Board Game Brackets: Best Covers of 2023

[@angelafortunato3866]

The Fox Experiment is beautiful!

[@leonarddupond1468]

A huge thanks to everyone who voted for the ICE cover, i'm extremely proud that my drawing won this year 🎉❤ all the best !

[@thedicetower]

It's a gorgeous cover! Congratulations, and looking forward to seeing more of your work.

[@rabidpickle]

Nightmare Cathedral is art from Zdzisław Beksiński, a polish artist who died in the early 2000s I believe. My absolute favorite artist. He never named or explained any of his art. I have a calendar of his art of my wall right now. Wow and looking at the game, it's all based on his art! It has miniatures of figures in his artwork! Wow now I have to get it

[@AahzmandusPervect]

Yes, his art is amazing.

[@thedicetower]

Thanks for the info!

[@Jeff321]

Nobody has pointed out that ICE is the opposite of Meltscape. No wonder it won 😂

[@JonoNZBoardGamer]

I loved that final match up! Both covers I hadn't seen much of in detail, but they are so cool and interesting

[@sjovlring8379]

Fun video to watch! I think Celtae is my favorit cover of this year ☺

[@rebeccachewning378]

Future Idea: Lets do this kind of video but make the covers themed or in the same genre of all time. Not just 2023 cause there wont be enough. So like nature game covers, space themed covers, society world building covers, horror covers. Etc. It would be fun to see the same kinds head to head to see what shines in those genres since its hard to compare a nature game to a world building civ game cover etc. just something a lil different and fun

[@austinmartin7848]

I was surprised The White Castle wasn’t on this list

[@chaosinthechasm]

I've been hoping for a Nightmare Cathedral review from you all! Now that Zee says he wants to play it, my hope is kindled, just a little bit!

[@kobo7603]

there was some nice cover art this year. i really enjoy these brackets! the cover of nucleum makes me want to play the game so bad, even though i know it's not for me. so my ranking would be: 1. nucleum 2. thunder road vendetta 3. beast

[@RollAndRate]

I really like the Fliptown cover. Earth also has a great cover, but I think it was on one of the other best cover videos.

[@thedicetower]

Fliptown is pretty nice!

[@Murkaeus]

Last Light is my favorite of the bunch. Geometry and space make a great pair; the color and contrast really pops, and the title it well integrated.

[@laurencesingh3948]

Here are a couple of covers that I thought would have been competitive in the bracket: The White Castle, Amritsar: The Golden Temple, 3 Ring Circus, and Sky Team.

[@thedicetower]

Some nice choices there!

[@patrickkoppen2894]

looking at BGG Earth was a 2023 is Dice Tower considering this 2022 I figured it would be on this list

[@JosephFlemming]

that Daybreak cover is surprisingly wonderful. The color palette especially is what makes it sing, and the focal point of the rising sun is stunning.

[@seamusoneill1993]

I don't know if new editions are eligible, but I love the new cover for Hey, That's my Fish! (also, that Habitats cover sitting on the shelf behind Tom is from December 2022, since I'm still waiting on my copy, I probably would have slipped that into the brackets)

[@holgerchristiansen4003]

After the first round, the final two were my favorites. I would never have expected them to make it to the finals, though. And in the end, I think I would have gotten with Portals over Ice. Nevertheless: Both are great covers. As are most of the other ones that were presented here.

[@WhatUpRob]

14 more covers doing an advanced search on BGG games with 2023 in the date range and going through 7 pages, in not particular order and not sure if all even are out in 2023 or if they have been a part of a previous bracket: A) Santa’s Workshop (2nd Ed) B) Aquanauts C) From The Moon D) Amritsar: The Golden Temple E) Witchcraft! F) Through Ice & Snow G) Solar 175 H) Pest I) Stonesage J) East India Companies K) Mythwind L) Rats of Wistar M) Arkeis N) Stellaris: Infinite Legacy

[@ScytheNoire]

Thunder Road Vendetta is one of the best covers in years.

[@jdotco23]

I COMPLETELY agree with the voting. That final was fantastic, and the biggest thing they have in common is how little words/distractions are on the cover. Ice sets such a mood/vibe; it's eerie and empty and scary. Love it.

[@F4R207]

Voidfall or Thunderroad, love me some Zdzisław Beksiński, but the Nightmare Cathedral feels a bit plastered on there and ICE is nice but I wouldn't have picked it to go that far.

[@jessewieman6955]

Wish you would feature all the artist’s names. It would be really nice to have these artists get their time in the spotlight and be a more recognized name

[@sarapullman6336]

I was drawn in by Celtae's cover. :)

[@nshaw1299]

Also important to say that there's no way 10-20 years ago you could've found 64 amazing game covers in a singular year (and people complaining you missed on several more). What an influx of the industry!

[@JamesOrr1987]

So true

[@JamesOrr1987]

I liked Nightmare Cathedral, def got the Geiger vibes, Voidfall looked clean yet also involved, (I also haven't unboxed it), and Thunder Road had great energy as was said, def a niche style but nailed it.

[@DarthPizza777]

Nightmare Cathedral is my favorite out of all of them. looks like it could be a cover of a heavy metal album

[@dougwarr9459]

I know that all the Ticket to Ride games are samey, but I really like the look of TTR: Legends of the West.

[@thegameknightuk8156]

Anyone else can't help singing .."Evenfall.., thoughts arrived like butterfliiiiies"...?

[@rpriske]

I had Portals losing literally every match-up it was in. Oh well. :)

[@Jessoya]

Sail would be my choice! I will get a poster of this cover for my office!

[@seahawksfan9168]

i will be purchasing la famiglia, that cover is incredible

[@ourfamilytogether]

Portals has my vote for #1 of the year. It’s just stunning. It’s hard to separate my love for the box cover with my absolute disgust that the pieces inside the box are generic abstract pieces that do not evoke anything remotely close to what the cover does.

[@holgerchristiansen4003]

Same here. It was on my list for Essen this year, just because the cover drew me in. But after seeing it at the table, it was immediately removed.

[@thegameknightuk8156]

Evenfall might be my favourite of the year. Makes me want to play the game tho I know nothing about it.

[@eugenherrigel7342]

Bonsai, great job!!😂 Even though Zee dislike it, it’s one of my favorite in terms of thematic, not game balance or something.

[@gamera2351]

The whole “kid drew this in his notebook” look is cool for Thunder Road, but I’m surprised it got as far as it did. It’s also interesting that Tom, Zee, and Camilla never mention that the art style is reminiscent of a schoolboy’s notebook.

[@thegameknightuk8156]

Hey World Wonders cover, what's with all the grey?? Really strange design choice.

[@sethvanorden1]

I'm not biased but the Raising Robots cover is pretty awesome!

[@thedicetower]

I think you misspelled "wildly biased" :P But that's one we discussed afterward could have been good in there.

[@jflartner117]

camilla started this video clarifying whether they were evaluating the art itself or how much the art matched the game/made you want to play the game, got the answer (just evaluate the art), and then proceeded to comment on several games that the art didn't make her want to play the game. 🤣

[@tbahr123]

First in Flight is a nice cover too

[@joshjenson8111]

Philosophy was my favorite cover overall, but Ice and Portals were both stunning as well Emerge and Couture got absolutely ROBBED in the opening round

[@edwardbrost331]

Would have liked to see Septima in there.

[@ShuffleUpandDeal32]

No Forest Shuffle, Mori, or Pies?

[@bmarcos82]

Beautiful choices. I missed Septima

[@jessewieman6955]

I love the sail cover but it’s such a tiny box

[@zachras9643]

Fractal really draws you in but is hard to capture in a picture.

[@aaronconnell3271]

Got to put in a mention for everdell farshore

[@RealNumskull]

I don't know if you're still checking here for other mentions, but if so, take a look at Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East.

[@greghinzmann3171]

Quite a good year for covers!

[@tiford184]

its an outrage Barcelona went out so early

[@CharlieWellsPlus]

Technically beautiful, the best kind of beautiful!

[@nshaw1299]

Best covers again? How about doing best games' 'back of the box'? I dare ya'!

[@thwilee]

Camilla getting drawn by the theme ❤

[@Andy-Mesa]

I think the Stationfall cover is fantastic and the fact that both of them are weirded out by it only further supports my case.

[@JamesOrr1987]

I also like it

[@rexology_bg]

Eos looks like the angel statue will eventually be revealed to have been a publicity stunt for the local mall...

[@thedicetower]

"Seeeeeeee the Angel. Seeeeeeeeee the angel."

[@salvatorecautela4391]

As I was watching this video I realized that the Galileo Project box cover is a shameless rip off of the Star Trek: The Motion Picture movie poster.

[@martinpersson1412]

I really don't get the love for Thunderroad. to me that one should have dropped out the first round.

[@noizeemama3697]

Did Mike leave? I noticed him missing. I loved the report between Mike and Zee so much.

[@soogymoogi]

He had to move away for family reasons but he's come back on the regular as well as making reviews from his new place ("The Dice Tower Midwest Annex")

[@kchorst5037]

You'll find him if you look... 4 trick-taking games by Allplay & Redwood in the past week.

[@WhatUpRob]

Nucleum cover gets worse the closer you get

[@Niland12]

My Fathers Work is a great cover. ICE deserved to win!

[@thedicetower]

My Father's Work is 2022

[@VaultBoy13]

Stationfall is one of the best covers of 2023. It's thematic and a great example of the kind of experience the game will provide. Most of these other covers are just the same generic board game cover nonsense that's pumped out year after year.

[@Jason-ul2xv]

​Future brackets need to be ranked so we have less bad ones toghether

[@thedicetower]

It's really hard to rank something subjective, though!

[@Szurumbur]

Honestly, Sleeping Gods cover is good but not that great.

[@EfrainRiveraJunior]

Some of the final votes changed afterwards.

[@thedicetower]

Yeah, but that's why I run the polls real time!

[@EfrainRiveraJunior]

@@thedicetower - I know. I just found it interesting. And probably an idea for a future "revisited" video.

[@kchorst5037]

​@@EfrainRiveraJuniorI'd rather have more reviews than Time spent revisiting mindless fun.

[@EfrainRiveraJunior]

@@kchorst5037 - Too late! They already released the Top Ten 2022 Revisited videos. I guess "Mindless fun" was on the menu.

[@kchorst5037]

@@EfrainRiveraJunior I do like those revised ones bc I'm usually a year or two behind buying "new" games. ✌️

[@HALOX30]

I want to issue an apology. I made a joke that was not well received. Even tho it was a joke i should have been more thoughtfull about it. So sorry Camilla and crew.

[@chestersleezer8821]

I see that Camilla is going with the shirt and drink color combo as in matching colors.

[@IdlestHands]

That winner would not have been my pick. I know this is just for fun. But it would be interesting to take a deeper look at stuff like design intent and commercial vs "high" art approaches. Some of the covers are clearly designed to sell the game first and be nice art second, unsurprisingly those did very well.

[@soogymoogi]

I mean I think the only one of them with any kind of art background is Zee (in theatre.) To be fair this is just a popular vote and just for fun. It's just what board game fans like. I think it could be cool to see a panel of board game loving artists talk about this though

[@brianbeddigs6542]

I can let a ton of hyperbole go on DT videos, but… “I don’t care for comic books art and no affinity for comic books.” No affinity for comic books is cool, but not for the art? Almost every cover you’ve shown on this video you could find an equivalent example in comic book form. Comics from the 60s maybe not, but modern comics in the last 15-20 years inspired much of the artwork and vice versa in boardgames in that timespan as well. Tea Dragon society gives way to Flamecraft, Transmissions gives way to Skottie Young. I could go on. I love both mediums equally, but you can’t dismiss comic book art so easily as if they weren’t one and the same.

[@untilmay9323]

im in the minority clearly but the thunder road cover is absolutely hideous. I would put in the worst covers of the year, I actually cant fathom how people like it.

[@AahzmandusPervect]

I agree!

[@thedicetower]

Well, differences in opinions and such.

[@JamesOrr1987]

I loved it. If you hate the 'mad max' theme and or post apoc then sure not your cup of tea. It def had an energetic and purposeful feel, movie poster vibe for sure

[@untilmay9323]

@@JamesOrr1987 i adore post apoc. its a great theme. this cover however makes my stomach lurch at the site of it

[@kchorst5037]

Celtae is least top 32..

[@AahzmandusPervect]

I'm having trouble understanding why they all liked that Voidfall cover so much. It's really nothing to write home about.

[@heinakynsi]

Yup. Technically well made, but soulless. There's like hundreds of video game/mobile game/movie/tv cover arts exactly like that... Same with Portals, which to me has striking colours, but looks like a below average AI generated cover art.

[@lizziejohnson5084]

Wild Tiled West was robbed by the bland and forgettable Waterfall Park. Wild Tiled West depicts so much action going on with zany characters. Waterfall park largely just looks like a big white building for the most part.

[@mcboesel]

Camilla just gets it right

[@rpriske]

Nigthmare Cathedral robbed!

[@AdamWhitehead111]

32:55: 🤢

[@rpriske]

Wow is Bark Avenue's cover terrible.

[@ianw0ng]

i know you guys might be biased for roy, but the art in last light is just so bland. it's not just me saying this. nobody wants yo say it out loud because roy is such a loveable guy, but the board art has got to rank as one of the worst. the publisher should have picked a real artist to work on the design.

[@thedicetower]

We, in this video, were talking specifically about the box cover.

[@Octavian2]

The cover isn't bad. It's simple, but that doesn't make it bad. The geometric pattern against the planet is a good concept, and it works well. There's better covers here, but it still needed to be said.