Tranquility – The Descent
Tranquility – The Descent is one of my latest project and one that’s close to my heart. This is the third game in the Tranquility series, something I’ve illustrated and designed since the first game. With this game, the brief has been simple, to make a beautiful game based on clean and simple design, a game that invokes tranquility while playing.
Each game is independent, stand-alone in it’s own right while all sharing the same DNA. The games are thinky in style, co-operative in game play, easy to play but with plenty of depth and replay value. All are tile laying games that leave a beautiful presence on the table once the matrix is compete and all the tiles are laid out for all to see.
With each game, the design has evolved and improved with Tranquility- The Descent being the best one yet. The game itself contains more bespoke art than the first two games combined and expands upon and improves the design concept that made the first two such a big success.
Tranquility’s style is based on an elegant vector style, cleanly implemented to make a clutter free and visually appealing presence on the table. In this “Project in Profile”, we’ll take a look at some of those elements and I’ll give you a little peak behind the curtain.
Tranquility – The Descent will be published by Wayfarer Games later this year and be initially available via Crowd Funding.
Initial Concepts
The first step of any project is to look at how the game works, how it will be seen and how each asset, card or tile is used by a player.
This creates a foundation for best practices that need to be implemented across the game. First of all was the general design and aesthetic of the tiles. Tranquility the Descent is based on a series of tiles which make up underground tunnels, these tunnels need to work together regardless of which tile is laid down so a template was required to facilitate that. The next image shows the initial concept of how I could make that work.
Vector Art and Iconography
Tranquility has always been developed as vector art. It suits the simplistic style and clean nature of the art.
Vector art has been one of the major styles I’ve developed over the years and probably the art format I feel most at home with. I love the ability to create a wealth of assets and manipulate the scale without loss of quality.
It’s also allowed me to create clear and legible icon designs, as with all Tranquility games, it’s completely icon driven with no text, allowing it to be easily translated in all languages.
