animal dungeoneers, began crowdfunding on Kickstarter on August 19. Its bag-building mechanics create a unique puzzle, as your randomly-drawn tokens trigger a range of effects as you traverse a dungeon floor by floor. Publisher Weird City Games aimed to raise $20,000 for production, but the crowdfunder has already raised over $76,000.
We expect that, in part, this success is helped by the new board game's gorgeous art. The dungeons in Satchel Quest are explored by four charming animal adventurers, from a gruff Ram Wizard to a quirky Dodo Alchemist. These characters are illustrated by Vincent Dutrait, the artist behind some of the best board games of recent memory, including Jaipur, Medici, Final Girl, and Heat: Pedal to the Metal.
The game designers behind Satchel Quest are Shawn Stankewich, Molly Johnson, and Robert Melvin (Point Salad, Verdant). Further game development was provided by Weird City Games founder Tim Eisner, as well as Ben Eisner and Steve Ellis.
Gameplay-wise, one to four players will compete to earn the most victory points on their quest. Exploring a dungeon involves drawing chips from their satchel and choosing an empty space to place their chip in. The top levels must be filled before you can move further down the dungeon, and once all chips from the satchel have been placed, their effects are resolved.
Each chip has a unique effect that can often be modified by the chips around it. Chests, for example, can be opened by placing specific chips adjacent to them - and if you place the wrong combination, you'll suffer as a dangerous trap triggers. Health potions can help you recover, but monsters may attack you and deal further damage. Use weapons to fend them off, or hoover up as much money as possible with gold and gemstone tokens.
In between dungeon delves, your character will level up at camp and refresh any special skills they used. New path cards will be revealed and add unique new rules to the next round. Plus, you can pick up new chips, tools, or simply some extra cash by visiting the local tavern and village. The game ends when there are no more path cards to reveal, and the most prosperous adventurer is declared the winner.
There are only two pledge levels for Satchel Quest: the $49 standard edition or the $69 deluxe edition. That fancier pledge comes with upgraded components, but both offer a Kickstarter-exclusive adventure path. According to the Kickstarter page, fulfillment is predicted to take place in October 2026.
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