Creator Spotlight - kovray
Spotlight is a new series that will help to showcase awesome creators in the tabletop community who we at Quackalope love and want to see succeed just as much as ourselves.
It’s a chance to see the industry from a new perspective and give a virtual hug to some of the wonderful people that also remind us how great board games are, how thrilling roleplaying is, and how exciting the tabletop industry is on a day-to-day basis.
kovray is the brainchild and creative outlet of Ilya and Tylor, a couple who is passionate about board games while also possessing fantastic talent in digital art and photography.
Their content creation involves both a blog and a YouTube channel, but it’s their winning personalities that make you want to sit back and enjoy the comedy sketches, board game reviews, and personal insights.
Tylor and Ilya, like many of us, gradually built a love for the hobby as they discovered new games and they decided to share that enthusiasm while also leveraging their skills in visual media.
And I’m so glad they did. It’s always a fun, heart-warming and engaging experience when watching or reading through their content. As I write, I personally love the in-depth reviews on their blog—the last three have featured Euphoria, which I also recently reviewed, and then Roll Player and Cartographers, both of which I’m interested in!
But I’m getting off-track. Let’s explore all of the great things that kovray has to offer.
YouTube
The YouTube channel launched in September of 2020, but Tylor and Ilya are already over 500 subscribers and have uploaded more than 30 videos.
One of my favorites is the Love Languages with Board Games sketch, which iterates on the idea of meaningful ways in which partners (or even friends) share love or derive pleasure. Physical Touch is definitely going to be mine. I need to unbox all of those components and get rid of that shrinkwrap!
If you’re interested in short previews and discussions about trending games or you like board game content in general, then make sure to subscribe! The two always have a smile on their faces and the content always ends up being somewhere between 5 and 15 minutes, which is a nice amount of time.
The Blog
Photography by: Ilya and Tylor of kovray
I like written reviews. I like seeing how a different writer formulates and organizes their thoughts, especially when looking at something I’m interested in—board games.
Tylor seems to be the main engine behind the reviews and he does a fantastic job of giving an overview, a description of gameplay, and then a detailed assessment that hinges on memorability, education, replayability, imagination, and target. All of which is then given a cumulative score.
Visually, he formats it all very nicely, with bolded highlights through the text. And then, of course, the sumptuous photography of the game and its components!
The Photography
One special part of kovray is their tabletop photography. This is an area in which I’d like to improve, so it’s always wonderful to see content creators who are exceptional and who are (so much) better than me. It gives me something to aspire to!
If you have missed their photos until now, then please please please go check them out. The portfolio is really impressive and it gives life to so many good games.
Quackalope is what it is today because of the awesome tabletop community, but we’re not the only ones here in the space.
This is why we want to always show off the great work that other content creators are putting out there. If you haven’t given some time or support to Ilya and Tylor or their exploits with kovray, then consider engaging with them in the community!
You can find them on Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook!
What other content creators do you want us to talk about? Let us know in the comments!