Art in board games is no new concept, but in more recent years it seems it has become more important. Stunning illustrations are done for many games and it adds a lot to the overall experience. There are a few though, in 2017, that have stood out above the rest and have created worlds that are breathtakingly beautiful.
YAMATAÏ
Yamataï is a competitive game where players work against each other trying to build the most beautiful and prestigious city of them all. The stakes are high for this game, with the winner being crowned the best builder of Yamataï by Queen Himiko herself. You will need to use all the resources and strategy at your disposal to get such a high honor.
The art of the game was illustrated by Jérémie Fleury, and he did a fantastic job in rendering this game with some of the most strikingly beautiful art in 2017. Upon even just opening the box you will be blown away with all the vibrant colors and strikingly different game pieces. Yet, even still all the pieces come together for every game creating a masterpiece you will be more than a little sad to put away.
THE LOST EXPEDITION
The Lost Expedition is a thematic game where you can customize the experience of how you like. It can be played solo or cooperatively and even competitively by putting teams head to head. The main goal of The Lost Expedition? To survive.
When you play The Lost Expedition, you find yourself part of a team of adventurers who have traveled deep into the Amazon’s Jungle territory in search of the missing, legendary explorer, Percy Fawcett. To survive you must ration resources and make daring choices, all to make it out alive.
Illustrated by Garen Ewing, The Lost Expedition has a daring and startling world to reveal. Starting with the characters you play, down to the individual adventure cards the art has individuality and promotes that sense of dread that really sets the scene for this game. You’d be hard press to find any other game with such intricate work. Even the smallest details affect the feel of the game.
NEAR AND FAR
Near and Far is another thematic game where you play as wanderers searching for an artifact to grant their deepest desires. Finding yourself searching for a lost city, you must enlist the help of adventures along the way and gather resources for your long journey. As you wander you will fight, survive and find interesting treasures to shape your story into something unique every time.
When you look at the art in Near and Far it is impossible not to see the care and forethought put in by illustrator Ryan Laukat. He has beautifully crafted a world that holds more stories than imaginable and has made each character in such a way that you cannot help but feel each of their burdens and care for them It is truly remarkable to see the story play out before you, but it would not be nearly as wonderous without the lovingly crafted world it is set in.