Kaleidoscopic Games - the history of colours in board games (Topic Discussion)

Colour is one of the first things I notice when opening a new board game. Bright player pieces, colourful resources and beautiful illustrations immediately grab my attention. Colours tell me where to look and how the game is organised. Yet, like around 1% of men, I have protanomaly, a mild form of red-green colour vision deficiency. I often see pink or purple flowers as blue, and when driving in fog, I see a car's rear red lights much later than other people. So I appreciate it when I can rely on something other than colour to tell me what I am looking at. In this article, I want to explore a century's worth of board game history and look at how colour-vision considerations have changed over time.

Read the full article here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2026/07/21/kaleidoscopic-games-the-history-of-the-use-of-colours-in-board-games-topic-discussion/

Useful Links

• Splendor review: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2020/07/25/splendor-saturday-review/
• Meeple Like Us: https://www.meeplelikeus.co.uk/
• Stonemaier Games' accessibility guide: https://stonemaiergames.com/about/accessibility/
• ColorADD: https://www.coloradd.net/en/
• Bombyx: https://studiobombyx.com/en/
• Sea Salt & Paper review: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2023/07/08/sea-salt-paper-saturday-review/
• Knarr review: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2024/07/20/knarr-saturday-review/
• Pixies review: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2024/08/10/pixies-saturday-review/
• ColorSym: https://colorsym.com/

Music

Intro Music: Bomber (Sting) by Riot (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)

Music: Bensound.com/royalty-free-music
License code: KGRW9GAFH4PVQSYA
Artist: : Yunior Arronte

Music by: Bensound
License code: PPH7TISVS7BNYB3Z
Artist: : Yunior Arronte

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(Photo by Fir0002 on Wikipedia)