Elowyn: Quest of Time is a collectable card game pioneering the Play2Thrive genre—a platform for training benevolent AI systems while empowering players as solutionaries for a thriving future. Players cultivate systemic thinking, ecological awareness, and creative problem-solving through engaging gameplay.
I established new art direction and upgraded character designs using AI, plus crafted EARTHwise Games Studio's brand strategy: positioning, audience, mission, vision, and messaging.
I established new art direction and upgraded character designs using AI, plus crafted EARTHwise Games Studio's brand strategy: positioning, audience, mission, vision, and messaging.
Previous character designs
WHAT I DECIDED, AND WHY
• Diversity first: every character rebuilt with racial, cultural, body and gender diversity.
• Players chose the look: 3 directions explored, 2 A/B tested. Soft anime won, and cost less.
• AI to start, craft to finish: hundreds of iterations per character, refined by hand.
• Built to scale: briefed an illustrator and game developer to extend the system.
ART DIRECTION
When I joined, Elowyn's visual assets felt dated—characters lacked diversity, expression, and liveliness.
• Diversity first: every character rebuilt with racial, cultural, body and gender diversity.
• Players chose the look: 3 directions explored, 2 A/B tested. Soft anime won, and cost less.
• AI to start, craft to finish: hundreds of iterations per character, refined by hand.
• Built to scale: briefed an illustrator and game developer to extend the system.
ART DIRECTION
When I joined, Elowyn's visual assets felt dated—characters lacked diversity, expression, and liveliness.
I explored art directions including neon-noir, anime, and chibi. Each combination of mood, lighting, and style told a different story. I aligned options with EARTHwise's brand foundation to find the direction that best visualised the brand's story.
I narrowed to 2 directions for A/B testing:
1) Contemporary anime-style with soft lighting and dreamy environments reflecting each character's powers
2) 3D grown-up look with life-like characters, strong lighting, and vibrant colours
I narrowed to 2 directions for A/B testing:
1) Contemporary anime-style with soft lighting and dreamy environments reflecting each character's powers
2) 3D grown-up look with life-like characters, strong lighting, and vibrant colours
Early exploration of art direction
A/B testing: Option 1 on the left and Option 2 on the right
Option 1 won, both the crowd favourite and more cost-effective. I rolled out the design across the remaining characters using AI. As the game reaches milestones, character artists will further develop them.
Character: Shakti, the Evolutionary Alchemist. Artifacts include: Alchemist Headband, Singing Chalice and Chrysalis of Light
Each character required hundreds of AI iterations to achieve the ideal expression, racial distinction, body shape, and pose.
Once character bases were achieved, AI images were refined in Photoshop and Illustrator—adding accessories, tools, artifacts, and environmental effects.
Once character bases were achieved, AI images were refined in Photoshop and Illustrator—adding accessories, tools, artifacts, and environmental effects.
A small selection of hundreds of same-same but different versions of Eureka
Testing different visualisation of armours, hair colours, tools etc
Exploring subtle differences in facial expression as a part of the character's demeanour
Exploring racial and cultural elements
Exploring gender identities, finding the balance between femininity and masculinity as a part of character development
The generated AI images were developed further to achieve the desired looks and consistency across all characters
After finalising the key 5 characters, I briefed an illustrator and game developer partner with EARTHwise's founder on the remaining characters and CCG board.
The Shadow Arcs of Moloch team
AI generated board design as a part of design brief
Elowyn CCG teaser