a ripped off game on kickstarter

So you are complaining that someone re-themed a public domain game that dates back at least 400 years? There is nothing wrong with that. It is common practice in the industry, and Mia itself is likely derived from an earlier game. Liar's Dice "ripped it off" in 1987. In fact, this isn't the first pirate-themed adaptation of this game mechanic.

If anyone is in the wrong here, it is you, as your groundless accusations could be construed as libel. By going forum to forum, trying to drag the publisher's name through the mud, you only demonstrate your own ignorance of how this industry works. There are hundreds of Kickstarter projects far more deserving of your indignation, or perhaps if you'd like to be more constructive in your future endeavors then may I suggest speaking out against child soldiers, poverty, or the sorry state of Italy's postal system instead.

That is true of most published games though. There is no disclaimer crediting Dungeons & Dragons in every published RPG, just as Fantasy Flight won't be thanking the author of their Starcraft game in their new Forbidden Stars game that uses the same system. Look at just about any game on Board Game Geek, and you'll see a list of alternate names, common mechanics, and publishers who've printed the game in its various incarnations.

Game designs are tremendously incestuous. It is much like sampling in the music industry, except without any of the protections accorded to a musician. A subject that comes up often here is that in the United States game mechanics receive no copyright protection whatsoever. In this case though, the game designers have been dust and bones for centuries, so it is not as though someone's livelihood is being impacted or their intellectual rights infringed on. As Solomon observes in Ecclesiastes, "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun."

If this game is identical to Mia, well doesn't it matter that the game was "re-themed" into ANOTHER theme, namely Pirates ("Dead Man's Chest"). So the designer is only taking credit with regards to re-theming a 400 year old game. I don't think anyone else has had the idea to "rip-off", oops I mean, re-theme a game such as Mia...

But I understand your point: not re-inventing a 400 year old game does not mean that designer should take credit for the game.

The TEST: we'll see who buys it!

Why not give him credit? In this world of 7 billion people, why not give the poor schlemiel his day in the sun, selling maybe a few hundred copies of a game most people will never know about? Henry Ford didn't invent the automobile or build any of the cars that bear his surname. In my ideal world, he'd instead be widely known and reviled as the antisemitic POS who published "The International Jew." Calvin Klein doesn't sew the clothes with his name on them (and didn't design most of them either). In a fair and wonderful world, they'd each be attributed to the individual children who sewed them in Asia. In a perfect world, this game designer would have had a wonderful, unique idea to peddle. As things stand, he did what everyone else in every other industry does to get credit for something, he made the connections, beat other people to the punch, and got it into production. Whether that is moxie or chutzpah, you can give him credit for that.

If people will buy a product you obviously did something right, whether it was just your new spin on things with your theme, a tiny mechanic change, or a brilliant original product.

If people buy a product that is just a reskin, then it may be that they have never heard of the product before(good marketing on that project), love the new theme(good art/creativity on the the theme) , or maybe just they wanted to try your version(Dedicated players of the type of game).

Someone applied a Cthulu theme (out of copyright, btw) to Viking hnefatafl, and ran a successful KS. I don't recall whether he actually mentioned the derivation or not.

People make Britannia-like games, CLEARLY derived from Britannia, but don't mention (my design) Britannia at all. Meh, I have lots more important things to worry about.

Stratego is a slight (legal) variation of L'Attaque (1909). Most people don't even know that.