Tabletop
Local Connections
Celebrating a few Southeast Asian board game creators and the Asian Board Games Festival.
It’s the Asian Board Games Festival in Manila this weekend, and my partner and I are really looking forward to meeting game designers and publishers from all across the region. The event promises to include games from 10 countries, which is an impressive feat under one roof. As much as there are other events that include some of the really big international game publishers, there’s something unique about celebrating games closer to home.
This had my partner and me reflecting on the different designers that we’ve been able to meet over the years, and we’ve continued to support them as best as we can in our own way. And it looks like many of them will also be at ABGF Philippines, which is cause for more celebration.
Shortly after I acquired a copy of The Singapore Dream, one of my earliest Singapore board games was Chope!. It stood out to me as such a unique celebration of something distinctly Singaporean - and it was good that I actually knew what the word meant! This was the start of my Origame journey, and time and time again I’d see that Daryl Chow was the primary designer of many of my most beloved Singapore games. It’s also why Origame is rather prominently featured in my article about Asia cultural curation in board games.
I first met Daryl almost by chance because I was rushing an Origame website order before my flight, and they suggested that I meet up with them instead of risking the postal service. I wasn’t expecting Daryl himself to show up at the MRT station, and it kind of blew my mind. I’ve connected with him one more time during gamescom asia 2024, and every time it has been a delight to talk to him about his games and the unique design space in Asia. It’s no wonder that the origins of the ABGF are through Daryl and Origame.
I’ve highlighted a number of my favorite games he designed above in case you want to get more of the Daryl Chow experience through his games.
It was actually my partner who first met Mykey Cuento and Thomas Regala, which opened the door to a whole host of local efforts to bring Filipino board games to life. Mykey’s Pawikan Patrol is technically our very first local board game - our copy is a pre-retail release that didn’t even come in a box. Hugot is the first of Thomas’ games that we got a copy of, and it’s such a distinctly Fiiino-themed game - something that I haven’t captured to the same degree since.
We’ve remained friends with the two over the years and have had repeated encounters with them across different gaming or independent creator events, ranging from ESGS’s old Indie Fiesta to even many of the Komiket events over the years. We’ve also played both board games and TRPGs with them, which only deepened the association.
The two are more involved with the Kalaro Kolektib, a sort of indie incubator for local tabletop games, komiks, and zines. It’s a noble effort that speaks to their passion for the industry and their desire to help other creators get their stuff out into the world. They’ll be at booths H1 and H2 at ABGF PH!
We’ve had brief connections with other local creators over the years and still own copies of their games. I’ll always remember Yves, the guy behind 9 Lives (2020), which was his effort to create not just a fun board game, but also an IP centered around his cat characters. We have a copy of Space Dogs (Play Platter), a set collection card game with a unique theme. I remember listening to the team pitch the game to us at an event, so naturally, we had to pick up a copy. Our copy of Espionage (Hexa-G Corp 2019) still gets a fair amount of play since it’s a fairly solid game in its own right. Gotta wonder if we’ll see them again in a future convention sometime - assuming they decide to put out another game.
It’s not easy to get a board game out there, and it’s a little harder in the region since it’s still such a small industry. It’s not for a lack of trying or interest - we’ve met many creators eager to bring their game ideas to life in one way or another. But there are some very real challenges, mainly centered around the cost of production and the lack of cheaper sources for board game components. Two college kids with the next big game idea can’t just place a bulk order with Chinese manufacturers. Many can’t even use crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter to raise funds since they need to have US credentials to do so. So the indie publishing scene tends to work with existing printing constraints, which is why a significant number of local indie games are card-based.
Efforts like the Asian Board Game festival are a unique venue for helping these indie creators connect with players and get the word out about their games. As much as we all love a component-rich game with miniatures or unique wooden tokens, it’s a whole other experience to play a game that highlights your culture or speaks to your particular lived experience. And I hope that some of you geeky readers make some time to visit the event this weekend, or at the very least, use this as a jumping-off point to consider exploring original games from across the region for a different flavor of gaming.
