Kickstart this: Armello is a beautiful digital boardgame about animals fighting for the throne

League of Geeks's Armello is one of the prettiest strategy games I've ever seen.

But this isn't just a thing of beauty. You see, League of Geeks's idea here is to combine the adventure of RPGs with the strategy of card and boardgames.

You'll be playing a hero in the animal kingdom of Armello. Your journey to the King's palace is precipitated by the ruler's downfall to the Rot. It's turned him mad and evil.

Your task, then, is to fight your way past the royal defences, levelling-up your fighting skills and gaining followers.

By the time you reach the King, you'll hopefully be powerful enough to take him on and take the throne for yourself. That's the plan, at least.

You won't be the only hero vying for the throne, mind. You'll be competing against both AI-controlled heroes AND your friends' heroes (you can choose to play in single-player mode or multiplayer).

You'll be using action points to get your hero across the hex-grid board. Each turn can consist of many different activities: completing quests, capturing settlements to raise income, gaining followers, earning treasures, and so on.

Combat is also another option.

In Armello, you use physics-based dice in battles in order to retain the feeling of playing a boardgame. That also means victory depends on chance, so outfitting your character to prepare for the worst is essential.

There are a multitude of other possibilities within each turn to consider, too. It just doesn't stop. You can play cards to inconvenience other players, or gain temporary allies. There are also talents to purchase and items to equip.

As you can tell, it should be a game with a lot of tactical depth. Well, it will be providing it gains the necessary Kickstarter funding.

There are nine days left to run of Armello's Kickstarter campaign - League of Geeks still hasn't reached its funding goal of $200,000. It's close, though.

Through the backer rewards, you can get goodies like exclusive access to the Bandit clan, a plushie, the soundtrack, and the art book.

If you want to see Armello on your iPad and PC, then consider funding it on Kickstarter.

Note that Armello may be ported to Android and Windows tablets if the studio's stretch goals are reached.