This post was inspired by a friend of mine sending out a fairly random message asking about Colt Express, which is a game that is certainly known for its table presence. The large 3D cardboard pieces and the card art piqued his interest, so I decided to do a post about some of my favorite art in games. For this particular installment, I'm going to be looking at 3 examples of standout art rather than doing any sort of ranking. The categories I'm going to be focusing on are: Box Cover, Card Art, Game Board, and Table Presence/Components. Each game can only be in one category, so no double-dipping. Here we go!
Box Cover
The box is a surprisingly important aspect to the marketing of any particular board game. While gamers can stomach an ugly cover for a game with wonderful mechanics, it's always better to have something pretty to show off on your shelf. We'll talk about awful art another day, but for now let's look at some really interesting box covers.
Abyss
Ok, this might be cheating a little bit, but Abyss actually had 5 covers. In an interesting marketing ploy, alternate covers were made available during release so that you could get whichever cover tickled your fancy. The "standard" cover is the one on the far right, which is most often seen. Abyss is a stunning game with a fantastic foreboding cover, as well as top-of-the-line components and beautiful card art. The biggest complaint against Abyss is that there's not enough game in the box to justify how overproduced it is; It's just not very thematic and the game is surprisingly simple.
Brass: Birmingham
Brass: Birmingham is a sequel of sorts to the original Brass (now renamed to be Brass: Lancashire). It's a relatively heavy economic game which typically have mediocre covers, but not this one. The cover is extremely clean and almost not quite minimalist but has those vibes, especially in terms of color. What the cover does well is it suggests what type of game is in the box, which can be difficult to find. The game actually features a double-sided board with a "day" and "night" side depending on your aesthetic choice, which is a nice feature. The game is actually kind of simple, but deceivingly difficult to teach and learn as the choices are often very difficult. It's a deep strategic game with a beautiful overlay, which is unfortunately hard to come by in the hobby.
The Gallerist
The Gallerist has such an interesting cover that takes a different approach to many game boxes. Instead of plastering one piece of art on the front with a title, it brings in the theme to the cover. The unwrapped painting on the cover is just *chef's kiss*. Honestly, The Gallerist is just a wonderfully produced game but comes with the accompanying price tag. Kickstarter is so prevalent in the board gaming world, and there's a good reason why. People will pay a premium for a deep game with exceptional production value, especially in regard to art, components, and exclusives which is how The Gallerist entered the market. Don't let the production value completely overshadow the game, it's a phenomenally deep, strategic experience if you're willing to learn the ins and outs.
Some honorable mentions/games in other categories: Mysterium, Scythe, Photosynthesis, Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn, Tokaido, Above and Below.
Card Art
When you are playing games for an hour or two at a time, it's important to have something visually interesting to look at for that duration. A game can be great with repetitive cards, but it's just a nice touch to give the players something to look at. As mentioned earlier, Abyss has beautiful cards and could probably in this category as well, but here's 3 other standouts.
Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn
Speaking of games that could be in multiple categories, Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn has absolutely stunning art on both the cards and on the box cover. Full disclosure, I've never actually played the game so I can't tell you if it's a good one or not, but how can you argue with that art? This is just a small sample of the cards in the game and they are all just stunning. The cards don't have the borders or bulky boxes full of text found on a lot of collectible card games, which just makes it stand out even more. This is a game I'd really like to try, even if it's not my typical type of game, solely based on the art.
Seasons
Seasons is yet another beautifully produced game with great art, big chunky dice, and lots of cardboard pieces. It could probably find itself in multiple categories as well, maybe even graphic design, but I threw it into Card Art. I would say the art style is cartoon-ish, but very stylized and definitely with a bit of a dark side. The decks are just filled with these colorful pieces of art and it makes the game really pop on that table when you have a bunch of these cards laid out on the table. As far as the game goes, it's a really good engine-building game with elements of drafting and resource management. It's not a super complicated game, but it can be punishing if you can't get your engine going quickly enough. At least you have some really pretty stuff to look at as you watch your opponents lapping you in points!
Dixit
Dixit is a game that is really dependent on the card art because, well, that's the game. The objective of the game is somewhat akin to Cards Against Humanity, only with some creativity and a lot less shock value. Dixit has a lot of expansions and just about every card in each set is a whimsical piece of art that would not look out of place in a children's book. That's not to say that each card is a winner, but the vast majority of them look like they could be a painting with small details that you notice on each new play-through.
Some honorable mentions/games in other categories: Glory to Rome (Black Box Edition), Hanamikoji, Mottainai, Parade, Coup (Kickstarter), Evolution, Mysterium, Valeria: Card Kingdoms
Game Board
While board gamers almost universally will welcome card games into the umbrella that is "board gaming", part of what can really make a game pop is the board itself. I found this to be the most difficult category to pin down because most game boards are either functional or made to be covered up either by pieces or cards. Fair warning, these choices might be a little more off-the-wall than the previous ones.
Manhattan Project
Let's start the controversy right from the get-go! Manhattan Project is a really interesting game that blends traditionally Euro mechanics with a pretty substantial theme with some (*gasp*) take-that action. But that board is just something really different that just pops on the table. From the coin dish in the left corner to the "pinned up" action spaces to the coffee ring on the right side of the board, this thing is just straight-up style. Honestly, there really isn't a lot of "art" in the sense of having a big art piece thrown down like a box cover, but it does have a lot of little touches that are interesting, at the very least.
Scythe
Scythe is truly a one-of-a-kind game that was probably the most hyped arrival of all time. It's the only game I know of that was designed around the art. The artist had several pieces that inspired the designer to make a game around it and the game really shines in terms of art on the board, cards, cover, and the player boards (which I'm including in this category, too). The game board is surprisingly detailed, even if it looks a tiny bit repetitive. In particular, I find the faction boards to be just stunning and worthy of hanging on a wall somewhere.
I kicked around the idea of having this game in the Table Presence category due to the miniatures, custom meeples, and abundance of great art, but wanted to focus on some other games in that category so it fits nicely here anyway. Scythe can be a pretty polarizing game, at the top of many players' favorite games and decried as over-hyped and overrated by others, but I think everyone agrees that the art is stunning.
I kicked around the idea of having this game in the Table Presence category due to the miniatures, custom meeples, and abundance of great art, but wanted to focus on some other games in that category so it fits nicely here anyway. Scythe can be a pretty polarizing game, at the top of many players' favorite games and decried as over-hyped and overrated by others, but I think everyone agrees that the art is stunning.
Tokaido
Ok. Real talk. I don't really like Tokaido. But this post isn't about my favorite games, it's about games with great art. I know that the minimalist look won't jive with everyone, but Tokaido has such a clean look that I doubt many people will argue against its appeal. The almost empty state of the board can be pretty jarring after looking at some of the busier boards that are prevalent in the industry, but there's just something so charming about its simplicity. Tokaido was in the running for the other categories and is definitely the complete visual package for a board game.
Some honorable mentions/games in other categories: CO2, The Ancient World, Everdell, Abyss, Cargo Noir
Table Presence/Components
This is kind of a catch-all category so I guess it would be helpful to define exactly what I'm looking for here. There are certain games that when you have them out on the table, people walking by hesitate to watch or even ask you "What games is that?!" That's the type of game I'm looking for: usually shamelessly over-produced, or with a TON of components, or both.
Everdell
Everdell. What a show stopper. This game is actually a pretty interesting worker placement/engine-building game, with elements that may feel familiar from some other games. You know what other games don't have? A freakin' 3D tree with amazing meeples, components, and card art. This could honestly be in every category in this post because it just has the complete package. It may be overproduced, but honestly who cares if it makes the game even more fun to play. With a boat-load of expansions and different strategy paths, this game is definitely worth a play if you get a chance.
Leaving Earth
This is my bucket list game. I have no doubt that it's going to be overly complicated and mathy, but honestly that's what I want out of my space exploration game. This is Leaving Earth and it's just a beautiful table hog. It's made by a small publisher that makes each game as an order comes in, so it's definitely a labor of love. Just looking at the pictures of it all sprawled out along the table makes me want to stop and watch someone go through this majestic beast of a game. I really don't think this game is for everyone but for the small niche of gamers that it appeals to, Leaving Earth is a grail game with all the bells and whistles.
Dinosaur Island
Dinosaur Island is probably best described as a board game mashup between Jurassic Park and Roller Coaster Tycoon. On top of that, it has a literal ton of components in its box. I went all in with the game and it's expansion, and I can barely fit everything back into each box. The game's art style is pretty polarizing with a definite 80's/Vice City vibe with lots of blue and pink, but the components are top notch. It features so many different dinosaur meeples, fantastic custom dice, and recessed player boards. Out of all the games on this list, this was probably the one I waffled on the most, but I think it has a distinct style and will stop people in their tracks. It's a sprawling beast of a game that I'd absolutely love to get to the table more often.
Some honorable mentions/games in other categories: Scythe, Niagara, Pastiche, Pipeline, Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn, Escape Plan, The Gallerist, Photosynthesis
Final Thoughts
For the record, I am a gamer that prefers really solid and interesting mechanics to a flashy game without substance. That being said, a game that has both solid mechanics and a good theme with a flashy presentation usually rockets to the top of my favorites list. I can deal with an ugly game, but sometimes some fantastic art and components can cover up rough spots in the design.
So there we have it. 12 games that have some examples of standout art. Stay tuned for the next post which may or may not be some of the worst art in board gaming. Thanks for reading!
So there we have it. 12 games that have some examples of standout art. Stay tuned for the next post which may or may not be some of the worst art in board gaming. Thanks for reading!