Who among us hasn’t imagined ourselves as a Disney heroine? The brave and bold women of Disney have captured the imagination of generations with their mighty and magical adventures. And now, thanks to Ravensburger’s latest game, Chronicles of Light: Darkness Falls (Disney Edition), we can put ourselves firmly in the shoes of some of our favorite Disney and Pixar heroines in a whole new way. Disney’s Maid Marian, Belle, Moana, and Violet come to life in novel crystallized forms in this immersive tabletop game. These leading ladies are off on an adventure in the Realm of Light, a world outside the main Disney universe where heroines from different movies can co-exist. There, the beloved characters team up to save the day and stop the evil Shadow Villains (also familiar faces) from wreaking havoc on the world of light. To help fans understand more about Chronicles of Light: Darkness Falls (Disney Edition), Ravensburger’s Alex Land, the Art Director for the game, chatted with Nerdist about the creation and imagination behind this brand-new Disney quest.
Among other things, Land shares more about the nuanced meaning behind the crystal theme of Chronicles of Light: Darkness Falls (Disney Edition), reveals her favorite character designs from the game (get ready to feel old along with Land), delves into creating everyone’s favorite game piece, the movers, and highlights the magic of getting to ask “what if?” as heroines from across the Disney universe come together in never-before-seen ways. Land also chats about the powerful story that’s created when women design games for women and girls. If you’re a fan of Disney or tabletop games in general, you won’t want to miss a word of Land’s excellent insights.
In addition to our conversation with Land, we are also excited to exclusively reveal six pieces of gorgeous process art from Chronicles of Light: Darkness Falls (Disney Edition). These beautifully drawn illustrations take us through the process of creating the box art for Chronicles of Light: Darkness Falls (Disney Edition). From first thoughts to the incredible final product, looking at how the image develops tells a gorgeous story all its own. So take them in above, and then check out our full interview with Alex Land below.
Nerdist: Chronicles of Light: Darkness Falls (Disney Edition) has such a unique and beautiful art style. Where did the notion of radiant crystal versions of our favorite heroines come from? And what was like it to bring that vision to life on the page? What does “radiant crystal” or “crystalized” really mean in terms of this game and its art?
Alex Land: Chronicles of Light: Darkness Falls (Disney Edition) is set in the Realm of Light. When a Vortex of Chaos and Malice appears, it pulls shadowy essences of powerful Disney villains into the Realm. To counter this, the people of the Realm of Light call for help, and a magical crystal portal opens, summoning heroic essences from other Realms that materialize as radiant crystal heroes. Those are the actual heroine’s essence in crystal form.
Narratively, we needed a place where all the heroines and villains could exist simultaneously without contradicting their canonical storylines, so we came up with the Realm of Light. This led to some really fun visual direction.
The visuals were decided early on by the team and inspired by jewelry and crystal-cut figurines, both of which are beautiful and feminine, like the heroines in the game. The angular cuts in the jewelry add toughness to the design, and this also allows for light to reflect through the prisms. Bringing light and strength when events get dark are heroic qualities that you’ll see in characters in the game.
Shadows are the complete opposite in that they are amorphous, dark, and lacking substance. It’s a cool visual juxtaposition that carries through all of the art assets.
Whenever new forms of Disney heroines come to life, there’s a long tradition and recognized story that lives behind each image, but also, of course, fans love to see what novel elements come into play. What was the process of translating the heroines we love so much in this whole new way?
Land: For Chronicles of Light, we wanted to ensure that the heroines were true to their origins while also recognizing they are now thrust into this scenario where they get to work together, which wouldn’t normally happen. We tried to imagine what those specific characters would do in this instance, where they are challenged with a new threat they haven’t faced before while working with new like-minded allies. And then how players could have fun putting themselves into those roles.
So, it was an exciting exercise of imagining hypothetical pairings and situations like “What would Moana be capable of in this new world?” and simultaneously, “How can she also team up with Violet and utilize her unique strengths?”
When I was a kid, I would pretend to be one of my favorite characters hanging out with my other favorite characters and doing all sorts of stuff they wouldn’t normally get to do. I think it’s very much a shared experience with fans to wonder “what if” with their favorite characters, and then if you’re into role-playing games (like me), you’re probably still doing that as an adult.
Visually, we wanted to make sure everything looked familiar and felt true to that character’s vibe. So, when you are playing as Belle, for example, everything is yellow, and the art matches her personal experiences, so it’s easy to get into that headspace.
What are some new elements that you introduced to these familiar Disney and Pixar characters that you feel fans will enjoy the most when playing Chronicles of Light?
Land: I think the most exciting new element introduced in Chronicles of Light is the ability to work together. Moana is a great character for movement and can help her allies get where they need to be. It’s fun to imagine Moana riding up in her canoe and giving Maid Marian a lift.
What are some character elements that you really felt needed to remain the same in Chronicles of Light: Darkness Falls (Disney Edition)?
Land: We wanted to make sure the things players see in the game are the same as those they are used to seeing in the movies. The heroines are who they’ve always been. They’re just now facing a new problem and utilizing their existing and familiar strengths to tackle it.
Visually, we wanted all the objects they personally interact with to be recognized as their own at a quick glance. For example, Violet wouldn’t be riding any random car—she’s in the Incredimobile.
Of course, with crystalized heroines come nefarious shadow villains. How do these two different sets of art styles complement and contrast one another to support the gameplay of Chronicles of Light: Darkness Falls (Disney Edition)?
Land: That was a fun visual theme to utilize throughout the game. The heroines are strong, bright, colorful, and bring light to the darkness of the situation at hand. Whereas the shadow villains are a frightening, mostly monochromatic, threatening force in the dark. The way their essences are portrayed directly mirrors their good and bad intentions.
Which heroine and villain designs are your favorite from Chronicles of Light?
Land: I personally love Maid Marian both because she is a great support character, and I love playing support in games, and because I grew up watching Robin Hood a million times. I noticed a lot of younger kids aren’t as familiar with her, which makes me laugh and feel old.
My favorite villain would have to be Gaston because he is the worst, and I love to hate him. My daughter absolutely hates Gaston, and she’s four years old. He’s got that off-putting vibe that is recognized by all ages. But he also has the best theme song…
Additionally, the game’s synopsis notes players “encounter familiar characters, items, and creatures on their quests.” Can you share more about the designs of items and creatures in the game? For instance, what might we expect to see, and how do these familiar ideas take on new life?
You can expect to see the same things in the game as in the movies. In Robin Hood, Maid Marian plays badminton. In Chronicles of Light, she can use her Birdie to attack Shadow Villains from far away, which is cool. Belle can also ride Philippe, the horse, to take herself and her allies to new locations.
We experimented with many different themes and objects from each heroine’s franchise, and in the end, it was a balance of what is recognizable but also lends itself to having the best gameplay that decided what made it into the game.
You’ve essentially created a whole new Disney world in Chronicles of Light! What art inspirations did you draw from to create the setting? And how does the art of this new realm tell the story of the world?
Land: The Realm of Light is its own unique location outside of the Disney universe. It needed to be somewhere it wouldn’t be weird to see any of the heroines where they could all feel like they belonged. So, we designed it to be a bright fantasy world where each heroine would have locations where their skills could really shine.
It also needed to be a place in peril. The Realm of Light is in some serious trouble, and being a “realm of light,” it made sense that when summoning the essences of heroines to help they would materialize as radiant crystal heroes. That being said, darkness and shadows felt like the best way to visually show the Realm’s antagonizing force.
The “Realm of Light” tiles are designed to be rotated in any direction for an ever-changing board, which is a neat bit of gameplay and also a fun art challenge! Was it tricky to create pieces that moved in such a way?
Land: Creating tiles that could face any direction was a really fun challenge. There was a minute when we considered having them be shaped more like puzzle pieces, but it ended up cutting into the art too much, so we landed on tiling squares. It’s just a matter of making sure the trails always align and being mindful of where the Land and Water locations start and end. Those sorts of technical things are actually some of my favorite problems to work with when making games.
Often, a game’s movers are some of the fans’ favorite pieces. How did you go about choosing the design, color story, shape, and ultimate look for each mover in the Chronicles of Light?
Land: The movers are both one of the fans’ favorite pieces of a game and also one of the hardest to design. We went through so many rough iterations and heavy edits before landing on the designs you see. Then, choosing the colors is a whole other process of seeing many samples and making many rounds of revisions until they’re perfect.
We had to make sure each silhouette felt right for its character, that they all looked good together as a team, and that they were also different enough to be recognized at a distance individually.
Movers are definitely one of the most difficult and labor-intensive things to design. I really love how they turned out. Honestly, they look like little gummy candies to me; they’re so bright and cute!
We absolutely love that this woman-oriented game was also designed by women! What do you think that element brought to the creative process and the final product?
Land: My opinion here is coming from a place where, when I was a kid, we didn’t really have a lot of female heroes to emulate. So, I feel passionately about wanting to make sure we have strong and role-model worthy examples of women in all media.
A big part of that is women writing and designing women. This game is about female characters who are put into the role of being the heroines you’d want young girls to emulate. They’re not put into passive roles; they’re taking the lead, helping other people out, and working together to support one another. You can put yourself into that mindset when you play.
As a team, we wanted to create something fun for everyone, but especially as women, we want to elevate each other and let girls play a game where they are strong, capable, and taken seriously. Playing a board game is a small simple thing, but those sorts of examples matter, especially for kids, and that’s something we kept in mind while designing this game.
Chronicles of Light: Darkness Falls (Disney Edition) is now available for purchase. Don’t miss out on adding this immersive and gorgeous game to your collection.