Anything from Leader Games and illustrated by Kyle Ferrin (Root, Oath, Fort…) feels like cheating but still, I absolutely adore their art style

Everdell, Photosynthesis, Parks, look nice as well

I also bought an updated edition of Costa Ruana just because of the illustrations: https://www.pamwishbow.com/client-work/project-four-yjynj-pafyx

  • ThyTTY@lemmy.worldEnglish
    221·
    6 months ago

    Maybe I’m just a bird man but Wingspan is absolutely stunning. I bought second copies of the base game and addons to put cards into a binder

    • supersquirrel@sopuli.xyzEnglish
      15·
      6 months ago

      Being a bird fan is just the healthy sane thing to do, it isn’t a niche hobby it is a pleasure of being on earth that everyone should enjoy.

      Wingspan is gorgeousssss.

      The app is too!

      • ThyTTY@lemmy.worldEnglish
        71·
        6 months ago

        When I first heard about Wingspan app I dismissed it in an instant - why do I want to sit in front of the screen instead of being at the table? As someone working in IT boardgames are my escape from virtual world. But the game is phenomenal - cards have animations, birds make sounds and in the Polish version they have hired legendary Krystyna Czubówna (most famous voice actor) to read bird trivia. 10/10.

        • supersquirrel@sopuli.xyzEnglish
          5·
          6 months ago

          When I first heard about Wingspan app I dismissed it in an instant - why do I want to sit in front of the screen instead of being at the table? As someone working in IT boardgames are my escape from virtual world

          I agree and I think that dynamic is definitely at play but it is eclipsed by the immediately evident truth that the digital game is as much a genuine love letter to birds wearing the disguise of an awesome strategy game as the board game itself.

          A love letter is a love letter, the details of what medium the letter is written in doesn’t matter, and what better crush to write a love letter to than the birds bursting wild and free into even the most terraformed artificial human environments.

          …Do you think you could teach a crow to play wingspan?

    • apprehensively_human@lemmy.caEnglish
      5·
      6 months ago

      I too am a bird man but I’ve asked my non-birdman friends who say that the game is indeed stunning.

      It helps that the game is also enjoyable to play.

    • OmnislashIsACloudApp@lemmy.worldEnglish
      3·
      6 months ago

      I was hopping in to comment wingspan and then immediately realized of course everyone had already been talking about how beautiful this game is

    • caseyweederman@lemmy.caEnglish
      1·
      6 months ago

      Wyrmspan really brings it home for me personally, while also being a more fleshed-out and mature version of Wingspan

      • ThyTTY@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        6 months ago

        I miss the educational aspect of bird’s trivia but I guess that’s expected from a game about dragons

  • MicrowavedTea@infosec.pubEnglish
    9·
    6 months ago

    When it comes to card art definitely Dixit. When I Dream also has really nice illustrations (and is pretty fun too).

    • cosmoscoffee@feddit.deEnglish
      3·
      6 months ago

      dude, I LOVE When I Dream! Also the idea of putting the draw pile inside a bedframe and covering the unused top of the cards with a pillow is so genius and creative!

    • illi@lemm.eeEnglish
      3·
      6 months ago

      Dixit sure had to be mentioned - when art is effectively your game mechanic it needs to be good. Though it depends on the card set, not a fan of the Dixit Odysey base set

    • inlandempire@jlai.luOPEnglish
      2·
      6 months ago

      I also played Mysterium which was made by the same people behind Dixit (I just checked and not at all, it’s just the same mechanics with beautiful illustrations open to interpretation, my bad), and the game is a lot more engaging to me, but Dixit is one of the classics for french players!

  • illi@lemm.eeEnglish
    8·
    6 months ago

    Root for sure, but I agree that’s almost cheating.

    Second to that, Everdell. I pretty much bought it solely because how pretty it is.

  • owenfromcanada@lemmy.worldEnglish
    81·
    6 months ago

    Probably Root, and Once Upon a Time. I love both games, and I think it’s at least partly the aesthetic.

  • K4mpfie@feddit.deEnglish
    81·
    6 months ago

    Imma go with the suuper vanilla answer: Game of Life. I love the little hills and buildings you have to put on the board.

    On the totally opposite spectrum of Nerdiness a full Board of Twilight Imperium 3rd Edition is a marvelous sight to behold

  • caseyweederman@lemmy.caEnglish
    6·
    6 months ago

    I’m right on board with you with Kyle Ferrin. I’ve spent… a lot of money on Leder Games games.

    • cosmoscoffee@feddit.deEnglish
      6·
      6 months ago

      It’s interesting how Kyle Ferrin managed to develop such a unique, recognizable and charming art style that I when I looked at OP’s picture, I instantly thought “huh, the art style of the third board game reminds me a lot of Root”

      • inlandempire@jlai.luOPEnglish
        6·
        6 months ago

        Yeah it’s Oath, I bought it, I don’t even know if I’ll be able to play it with friends, but I need all the Kyle Ferrin I can humanly collect in my life. His cute critters and goofy faces and lovely sketch lines and textures are just so adorable

        Edit : btw I stole the pic from the first image search result I could find that showcased nice looking games, it’s apparently from this article : https://gamerant.com/most-beautiful-board-game-boards/

      • caseyweederman@lemmy.caEnglish
        4·
        6 months ago

        My first thought was “I’ve got to share about Root” and then looked closer and thought “they probably already know”

  • pathief@lemmy.worldMEnglish
    6·
    6 months ago

    Great question!

    I really like when the games art immediately pulls players in. Everyone wants to play Flamecraft because the art work is so damn cute. Players are already engaged with the.gsme, before it even started.

    Everdell is great too!

  • threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    5·
    6 months ago

    I have a soft spot for C1 Carcassonne. There’s something very elegant in the simplicity of the tile art, and it’s the version of the game that got me hooked in the first place.

    Off topic, but what’s going on with the feddit.de instance? The main site (usually) just says server error, but I still see occasional posts and comments from communities (such as this one) and users on that instance in my feed. Is there a meta community where this is discussed?

    • Opafi@feddit.deEnglish
      2·
      6 months ago

      The feddit frontend has been offline for months, but the backend works just fine, so if you use another ui (such as an app) that instance can still be used. It’s a mess.

    • supersquirrel@sopuli.xyzEnglish
      3·
      6 months ago

      Inis seems like one of the best out there in terms of actually providing a fun experience for everyone involved in the area control genre.

    • ace_garp@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      6 months ago

      Yes, Inis(pronounced Inish) is glorious in it’s artwork. Makes the Celtic theme really pop.

      I also very much like the artwork in It’s a Wonderful World. An engine-builder with lovely character.

    • inlandempire@jlai.luOPEnglish
      1·
      6 months ago

      Oh yeah Jakub Różalski’s style is sooo good, there’s also a video game that pretty much has the same setting as Scythe on Steam, called Iron Harvest, I wouldn’t be surprised if he also worked on it!

  • Narann@lemmy.worldEnglish
    3·
    6 months ago

    I always enjoy the Sea, Salt, and Pepper cards and color.

    Radlands visuals are phenomenal.

    On the other side, the old school ugliness of Star Realms makes it intemporel. Same for War of the Ring that keep old illustrative style.

  • Stalinwolf@lemmy.caEnglish
    3·
    6 months ago

    Talisman is close to my heart in every possible way, though the character art for some of the more recent expansions don’t fit in particularly well.