We are taking a little break from rules today and taking a closer look at the artwork for Super Squad High! The lead illustrator for the game is Canadian artist and creator, Tan Ganguly, who agreed to chat with us today.
But first, let’s take a quick look at some of the key art pieces from the game! During the development process, we decided to eschew the typical hard linework and sculpted muscles found in most superhero-themed board games. Tan combined a lineless storybook style with comic book half-tones to create a unique look that makes each character seem approachable and helps emphasize the emotional component of the game. Namely forming relationships with our quirky classmates as you search for the villain hidden among them!
Another interesting challenge that Tan tackled was costume designs for villains. Since any given villain could secretly be any Classmate, the villain costumes needed to avoid looking too much like any one Classmate. The solution Tan came up with was to make the open parts of the costumes shadowed, to suggest incomplete spaces that could be filled in with any given Classmates appearance.
One of the biggest art pieces created for the game is the game board. The art direction we gave Tan for the game board was the exaggerated style of tourism maps, where major landmarks are drawn in profile and oversized to emphasize their importance. They knocked it out of the park, and helped capture the feel of a mid-sized city full of greenery and unique buildings – the kind of place I’d want to live!
Now that we’ve looked at some artwork, let’s chat with the artist themself! Tan took the time to answer a few questions for us about their artwork and involvement in the game.
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What is your background as an artist?
I’m someone who’s always been scribbling their characters as a kid and got in trouble for doodling too much in class. It came in handy since I studied animation in college and then became an animator and designer for video games and kids’ TV.
How did you get involved with Super Squad High?
Well I did some art with the lovely folks at NerdyPup on a previous game (go check out Dungeon Date) and then got reached out by Michael to see if I would be interested in working on Super Squad High! I loved the vision for the game and had to get involved since it was right up my alley.
What other projects have you worked on previously?
I’ve worked on Dungeon Date – the NerdyPup game where you can date, slay, or befriend monsters, and I’m developing a project called “Overload” – a graphic novel/game sci-fi detective story with the JRPG vibes of fighting gods. Another cool thing I worked on was Dawn of the Monsters with 13AM Games – a kaiju beat em up indie game.
What are your biggest inspirations as an artist?
I think some of my biggest inspirations are from nature, especially animals. I also love Rococo and Art Nouveau! I grew up reading every webcomic I could get my hands on. Taylor Robin’s “Never Satisfied” has had a big impact on me and I’m so excited for his new graphic novel. My biggest inspirations these days are my life and my friends and dorking out about stuff together, especially playing Lancer or DnD together.
What was your favorite part of working on Super Squad High?
I love the colours and bright art direction that we went with for the project. It was so satisfying to see everything come together in the end! I loved the creative freedom I was given to try and make the game the coolest art and really gave me room to design my heart out.
If you could have any super power, what would it be?
I would love luck manipulation. Can you imagine how handy that would be? Somehow being in the right place at the right time all the time. Also you’d have the perfectly crispy fries all the time and your trains would always be on time!
Where can folks find more of your work?
The place I keep most up to date these days is on bluesky! https://bsky.app/profile/rikavolt.bsky.social I have a tumblr and instagram under rikavolt as well, but it’s tough trying to keep up with lots of social media.
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Thanks again to Tan for taking the time to chat. Tomorrow will be our final design diary! Join us for a final look at all of the extras included in the game, including extra challenge modes and a campaign mode, as well as important dates as we approach the final release of the game!