How We Rebuilt Mariposa Hotel
This Vegas hotel lobby hosts Beth’s first major tournament and is a true standout location from The Queen’s Gambit miniseries. Though Beth triumphs to eventually become the joint winner of the tournament, it is here that she experiences a first character-building defeat to Benny Watts and it represents an important milestone for her.
As such a key moment in Beth’s journey it only made sense to bring this environment to life in game and allow players to experience it for themselves. Here’s our Art team to explain how we did it!
“The Mariposa Hotel lobby really is spectacular in the show. It’s probably the largest set in the series and really gets across that grandeur of Vegas in the 1960s. Our interpretation of that in the game had to be just as impactful.”
“With this space, our team put extra emphasis on capturing the scale of the lobby. In the finished environment, players experience not only the glamour of the art deco components but the feeling of being dwarfed by the sheer size of the space. It’s the feeling we imagine Beth would have felt attending her first major tournament.” – Jake Parrott, 3D Artist
The Details: Vegas
It’s all in the detail! Here are some of the things our art team included in the game version of Mariposa Hotel to match how it is represented in the TV series.
The Chess Board
Like other boards in the game, the ornate Hotel Mariposa chessboard is one that was taken directly from the show.
“The glitz and glamour of Vegas can be found everywhere in the show’s Mariposa Hotel Scenes. Even the chessboard used here feature. We knew we had to recreate this board in the game, and even made sure to feature the glimmering copper tabletops. Its subtle details like this that – when combined with the sheer size of the environment – should make the player feel like they’re playing in the same space that Beth did.” – Matt Beech, Artist
Art Deco Features
The satisfying geometric lines and mix of man-made materials found in the Mariposa Hotel lobby come together to create an impressive Art Deco space.
“We only had a single shot from the show to work from as a reference for this balcony view, so we took extra influence from famous Art Deco architecture such as the lobby of the Chrysler Building. In-game, the enormously high ceilings paired with those gold dice in the distance give a sense of the scale.” – Jake Parrott, 3D Artist
The Queen’s Gambit Easter Eggs
Consider yourself a The Queen’s Gambit super-fan? We have a challenge for you! Go back and see if you can spot any of the deeper details we included as nods to the show.
Join us soon for another deep dive into the environment of the game. What’s your favourite environment from The Queen’s Gambit series? Let us know on the official The Queen’s Gambit Chess Twitter.