A Wayfarer's Tale started out in 2022 as a print and play game launched on Kickstarter, which went on to be nominated for a Golden Geek Award, coming runner up to Aquamarine.
Two years later, the original creators James Emmerson and Tristam Rossin have partnered with Adam “Hock” Hocherman to build Wayfarer Games, and their first release will be a box version of A Wayfarer's Tale: The Journey Begins, a game based on and built on the original print and play game.
I contacted Adam after having a demo of A Wayfarer's Tale at UKGE (where else) with a view to help support their up-coming Kickstarter launch by creating a custom photoshoot for the game.
The Tavern
One of the big additions to the boxed version of the game is the introduction of taverns, where the player can recruit other adventurers to help them on their travels or encounter rumours of monsters or treasure dotted throughout the map.

It was this concept of the Tavern that lead to the creation of this shoot - the idea of the game being played in an "ye olde" inn, having a respite from the days tribulations.
I live in Warwickshire and you can't move for bumping into pubs and inns that claim to be the oldest in England, which sounds like a great position to be in when you're looking for a 16th Century setting but unfortunately pubs don't stand still. Every 16th Century pub is now filled with modern beer taps, slot machines, 4K TVs and modern bar set ups that it's incredibly hard to find a scene that removes all of the modern additions.
Luckily, I discovered the Shakespear Inn which, while still having the modern trappings of a pub had the most fantastic alcove with a old fashioned fire that was apart from anything else.
It made a great location for the shoot.
Calm In Front of an Open Fire
I wanted the shoot to be reminiscent of sitting in front of a fire, relaxing, hearing stories and taking a break from a long adventure. It was important that it didn't just look like it was taking place in an inn, but that it felt like it too.
Creating a scene where people are eating, drinking and generally taking a step back was vital to get the feel of the game being played within a scene, rather than just being the scene itself.
But the photos also needed to show the game, and what the players should expect as they traverse the maps and work with their fellow adventurers to be the first to glory.
These shots really enables the players to see what makes up the game and to get a feel for the components and what would come in the box.
But an inn is not an inn if people aren't playing the game. Now getting good shots of people playing a game within a specific setting can be challenging as if you include too much it takes away from the game itself.
So for these, we pulled in close to the game to give more a focus on the game, but also to start to put the viewer in the players shoes.
With these sequence of shots, we start our wide - setting the scene for the shoot and getting the prospective player into the mindset of where the game is bring played.
As we pull in closer, we get to focus more on the game and the components, while showing the game in action, and allowing that player to start imagining it's them playing the game.

Behind the Scenes
As I mentioned earlier, no 16th Century pub in the 2020's looks like it did in the 1500's so we had to make sure we focused on the right parts of the scene.
There's probably one or two health and safety issues with this set up I'm sure!
For the food, I wanted to recreate the cards in the games themselves (though I went with green grapes, because they would provide more contrast to the darker scene - and they taste better!) which would add a nice little "ah ah" moment for those eagle eyed players who noticed it.
With shoots like this, it really is the details that matter.
The medieval cutlery was kindly provided by Events from History to give some final touches to the scene.
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