We recently partnered with Whippin’ 8 Games to create the illustrative artwork for their new board game, CATASTROPHE: Operation Mongoose.

Set in Cold War Cuba, the game draws on Operation Mongoose and the failed plots aimed at Fidel Castro. Players step into the roles of rival agents caught in a mission defined by secrecy, sabotage, bad decisions and shifting blame.

That mix of history and dark comedy shaped the visual direction.

The artwork needed to feel grounded in the period while still reflecting the game’s satirical tone. We looked to vintage adventure comics, pulp espionage covers, classified documents, political thrillers and mid-century print illustration.

For the box art, Fidel Castro stands at the center of the chaos as danger closes in from every direction. Aircraft, armed agents, poison and the streets of Havana all point to a plan already coming apart.

The goal was to capture the tension between the seriousness of the historical setting and the absurdity of the operations themselves. CATASTROPHE turns that contradiction into a competitive tabletop experience built around plotting, sabotage and self-preservation.

CATASTROPHE: Operation Mongoose is coming soon from Whippin’ 8 Games.

Follow them for launch updates, gameplay reveals and further instructions from Head Office.

The mission will fail. Make sure it’s not your fault.