My first post! Wanted to ask what genre of game you, the reader, like to play? 

Hey Alexandr, thank you for making your time! First up, I noticed while stalking through your artstation account that you have quite the Cinderella story! Could you share with us your journey leading up to becoming a freelance artist?

Hello! I am an illustrator artist for video games, board games and books. Most often, I draw illustrations for tabletop games. It is very popular now. Every known universe in the world wants to make its desktop. My video game love originates from console games and a little later it was acquaintance with D&D. I plunged into the world of CRPG and I'm still a fan of them. Although at that time I could not even imagine that I would draw pictures and concepts for real games. I studied at the college of design and thought that I would do house interiors. I even learned to work well in 3D programs, I modeled beautiful buildings. But the crisis struck, there was less work and I started looking for something new. At first I thought to work in the printing industry, but I did not really like it and my first work in the field of games was unsuccessful. I decided to look for work online but everything went very badly until Fantasy Flight Games contacted me. I started drawing art for cards in such cool universes like The Lord of the Rings, Warhammer 40k, Star Wars and others. I began to receive a lot of orders as crowdfunding sites got popular and many people had opportunity to start projects. So I got an order from Isaac for Gloomhaven project.

So when you finally became a freelance artist, did it turn out to be everything you expected? What were some of the toughest challenges you faced? What was the most rewarding?

At the beginning of my freelance career, I was not looking for a job in other countries. Our local customers often did not behave very well, and I had little experience to stand up for myself. I learned to negotiate and conduct work and I got a job at a firm to study. It was fun, so great to discuss the project and the news of games every day. But in the end I wanted to draw something new. This is a big freelance plus, that you yourself choose what to draw. Today I can draw ancient ruins, tomorrow demons or cyberpunk eyes concept art for my own project. 

Let's start talking about Gloomhaven. Did you anticipate the game's massive success from the beginning?

The success of Gloomhaven was unexpected for me. It was the first big board game in which I drew the whole characters illustrations. I was very happy when the game began to collect good funding and when Isaac open second reprint was hard to believe, I was very happy about the project.

How do you think your art style, experience, and skills made you a great fit for handling Gloomhaven's art?

I think my style was good fit for the game and I think the players liked the illustrations. Although this is not the main thing in the game, as far as I know, the players have enjoyed the gameplay the most.

How detailed were the briefs for each of the characters? Were you able to exercise a lot of creative freedom or was there a clear direction for the desired look?

Isaac is a real creator, he came up with all the races and how they should look. We discussed every detail, shared the reference, what should be their clothing, culture, architecture. I am very pleased that each race was unique and new, it was a good opportunity to prove myself. This was the first sketch I did for the cover art.

Which character was your favorite and why? Could you use that character as an example to share with us your typical design process from start to finish?

All races in Gloomhaven are very interesting. Although one is very unusual - Aesther. After the cataclysm in their homeland, they became semi-ghost. They half exist in the world, their clothes and they are translucent. On the one hand, they are human-like, but they had to be made unusual. I tried to add all sorts of unusual colors, glitches, black bottomless eyes, as if in them only emptiness.

What do you think makes a good character design that will be loved by many people?

This is a pretty hard question. Do you remember how Miranda Presley a character from The Devil Wears Prada explained to the main character how difficult it is to find the right blue color? I think to create an up-to-date design, you need to follow all modern trends. You need to dive into games with a similar style, explore design, modern fashion, know the history of costumes, watch a lot of movies to know how it all works. We must try to make unusual combinations of colors, fabrics, anatomy, even the state of the surrounding world such as time of day, weather, lighting, so that each illustration is different from the previous one. At the same time, the artist should try to keep everything in the same style and color scale. I was very surprised when I learned that one artist Michiyo Yasuda was responsible for the colors of all the Ghibli films. I review them every year and get inspired by them.

How many alternate designs did you have to come up with for your characters?

As far as I remember, all the sketches were liked by Isaac from the first sketch. Isaac knew exactly what he wanted, it's a great quality for a client to have, and I guess my experience with fantasy style paid off. All the work was very interesting and it was very much enjoyable even though it was hard work. I worked on the principle one illustration per day. Now I am working on a new game and I am doing a lot of sketches and variations of one creature, while the client prescribes the lore and mythology behind the game's world. 

Now that Gloomhaven's been released all over the world, is there anything you wish you would've altered in your art before production?

When the game was released, we immediately began to make add-ons and Founders of Gloomhaven game in the same world. I had almost no time to think that I wanted to change. Probably every artist would like to change his art after some time when he grew up as an artist. Probably I would like to spend more time on each illustration and make them even better and more realistic.

How has Gloomhaven's success impacted your career and you as an artist? Has it been all good? or are there downsides as well?

I think the overall success of the game influenced me well. I heard a lot of good reviews, it is always very nice and motivates me to draw. More people signed up on my Instagram. There are more orders for board games from indie authors. But I think this is both a plus and a minus, I would like to be engaged in projects in other styles as well. It's busy but for relaxation I most often play on my PC or PS4. I would really like to work on such games as Dishonored, TES or Deus Ex.  

What are your next steps in your career? Are there any exciting developments in the works that you'd like to share with us?

I have a lot of good work now. Recently, I made the backgrounds for a project I have been working for a long time and I will finish it soon, I hope it will be interesting and will please the players. You can check some updates on Kickstarter. And as I mentioned before, I started working on a new desktop project that will be very diverse and amazing in illustrations, I vouch for this.

And lastly, what is your dream project?

I dream to draw my comics and make the game in cyberpunk style. The working title is Entropy Hunter. You can follow the tag #entropyhunter on instagram and see the concepts that I've been drawing in recent years. I draw them less often, but I try not to throw away the idea. This genre is not very popular and it is not often possible to find inspiration in games, movies or music for this, but major sources such as Blade Runner, Ghost in the Shell and Akira become truly cult with time. I hope that I can do something similarly successful in the future.

I hope everyone enjoyed learning more about the man behind Gloomhaven's art! If you'd like to see more of his works, you can follow him on instagram, facebook, and artstation.

Thank you for reading!

Hello all. Hoping it's OK to share a project I'm a part of called Saito, which includes a Board Game Arcade -- a new open-source online board gaming platform. 

The platform runs atop blockchain tech, with provable fairness, a simple/clean interface, and the ability to run modified versions of games based on community decisions or requests. 

We currently have three games in the arcade: chess, WordBlocks, and Twilight Struggle -- and would love to connect with anyone looking to get their work online and in front of an audience, as well as engage in discussions on board game design more generally. 

For example, the design of the WordBlocks game in the Saito Arcade is open for improvement if people who are familiar with games such as Scrabble had any ideas of how else to rework the board for a better experience.

We have a chat box in the arcade should anyone want to reach out:

https://apps.saito.network/arcade

Or simply ping us here via this thread.

Thanks for your time! Happy gaming everyone.

Happy weekend BGA I hope all your dice are being nice. My last post about 3D printers went over well and I wanted to play off that and start up a discussion about general accessories. Aside from more or fancy dice and additional meeples what are some good general accessories that can be used to improve most games or the playing experience. I'll start things off with card holders. I have been wanting to get some since first playing Ticket to Ride with the original cards. Those things are small and with a few players having larger hands they stop being fun to hold on too fairly quick. I never got around to buying any but it was one of my first printing projects and they are a game changer.

A couple weeks ago user Markus integrated the BGA API with his recommendation engine. You can see his announcement here.

Today I've integrated his engine directly into the website! You can see the general recommendations if you're not logged in but if you log in and have some games on your owned list you can see your personalized recommendations here.

Let me know what you think!

It's been a while since I posted what feature's for the site that I've been working on. There's been a ton of small things but I'll list out some of them

• New links for game lists on the front page and results page (small group games, games for families, etc)
• Improvements for the article writing feature like autosaving, adding lists and image adjustments
• Improved formatting for PMs to allow new lines
• Reducing the top level links to focus the site more
• Bringing the image upload link to the front of game pages rather than in the edit page.
• 5 new API calls

Some of the upcoming features will be

• A personal recommendation page
• Additional features for game publishers
• Further improvements to the game pages

Let me know if you have any other feature requests!

Hey Victoria, thank you for making your time! First up, could you tell us a bit about yourself?

Thanks for having me! I'm an illustrator currently living in Los Angeles. I graduated from Art Center College of Design and then went on to work at Disney Feature Animation for 8 years before transitioning into publishing and freelance work.

From film to board games, that's quite a leap! So how exactly did you end up working on Bargain Quest?

Bargain Quest was a real dream project for me. My brother and I are both creatives and he came up with a prototype for a game that was really fun and exciting to play. At the time, I had just left the film industry and had time on my hands between client work and volunteered to do the artwork for this project. I was just lucky that my brother is an awesome game designer!

What was the main vision behind Bargain Quest's art that you and your brother wanted to achieve?

We both love traditional fantasy, but we also saw the flaw in it because people like us were rarely represented. We wanted to have an inclusive world where everyone could feel like they belonged and had a part to play. I remember watching my brother play through Ocarina of Time on the N64 when we were kids and the world was just so fun to watch. We wanted to create a family friendly, inclusive version of the fantasy worlds we grew up loving.

How did you go about deciding what kind of art style/mood would be the most appropriate?

Since we were aiming for fun above all else, we tried not to stick too strictly to any specific fantasy world. Jon is great at thinking of cultural influences for each of the heroes so he would throw me ideas and I would sketch them out. We were on the same page most of the time for the artwork, so he turned out to be one of my easiest clients. Plus it helped that we still had the sibling-factor, so I could voice my opinions without feeling like I was overstepping the director.

One of the many things I like about Bargain Quest's art is the personality behind not just the characters, but also in the shops and the items. Could you share some tips on how you achieve this?

Jon was a big help on a lot of the items, there were so many to design that splitting it between us helped a lot. I would take cues from what he was doing to insert them into my own items. I'm not as much of a gamer as my brother, so he was able to show me more inspiration that I wouldn't have gotten otherwise.

References to classic RPG elements always bring up great childhood memories. Are there any games you played before that helped with inspiration?

I mentioned Zelda earlier, and that was huge for us, and for me, literature and books that took place in fantasy always held my interest. I loved the Earthsea novels, The Chronicles of Narnia, and all the Harry Potter books. They all had a huge influence on this project.

Among all of your character, shop, and item illustrations, which was your favorite? And which of the characters do you most identify yourself with?

I did a little witch girl in the first deck and she's my favorite. I always loved witches because they were a power fantasy that always included girls and women. She's cheerful and sweet like Kiki from Kiki's Delivery Service! I also love the witch shop that's included in the new expansion for the same reasons. I like to think that that would be mine if I lived in that world.

What was a unique aspect of illustrating for board games that you liked? Was there anything you didn't like or found challenging?

Board games have a LOT of art, and that's both a good thing and a bad thing. The breadth of the characters we were able to put in the game is one of my favorite things. When I play Bargain Quest, I notice that people start to make up their own lore for the characters and the employees which always makes me smile. The downside of there being a lot of art is that THERE IS A LOT OF ART. It was fun to do, but also daunting in terms of its scope. There were times when I had to get help with certain elements of the art, like getting help with flatting or props.

As someone who seems to challenge new territories again and again (children's book, film, comics, board game, etc), what are some advice you could give to artists out there who may be afraid of taking that first step?

You're good enough. The thing that holds us back from trying to do new things is usually the feeling that we aren't 'ready' enough to do or make them. When you're trying to work for a publisher or a studio, that may be the case, but you have to start producing the work before anyone will notice you. If you like comics, make indie comics, if you like concept art, make concept art. Don't wait until you're good enough, you're already ready.

Lastly, what's something new you'd like to explore in the future?

With comics I've been dipping my toe more into prose writing and screenwriting. If I ever return to film/TV, I think I would love to be a writer. Someday, I would also like to write a prose novel, like some of my favorites from my childhood. 

That's all, folks!

You can see more of Victoria's incredible works @ http://www.victoriaying.com or follow her on Twitter and Instagram @victoriaying

This article assumes you know the game so if you haven't played you can jump into the rules on the Skull game page or watch a How to Play video by SU&SD on the game's page as well.

As I dive into scenarios that help explain the strategies and thoughts behind it, we'll assume there are 4 players named A, B, C and D (You're A).

Go First

It's advantageous to go first. The basic reason is that you have the most power, influence, and ability to get information. Let's go through some examples to see why.

1. Skull + bid 1. Most of the time someone will bid 2 or 3 and your trap will be set.
2. Rose + bid 1. Early game this can be used to just see who passes and take note of potential people who put Skulls down as well. If players know you as a Skull player, then this could be a free win for you.
3. Rose + bid 2 or 3. If you have a good read on other players you can put pressure on them to let you win the round or overbid.
4. Rose + bid 4. This is risky and comes down to your read on other players. You can get a quick win or easily lose a disc. If there have been a Skulls played the last two rounds, players typically start playing Roses to try and get a round win. If you've got discs to spare then you'll at least get to go first on the next round as well.
5. Rose + Rose. If another player decides to start the bidding you know at least 1 more disc than everyone else after the bidder. You can use that to make higher bids if others pass.
6. Rose + Skull. Your trap is set. If players B or C start the bidding with a 2 or 3 and you can easily pass without suspicion and your trap is set. You can bluff a bid if Player D starts the bidding with a good chance it'll get increased after you.
7. Skull + Rose. Don't do this. It's a trap for yourself and you likely give away information too easily in this situation. You are forced to either wait, bluff, or wait and bluff. It's better to go with the Rose+Rose strategy and catch other players falling into the Skull+Rose scenario.

It's worth going first. Don't be afraid of overbidding in the early game so that you can start the next round going first.

Poison Passing

The scenario: Player A might win the game with a bid of 2 and Players B and C both pass. That's a poison pass to player D.

The burden of preventing player A from winning is on D. It's a great move by Players B and C if player D has 1 or 2 discs remaining. Here's some scenarios to look at assuming player D has 3 or 4 discs.

Player B

1. If B has 3 or 4 discs, they should increase the bid to 3 for the sake of starting the next round. It doesn't matter if they placed a Skull or Rose. They're representing a Rose and players C and D could reasonably raise the bid to 4.
2. If B has 1 or 2 discs, they should pass no matter what they placed. Bidding 3 could likely lose them the last disc or the game. Poison passing is great in this scenario.

Player C

1. If B passed and C has 3 or 4 discs with a Rose face down, they should increase the bid to 3 to start the next round. If player D put a Rose they're still pressured to increase the bid to 4 (to prevent a potential win) and will always pass if they placed a Skull.
2. If B bid 3 and C has 3 or 4 discs with a Rose face down, they should increase the bid to 4 to start the next round.

Player D

1. Play to win in the long run. Don't play to "not lose".
2. Player D should always bid if they have 3 or 4 discs to start the next round. If they has 1 or 2 discs they should never bid. Whether or not player A wins, this puts the pressure back onto players B and C to bid to prevent future game wins.

One on One

As much as you control, try to be the first player in a one on one scenario. If you have more discs than your opponent then you have more liberty to play aggressively.

If You're First

1. Rose + bid 2. You'll win the round or get to go first again. If you've already won a round, make this your first move. It's even more advantageous if your opponents have discs missing.
2. Skull + bid 1. Your opponent will up the bid and lose or pass and you can lose a disc and go again.
3. Rose + bid 1. Only do this if you know your opponent will pass.
4. Rose + Skull. Only do this if your opponent has 1 disc left. Since you have more info than them, they're more likely to start with a high bid and bust.
5. Rose/Skull + Rose. Don't do this. You're putting your fate in your opponent's hands.

If You're Second

Going second is MUCH harder. The strategies are more varied based on the game scenario.

1. If your opponent has won a round place a Skull and always bid if you can. If they bid 2, they'll lose a disc and if they only bid 1, it's worth losing a disc of your own to start the next round.
2. Have you won a round? Place a Skull. They'll likely place a skull and start the bidding. Pass and let them lose a disc. If they didn't place a Skull, they may have lost that disc already.
3. Neither won a round? Place a Rose and Bid the max to try and sneak in a win and at the very least chose to go first.

Playing With 1 Disc

If it's a Skull then you're winning by the other players busting. Try to bluff some bids when you can but hope no one flips your disc till the very end.

If it's a Rose you need to win a bid with an exact guess to have the first player advantage. 

If you've already won a round and you're first you can pressure other players with a low bid number threatening a win. It's better to try and read your opponents in this situation and aim for an exact bid.

Quick Tips

Here's some general tips when playing to think about.

Never Place All Your Discs

If you have less than 4 discs remaining, then you're giving away the precious information of whether or not you have a skull remaining. Don't give that away to opponents freely!

Blindly Placing Discs

Playing discs randomly without checking doesn't help you play better in the long run. Don't do it if you're trying to improve your gameplay.

Playing Without Your Skull

Play to win and take a higher bidding strategy based on how well you can read your opponents. If you're playing first then the opportunity to play a Rose+Rose turn makes more sense so that you have more knowledge of the discs for others to start the bidding. But remember, don't place all your discs.

Your Mindset

Be observant of what other players are doing. If you're watching and seeing when they change behavior you can use that to your advantage. Are they placing a Skull and starting the bidding low often? What for the times when they bid high or pass.

Have a plan before you place your disc. Are you hoping to start bidding, will you increase it, will you max it out to guarantee you go first next?

Try out different strategies early in the game to get a good read of the other players and in subsequent games exploit what you see.

References

https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/964321/poisoned-pass-and-passing-buck

https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1354803/best-possible-moves-guide

https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1491444/deliberate-ignorancerandom-play-strategy