Pigeon Palooza Game Design

Overview

Independent Game and Packaging Design Project

Role

Game and Packaging Designer (Independent Project, 2022-2024)

Led concept development, illustration, board design, and packaging execution

Scope

End-to-end design including concept development, game mechanics, illustration, board design, card design, and packaging execution

Project Type

A passion project celebrating Chicago's iconic pigeons and landmarks through an original board game. Designed to feel like a market-ready product with cohesive visual identity across every component.

Pigeon Palooza is an original board game celebrating Chicago’s pigeons and landmarks, designed for younger players. The goal was to create something that felt like a genuine market-ready product — cohesive across every component, from the board itself to cards, packaging, and rulebook.

The game is built on the familiar structure of Ludo and Sorry, with added obstacle and prompt card mechanics that introduce an element of chance, moving players forward or setting them back depending on their luck. That unpredictability needed to feel fun rather than frustrating, which informed how the visual tone was set.

Visually, the direction was children’s cartoon illustration: whimsical pigeon characters that would immediately signal the game’s audience and energy. For color, the Chicago flag was an obvious starting point but felt too stark in practice. Instead, I referenced an old Chicago postcard whose softer, nostalgic palette gave the game warmth without losing its city identity.

I designed all components for print production and coordinated with a vendor to execute the physical product, giving me end-to-end ownership from concept through manufactured result.

Contact

contact@karolina-gostomski.com

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