Sakana Stack

I've come across Huff No More a number of times, usually at expos and events and Sakana Stack has always been something that caught my eye, but I've never had the opportunity to shoot it until now.

Cards, And More Cards

Pure card games can be difficult to shoot - where-as a sprawling boardgame might have 101 things to draw the viewers attention, the simplicity of a card game makes the photoshoot much more direct and focused.

Luckily, the artwork in Sakana Stack is lovely, so that's one challenge that I don't need to worry about, and by using a rich bamboo wood for the base of the game it really helps the cards stand out in a warm and pleasant manner.

So the focus on the shoot had to be on showing the game in play, bringing the viewer close to the cards and allowing a story to unfold through the images.

Lee ... took the time to read through the rules and ensure the gameplay photos were accurate - Huff No More

Sakana Stack is a card shedding/set collection game where players look to beat the value of the previously played stack by placing cards of the same number, of of the same type as the last played card in the stack.

While the images above show the game in various states, it's difficult to appreciate the way in which the game unfolds, so for the majority of the shoot we worked through a traditional players turn.

In shot 1, the player has a hand of cards, and the previous stack (two 7's) is in the background, with the last card being a shrimp. That hand has no sevens, so the next shot shows the player placing down their three 6's, which beats the previous stack 14 to 18.

The nice touch here is showing a lower value set of cards beating a higher value card, using the last players card as the base.

On the next turn, player three cannot beat the stack of 6's, so takes the "catch of the day", and the previous player scores the top card of their stack.

Colourful Pack Photography

With something like Sakana Stack, where the artwork is a stand out, being able to put this artwork front and centre is a great way to engage people who might be interested in the game.

By placing the box and product both centre stage within a game in progress, and also in a more abstract card view, it really gives the viewer and idea of both the quality of the cards in the box, but also creates a compelling image that people will naturally pause on as it scrolls by.