Anything from Leader Games and illustrated by Kyle Ferrin (Root, Oath, Fort...) feels like cheating but still, I absolutely adore their art style
Everdell, Photosynthesis, Parks, look nice as well
I also bought an updated edition of Costa Ruana just because of the illustrations: https://www.pamwishbow.com/client-work/project-four-yjynj-pafyx
Being a bird fan is just the healthy sane thing to do, it isn’t a niche hobby it is a pleasure of being on earth that everyone should enjoy.
Wingspan is gorgeousssss.
The app is too!
When I first heard about Wingspan app I dismissed it in an instant - why do I want to sit in front of the screen instead of being at the table? As someone working in IT boardgames are my escape from virtual world. But the game is phenomenal - cards have animations, birds make sounds and in the Polish version they have hired legendary Krystyna Czubówna (most famous voice actor) to read bird trivia. 10/10.
I agree and I think that dynamic is definitely at play but it is eclipsed by the immediately evident truth that the digital game is as much a genuine love letter to birds wearing the disguise of an awesome strategy game as the board game itself.
A love letter is a love letter, the details of what medium the letter is written in doesn't matter, and what better crush to write a love letter to than the birds bursting wild and free into even the most terraformed artificial human environments.
.....Do you think you could teach a crow to play wingspan?