Tainted Grail: Fall of Avalon came to Kickstarter on Wednesday, got funded in under a minute, and currently has accumulated over £1.7 million at the time of writing - and the number just keeps rising. And with good reason.

Tainted Grail: Fall of Avalon is a major board game release from Awaken Realms. Containing over 1,000 pieces of unique art by Piotr Foksowicz (Eternal Kings) and designed by award-winning games designer Krzysztof Piskorski and Marcin Świerkot (Awaken Realms owner), this is an immersive, story-driven experience which will provide your team with difficult choices which shape your game.

Tainted Grail: Fall of Avalon balances survival and exploration mechanics perfectly alo0ngside character development, combat systems, and narrative development.

Forgive me for geeking out for the next few minutes, but this is 100% a game worth backing. I was fortunate enough to get my hands on Tainted Grail for a Let's Play (keep your eyes on the website) and I have to say I absolutely loved it.

Characters have their own set of strengths and weaknesses and attributes which they can improve through exploration, combat, and quests. These attributes will either benefit a character during combat or diplomacy, depending on which quality they possess.

For example, the courageous may find themselves more prepared for battle, but the cautious will be better at talking their way out of a situation, and a balance of both is necessary for the team to succeed.

The rules for combat and diplomacy are also really interesting. Players must match up 'keys' of their attributes on the side of cards to make a combination attack, however, that attribute must be one which the character actually possesses.

Also, at the end of each attack turn, the enemy has the chance to counter, and could very well destroy the combo attack by removing one card, thereby breaking the chain.

Movement and exploration are also really well designed. Players have a certain amount of energy they can spend through movement, however, if traveling in a party, only one traveler needs to expend energy. Each new place explored opens up new lands on either side of it, providing a Menhir is there to light the way.

However, perhaps the thing which most appealed to me when playing this game was the narrative - it's not only vast, it's incredibly immersive. The descriptions of new lands are stunningly detailed and, often, gruesome.

There are riddles to discover and solve, and hard choices to be made which can easily lead your character into riches or ruin in one move. The sheer complexity of the narrative element to this game makes me excited to go back and play again.

And I haven't even talked about the miniatures yet! The characters are pretty cool, but the Menhirs are the stars of the show, standing tall as the last beacons in an otherwise dark and twisted world.

I don't really know what else there is to say - Tainted Grail: Fall of Avalon is complete and utter quality. Tabletop gaming at it's finest. Get over to the Kickstarter and get your pledge in now. You won't regret it.

Seriously. Go. Now. Back it.