I've played Illumination 3-4 times. The game is excellent, but I find it very hard to sell to my boardgaming group, due to the artwork specifically. A game about medieval manuscripts with childlike artwork comes out as jarring to them. Those who enjoy history and the Middle Ages were delighted with The Road to Canterbury, but couldn't get into Illumination; they expected a more historical style. And those who would appreciate the artwork weren't interested in the theme. Having listened to Alf's interview, maybe I'm reading too much into it, but it looks like deep down the author didn't agree with the publisher's choice. He insists that his prototype (which used historical artwork) was not definitive, which makes me think that he's trying to appease people who complained (I know some did on BGG). Anyway, I know that designing, publishing and selling boardgames is not an easy job, and they know better than anyone what they were going for and whether they succeeded, but I dream of a fusion between Deus lo Vult (perfect artwork, unfinished game) and Illumination (excellent gameplay, discouraging artwork)😅
Great review! Very thorough and helpful.
I love Alf's games. Famtastiqa is still one of best deck building games I've played. Can't wait for this game. Looks great. Thanks for the video.
You're back!
~ brilliant review, Thanks.. I'll be back for the Alfie interview! 😃😒
I've played Illumination 3-4 times. The game is excellent, but I find it very hard to sell to my boardgaming group, due to the artwork specifically. A game about medieval manuscripts with childlike artwork comes out as jarring to them. Those who enjoy history and the Middle Ages were delighted with The Road to Canterbury, but couldn't get into Illumination; they expected a more historical style. And those who would appreciate the artwork weren't interested in the theme.
Having listened to Alf's interview, maybe I'm reading too much into it, but it looks like deep down the author didn't agree with the publisher's choice. He insists that his prototype (which used historical artwork) was not definitive, which makes me think that he's trying to appease people who complained (I know some did on BGG). Anyway, I know that designing, publishing and selling boardgames is not an easy job, and they know better than anyone what they were going for and whether they succeeded, but I dream of a fusion between Deus lo Vult (perfect artwork, unfinished game) and Illumination (excellent gameplay, discouraging artwork)😅