The Art of Boardgames

I borrowed this one recently from a friend whose games collection is far richer than mine. The game dates back to 2004 and my own most recent playing is actually March 2006, so a long time between drinks! But I’ve remembered since then how I was struck by the artwork, in particular the location graphics rendered on the game board overlying the world map.
The artist responsible is Bernd Wagenfeld, originally from Düsseldorf but now based in Brooklyn NY. His board game work is extensive and can be perused on boardgamegeek, but for mine it is this game that shows off his talents the best.

Like much of the work in his broader portfolio, the location pictures in AtWi80D show a beautifully rich use of colour and shading. I’m not au fait with most artist techniques, but I would guess Bernd used oil chalks or pastels to create these. When I first saw this they reminded me of vintage postcard art, although I imagine genuine period postcard graphics from the era of the game theme (ie., over 100 years ago) would not come close to these in quality.
The box cover art and the travel cards (trains and boats) are also wonderful.

For those curious about the game play itself, AtWi80D is basically a race game in which players travel across the world as “efficiently” as possible while avoiding the detective, which acts as an obstacle that makes your journey take longer. The winner is the player who successfully makes it home to London and does so in the least number of days.
While I wouldn’t argue that it’s the most compelling race or travel game you’ll find, it does work well (from memory!) with some real competitive decision-making involved.

But the highlight for me is that set of ten location images, which really evoke the theme and the period. If you click on the thumbnails above you’ll see them in their splendid detail.
Worth admiring.

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