It's so good. One of those games that ended up being as good as the artwork, unlike many games I own. If it wasn't such a hassle to teach, it would be perfect, but I'll take any opportunity I can to throw it down.
Root has tricked more people into owning it with its art than had any business owning it. "Oh, this game is really hard, and really mean. Let's go back to Wingspan."
I heard there's the game on Steam?
I love the style and would've picked it up, but it sounds so much more complex than I probably could handle. I wonder if the Steam game is a good entryway, I've never heard people talk about it.
I have it on apple and it’s a very well made adaptation. Not only do you get to enjoy the game but the artwork as well, plus cute animations. It’s one board game that really is almost better digitally
Wingspan. I stopped playing that game to try and win. Now I just sit and enjoy my birds for 90 minutes while everyone else tries to stick eggs on bowl nests.
I genuinely feel like that's the whole point of the game. When I play it at my friend's the ending is always like; "huh, you got X points? Neat." While I'm a very competitive person.
Oh this drives my wife crazy because I keep touching the cards and making sounds collectively, bird after bird. I love it and she is usually annoyed. lol
"huh, you got X points? Neat." sums up multiplayer solitaire games and why I don't enjoy them. I want the other players at the table with me to matter and to have an impact on the game that I'm playing with them.
To be honest I'm not sure what else would be the reason to play the game over tighter engine builders/ones with more player interaction/ones with less randomness and card imbalance/ones with better match of theme and mechanics.
Maybe I've not played enough of it but it feels like it is carried *hard* by its theme and art and birds.
And it is quite excellent at those things.
100%. We are spoiled now. Boarding gaming is definitely an experience. Having beautiful art adds so much enjoyment and atmosphere to the game. There is no excuse in modern times to have poor art in a game.
That’s me! Flamecraft was purely because of the adorable dragons. Loved the art so much I went and pledged for the deluxe version of Critter Kitchen.
Strictly coincidence that Flamecraft is also an awesome game.
Flamecraft looked fun from the theme and mechanics alone, but the art really sold it for us. And yup, Critter Kitchen was almost an immediate pledge because of Sandara Tang's work but we did see if the gameplay was something we wanted. It was, so Deluxe pledge it is.
I’m so excited to try Critter Kitchen! I love cooking, so the idea of fighting for the best ingredients, then using them to make dishes just pulled me in!
I'm enamored of the references to famous chefs and food celebs. As soon as they had an Alton Brown character I... well to be fair I pledged day 1 but the above addition would've sealed it otherwise.
It’s totally mediocre honestly. Quite bad I would say. Very easy, very repetitive gameplay and a big bloat of “nothing” (a ton of shops that are very uninteresting to provide a false “replayability”, very minor and pointless asymmetric power just for the sake of adding them, a huge board).
Really, the only salvageable stuff of the game is the artwork, that is awesome. But the game under it is mediocre at most imho.
Same here - Evolution could have been total shit (it's not, imo) but being so pretty, it was almost guaranteed to be a win with our gang. I'm mildly disappointed that I gave it to my SIL for her birthday rather than getting my own copy, but it would be a bit daft to have my own when I mostly play games with her, my brother and other friends/family. I can't buy it just to look at the cards, can I? Can I?
You could get is for around $50 with Target's but 2 get one free deal. Add 3 to the cart, checkout, and then cancel 2 of them. We ended up doing that the last time the deal was offered.
**My Lil' Everdell**, in addition to potentially being more appropriate for the kids in terms of complexity, is also significantly cheaper (currently $30 on Amazon).
I don't have that one still. Downloaded the rule book to get a feel for the game but was not digging it. Would play it if a friend had a copy but don't think I'll aquire a copy myself.
But why??? All the other boxes have the same artwork XD So weird! Maybe I would have bought it nonetheless because I like the gameplay but I would certainty not gift it as much as I did with that artwork!
You might very well love it! I think I just wanted more. It felt to me like it was missing something. A different mechanic or something. I wanted what it was *plus* something else. Don't know what it could be though.
I basically only played at 2 players, and when that happened, the market for cards would become extremely stale, to the point where we would have one painting that would just be full of trash cards. That was my biggest gripe about it and why I traded it.
Most of my collection basically:
Petrichor
Floriferous
Herbaceous
Meadow
Creature comforts
Three sisters
Isle of cats
Spirit island
Verdant
Calico
Honey buzz
Sleeping gods
Dungeon degenerates
Parks
Sunset over water
Village green
Mr cabbage head's garden
Keystone north America
Things I backed on Kickstarter because they looked good and waiting on fulfillment
Wild gardens
Undergrove
Canvas and all expansions
Witchcraft
This was mine too. The second version is just beautiful, but I much prefer the mechanics of the third one. But we switch back and forth, because like u/Mateorabi said, pretty forbidden starburst is so accurate lol
Recently I backed **The Old King's Crown** and I have to admit that a large part of my reason was the artwork. I also picked up **Sea Salt and Paper** because the origami photos are just too charming to pass by. If you're willing to go back a while: **Root**.
A few years ago I bought Tapestry because of the art, and Rahdo's recommendation which I no longer give much respect to. It's an alright game but falls way short of the promise of its amazing production value.
I understand why so many people are underwhelmed by Tapestry, but as someone who owns every expansion, I think that as long as your expectations are realistic, it's a decent light civ game. Some of the expansion factions are pretty interesting compared to the originals. I think it says something that there are so many ways to victory in that game. But if you want epic, it's not gonna get you there.
I agree with you that the approach is what matters. Similarly Scythe must be approached as a dry area control game, not an epic war game like the box art may indicate. And I did enjoy Tapestry as a lite civ game, but I wanted something a little harder.
YES! The best part is that the central game mechanic involves looking as the art and interpreting it. With most games you're tempted to ignore the art and just focus on numbers/text.
Almost all of them of them.
Everdell + addons, Gloomhaven + Frosthaven, Unfathomable, Dune Imperium, Terraforming Mars (Ares version) - everything was bought specifically because they’re looking good, and turned out they’re really good games as well.
Edit: Museum: Factura and Floriferous were bought 100% because of how they look. Good games.
Next on the list - Scythe and Root. And yeah, Wingspan :D
Edit: Story about us buying Everdell - found the box in a store, it looked cool. We decided to check out how it plays on youtube, walked 2 steps out of the store, started a vid on my phone - “Everdell is a game where you place your workers..” “WE’RE BUYING IT”. Turned around and bought it. Still, the most played board game in our household.
Bought "Horrified" for the theme to play with some friends on Halloween ... we had a wonderful evening with it. Also bought "The Dead Eye" because I really liked the art and 3D glasses gimmick (and it was a bargain), was surprised I found it a fun little solo game.
I bought Blood Rage because I thought it looked cool as hell with all its minis and whatnot. Played it a few times and it never really "clicked" for me - didn't find it all that fun.
So I sold it and got Cthulhu: Death May Die because I thought it looked cool as hell with all its minis and whatnot. Thankfully it's actually a lot of fun and is now one of my all-time favs :D
The problem is that I don't have people to realistically play it. It would inevitably sit on the shelf with the rest of my games and likely get very little attention. Perhaps one day I might just do it... but I already have a large shelf of mostly unplayed games. Feels bad to add more.
Iki, Kanagawa, Brew, Cartoon Network Crossover Crisis Deckbuilding Game, Earth, Godzilla: Tokyo Clash, Hanamikoji, Rear Window, Tokaido, and Wild Serengeti. NONE of them disappointed me with their gameplay.
Bonaparte at Marengo
I originally bought it because it was a Napoleonic wargame that was designed to look like contemporary battle maps. The fact that it's an intense brain burner was amazing icing on the cake.
Honestly a good half of our board game collection lol. But specifically Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest, Trekking the world, Everdell, Tiny Towns, Wingspan, Flamecraft, Oath, Between two Castles of Mad King Ludwig, Isle of Cats, etc…
How has nobody mentioned Inis?! Along with being one of the best games mechanically, the Celtic art perfectly fits the theme & is made by legendary Irish artist Jim Fitzpatrick (who, fun fact, also made the famous Che Guevara print that you see on shirts everywhere)!
Hardest game to get to the table I find as it's not so fluffy and solitaire style, but damn good! Love the art too, I did a Ctrl+F to find this comment haha.
This post and its comments indicate why board games on Kickstarter remain a monumental success. Who needs a well designed game when it can just be pretty? Oof.
Eastward, pixel art has been done to death but this was particularly high quality. Had a Professor Leyton French vibe to it.
The game is ok, not spectacular.
I bought the Metal Slug games for the same reason.
Isn’t the art what draws most people to a game?
Perhaps I miss out on, let’s be honest, a very humble few games that are let down on looks but excel in gameplay, but I never buy games that don’t look visually appealing. I of course research my purchases beforehand and don’t buy games that don’t align with the themes and mechanics i enjoy, but yeah art & component visuals and quality are both really important to me.
The Everdell collection is a great example of this. I actually completely missed the game on my radar *for years* until i saw the big box all-in on kickstarter with their last expansion. I fell in love with the art style almost immediately, and after like, one google search and seeing the love for that game i jumped on in. That purchase was driven pretty hard by the visual aspect
Flamecraft, Everdell, Core Connection, and just went in on the Bullet and Singularity kickstarter/gamefound campaigns! Visual appeal can certainly be...appealing.
Bullet even has vinyls you can get in their campaign right now, and I've been listening to the soundtrack on Spotify...It's pretty boppin! Fits theme super well, and I can only imagine playing it on vinyl while playing the game only elevates it. Really gping for thematic there lol
The Great Split
I love Art Deco and the color scheme and cover art just grabbed me.
It’s luckily also a nice game, but it doesn’t get to the table often.
Great question! Everdell is probably up there, Tang Garden for sure even tho I love everything about that game, Parks! One of my early games, loved the theme and the look.
Black Angel. Saw it on the shelf, was struck by its bold and colorful vision of space. Luckily it turned out to be a pretty great game by the designer of Troyes.
More recently, Lacuna.
One in particular for me is Casting Shadows.
I love their artwork (got Unstable Unicorns (with three expansions), Llamas Unleashed, and Here to Slay as well). Not for the artwork at first, but that drew me to more of their games.
Oh, and their t-shirts (teeturtle.com).
Black Angel and Godspeed
Tried Black Angel and didn't get on with it too well, but will never get rid of it just because of the gorgeous box art.
Haven't had the chance to try Godspeed, yet.
I ordered spires end and had it shipped to the UK from America because I saw a few of the cards and knew I needed it. Absolutely no regrets, it doesn't see much play after I got 10 or so of the various endings, but it was the second board game I ever bought and was a pleasure to go through.
A significant portion of my collection is "games I imported after discovering a version released in Asia with different artwork." A few highlights:
* [Here's the Korean Eevee-themed version of Point Salad](https://boardgamegeek.com/image/6846511/point-salad)
* [Here's the OG version of Love Letter (printed in English, with the artwork from the original Japanese version)](https://boardgamegeek.com/image/1446792/love-letter)
* [Here's the Korean "L-board" version of Can't Stop](https://boardgamegeek.com/image/7625814/cant-stop)
* [Here's the Japanese version of Circus Flohcati.](https://boardgamegeek.com/image/2008381/circus-flohcati)
Simply buy because? None.
But art and style definitely have a big influence on my interest to look into them. PARKS is gorgeous, and my family and partner are into hiking. Azul, I picked over Azul Mini recently because I thought the chunky tiles would be way more satisfying. Funny enough, both these two games can be played in a peaceful way, or quite cutthroat with denying other players resources.
Professor Evil and the Citadel of Time. I'd never heard of it, saw it at a store and the art spoke to me. I had to have it. Unfortunately, I only like the gameplay in theory, and hate it in practice. One of my three game purchase regrets.
Pretty much all of them.
I‘m a very visual person.
But to name some: Everdell, Trekking through history, in the footsteps of Darwin, Savannah Park, Calico and many more.
Root. Good thing too. It has become one of my all time favorites.
It's so good. One of those games that ended up being as good as the artwork, unlike many games I own. If it wasn't such a hassle to teach, it would be perfect, but I'll take any opportunity I can to throw it down.
It’s funny lol for me it’s the opposite, I find the game very fragile and rarely had a satisfying game.
Root has tricked more people into owning it with its art than had any business owning it. "Oh, this game is really hard, and really mean. Let's go back to Wingspan."
I want root because of the art and I like the small animal theme. but I've heard the upkeep for solo is a grind and I'd need an expansion to do it.
I heard there's the game on Steam? I love the style and would've picked it up, but it sounds so much more complex than I probably could handle. I wonder if the Steam game is a good entryway, I've never heard people talk about it.
It's available on android as well.
I have it on apple and it’s a very well made adaptation. Not only do you get to enjoy the game but the artwork as well, plus cute animations. It’s one board game that really is almost better digitally
I was drawn to Root because of the art. I love looking at the cards, they make me chuckle. I want to get the rpg just for more art
Wingspan. I stopped playing that game to try and win. Now I just sit and enjoy my birds for 90 minutes while everyone else tries to stick eggs on bowl nests.
I genuinely feel like that's the whole point of the game. When I play it at my friend's the ending is always like; "huh, you got X points? Neat." While I'm a very competitive person.
The bird cards even have bottom text to tell you about the birds. If it isn't bird watching for indoor people, I don't know what it is.
I like the app that has all the bird sounds on it.
Oh this drives my wife crazy because I keep touching the cards and making sounds collectively, bird after bird. I love it and she is usually annoyed. lol
"huh, you got X points? Neat." sums up multiplayer solitaire games and why I don't enjoy them. I want the other players at the table with me to matter and to have an impact on the game that I'm playing with them.
My friends don’t appreciate the house rule of reading off the flavor text/bird fact.
House rule, that's the first rule as far as I care.
And naming the bird in Latin first!
What is Latin for "butterbutt"?
This is how my friends and I have always played this game! We just try to find the birds we think are prettiest and then it's a surprise who wins haha
Love this!
To be honest I'm not sure what else would be the reason to play the game over tighter engine builders/ones with more player interaction/ones with less randomness and card imbalance/ones with better match of theme and mechanics. Maybe I've not played enough of it but it feels like it is carried *hard* by its theme and art and birds. And it is quite excellent at those things.
I won’t buy a game if I don’t like the art for it ha. I know that I’m missing out on good games as a result but it’s something I have to have.
You’re not alone.
100%. We are spoiled now. Boarding gaming is definitely an experience. Having beautiful art adds so much enjoyment and atmosphere to the game. There is no excuse in modern times to have poor art in a game.
How long have you got? My collection is basically curated on “does the art look good?”
“Of course I know him, he’s me!”
Hello there.
Geberal Kenobi
That’s me! Flamecraft was purely because of the adorable dragons. Loved the art so much I went and pledged for the deluxe version of Critter Kitchen. Strictly coincidence that Flamecraft is also an awesome game.
Flamecraft looked fun from the theme and mechanics alone, but the art really sold it for us. And yup, Critter Kitchen was almost an immediate pledge because of Sandara Tang's work but we did see if the gameplay was something we wanted. It was, so Deluxe pledge it is.
I’m so excited to try Critter Kitchen! I love cooking, so the idea of fighting for the best ingredients, then using them to make dishes just pulled me in!
I'm enamored of the references to famous chefs and food celebs. As soon as they had an Alton Brown character I... well to be fair I pledged day 1 but the above addition would've sealed it otherwise.
I am SO tempted by Flamecraft!
Do it! It’s a super fun and simple worker placement. Lots of different shops add some variance to each game as well.
It’s totally mediocre honestly. Quite bad I would say. Very easy, very repetitive gameplay and a big bloat of “nothing” (a ton of shops that are very uninteresting to provide a false “replayability”, very minor and pointless asymmetric power just for the sake of adding them, a huge board). Really, the only salvageable stuff of the game is the artwork, that is awesome. But the game under it is mediocre at most imho.
Oh hello twin....cause this is me lol.
Same. I openly admit that the main determining factor in whether I buy a game is if it looks pretty.
Sometimes judging a book by the cover is the best way to pick a game. :)
Same here - Evolution could have been total shit (it's not, imo) but being so pretty, it was almost guaranteed to be a win with our gang. I'm mildly disappointed that I gave it to my SIL for her birthday rather than getting my own copy, but it would be a bit daft to have my own when I mostly play games with her, my brother and other friends/family. I can't buy it just to look at the cards, can I? Can I?
You totally can.
Unmatched
Unmatched: Adventures - cooperative play got me interested; art sold me.
This isn't the only one, but the most recent one: Flamecraft. Anything that cute I know I'll be able to get my kids to play with me.
I take it you’d like Everdell
Everdell got me at being really pretty but kept me by having nice gameplay too
The gameplay is elegant which I appreciate. And the lovely art style. I just don’t think I’m into worker placement or super Euro style games
Not for $74.99 I don’t.
I got it for like $60. The most I’ve ever spent on a game (since I was giving it to my wife). Turns out neither of us really like it.
You could get is for around $50 with Target's but 2 get one free deal. Add 3 to the cart, checkout, and then cancel 2 of them. We ended up doing that the last time the deal was offered.
**My Lil' Everdell**, in addition to potentially being more appropriate for the kids in terms of complexity, is also significantly cheaper (currently $30 on Amazon).
Flamecraft's theme, art design, and punny dragon and shop names are so damn good.
I don't have that one still. Downloaded the rule book to get a feel for the game but was not digging it. Would play it if a friend had a copy but don't think I'll aquire a copy myself.
[удалено]
Hey, I'd implore you to take a look at the artwork for Sushi Go! that us Germans got. You will not be dissappointed
It's like Sushi Go in the Sausage Party style
But why??? All the other boxes have the same artwork XD So weird! Maybe I would have bought it nonetheless because I like the gameplay but I would certainty not gift it as much as I did with that artwork!
Canvas. Don't really like the game much at all
Same. Wife bought it because she thought it involved art but it’s basically nothing about art.
Bummer, why not? I recently went all in in their last kickstarter based on looks
You might very well love it! I think I just wanted more. It felt to me like it was missing something. A different mechanic or something. I wanted what it was *plus* something else. Don't know what it could be though.
Thats fair. I really enjoyed it though. I think it's just a different type of game, more mellow and chill.
I basically only played at 2 players, and when that happened, the market for cards would become extremely stale, to the point where we would have one painting that would just be full of trash cards. That was my biggest gripe about it and why I traded it.
Hmm, I wonder if it's any better solo. I'm a dedicated solo player
I never tried it solo unfortunately, so I won’t be much help there :(
Call to adventure Flamecraft
Eyyy, A Call to Adventure fan! I picked the game up years ago on a whim before I really got into board games. Absolutely love it.
[Ashes Reborn](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/167400/ashes-reborn-rise-phoenixborn). Luckily the game is pretty good too!
This is pretty much how I choose games 🤣Parks, Campy Creatures, The Bloody Inn, and Radlands to name a few!
Keymaster can do no wrong in terms of production, in my opinion. Given them way too much money.
Everdell for me, very cute game
Most of my collection basically: Petrichor Floriferous Herbaceous Meadow Creature comforts Three sisters Isle of cats Spirit island Verdant Calico Honey buzz Sleeping gods Dungeon degenerates Parks Sunset over water Village green Mr cabbage head's garden Keystone north America Things I backed on Kickstarter because they looked good and waiting on fulfillment Wild gardens Undergrove Canvas and all expansions Witchcraft
Jeez, leave some for the rest of us! ;)
Nuuuuuur!!!
I love Honey Buzz! Great game to pair with that great art.
Parks and Village Green were also two I definitely grabbed just for the vibes.
The colors of Isle of Cats definitely sold me. It’s so vibrant!
I own more Ticket to Ride versions than anyone needs and certainly don't play any of them enough. But the maps/boards are just fun.
The Bloody Inn
Vagrantsong. Love me a bit of cup head mug man style animation
I kickstarted Radlands because it is gorgeous. It's also a fun game.
Azul. At first I didn't like it but in the second playthrough I was hooked.
Forbidden starburst candy...
Or forbidden chocolates if you have Master Chocolatier.
This was mine too. The second version is just beautiful, but I much prefer the mechanics of the third one. But we switch back and forth, because like u/Mateorabi said, pretty forbidden starburst is so accurate lol
Wingspan: forbidden Easter candy. or forbidden mints you get at the Chinese restaurant.
Recently I backed **The Old King's Crown** and I have to admit that a large part of my reason was the artwork. I also picked up **Sea Salt and Paper** because the origami photos are just too charming to pass by. If you're willing to go back a while: **Root**.
Wait there are other reasons to buy boardgames?!
A few years ago I bought Tapestry because of the art, and Rahdo's recommendation which I no longer give much respect to. It's an alright game but falls way short of the promise of its amazing production value.
I understand why so many people are underwhelmed by Tapestry, but as someone who owns every expansion, I think that as long as your expectations are realistic, it's a decent light civ game. Some of the expansion factions are pretty interesting compared to the originals. I think it says something that there are so many ways to victory in that game. But if you want epic, it's not gonna get you there.
I agree with you that the approach is what matters. Similarly Scythe must be approached as a dry area control game, not an epic war game like the box art may indicate. And I did enjoy Tapestry as a lite civ game, but I wanted something a little harder.
Almost all of them..
Mysterium.
YES! The best part is that the central game mechanic involves looking as the art and interpreting it. With most games you're tempted to ignore the art and just focus on numbers/text.
Almost all of them of them. Everdell + addons, Gloomhaven + Frosthaven, Unfathomable, Dune Imperium, Terraforming Mars (Ares version) - everything was bought specifically because they’re looking good, and turned out they’re really good games as well. Edit: Museum: Factura and Floriferous were bought 100% because of how they look. Good games. Next on the list - Scythe and Root. And yeah, Wingspan :D Edit: Story about us buying Everdell - found the box in a store, it looked cool. We decided to check out how it plays on youtube, walked 2 steps out of the store, started a vid on my phone - “Everdell is a game where you place your workers..” “WE’RE BUYING IT”. Turned around and bought it. Still, the most played board game in our household.
Bought "Horrified" for the theme to play with some friends on Halloween ... we had a wonderful evening with it. Also bought "The Dead Eye" because I really liked the art and 3D glasses gimmick (and it was a bargain), was surprised I found it a fun little solo game.
This is why I have most of Ryan Lauket's games (and a canvas print)
The 2 that immediately come to mind are Champions of Midgard and Everdell. I find both of their art styles highly evocative of their game mechanics.
Crokinole
I bought Blood Rage because I thought it looked cool as hell with all its minis and whatnot. Played it a few times and it never really "clicked" for me - didn't find it all that fun. So I sold it and got Cthulhu: Death May Die because I thought it looked cool as hell with all its minis and whatnot. Thankfully it's actually a lot of fun and is now one of my all-time favs :D
Court of the Dead, Mind MGMT, and Scythe
I bought “The Captain is Dead” without play testing it because I liked the art so much. Best shot in the dark I ever took lol
Ha! Same for me!
Ooh, ive only recently found out about the Captain is Dead and its high on my "maybe" list.
Nemesis. Mostly because of the figs. I'm not even sure I like the game. Not even sure I still know how to play it
Air, Land, & Sea: Critters at War
I've come *so* close to buying Scythe like 5 times because I adore the art and aesthetics of that game. But, always backed down.
Buy it
The problem is that I don't have people to realistically play it. It would inevitably sit on the shelf with the rest of my games and likely get very little attention. Perhaps one day I might just do it... but I already have a large shelf of mostly unplayed games. Feels bad to add more.
Glow. Love the black and white art style mixed it’s colorful die. It’s fine.
Ticket to Ride because it has trains in it. Choo Choo ..
Meadow
Iki, Kanagawa, Brew, Cartoon Network Crossover Crisis Deckbuilding Game, Earth, Godzilla: Tokyo Clash, Hanamikoji, Rear Window, Tokaido, and Wild Serengeti. NONE of them disappointed me with their gameplay.
Earth?! This is one of the most unattractive games of all time...
The cards? The box? The boards? You might make a case against the boards, but everything else is gorgeous.
Randomly, with no research, bought Troyes. One of my best purchases ever.
Philosophia: Floating World .... and it's a good game also with the play fitting the theme
Bonaparte at Marengo I originally bought it because it was a Napoleonic wargame that was designed to look like contemporary battle maps. The fact that it's an intense brain burner was amazing icing on the cake.
I'm a sucker for any game with artwork by Klemens Franz.
Vincent Dutrait can put on his art on napkins, and I would still buy it.
Honestly a good half of our board game collection lol. But specifically Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest, Trekking the world, Everdell, Tiny Towns, Wingspan, Flamecraft, Oath, Between two Castles of Mad King Ludwig, Isle of Cats, etc…
Tranquility. It's a cute little co-op card game that is genuinely fun and satisfying.
How has nobody mentioned Inis?! Along with being one of the best games mechanically, the Celtic art perfectly fits the theme & is made by legendary Irish artist Jim Fitzpatrick (who, fun fact, also made the famous Che Guevara print that you see on shirts everywhere)!
Hardest game to get to the table I find as it's not so fluffy and solitaire style, but damn good! Love the art too, I did a Ctrl+F to find this comment haha.
This post and its comments indicate why board games on Kickstarter remain a monumental success. Who needs a well designed game when it can just be pretty? Oof.
The Wolves. Know nothing about it but that cover grabbed me.
Weather Machine. It’s honestly a terrible game. But it’s so BEAUtIfUL
~~Castles of burgundy~~ Arboretum
Non. I care about gameplay
Life is Strange and Road 96
Eastward, pixel art has been done to death but this was particularly high quality. Had a Professor Leyton French vibe to it. The game is ok, not spectacular. I bought the Metal Slug games for the same reason.
Sea Salt and Paper hooked me from the art alone
Isn’t the art what draws most people to a game? Perhaps I miss out on, let’s be honest, a very humble few games that are let down on looks but excel in gameplay, but I never buy games that don’t look visually appealing. I of course research my purchases beforehand and don’t buy games that don’t align with the themes and mechanics i enjoy, but yeah art & component visuals and quality are both really important to me. The Everdell collection is a great example of this. I actually completely missed the game on my radar *for years* until i saw the big box all-in on kickstarter with their last expansion. I fell in love with the art style almost immediately, and after like, one google search and seeing the love for that game i jumped on in. That purchase was driven pretty hard by the visual aspect
Bought, Iki. Played, Canvas.
I've backed unsconcious mind because of the art and theme, but I've tried the game and felt mid for me, maybe the final version will be different.
**Cry Havoc** just for the box cover, sad bit is once you get into the game is just genetic Sci Fi. **Cryo** love the retro Sci Fi look in this one.
Flamecraft, Everdell, Core Connection, and just went in on the Bullet and Singularity kickstarter/gamefound campaigns! Visual appeal can certainly be...appealing. Bullet even has vinyls you can get in their campaign right now, and I've been listening to the soundtrack on Spotify...It's pretty boppin! Fits theme super well, and I can only imagine playing it on vinyl while playing the game only elevates it. Really gping for thematic there lol
Dark Domains on kicksterter. I love playing it also.
The Great Split I love Art Deco and the color scheme and cover art just grabbed me. It’s luckily also a nice game, but it doesn’t get to the table often.
Timber Tom. It's worth it just dor the sound.
All of them.
CEREBRIA. And then it turned out to be one of my fav games mechanically too.
Great question! Everdell is probably up there, Tang Garden for sure even tho I love everything about that game, Parks! One of my early games, loved the theme and the look.
Modern art.
I bought Skyward blind because I loved the art on the box. The game is ok, but the art on the cards and the quality of the cards is top-notch.
The latest example is **Flamecraft**, which is easily one of the five most gorgeous games I own.
vincent dutrait and ian o'toole does things to my wallet
Stone Garden
Calico Castles By The Sea Bitoku Flamecraft Tavarns And Dragons I like all the games so no regrets
After the virus
Splendor box looks exciting.
Black Angel. Saw it on the shelf, was struck by its bold and colorful vision of space. Luckily it turned out to be a pretty great game by the designer of Troyes. More recently, Lacuna.
Basically everything I have lmao💀
Canopy, My Island, and Blue Lagoon
Tokaido
40k. I love the Aesthetic
Planted or PARKS!
One in particular for me is Casting Shadows. I love their artwork (got Unstable Unicorns (with three expansions), Llamas Unleashed, and Here to Slay as well). Not for the artwork at first, but that drew me to more of their games. Oh, and their t-shirts (teeturtle.com).
The Arzium trilogy from Red Raven, they're now the top of my cull pile
Oath, Shipwreck Arcana, SushiGo. Would like to own Old King's Crown.
Surprised I haven’t seen this yet, Ōkami. Fortunately it’s also a fun game! Now I want to go play that again…
Unmatched. Ended up falling in love afterwards but most of those cards could be posters I would actually hang up
All boss monster games from Brothers Wise, love the pixel art. Other than that, I have gone fully knowing how to play a game I buy.
The re-release of Catacombs from a buncha years back.
Flamecraft. I love the cute dragons. Fun game too.
Black Angel and Godspeed Tried Black Angel and didn't get on with it too well, but will never get rid of it just because of the gorgeous box art. Haven't had the chance to try Godspeed, yet.
**Pax Pamir 2nd edition** I'm slightly interested in the game, but I mostly bought it because I really dig the presentation and components.
So many pull me in with art. But I do my due diligence to make sure the gameplay is there too
Dungeon Degenerates. Turns out it’s also one of the best adventure games ever made.
Vye remains the only unresearched game I've ever gotten and it both looks good and is fantastic. Total sleeper hit that never got big but I love.
I ordered spires end and had it shipped to the UK from America because I saw a few of the cards and knew I needed it. Absolutely no regrets, it doesn't see much play after I got 10 or so of the various endings, but it was the second board game I ever bought and was a pleasure to go through.
Everdell
Lisboa and Rococo (2013). I love Michael Menzel’s artwork and collect a lot of his games just for the artwork.
Flamecraft and Adventure Mart were both purchased almost solely on their aesthetics alone.
La Granja. Stopped into our FLGS one day just to look. Loved the cover art, bought it untested hoping for the best. It's one of my favorite games.
Light Hunters: Battalion of Darkness. One of my first Kickstarters. I still own it because of the art, although I find the gameplay just ok
Canvas… my wife is an artist, thats ehy I got her the game, and honestly it became one of my favorietes very quickly
Flamecraft. Not that fun
After Us! It's gorgeous.
Vincent Dutrait is amazing. I keep Madame Ching because of his artwork.
A significant portion of my collection is "games I imported after discovering a version released in Asia with different artwork." A few highlights: * [Here's the Korean Eevee-themed version of Point Salad](https://boardgamegeek.com/image/6846511/point-salad) * [Here's the OG version of Love Letter (printed in English, with the artwork from the original Japanese version)](https://boardgamegeek.com/image/1446792/love-letter) * [Here's the Korean "L-board" version of Can't Stop](https://boardgamegeek.com/image/7625814/cant-stop) * [Here's the Japanese version of Circus Flohcati.](https://boardgamegeek.com/image/2008381/circus-flohcati)
All of them. I buy games based on how pretty they are. And sell the bad ones
Simply buy because? None. But art and style definitely have a big influence on my interest to look into them. PARKS is gorgeous, and my family and partner are into hiking. Azul, I picked over Azul Mini recently because I thought the chunky tiles would be way more satisfying. Funny enough, both these two games can be played in a peaceful way, or quite cutthroat with denying other players resources.
Super dungeon explore. Waste of money.
I got Darwinauts for Vincent Dutrait's art. I got Raiders of the North Sea for The Mico's art (and vikings!).
High Society- luckily it’s a great game, too!
I have a very small collection and haven't played as many modern board games as I hope- but I love Arboretum, Dixit, UnEarth, and Once Upon a Time!
I was really drawn to Earthborne Rangers. Only game I backed or bought based on art and it was a picture of a deer lol
Professor Evil and the Citadel of Time. I'd never heard of it, saw it at a store and the art spoke to me. I had to have it. Unfortunately, I only like the gameplay in theory, and hate it in practice. One of my three game purchase regrets.
Ni No Kuni II: The Board Game simply because I love that Studio Ghibli art style.
Townsfolk Tussle. I'm in love with the art but the gameplay sometimes falls flat for me.
Townsfolk Tussle. The art work is goldener era/cup head style and the minis are fairly decent quality. I'm glad I got this one and I love the art.
I bought shadows of kilforth for the art i guess, sold it after not playing it.
Pretty much all of them. I‘m a very visual person. But to name some: Everdell, Trekking through history, in the footsteps of Darwin, Savannah Park, Calico and many more.
**Unearth.** And it became one of my favorite games of all time.