The Art of My Shelf, Part 1: Before the First Turn

Hello everyone!

Some games stop me before I even start playing. I open the box, lay everything out, and just look.

Today I want to write something a little different from my usual reviews. This is the first post in a small series about the games whose art I love. It’s not about how good they are to play, only about what makes my eyes happy.

A quick note: this list is very personal and only includes games I own and have played. I’m sure many other gorgeous games deserve a spot, but if they’re not on my shelf, they’re not here. I had so much to talk about that I split it into three parts. We start today with first impressions: the boxes, the cozy worlds, and the creatures.

Love at First Sight: Box Art

It all starts with the box, right? These two games won me over before I even opened them.

Etherfields

Art: Mateusz Bielski, Ewa Labak, Michał Sałata · Publisher: Awaken Realms

I was already interested in Etherfields and I backed it, but it was the box that made me fall in love. It shows a lady in such a beautiful illustration that it gives you the illusion of a 3D image. She looks mysterious, calm and dreamy all at once, which fits the game perfectly. The game itself is also nicely illustrated and bright, but today the box is the only thing I want to talk about.

Etherfields box cover showing a lady between darkness and light — Etherfields

Earth

Art: M81 Studio, Conor McGoey, Yulia Sozonik and Kenneth Spond · Publisher: Inside Up Games

The box of Earth is stunning: a panorama with a mountain and the sun. It’s so beautiful that I keep it on display on my board game shelf, almost like an art object. It conveys calm and makes you want to stop and simply look at it.

Earth box cover with a waterfall, a mountain and the setting sun — Earth

Cozy Vibes

Let’s continue with cozy games, the ones with lovely illustrations and components that make you feel at home.

Honey Buzz

Art: Anne Heidsieck · Publisher: Elf Creek Games

Honey Buzz is a game about selling honey to the other woodland creatures. I love the warm illustrations and their honey-yellow tones, but my favourite part is the honey tokens. They’re squishy and have a texture all of their own, just like real honey! It’s a small thing, but it makes the whole table look inviting.

Honey Buzz box cover with bees, a bear and a honey market — The box

Honey Buzz boards showing the honeycomb hive and the flowering meadow — The hive and the meadow

Honey Buzz hexagonal tiles, bee meeples and squishy honey tokens — Those honey tokens!

Everdell

Art: Andrew Bosley, Cody Jones, Dann May · Publisher: Starling Games

There’s a 3D tree in this box, and you assemble it every single time you play. That one component gives the whole table a perfect look, and it’s the reason Everdell always turns heads.

The rest lives up to it. You build your own city by putting up constructions and attracting critters, and the animals on the cards are drawn with so much warmth. I don’t have one favourite card, although I always smile at the Husband and Wife, who look so nice together. The components are lovely too, even in the regular edition: the resources look like real wood, but the best ones are the pebbles and the berries, which look like they’d go squish squish.

The Everdell 3D tree standing on the board with critter workers — The tree that makes the table

Everdell box cover with a badger and mice in a golden forest — The box

Everdell critter and construction cards laid out on the board — Critters and constructions

Meadow

Art: Karolina Kijak, Katarzyna Fiebiger · Publisher: Rebel Studio

Meadow is a game about observing nature, its flora and fauna. The watercolour cards are delicate and extremely thematic, and they add so much to the immersion. It’s a game I love to play solo, with a cup of tea and some autumn vibes, because playing alone gives me more time to appreciate the game and really look at the cards.

Meadow set up on the table with the card grid and the box — Meadow on the table

Meadow watercolour cards showing a hawk, a mouse, a hedgehog and butterflies — Watercolour nature

Creature Design

We stay on the soft and friendly side, but this time it’s all about the creatures themselves. Not real animals, invented ones!

Dragon Eclipse

Art: Bożena Chądzyńska, Lukasz Cywinski, Jakub Dzikowski · Publisher: Awaken Realms

Dragon Eclipse is a story-driven, narrative game where you follow the story, fight, and catch mystlings, creatures that look a lot like dragons. It makes you think of Pokémon the whole time, but the illustrations are fantastic. Each mystling has its own deck of cards with its own specific art. I don’t own the miniatures pack, only the standees, and the art on them is exactly the same, so the table still looks colourful and great.

Dragon Eclipse box cover with a dragon curled around an eclipse — Dragon Eclipse

Dragon Eclipse set up on the table with the map board and cards — The game in play

Dragon Eclipse mystling cards including Young Luminesca and Pulpin — Every mystling has its own art

Wondrous Creatures

Art: Sophia Kang · Publisher: Bad Comet

Wondrous Creatures is a worker placement game where you play cards to bring creatures onto your tableau. They’re mystical, colourful and full of character, and I love how the artist mixed real animals with magical ones. The explorer tokens are a lovely touch too, especially the little white dragons, which are my favourites.

Wondrous Creatures cards showing invented creatures in bright colours — Creatures between real and magical

Wondrous Creatures board, wooden creature tokens and illustrated bag — The wooden creatures and the bag

See You in Part 2

That’s it for this first part! In the next one, we’ll look at games whose cards are so beautiful I’d happily frame them, and a few where the cards even build a whole world on the table.

In the meantime, tell me: was there ever a box so beautiful that it convinced you to buy a game?

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