Harm de Vlas

Design - Illustration & Animation Design

Dwaze Dwergen

Illustrator Harm de Vlas explores the relationship between art and games through the development of Dwaze Dwergen, a card game created under Cardsmith Company.

The project began with the question: what is the difference between art and a game? Throughout the design process, Harm discovered that this boundary is not fixed. A game can function as a system, a social experience, a visual object, and a narrative structure at the same time.

Dwaze Dwergen is designed with multiple layers. During play, the cards mainly function as game material: players look at values, remember information, collect tokens, and make tactical choices. In that moment, the illustrations support the gameplay. But when the cards are placed in sequence, they reveal another layer. The same cards can be read as a continuous visual story, almost like a comic strip revealing more about the world in which this game takes place. The object remains the same, but the way of looking changes.

This shift between playing, reading, and looking became central to the project. Every part of this game is approached as a design situation. The characters only fully come to life when the cards are used, moved, remembered, and rearranged by the players.

With Dwaze Dwergen, Harm investigates how a game can become more than entertainment. It becomes a designed situation, a visual narrative, and a social artwork. The project exists in between categories: it can be played as a game, read as a story, and experienced as an artwork.

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