The Colors
Believe it or not, the five colors used in Lovat are all real colors!
Rufous: A brownish-red color mainly used in bird names and other animal names
Gingerline: Not the color of ginger, but a bright yellow often defined as an orangish brown
Phlox: The vibrant shade of the flowers of certain types of North American phlox plants
Zaffre: The color of a deep blue pigment originating in alchemical experimentation
Skobeloff: A deep, rich green color known for its calming and grounding hue
Hover to see the front of the card
The Inspiration
Finding the right colors for Lovat took research, patience and time. The creator attempted dozens of combinations before settling on the final design, balancing brightness, readability, and compatibility across the five colors.
Eventually, the creator decided that the name of the game should be something related to colors, especially related to green, but not tied to a specific hue. That way, the name would relate to the theme without incorrectly representing a color. Lovat is a green color mixture used in fabrics, especially tweeds. Lovat was likely named after Thomas Alexander Fraser, 12th Lord Lovat, a Scottish nobleman, who popularized muted tweeds.
Deciding the name of the game also took research. One the creator chose the colors and the layout of the cards, it was the obvious choice to have the backs of the cards be skobeloff. However, deciding what the name of the game should be was not as simple a decision. The name needed to reflect the theme of colors, but the name couldn’t be a color because the card backs wouldn’t reflect that. The creator didn’t want to draw a sixth color into the mix, so the backs of the cards were to remain skobeloff.
The Creator
Lovat was designed by Kathryn Fargason, a resident of Houston, Texas, who enjoys writing, hiking, and designing card games. Lovat began as a rudimentary game composed of scores of tiny slips of paper, each with five scribbled numbers. Lovat eventually emerging a colorful, complete, and thought-provoking game with its signature design and color scheme. Kathryn takes pride in the fact that strangers across her city, state, and country will be connected on some level by her game and the network of sprit and competition that it creates.