I recently started working on a prototype called Inheritance. What lead to this idea was a game Buddhima showed me. It was a game from Taiwan in which players had to close their eyes, and the sense of touch was used. I thought it would be interesting to try making a game that limited sight, and used touch. I had another prototype that did both, but it didn't seem interesting. It

This is my theory, and it might not be entirely correct, but I'm sure it is at least partially true.  I have been a hobby gamer for many years, but I have only been in the industry side of it for about 5 years. I count from 2022, the year Dancing Queen was released. I have met many, many nice people in the industry. Game designers, game publishers, play organisers and so on.

TOBE 2026 (Taiwan Original Boardgames Expo) was 25-27 Sep 2026. I participated as an exhibitor. TOBE was first held in 2017. I had never visited TOBE before, so this was not only my first time being an exhibitor, it was my first time ever attending. One thing different about this exhibition for me was my wife Michelle joined me to be my helper. I have exhibited at many boardgame

The results of the Design & Play Game Design Competition 2026 have been announced on Malaysia Day, 16 Sep 2026. Congratulations to Muhammad Aiman Haqiemi Mohd Shaipul (Jalan Jem), Anas Maghfur (Unlawful) and Andrew Tan Kui An (Malaysia's Last Tigers). I am one of the six judges for the competition. We had our judging day on 12 Sep 2026 at Lalaport. It was one full

Simon Schmieder is the designer of Jakarta Traffic, Durian Smuggler and Food Alley. He is from Germany and currently lives in Indonesia. I got to know him through boardgame fairs around South East Asia. We were both in Bangkok for the Bangkok International Game Festival (BIGF) in August, and he, Jon and I met up for a playtest session.  The Airbnb Simon stayed in was like a mini

This is the second year the Design & Play game design competition is held. I am one of the judges, together with five other local game designers and publishers. Our goal in doing this is to encourage others to try their hands at game design, to develop Malaysian game design, and to bring more good Malaysian games to the world. This year we had 113 registrations. By the time

  Pilgrim Poker is named so because the setting is Journey to the West, the Chinese classic novel. The characters are transported to a modern setting. They are on the first leg of their pilgrimage, taking the train to Dunhuang. Guess what they are bringing on this trip? Pilgrim Poker of course! Five years ago when I started working on this game, it was very different.

When I was in Kota Kinabalu I asked my mum to playtest my Dream of the Red Chamber (红楼梦) game with me. I wanted to get it played by different kinds of players, and senior citizens is not a demographic I often have access to. This was also the first time younger daughter Chen Rui played. I have told her about the game before during video calls when she was overseas, but she could only play the

The Asian Board Games Festival (Malaysia) was 7 - 9 Aug 2026. This was the third time it was held, and I have been exhibiting there every year so far. It was at the same venue - 1st Avenue Mall in Penang. Here's my experience at ABGF this year.  Three of us - Jon, Buddhima and I - travelled together in the same car from Kuala Lumpur to Penang on Thursday, a day before the event

I played the physical version of Rumble Nation. This is a minimalistic area majority game. I normally dislike area majority games, but this one is just so clever. It's a game from Japan, and the setting is Japan too.  You roll three dice to determine what options you have on your turn. You must use two of the dice to choose the region you will place your cubes, and the third dice

Malaysia is a country which has many public holidays. We have three major ethnicities and many minor ones. We have different religions and traditions. We have national holidays as well as many state specific holidays. Every year towards the end of the year, I see infographics on social media helping people strategise when to apply for annual leave in the following year. For

The retreat didn't actually have a name. I call it the Yuhang retreat simply because it was organised by Yuhang. This was a private event of a group of boardgamers in Kuala Lumpur coming together for 3 days of gaming, staying at an Airbnb at Taman OUG. I didn't know Yuhang well before this. It was Jon who asked me whether I wanted to join. It was only after I had signed up that I found out I know