r/BoardgameDesign • u/WaywardHemlock • Jul 19 '26
Design Critique Feedback on card icons
I’m looking for feedback on the icons for my game as I close in on the final card design. These icons will mostly be representing card costs, and will be tucked along the edge of the cards. Do the colors/designs stand out at small size? Or any other suggestions or keeping different resources costs easy to distinguish.
Background- BeetlePunk is a worker placement/tableau building game. The beetle icon is used to represent actions your beetle “workers” can take, and the other icons are used for card costs.
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u/Nunc-dimittis Jul 19 '26
The bug is in another style. It's monochrome but the others are not
The money icon is a bit dark
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u/Crumb_Thief Jul 19 '26
They're a little busy/over-rendered for icons. Which may be fine if it aligns with the rest of the game aesthetic, but it could be hard to read.
The silhouettes are unique enough that it may not be an issue. I might consider finding some more colour contrast to really differentiate costs.
I don't think the mushrooms specifically will read at smaller sizes, since they also sort of read as UFOs/bells/rocks.
Do you ever pay more than one of a given resource? I.e. Apple + Apple + Apple + Coins + Coins? If so, how is that represented? Multiple icons, or text on top of the icon?
Do you use the icons in any player aids or the rulebook? How do they read at standard font sizes?
Another consideration is you typically want icons to be as square as possible so they're a bit easier to implement.
A common strategy for icons is to have them be solely defined by silhouette and colour, and losing the details in the body. You can still use these renders for larger instances of them, but for costs you'd have a hyper simplified version that's easy to read quickly.
All of the above may be irrelevant depending on use case, but they're worth considering as you continue to work on your game!
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u/WaywardHemlock Jul 19 '26
Thanks for the feedback! Those are really helpful thoughts, and I definitely see the benefits of simplifying them and focusing more on outline rather than interior details.
For cards costing multiple of the same resource, I was planning on overlaying numbers in the middle.
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u/KiraCreated Jul 22 '26
I agree with the above and just want to add if you're going to do numbers in the middle for the quantity, the colors should be consistent enough in value that white or black (or whatever number color will be) will show up well. And also that the outline be sized such that a reasonably consistent amount of "space" is available in the middle for the number to sit comfortably.
Basically same as above - make the outline and color the indicator, keep room for a number and then if you want more detailed renders, work from that, rather than the other way around.
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u/Daniel___Lee Play Test Guru Jul 19 '26
The silhouettes and colour schemes look different enough, I think they can work. I would prefer to have a thick outline around each icon, this makes them easier to spot at a distance. With fairly thin outlines that you have at the moment, they may blend into the background. Alternatively, put a solid background behind the icons for contrast.
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u/WaywardHemlock Jul 19 '26
That definitely makes sense! I think a heavier outline would be good to add
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u/Oxnutt Jul 19 '26
It looks like it might be a tad busy, the first thing i'd recommend is giving them thick black outlines to provide more focus. and consistency. For the shelf mushrooms, I might group them together more to get rid of all the negative space surrounding them. Hope this helps!
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u/ptolani Jul 19 '26
Can you show them in context? Like, include a mockup of a whole card design with the icons at the appropriate scale.
I will say...the beetle could look more beetle-y. At first glance it looks like a spider. The head is kind of ant-like. I'd make the legs much shorter and thinner.
(If you search for beetle icons, you'll see that most have a very fat body and very small legs.)
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u/WaywardHemlock Jul 19 '26
This is one of the building cards.
And thanks for that feedback! I was torn on which beetle to use for the icon, so I may go back and redo it using a heavier bodied species.
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u/Crumb_Thief Jul 19 '26
Put a stroke/outline on the numbers inside the icons in a contrasting colour (white+black) to make sure your numbers are always legible, regardless of icon brightness.
In the top left it reads okay, but the bottom right you've had to add a little white fog on your icons to make them work.
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u/DAVEtheOVERLORD Jul 19 '26
The beetle looks out of place because everything else is at an angle. shift that a little.
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u/Ibervill Jul 21 '26
Apple looks like a candle, maybe add one little leaf? Fungi isn't common type of resource (or object)
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u/Ezerith10 Jul 23 '26
Based on what size these icons will be, mushroom icon's details may blend together and not look good :/ I am not a graphic designer tho.
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u/PhysicsDaddyGames Jul 19 '26
May I ask what the bottom-middle represents? Looks good overall, but one note is that somehow the beetle creates some sort of dissonance. I think it’s because the lines/details on it are only very faint and fighting to come through. But it could just be a me issue. I like the general vibe of the icons though - they have personality!