Go West Board Game
February 23rd, 2010
In December, I was contacted by the Mid-Amercia Arts Alliance to create a board game for a traveling exhibition entitled The Bison: American Icon. I love this type of project with its blend of illustration and educational elements. The game is part of a larger exhibition, much of which is fairly serious in content and tone, so I designed the game to contrast the rest of the displays, and more importantly, give the the appearance of something friendly that would invite patrons, kids and adults alike, to interact with the game.
Gameplay is simple with players answering questions, each correct answer increasing their cache of tiny bison figures. The player with the most bison wins. Landing on an arrow in any of the sections ringing the board forces the player to surrender one of their bison to the variety of developments that led to the animal’s near extinction. I connected all the sections either through elements bleeding from one section to the next or simple alignment. For example, the railroad track connects to industry’s piping. This emphasizes the relationship between all of the developments combining to nearly wipe Bison from the plains of North America. Their habitat forms the center of the board and one gets the sense that it is rapidly shrinking as the few remaining Bison scurry farther west.
I’m not sure if the exhibition will ‘Go West’ as far as LA, so I may not have the chance to see the final setup. If you happen across it let me know how it looked and whether your bison herd thrived or was decimated by the railroad, the hide market or just a general lack of bison knowledge.
