Board Games: Art You Can Experience ( and Things to Come...)
Back when I backed the Hellboy Board Game Kickstarter from Mantic Games, I started to fall into the rabbit hole of board games. Beyond Monopoly and Risk, the tabletop gaming community has continued to grow in numbers and the styles of games have increased to fit the different themes and genres that others may be enticed to play. With some games, it’s unique gaming mechanics can grab new players’ attention. While each new game doesn’t have innovative mechanics, it may have amazing art design that make you take a second look. Some games are lucky to have both. Stonemaier Games, created by Jamey Stegmaier, was one of the first production group that I noticed that crafted games that felt like something… real. The art of each one of Stonemaier’s games have an distinctive aesthetic that feels unique to its title while also gelling with the other games on the roster.
One game that grabbed my attention immediately was Scythe, one of the last games that they placed on Kickstarter before leaving straight to a direct retail route. The art is beyond the cover and translates through each element of the game, from the scenario cards to the miniatures. More on the art and design of that game will come to our site soon and also some of their other released games like Viticulture and Between Two Castles Of Mad King Ludwig.
When thinking back to the Kickstarters we first funded in 2018, I become even more excited knowing their delivery dates are coming soon. Hellboy, for instance, is expected to ship around March 2019. The other game is shipping around July 2019. That game is called Cthulhu: Death May Die. C:DMC is from designers Rob Daviau and Eric M. Lang and published by CMON games. The main element that drew me into this game is the awe-spiring art from Karl Kopinski, Richard Wright, Filipe Pagliuso, and Stefan Kopinski. Before the game’s launch, we are going to do some coverage about some of the artist on this title and their portfolios. We also bought a copy of Rising Sun from CMON, which also had a fantastic Kickstarter campaign. More from that game will come soon too.
Beyond the two Kickstarter games that we have coming at the top of the year from Mantic and CMON, there are other games that we have supported on Kickstarter. While they are going to take some time before they are delivered, there are more games that will be featured on our site that are being released at retail. One game that we are posting impressions on is the game, Azul by designer Michael Kiesling. As some gaming enthusiasts may know, Azul was released last year and, according to Boardgamegeek.com, was one of the most popular games among the community. My wife and I have started playing a few rounds and will play a few more before we post our impressions.
The next game that we have coming up is a brand new game from Stonemaier Games titled Wingspan. This is a beautiful game from designer Elizabeth Hargrave . The game is beautiful and is created by Natalia Rojas, Ana Maria Martinez Jaramillo, and Beth Sobel . The components alone make this game very intriguing. The game features 170 uniquely designed bird cards and 75 egg miniatures. Why so many birds and eggs? More on it when we receive the game. It also comes with a cool dice tower that looks like a bird house. Along with Azul, Wingspan continues the trend I’m learning about with games that shows great art but also having a unique gameplay mechanic to help give the art purpose. To see more on the design process of the Wingspan, check out the Design Diary on Stonemeier’s site: https://stonemaiergames.com/games/wingspan/design-diary-wingspan/
There’s so much going on in them new realm of gaming for me and I can’t wait to bring you all along for the ride. This is something very new for us at Steam for Dreams and I hope you are able to find something in one of the games we cover and will jump in with your friends and family. From painting miniature models to reviewing games, we will continue to share our journey through the unique world of tabletop gaming.