Board Game: Cubologic

By chance, today, I walked past a game store that focuses on children’s toys and picture books. As it happened, they showcased a game in their window and the cover immediately drew my eye; because the art for it was done by Ben Newman.

Ben Newman is a British illustrator whom I came across several years ago via indie publisher Nobrow. At the time, amongst other things, they offered high-quality gift wrapping paper, some of which were illustrated by Ben Newman. I bought stacks of those gift-wrapping papers, and for years I’d use them, and someone would always comment on the quality and beauty of the wrapping paper. I’ve since run out, but I’ve remained a fan of Ben Newman’s work. I’ve bought and gifted away books of his work, and when I came across this game today I had to buy it because it looks great.

The game is one where you recreate images using a set of color-printed wooden cubes. I’m not sure yet if I will gift it away or keep it for myself; I like such games myself. Most likely, I’ll buy another one and then gift that away.

Cubologic is a game published by french publisher Djeco. Their site is, unfortunately, not great to navigate, so I didn’t find a product page for it there.

Here is a link to Ben Newman’s portfolio.

Here’s a youtube video showing the game. I bought a different one, but the one in the video is also illustrated by Ben Newman.

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What if I made a card game? It’s battle-focused, very interactive, and the energy level of UNO. I need clearly identifiable colors, easy-to-read central elements, and status indicators. And what if I depict only characters, but all the characters are fruits? And they are all melee combatants, like Pummeler, Blademaster etc., because most fruits don’t do well with melee combat. And what if I did 13 cards, so 13 colors, 13 fruits, 13 melee types, and eight status effects? And what if I throw in a blender or a smoothie, …?

I ended up sketching a bunch of characters and developing the color scheme. But I only drew four cards so far because I can’t figure out the actual game.