There’s an age-old argument among gamers when it comes to jazzing up a game: miniatures or meeples?
Miniatures are usually highly detailed and help encapsulate the world that they’re representing. These tiny plastic and resin statues add an extra immersive quality to their games, and they have no shortage of devotees. This camp is also not afraid to back up their devotion with their wallets. Spend any time on Kickstarter, for instance, and you will quickly see how beloved miniatures and miniatures games can me.
Meeples, on the other hand, don’t often get the same amount of fanfare, nor do they rake in the same amount of dollars when they appear on stage. Yet they too have a very emphatic fan base, as is noted by the precipitous rise in unique meeple designs – and people’s energetic reactions to them. Meeples draw people in because they create an inviting feeling to a game. With simple colors and unadorned designs, meeples foster an atmosphere of clean, simple fun. There is a reason, after all, why the humble wooden meeple is the unofficial mascot of board gaming.
We at the CR love both, but if we had to pick a camp, it’s safe to say that we’re meeple people.
And that brings us to a flea market.
Creating A Pantheon
Several months ago, we were wandering around outdoors at one of our regional flea markets and came across an overlooked little thimble rack for super cheap. Being the geeks we are, we immediately thought of what sort of gaming stuff we could use it for.
What to do, what to do…
We got it (of course), and decided to clean it up. After some light sanding and a fresh coat of paint, we gave this little wall display renewed life:
We debated over what we could put inside to decorate it without much effort, but after some brief discussion we realized what the answer was. It was so obvious. Minis get showcased all the time…so why not meeples?
And lo, the Pantheon of Meeples was born:
The idea behind the Pantheon of Meeples is for us to find and display some of the best meeples in gaming that embody the creativity and diversity of meeples out there. So while the initial slots are propagated with the lesser meeple deities, we’re looking to swap them out with those of other games. And we thought it would be super fun to get you all to help us pick them out! To get the ball rolling, we’ve made the first two exchanges ourselves:
The first slot goes to the mischievous monkeys from Relic Expedition by Foxtrot Games, while the second goes to the sizable Dragon Lord from the upgrade kit of Princes of the Dragon Throne by Clever Mojo Games / Game Salute.
You can keep track of the current Pantheon over on its page, where each slot will show the meeple and where it comes from. Come help us build the Pantheon of Meeples! The only requirements are that a) they have to be entirely made of wood (sorry Quadropolis), and b) they have to fit inside the roughly 1×1 box. That’s it!
You can let us know through all the normal social means. We’re really curious to hear your suggestions!