The making of our new Halloween theme 🎃

I love this new Halloween special by Alcoth. It doesn't get spooki-Ur than this!!

Alcoth's limited-edition Halloween theme includes candy corn dice, rock-candy pumpkin pieces, a twisted wood background, and gorgeous themed tiles on a spectacular illustrated board. It is only around for the next couple of weeks, so make sure to make the most of it while you can!

This quick post will include some highlights and progress pictures of Alcoth's theme for you all to enjoy. I'll keep this one quick so you can get back to making the most of playing with the new Halloween theme!

A screenshot of Alcoth's finished Halloween theme.
A screenshot of Alcoth's finished Halloween theme.

The first concept

I have known Alcoth for a while through our Discord, as he has helped me a lot in the design of the RoyalUr website. Little did I know that on top of being a great designer and person, Alcoth is also a professional illustrator!

And so, when Alcoth reached out about making a Halloween board, difficultlogic and I quickly formed a group so we could make it into a reality! The ideas for a carved wooden board with jack-o-lantern rosettes, and candy-corn dice, quickly formed. I've included Alcoth's very first concept for the rosette tiles below.

Photo of Alcoth's first concept for the jack-o-lantern rosette tiles.
Photo of Alcoth's first concept for the jack-o-lantern rosette tiles.

The development of the tiles

The tiles of the board were the first thing that Alcoth tackled. I got to wait and watch as he first created sketches, then drew some concepts, and tested the new glowing style - definitely my favourite. Each new image from Alcoth was like a new present!

Sketch of a new design for the rosette tiles.
Sketch of a new design for the rosette tiles.
Early rendered version of some bat tiles.
Early rendered version of some bat tiles.
The final glowing board tiles for the Royal Game of Ur by Alcoth! First row: skull, jack-o-lantern, ghost. Second row: bats, cuneiform, cobwebs.
The final glowing tiles by Alcoth! First row: skull, jack-o-lantern, ghost. Second row: bats, cuneiform, cobwebs.

Early pieces and background

Before creating the lovely rock-candy pumpkins and twisted wood background, Alcoth experimented with some round candies and a glowing wood background. I was super happy with how everything was coming together.

Screenshot showing the early designs of the pieces and background.
Screenshot showing the early designs of the pieces and background.

But then from this concept Alcoth just went and jumped straight to something so much more amazing!

I nearly fainted when Alcoth made the new twisted wood background and rock-candy pumpkin pieces! This was such a big improvement that Alcoth made in just a couple of days. They really complete the picture of Halloween for the final theme.

Screenshot of the first release of the Halloween theme by Alcoth.
Screenshot of the first release of the Halloween theme by Alcoth.

Legibility Update

But a problem came up! In our quest for beauty, we had made a mistake. We hadn't properly considered how easy it was to read the pieces on the board. That's where the next part of the work came in, to make a quick update to make sure the board was the best it could be for gameplay. For a game, that is pretty important!

Screenshot of the final Halloween theme by Alcoth.
Screenshot of the final Halloween theme by Alcoth.

I hope you like it!

I am personally thrilled with how this turned out. I hope you like it too!

People will only be able to play on this Halloween theme for the next couple of weeks, so make sure to make the most of it!

All praise for this new board should be directed at Alcoth - the mastermind behind it all. An additional thank you to difficultlogic for helping it all come together, and for coming up with this gem that I shamelessly stole:

It doesn't get spooki-Ur than this!

Thank you all,
~ Paddy L.

Would you like to hear about future updates?

Join our newsletter and we'll send you emails when we have new updates or Royal Game of Ur news to share 📮 We also send photos of cool boards! 🖼️