On the Table: The Art of...Art.
October 2015. I was perusing BGG and saw an ad for a game called Scythe on Kickstarter. The art had me clicking instantly. What unfolded was something I never expected: a game that I had to get primarily because of the art. Don't get me wrong, the gameplay sounded fun and components looked amazing, but it was the art that caught my eye. Finally, after almost a year, I got my copy of Scythe--only a couple days before heading to northern Arizona to spend a week in the pine forests swimming, cooking great food, and playing numerous board games. Scythe was given priority placement in the Jeep.
I have a special affinity for Scythe because it changed my perspective as a game designer. This was my first exposure to Stonemaier Games and, from this campaign, I learned about Jamey Stegmaier's Kickstarter Blog. I have spent countless hours since reviewing his posts, prior KS campaigns, and more. It is an invaluable resource and I want to publicly thank Jamey for being so dedicated to the industry to provide such a resource to people like myself. My current game in development, Glyph, has benefited greatly from what I've learned over these past 8-9 months.
When I got the game in the mail, I had a sense of what to expect as the KS campaign and regular updates from Stonemaier, but to actually open it up and view each piece in my hands was an experience on its own. I was blown away by the quality of the components. I opted for the art book and it is incredibly well done. Jakub Rozalski has created such a rich world and Jamey did a marvelous job turning it into a fun and engaging board game. We played the game twice while in Arizona. My buddy, Ian, who won the Viticulture drawing at the Lexicon game convention back in April was present for the inaugural play session and now wants to purchase it.
I could go on about the miniatures, the metal coins, the realistic resource pieces, the player mat mechanics, and much more, but suffice to say this game is worthy of displaying on a table as a decorative piece as much as it is an enjoyable game. And if you can splurge a little, be sure to grab the Collector's Edition of the game, you won't be disappointed.
