Inspired by a recent Dice Tower video and some discussions with @lalunaverde about game art, I decided to make a list of the most beautiful covers of games that I
- own
- have owned
- will own
- have played
Since more and more covers crept into the list I ended up on pubmeeple where I had to make some horrifying decisions: is Sidereal Confluence prettier than Kanagawa?
So here is my top 9 
And the geeklist with my Top50: Yashimas Favorite Covers
(I am adding comments to the games as I go…)
I also seem to have a preference for blue-purple-dark covers and I let myself be influenced in quite a few cases by the inside art as well, f.e. Wonderland’s War ranks so high (among other reasons) because when I see the cover it reminds me of what is inside the box. I almost missed Beyond the Sun because the art inside the box is somewhat on the functional side. Turns out that I am just about to possibly sell my #15 most beautiful cover because I cannot seem to get Vampire Vendetta played…
So what are some of your favorite covers? Do you know your tastes?
(Mine looks very much like I expected, at least on the purple side of things)
PS: as there are 3 as yet unpublished games in my top 9, it also seems like I tend to judge games I buy by the cover… oops 
10 Likes
Interestingly, I’m someone who loves the original Inis cover and dislikes the new one for mucking about with the original piece.
(And there are a lot of other Jim Fitzpatrick pieces I would have picked over that one if I were choosing a new cover.)
I also passed on Wonderland’s War (partly) because of how much I disliked the character art.
I do really want Septima though and agree it looks lovely.
As for stuff I do like:
(Dis)Honourable mentions to Ashes and Unmatched for having lovely artwork throughout the games, but the cover composition just being really boring.
7 Likes
Royal Visit was on my even more extended list as well.
The Glow cover is so unusual. I tried to teach myself by playing on BGA but without a more in depth reading of the rules… and failed
If I had ever had played Realm of Sand it would be on my list for sure.
3 Likes
I liked Glow the one time I played it, but the gameplay doesn’t really tie in to the artwork very much. They’re mostly just nice pictures to look at while you play. It’s a fairly straightforward game though, so you’d probably find it easy to pick up from reading the rulebook.
Maisherly has done art for lots of games, but Realm of Sand is my fav. She’s also done a series of thematic illustrations based on games that are very cute.
(There are more on her ArtStation account.)
4 Likes
Oooh, you just opened a an of worms… (looks on his phone for PubMeeple…)
2 Likes
Took me a while, but I realized the only board games I could find with covers I like are probably not very popular choices, art-wise:
Simple and fairly understated, I guess? Rare to find examples like these that aren’t also ugly.
I like Leaving Earth from those posted above.
3 Likes
