Board Game Design is such a new and developing industry and there are a few designers around that have really shaped this industry of Morden Board Games one of these Designers is Ryan Laukat.
Ryan describes his own journey into the world of board game design with the following words:
What drew me to do such a thing? I LOVE board game art! And I like designing games when I can. In 2007, I was spending all my free time illustrating my own games, and thought, “I think I’d like to be a professional board game illustrator.” I was newly married, working full time at a musical instrument company to pay the rent, and didn’t really know how to go about doing that.
Read More About Ryans Story Here on Boardgamegeek
Ryan Has been illustrating board games since 2008 with some of his earliest work being on the Classic Board game Dominion and has given us some amazing titles via his publishing company Red Raven Games bringing games like Islebound, Above and Below, Ancient World and most recently Sleeping Gods.
Ryan’s Games have a unique art style that is so captivating and just visually stunning while the games themselves are so deep and complex while also providing an experience that is accessible for everybody.
Check out some of the Games Ryan Has designed with Red Raven Games Below.
Red Raven Games
Artifacts, Inc. – Card Game
New York, 1929: A frenzy of interest in antiquity is sweeping the nation! With museums hungry for mysterious and exotic artifacts — and you hungry for adventure — you start up your own archeology company. Untold wonders await within dangerous jungles, harsh deserts, and wind-swept mountains. Will you gain a reputation as the most intrepid and famous adventurer of all time?
In Artifacts, Inc., 2–4 players compete to grow the most famous archeology company. Players roll dice, which represent their troop of adventurers and place them on cards in order to find artifacts, sell them to museums, and purchase new cards representing their company assets. Players can choose to focus on making lots of money by selling artifacts, having museum majorities, creating the best combination of expeditions and buildings, or searching below the waves for lost cities and hidden treasures.
The first player to reach 20 reputation triggers the end of the game, and the player with the most total reputation wins!
- Compete to build the best archaeology company in 1929
- Dice represent your adventurers, which you roll and place on cards to send on missions
- Earn cash and reputation by selling amazing artifacts to museums
- Easy to learn and quick to play!
- Players: 2 – 4
- Play Time: 60 Minutes
Suitable for ages 13 & up
Above and Below
Above and Below is a mashup of town-building and storytelling where you and up to three friends compete to build the best village above and below ground
In the game, you send your villagers to perform jobs like exploring the cave, harvesting resources, and constructing houses. Each villager has unique skills and abilities, and you must decide how to best use them. You have your own personal village board, and you slide the villagers on this board to various areas to indicate that they’ve been given jobs to do. Will you send Hanna along on the expedition to the cave? Or should she instead spend her time teaching important skills to one of the young villagers?
A great cavern lies below the surface, ready for you to explore– this is where the storytelling comes in. When you send a group of villagers to explore the depths, one of your friends reads what happens to you from a book of paragraphs. You’ll be given a choice of how to react, and a lot will depend on which villagers you brought on the expedition, and who you’re willing to sacrifice to succeed. The book of paragraphs is packed with encounters of amazing adventure, randomly chosen each time you visit the cavern. At the end of the game, the player with the most well-developed village wins!
Features:
- Explore a massive cavern and build your new village in Red Raven’s premiere storytelling game.
- Recruit villagers and gather resources
- Build your town above and below ground
- Explore the mysterious caverns
Near and Far
Four wanderers search for the Last Ruin, a city that legends say contains an artifact that will grant the greatest desires of the heart. A lost love, redemption, acceptance, a family rejoined– these are the fires that fuel the wanderers’ journeys, but can they overcome their own greed and inner demons on the way?
In Near and Far, you and up to three friends explore many different maps in a search for the Last Ruin, recruiting adventurers, hunting for treasure, and competing to be the most storied traveller. You must collect food and equipment at town for long journeys to mysterious locales, making sure not to forget enough weapons to fight off bandits, living statues, and rusty robots! Sometimes in your travels, you’ll run into something unique and one of your friends will read what happens to you from a book of stories, giving you a choice of how to react, creating a new and memorable tale each time you play.
Near and Far is a sequel to Above and Below and includes a book of encounters. This time players read over ten game sessions to reach the end of the story. Each chapter is played on a completely new map with unique art and adventures.
Answer the call of the ruins and begin your journey.
Islebound
Set sail in a mystical archipelago filled with bustling towns, sea monsters, pirates, and gold! Compete to build the best sea-faring nation with up to three friends by collecting treasure, hiring crew, and conquering or befriending island towns.
In Islebound, you take command of a ship and crew. You sail to island towns, collecting resources, hiring crew, and commissioning buildings for your capital city. Each building has a unique ability, and your combination of buildings can greatly enhance your strength as a trader, builder, or invader. You also recruit pirates and sea monsters to conquer towns, which, once conquered, allow you to complete the town action for free, and charge a fee to opponents if they want to use it. Alternatively, you can complete events that give influence, which can be used to befriend towns.
There are many routes to success. Will you be a ruthless conqueror, careful diplomat, or shrewd merchant in your race to the top?
The player with the most wealth and most-impressive capital city will win the game!
Players: 2 – 4
Play Time: 90 – 120 min
Suitable for ages 13 & up
Megaland
Are you ready to run? Push your luck in a video game world, fighting monsters (and bunnies), and collecting coins!
Collect as much treasure as you can, but watch out for monsters! The further you go in the level, the more treasure you’ll get, but if you take too much damage, you’ll end up going home with nothing. Spend your treasure to buy Bowling Alleys, Arcades, and more! You can also use treasure to buy more hearts for your character, letting you go deeper into the level on your next run. You win by earning the most coins!
Megaland contains six starred building types that are used in each game, along with seventeen other building types, with only seven of them being used in any game.
Game Contents:
- 10 Level Cards
- 5 Player Cards
- 1 Level Tile
- 96 Treasure Cards
- 8 Character Stands
- 14 Jump Tokens
- 32 Heart Tokens
- 39 Coin Tokens
- 1 Play Order Token
- 5 Character Tokens
- 1 Heart Cost Card
- 28 Star Building Cards
- 68 Building Cards
Ancient World – 2nd Edition
In an ancient world forgotten by time, enormous titans terrorize the land.
Five tribes have been fleeing from the titans for centuries, but things are about to change. Growing city-states pledge to end the reign of terror, determined to take on the titans and make the world a safer place for all. Each city-state competes to attract the tribes, eager for the strength of the combined peoples, who are now leaving behind old traditions with the hope that the titans can be defeated once and for all.
In The Ancient World, players compete to grow the largest and most influential city-state by managing citizens, treasury, and military and by defeating titans. Players take turns sending citizens to take special actions or using military cards to attack titans. One of the actions a citizen can perform is to build Empire cards, which give more citizens, money, and abilities.
A city-state’s influence in the world is measured by sets of tribe banners that it owns. Each Empire card has one or more tribe banners, and tribe banners can also be gained by defeating titans. Players gain victory points (VPs) for sets of tribe banners. After six rounds, the player with the most VPs from sets of tribe banners wins.
The second edition features:
- Numbered, limited edition boxes
- Designer’s signature printed in metallic ink
- Revised and new titans
- Larger, revised player boards
- Expanded game play, including a new resource: AMBROSIA
- Titans now attack YOU!
- Updated district and empire cards
- 1 Double-sided gameplay aid