The visual language of a board game sets the tone for gameplay and provides players with the cues and information they need during the course of the game. As a game of intrigue and backroom dealings, I envisioned the setting of American Dynasty as the plotters’ den, a concept I reinforced through the layout and design of all components. The board and player mats evoke the scene of an old maple table covered in papers detailing plans and perhaps the ash of untold victory cigars. The main card decks are modeled after different types of communiques, symbolizing the breadth and depth of the conspirators’ plays for power. The candidate cards strike on the crux of the game’s development, money in politics – each family seeks to become so intrinsic to the country’s history that they will be immortalized on currency. Tokens and player mat reinforce the concepts explored by the rest of the game compenents. The game features original watercolor paintings by a professional artist, which I adapted for use in the narrative of the game. I designed all components through a combination of this artwork, original graphic elements and some stock elements as needed to create a cohesive body of work that represents the motives and play style of the game as whole.
In addition, I worked closely with the game designer on marketing and promotion for this self-published and crowdfunded game, and served as a liaison with printers and manufacturers to secure the means of production.
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