I commissioned Claudia Cangini to create a cover for Gotlandia, my boardgame about medieval Gotland. I am very happy with how it turned out. Claudia Cangini is an Italian freelance illustrator who draws covers and interior illustrations for tabletop roleplaying games and comics.
I have worked with Claudia on several projects now and have learned to trust her talent and when and how to give feedback. “You have captured Gotland in one image,” one friend replied when I showed a preview. Next is to update the game board to match the style and colours of the front cover.
Gotlandia at Viking Con
At Viking Con I talked Gotlandia with two groups of Copenhagen gamers, one of which got a playtest copy to play at home. The rules of Gotlandia is not yet ready for blindtest: Capturing the rules in a booklet is something different from teaching the game to people who have only just opened the box. However, we did get to play three turns at Viking Con, teaching the basics of the game. So we decided to give it a shot.
The group was quick to come back with feedback, lot’s of detailed feedback that now goes into the next iteration. Rule clarifications and edge cases. How to better communicate the rules through the visual design to avoid misunderstandings. This is pure gold. Thanks a lot!
Next opportunity to take a closer look at Gotlandia will be at SMASH Con in Huddinge south of Stockholm on Saturday November 16th.