I talk a lot about the importance of the tactile element of board games and how much the experience is improved with the inclusion of high quality pieces, but it's come to our attention that some game pieces are perhaps more delicious-looking that they have any right to be. So, following an incident yesterday in which an unnamed person taste-tested a game-piece, here is our list of 5 Game Pieces That Look More Delicious Than They Should:
[Editor's Disclaimer: I cannot stress this enough, please don't put game pieces in your mouth.]
1. Love Letter: Favour Tokens
Firstly, I think it's such a missed opportunity that these aren't called Tokens of Affection (Z-Man Games, please return my calls).
Secondly, for those not familiar with the modern classic Love Letter by designer Seiji Kanai, it's a hugely entertaining card game for 2-6 players who take on the role of suitors vying for the Princess' attention. By playing cards in a pick-one-play-one turn system, players will attempt to smuggle their letter of affection into the hands of the highest ranking person in the castle, or disrupt their competitors. Each round one lucky player will receive a Favour Token, and the first to receive a set number wins the Princess' heart.
These favour tokens (flavour tokens? [Don't - Ed.]) are perhaps my favourite game pieces of any game. They click on the table in such a satisfying way and absolutely look like they should taste of cherry (or maybe aniseed?). Either way, when you're helping yourself to a token after a round of Love Letter, it feels unnecessarily hard to not reflexively pop one in your mouth.
[Editor: Again, please don't put game pieces in your mouth.]
2. Multiple Games: Resource Cubes
You don't need to have been playing board games very long to be well acquainted with the resource cube. These small, often translucent, plastic cubes appear in many games where there is need for a collectable resource but it would be tiresome to have uniquely designed assets for each one (not to mention the rise in cost that would accompany this).
The fact that these cubes come in such a variety of flavours colours really does increase how tempting these little cubes appear. And there's usually so many of them. Grabbing a small handful, aside from being a very satisfying sensory experience, does remind me of reaching into a bag of Skittles... Though my appetite is lost slightly with the ones from Pandemic: Contagion, those almost make me want to wear latex gloves.
[Editor: If you're hungry why not help yourself to an array of edible snacks? Just Don't Eat The Game Pieces.]
3. Tiny Epic Dungeons: Health Tracker
"It had tiny heart pieces I instantly wanted to chew"
I can kind of see what he means. I think it's because they're so small.
Tiny Epic Dungeons by Scott Almes is an awesome edition to the Tiny Epic series, which takes popular board game genres and creates large-scale games that fit into pretty tiny boxes (it would be great to get a picture of TE Dungeons beside Frosthaven, but alas I don't have access to the latter). TE Dungeons perfectly captures the thrill of a dungeon crawler, and provides a satisfying array of characters and upgrades (not to mention paintable miniatures), to really create a unique experience. A reoccurring theme in Tiny Epic games is the use of cards rather than a game board, which when randomly drawn from a deck, creates unique dungeon layouts every time you play.
I wonder what the cursed gold from Tiny Epic Pirates: Curse of Amdiak tastes like?
[Editor: Hey! You! Put that piece down! Put it down! Don't. Put. Game. Assets. In. Your. Mouth.]
4. One Deck Dungeon: Heart Tokens
Following one miniature dungeon crawler with tasty looking health tokens, we have an even smaller dungeon crawler, with equally tasty looking health tokens. Clearly game developers are trying to tempt us, right?
One Deck Dungeon by Chris Cieslik is a fantastic game for 1-2 players that fits in your pocket. Using little more than a deck of cards, this game creates a brilliant dungeon crawl culminating in a fierce boss battle. Plus there is a well designed mechanic for playing as a campaign, which allows adventurers to level up and gain perks between runs. Similar to rougelike games, players will hit their heads against one boss a few times before they return, levelled up, and finally able to smash them to pieces.
What makes this game great is the fact that it has been designed as a single player game that can accommodate 2 players (or 4 with an expansion), rather than a solo mode being tacked on as an after thought. Also, the sheer amount of dice you get to roll is one of the most satisfying sensory experiences I've come across. Throwing a literally fist-full of dice down just feels good.
But we're here to talk about the tasty, tasty tokens. When players take damage they place a small plastic heart on their character sheet to represent damage. The crystal-cut style of these pieces and the lovely red colour make them very appealing, so it's difficult to come to terms with the fact that your don't want these on your sheet, as with too many it's game over!
[Editor: Seriously!?]
5. Wingspan: Eggs
From a mostly looks-like-hard-candy set we now go to the eggs from Wingspan, which I'm sorry look far too similar to Cadbury's Mini Eggs to not want to put in your mouth. There must be chocolate in there somewhere?
Wingspan, a game that has rapidly become a modern-classic, is a beautiful game by designer and ornithologist, Elizabeth Hargrave and illustrations by Beth Sobel, Natalia Rojas, and Ana Maria Martinez. Players compete in this engine-building game to attract birds to their wildlife preserves in order to score points. Wingspan quickly gained popularity for the loving attention to detail and scientific focus of the theme.
However, the real challenge is getting those eggs to hatch without putting them in your mouth. If you're cold, they're cold, right? [Wrong - Ed.].
What game pieces have you come across that look far too inviting? Perhaps you have a different idea about how some of the above pieces taste? Or maybe you just think this article is irresponsible? We'd love to hear from you in the comments below.
Wingspan is an absolute one that I want to eat, and I feel the Love Letter tokens too, but the other are a little basic, there so many much more delicious-looking pieces in games! All the buildings in Tapestry looks like they're marzipan, the berry tokens in Everdell are very mouthwetter too, or the Dahan houses in Spirit Island :)
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