What a rather weirdly worded question. Inspiring? Whenever I think of inspiring and art together I think of motivational posters. I suppose that they mean which games interior art makes you want to play the game? Just an odd turn of phrase really. Interior art is so varied in many games that this is a tough choice and one that I think will take me to one of my favourite games.
Ink Line Art
If you ever played the 1980’s line of boxed game Dungeons and Dragons line you are familiar with the black and white line ink art that is so iconic to the game. Those books just knew how to communicate the game to the player. I had possession of some of these recently and looking at the art was a cathartic experience. I was looking into the artwork of so much that had inspired my RPG journey. But these books are not the answer to this question. They are the genesis of my choice for this category.
Continuing Tradition
My selection for this category is a game that strongly continues this tradition. Certainly their take on this art can be a little more cartoonish and at times much more abstract but it is a fantastic approach. Of course I am talking about the body of work in the Dungeon Crawl Classics line. The interior art of that book (especially the latest edition) makes me want to play. It is of course not all black and white, with the inner sleeves beautiful panoramas of strange fantasy settings. What it all is though is perfect for the communication of their game. The art team that works on these books as a whole (my favourite being Doug Kovacs work) and produce beautiful consistency. Consistency of quality – yes, but more important consistency of message.
Even the cartoonish nature of much of the art points at the fun of the game. It says to not take yourself too seriously and play the game. It is a beautiful system that revels in its simplicity and style. All of this is communicated perfectly by the artwork inside nearly every book produced for the line. So that is easily my choice – Dungeon Crawl Classics’ interior art inspires me to play the game! Keep rolling…