Top 10 Best Board Game Art of 2019
I created this site to help spotlight and share the stories behind board game art. Each year I host nominations and a vote on your favorite board game art from the previous year to help celebrate the hard work of those responsible for making our games look so beautiful.
Of course art is subjective, and when it comes to any top 10 list what is “the best” to one person may not be to another, but one thing I strongly believe is that board game art is worthy of discussion, and the talent behind it celebrated. I hope you’ve enjoyed taking part, or reading these results and consider what may have made your own top 10 this year.
You nominated over 350 different games
I asked you to nominate the best looking games of the last year and it’s a sure sign that the industry has never looked better that there were thousands of nominations with over 350 different titles put forward. However, only the top 10 most popular nominations could go to the final list.
Thousands of you voted on the top 10 nominations
I’ve split the vote results into runners up (in alphabetical order) and then a top 5, counting down to the number 1 spot. I’ve included links to the game pages on board game geek under (more info) so if you want to know more about any of the games on the list you can just click that link. I’ve also included the publishers’ game descriptions and quotes from those involved in creating the games.
This vote wouldn’t exist without your help
I’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who voted as without your input this vote wouldn’t exist. I’d also like to thank all of those who shared this vote, as I run this site on my own and my voice only carries so far. With your help, each year it has become bigger than I could have possibly imagined.
So which board game had the best art of 2019?
This might be a vote for a top 10 but it’s safe to say all the games on this list should be considered examples of what can be done in this industry with the right talent involved. However you feel about this list, we can all agree that 2019 saw some outstanding titles released with exceptional art.
I’d like to say one last thank you to all of the artists out there, it’s their talent that brightens up our games and is taking this hobby to new and greater heights, and now .. on to the results!
Best Board Game Art 2019 - Runners Up (alphabetical)
Runner Up
Detective: City of Angels
Artist: Vincent Dutrait
Publisher: Van Ryder Games
Board Game Geek: more info
Publisher Description: Detective: City of Angels, set in the dark and violent world of 1940s Los Angeles, is a game of mystery, deception, and investigation. Most players will step into the shoes of LAPD homicide detectives, hungry for glory and willing to do whatever it takes to successfully close a case, even if that means intimidating suspects, concealing evidence, and hiring snitches to rat on their fellow detectives. One player, however, will take on the role of The Chisel, whose only goal is to stall and misdirect the detectives at every turn using bluffing, manipulation, and (often) outright lies.
Images: Photography by More Games Please.
Game artist Vincent Dutrait:
”I worked very hard on Detective to create an authentic experience, boosting players immersion in 1940s LA and building a flamboyant "Noir" universe. This project was a great and impressive "sandbox" for personal creativity, with some rare, pure illustrator pleasure. I'm proud and moved to see my art celebrated here and thanks to the Van Ryder Games team, Evan and AJ, for their trust and support! I hope that I reached my goal with you all, to share, transmit and convey stories, moods and emotions!”
Runner Up
Pipeline
Artist: Ian O'Toole
Publisher: Capstone Games
Board Game Geek: more info
Publisher Description: The refinement of oil has long been part of the government-controlled energy sector. Amassed with an incredibly complex and inefficient system of refineries, the government has felt the severe pressures of worldwide demand and the ever-increasing global standards for refinement. Unable to keep up with demand, the government has only one option: privatizing the oil industry. This is where you come in. Seeking to capitalize on this new opportunity, in Pipeline you start a company in the oil business. You will focus on building a much more efficient pipeline network in your refinery, hiring experts that provide valuable benefits over your competitors, and managing the logistics of purchasing and selling your refined oil in the various markets. You will need more than strong economic skills – carefully crafting an interweaving network of pipelines just might ensure your victory!
Images: Supplied by Ian O’Toole
Game artist Ian O'Toole:
“Pipeline was a really satisfying project to work on as the game required the graphic design to deliver a clear, clean solution that facilitated both learning and play. Capstone put a lot of trust in my approach, and I’m really thankful that the game has been received so well. Most of all I’m glad that my work has helped more people experience Ryan’s fantastic design.”
You can read my interview with artist Ian O’Toole on this site here.
Runner Up
Skulk Hollow
Artist: Dustin Foust, Sebastián Koziner, Keith Matejka, Helen Zhu
Publisher: Pencil First Games
Board Game Geek: more info
Publisher Description: Over generations and generations the ancient woodland of Børe prospered and grew. The world was bestowed with great spirit, which lifted the animals of the land to new heights. Unfortunately, over the years these clans lost touch with the spirit of the land and faction warring developed. The Foxen Kingdom of Skulk Hollow in the South, The spiritual Red Pandas of Cupboard in the North, the Mischievous Mice of Multon in the West, and the colony of Blackheart Bunnies in the East. As skirmishes started breaking out across the continent, lives lost, there was a monstrous shake and then The Great Return. No one quite knows why, but the Guardians have risen - but not the kind, life-giving Guardians of spiritual legend. Dark, ferocious, versions that are now attacking all the kingdoms of the land.
Images: Photo 1 More Games Please and images 2-5 provided by Pencil 1st
Game artist Dustin Foust:
”Thank you to everyone who voted! It's an honor to have Skulk Hollow nominated for the Best Board Game Art of 2019. It was a team effort. Eduardo and Keith provide great feedback throughout the project. Helen created some amazing meeples. Seth pulled it all together with his incredible storytelling. The art would have fallen short without contribution from the whole team (Ed, Keith, Dustin S, Sebastian, Helen, and Seth). I don’t think any of us imagined being nominated for anything. It is a good feeling to be recognized for all of our hard work.
I will never forget the phone call I received from Ed regarding this project. He told me that he and his son had come up with an idea called Giants vs. Meeples. He then proceeded to give me a rundown of the gameplay. I was instantly sold. Early on, Ed allowed me the freedom to experiment with the ideas in my head. I drew some concepts of foxes fighting various large creatures. After a few iterations, Ed was sold. Soon Giants vs. Meeples became Skulk Hollow. As they say, the rest is history. I’m excited to see where the path leads the Skulk Hollow team next. For the rest of you coming with us, bring your snow boots!”
Runner Up
Tapestry
Artist: Andrew Bosley, Rom Brown
Publisher: Stonemaier Games
Board Game Geek: more info
Publisher Description: Create the civilization with the most storied history, starting at the beginning of humankind and reaching into the future. The paths you choose will vary greatly from real-world events or people — your civilization is unique!
Images: Supplied by Stonemaier Games
Designer and head of Stonemaier Games, Jamey Stegmaier:
“Tapestry exists largely because I was fortunate to discover Rom Brown’s blog, which features photos of his commissioned custom sculpts for a variety of games. I loved the style, and suddenly I had an inspiration for the civilization game I had been wanting to design for years. It’s been a pleasure ever since to work with Rom to bring the landmarks and buildings in Tapestry to life.”
Game Artist Andrew Bosley:
”I really feel honored to be included in this year's finalists! Dang, there's so many great artists and beautiful games out there! It really was a pleasure working on Tapestry with Jamey and Stonemaier Games. I had been a fan of Jamey's for a long time, so when he reached out looking for an artist on such an ambitious project, I was over-the-moon. From the get-go, Jamey wanted me to own the art creation process and I essentially became the art director for everything visual about the game. He'd give me raw prototype layout and game play details and I'd translate them into something that looked pretty. I really appreciate Jamey's trust and I'm very pleased with the results. It definitely means a lot that others like it too. Thanks everyone!”
You can read my interview with artist Andrew Bosley on this site here.
Runner Up
Unmatched
Artist: Oliver Barrett
Publisher: Mondo Games, Restoration Games
Board Game Geek: more info
Publisher Description: Unmatched is a highly asymmetrical miniature fighting game for two or four players. Each hero is represented by a unique deck designed to evoke their style and legend. Tactical movement and no-luck combat resolution create a unique play experience that rewards expertise, but just when you've mastered one set, new heroes arrive to provide all new match-ups.
Images: Supplied by Restoration Games
Art Director Jason Taylor:
”I'm gonna tell it to you straight. It's fu*#ing hard to make board games. Tons of blood, sweat, and tears were shed and humans were harmed during the making of this game. Teams were formed. Sidekicks were sacrificed. Oliver Barrett kicked ass. Nothing left on the battlefield. But when a nomination from the community acknowledges that hard work it makes us all forget how hard it was. And we do it all over again making more Unmatched games. So thank you all for voting and recognizing the hard work that goes into all of these nominated games!”
5th Place
Power Rangers Heroes of the Grid
Artist: Dan Mora (illustrator), Jeanne Torres (Graphic Designer)
Publisher: Renegade Game Studios
Board Game Geek: more info
Publisher Description: Power Rangers: Heroes of the Grid gives each player the chance to take the role of a Power Ranger, the heroes of Angel Grove who defend the earth against the evil Rita Repulsa and her nefarious minions. Each Ranger comes with a unique combat deck representing their special skills and fighting style. From the Red Ranger's leadership karate skills, to the Yellow Ranger's Sabertooth ferocity, to the Blue Ranger's tactical mind, each ranger brings a unique set of skills to the table. You need to use your powers well if you intend to save Angel Grove!
Images: Supplied by Renegade Game Studios
Anita Osburn, Renegade Game Studios’ Creative Director
”There is so much talent packed into this game! The Power Rangers community is the best so we made sure to get the best illustrators and visual designers! Dan Mora gives an impressive display of dynamic composition and depth in the original art created specifically for this game. Truly impressive! Jeanne Torres’s visual design was the perfect compliment to Dan’s original illustrations as well as Saban’s ongoing art style and the 13 other graphic novel illustrators featured in this game. A perfect match up for the Power Rangers board game experience.”
4th Place
Pax Pamir 2E
Artist: Cole Wehrle
Publisher: Wehrlegig Games
Board Game Geek: more info
Publisher Description: Pax Pamir is an interactive historical game about politics and power in nineteenth century Afghanistan from the designer of Root. As local Afghan tribal leaders, players will work in coalitions to build a new state after the collapse of the Durrani Empire. However, only a single player can win. As your coalition becomes powerful, former allies will turn to espionage and political subterfuge in an effort to secure their personal dominance.
Images: Photography by More Games Please.
Wehrlegig Games Drew Wehrle:
”We are flattered that Pax Pamir is included among all the beautiful games from 2019! A huge thank you to Josh Berer for the amazing cover and Abol Bahadori for the icon illustrations. Nearly all of the card art used in Pamir is coming from period paintings, lithographs, and drawings. The art featured in Pax Pamir was often difficult to locate and required searching academic archives for the original works. We feel incredibly proud to exhibit the complexities of The Great Game through the historic art that was digitized for this project. We are continuously grateful to our supporters that helped bring this game and its 100+ unique period illustrations into existence. “
3rd Place
Museum
Artist: Vincent Dutrait
Publisher: Holy Grail Games
Board Game Geek: more info
Publisher Description: It’s the turn of the 20th century, the golden age of museums. As interest in and accessibility of museums grew exponentially, many institutions underwent an intense period of expansion on both an intellectual and physical level, searching to grow their collections for profit and science. You play as a curator of one such museum and it’s your job to build the biggest, most coherent collection that you can in this game of collection, bartering and authentic architectural facts. But it’s no simple task!
Images: Photography by More Games Please and renders from Holy Grail Games
Game Artist Vincent Dutrait:
”Museum was certainly the most complex project I illustrated last year and an epic journey due to the volume of illustrations and the strong historical and cultural base to respect. Instead of painting a simple gallery of museum masterpieces I added a subtle ‘docudrama’ touch so players can immerse themselves in the atmosphere of these years. I hope that players can live the discoveries and passion of the curators, explorers and restorers through my illustrations!”
2nd Place
Wingspan
Artist: Ana Maria Martinez Jaramillo, Natalia Rojas, Beth Sobel
Publisher: Stonemaier Games
Board Game Geek: more info
Publisher Description: Wingspan is a competitive, medium-weight, card-driven, engine-building board game. You are bird enthusiasts—researchers, bird watchers, ornithologists, and collectors—seeking to discover and attract the best birds to your network of wildlife preserves.
You can read my interview about Wingspan with Jamey Stegmaier (Publisher/Developer), Elizabeth Hargrave (Designer) and Natalia Rojas (Artist) on this site.
Images: Supplied by Stonemaier Games
Game Publisher Jamey Stegmaier
”One of the greatest joys I’ve had as a board game publisher is getting emails from Wingspan artists Natalia and Ana every time they completed and uploaded a new batch of Wingspan art. They’re each self-taught, and they spend 10+ hours drawing each bird by hand before scanning and touching them up for the game. I’m very lucky to work with them!”
Game Artist Ana Maria
”Many thanks for the nomination, it's an honor that the work of Natalia and I has been selected among so many board games and an industry of such talented artists. And of course, a thousand thanks to all the people who by voting for Wingspan are supporting our work ... to all of you, thank you so much!”
1st Place
PARKS
Artist: Fifty-Nine Parks Print Series
Publisher: Keymaster Games
Board Game Geek: more info
Publisher Description: PARKS is a celebration of the US National Parks featuring illustrious art from Fifty-Nine Parks. In PARKS, players will take on the role of two hikers as they trek through different trails across four seasons of the year. While on the trail, these hikers will take actions and collect memories of the places your hikers visit. These memories are represented by various resource tokens like mountains and forests. Collecting these memories in sets will allow players to trade them in to visit a National Park at the end of each hike.
You can read my interview with JP creative director of the Fifty-Nine Parks Print series on this site here.
Images: Supplied by Keymaster Games, photography by Cathy Bock
Creative Director Mattox Shuler
"With Parks, the art actually came before the game! We were already big fans of the Fifty-Nine Parks Print Series so when they reached out to us about making a game about the national parks, we cried tears of joy for a second then jumped at the opportunity. JP Boneyard's creative direction over the series was astounding and set a clear tone for how we wanted the gameplay to feel—peaceful, majestic, inviting, and adventurous.
It was a blast to work with Henry Audubon to figure out the gameplay, and all the while considering how these illustrations make the most sense within the game's different layouts and card sizes. There were a lot of fun design problems to solve along the way to create a flexible layout / icon system that sits more in the background and doesn't compete with the attention of the illustration. The creative direction over the game hopefully feels minimal—although there was a ton of thought and work placed into it :) —so that art and readability of the cards feel like they're all falling in the right place.
It's easy for me to get lost in all the nit-picky design and layout details though, but everything comes into focus when we get to play the game and see how the art triggers players to share park memories around the table. The community responses and stories have inspired our team in ways we never imagined. We're just super excited to be a part of it.”
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