Artist Diary: Agent Avenue | BoardGameGeek News

by Fanny Pastor-Berlie

Hi there, I’m Fanny Pastor-Berlie (a.k.a. Llythium), illustrator of Agent Avenue, a game by Christian and Laura Kudahl that was published in 2024 by Nerdlab Games and coming from IELLO in 2025 in France!

When Dominik Lorenz, a developer at Nerdlab Games, reached out to me, initially it was for Final Titan, a completely different game by Christian Kudahl and Richard Garfield. While working on this first game, he told me about the other one they were working on and how I would be a good fit for. This game was Agent Avenue, which had a different name at the time. He pitched me the game — two players, split and choose, bluff, spies, the suburban American 1950s aesthetic artstyle they wanted — and I was sold at anthropomorphic characters.

Finding References

I would bet that no one saw this coming, but my main reference for almost anything animal related is Blacksad and always will be.

• Blacksad, by Juan Diaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido, is one of my favorite comics ever, so when I read people saying that the game’s artwork reminded them of it a bit but in a more colorful way (Penelope Gaming said “Happysad” — I love that), I feel honored. I always find a way to use Blacksad as an inspiration.

• Le Château des Animaux, by Xavier Dorison & Félix Delep – The art is beautiful, and I love how expressive the characters are, especially their eyes.

• Redwall, a book series by Brian Jacques, will always be my reference when I think of a world with animals.

• L.A. Noire, by Rockstar Games, for the atmosphere.

• Zootopia, by Disney.

But also Grease, Desperate Housewives, BNA, Duck Detective: The Secret Salami, etc.

Creating the Characters

I think I never have been as free in my work as on this game. I didn’t have to think too much of a specific artstyle since that was why Dominik thought I would be a good fit in the first place. All I had to do was find a few references and determine which species each character should be, which was enough for me. I love creating and drawing characters, giving them some personality. Everything went incredibly smoothly, with their design almost always found on the first try with just a few tweaks.

• Double Agent

Inspired by Bree Van de Kamp (Desperate Housewives). A fox housewife who bakes the most delicious apple pie of the neighborhood. Why suspects the best citizen in town? At some point, she had hair, but her evil twin got them instead. Maybe one of the reasons why they hate each other so much.

• Enforcer

Ninja squirrels. That’s it, that’s the pitch.

• Daredevil

Mainly inspired by Dinozzo (NCIS) for his attitude and a bit of Seeley Booth (Bones). Efficient but reckless, he doesn’t know when to quit, for better or for worse.

• Codebreaker

Inspired by every “nerdy” girl from all the 1990-2000 movies I ever saw, and a bit of Velma (Scooby-Doo).

• Saboteur

Inspired by Danny Zuko and Kenickie (Grease), with a bit of Biff/Griff (Back to the Future). He always was meant to be some ruffian, a thug with gorgeous hair.

• Sentinel

Nobody expects the pigeon inquisition.

• Sidekick

Inspired by Dick Gumshoe from Ace Attorney (but way smarter) and Watson, our sidekick is named Blacky. He was either to be a Doberman or a German Shepherd. We went for the latter.

• Mole

Loosely inspired by Danny Devito but sneakier.

The Black Market Cards for Advanced Mode

• Ceasefire was loosely inspired by old Coca-Cola adverts.

• What do you think Saboteurs are playing at in Distraction Device ?

• Double Trouble was inspired by some Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic book covers.

• Drone launcher was just pigeons on a telephone pole, waiting to screw up your new coat.

• Masterplan was inspired by the Justice League (2001 animated series) opening.

• Mind control was inspired by all of those comedic sketches in which someone is following/flying towards some delicious pie. Fun fact: This was the most difficult card to draw, thanks to the intertwined thing from the pie. Is it that obvious that I’m a very bad cook?

• The Super Computer is some Commodore 64 that became a Detective 32.

The Box

Inspired by the Mr. & Mrs. Smith movie poster, the cover was meant to be two character silhouettes either back to back or face to face, with an illustration of the neighborhood. We did several silhouettes, then the illustration, but there was too much stuff going around, so we went for something slightly simpler. At some point, we even thought of a different time of day.

And here’s the final box as you know it!

Working on this game was such a great experience, I can’t thank Christian, Laura, and Nerdlab enough for their trust. The game itself was so well received, I still can’t believe it. I can’t wait for more people to play it!

But you know what my biggest achievement is? At some point during the process, we played Agent Avenue twice, and I beat Christian. Twice. I have the high ground!

Anyway, thanks for reading and hope you’ll continue to enjoy Agent Avenue!