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Coatl Board Game

Coatl is a board game designed by Etienne Dubois-Roy, Pascale Brassard and published by Synapses Games. In the game, your goal is to become the new Aztec High Priest by creating the most beautiful and valuable serpents, or Coatl.

Box cover art, featuring the feathered serpent, or Coatl striding majestically over the city of Tenochtitlan.

Box cover art, featuring the feathered serpent, or Coatl striding majestically over the city of Tenochtitlan.

Early concepts and logo design.

Early concepts and logo design.

Colour progress.

Colour progress.

Huitzilopochtli, Aztec god of the Sun and the war. 
His mother Coatlicue became pregnant with him when a ball of feathers touched her. He came out of his mother fully armored  and killed his siblings when they killed his mother over his conception.

Huitzilopochtli, Aztec god of the Sun and the war.
His mother Coatlicue became pregnant with him when a ball of feathers touched her. He came out of his mother fully armored and killed his siblings when they killed his mother over his conception.

Coatlicue, mother of the sun, moon and stars.
Her name means serpent skirt. She is often depicted with a head of two snakes coming out of her severed neck, wearing a necklace of severed hearts, hands and skulls.

Coatlicue, mother of the sun, moon and stars.
Her name means serpent skirt. She is often depicted with a head of two snakes coming out of her severed neck, wearing a necklace of severed hearts, hands and skulls.

Mictecacihuatl, Aztec goddess of the Underworld. 
She watches over the bones of the dead and presides over festivals of the dead, including the modern Day of the Dead. It was believed that she was born, then sacrificed as an infant.

Mictecacihuatl, Aztec goddess of the Underworld.
She watches over the bones of the dead and presides over festivals of the dead, including the modern Day of the Dead. It was believed that she was born, then sacrificed as an infant.

Tlaloc, Aztec god of rain, earthly fertility and water. 
He was both worshipped as giver of life and sustenance, and feared for his ability to bring hail, thunder and lightning.

Tlaloc, Aztec god of rain, earthly fertility and water.
He was both worshipped as giver of life and sustenance, and feared for his ability to bring hail, thunder and lightning.

Quetzalcoatl, aka Feathered Serpent, is the Aztec god of wind, air, and learning.
He is the inventor of books and calendar, giver of maize corn to man. He is the creator of present humans, made from grounded bones of previous humans mixed with his blood.

Quetzalcoatl, aka Feathered Serpent, is the Aztec god of wind, air, and learning.
He is the inventor of books and calendar, giver of maize corn to man. He is the creator of present humans, made from grounded bones of previous humans mixed with his blood.

Back design of the god cards. A lot of human sacrifice, mainly as a matter of survival. 
Their mythology is a bloody one, and their sun god requires human hearts and blood for strength to wage against the darkness, and prevent the end of the world.

Back design of the god cards. A lot of human sacrifice, mainly as a matter of survival.
Their mythology is a bloody one, and their sun god requires human hearts and blood for strength to wage against the darkness, and prevent the end of the world.

Temple card. At the center of the city of Tenochtitlán is the Templo Mayor, religious and social heart of the Aztec empire. 
It is built on the spot where the sun god gave the Aztecs the sign of the promised land: an eagle on a cactus eating a snake.

Temple card. At the center of the city of Tenochtitlán is the Templo Mayor, religious and social heart of the Aztec empire.
It is built on the spot where the sun god gave the Aztecs the sign of the promised land: an eagle on a cactus eating a snake.

Back of temple card. 
The temple is dedicated to the sun god Huitzilopochtli and water god Tlaloc.

Back of temple card.
The temple is dedicated to the sun god Huitzilopochtli and water god Tlaloc.

Final box design

Final box design