Judgement Day for the Malaysia DNP game design competition was Sat 30 Aug
2025. All six of us judges assembled at Bored boardgame cafe to play and rate
the nine finalists. The final results of the competition will be out on 16 Sep 2025 (Malaysia Day).
All of the games are short or very short. We started at 10am, and I had expected we would be done by 4pm comfortably, including a lunch break. It turned out to be not the case. We needed to play some games multiple times to properly assess them. We also needed time to discuss and debate. It was a serious and intense affair. We challenged one another and posed sharp questions. It was a good mental workout for me, like I've played a full day of Splotter titles. It was interesting to hear different perspectives and opinions.
One thing I observed was that some games were as good as they appeared to be based on watching the video introduction and reading the rulebook, while some were not as impressive in action as on paper. This is a limitation of our competition format. We didn't want to ask everyone to send in their prototypes, because we didn't have enough time to play every prototype. In Stage 1 of the competition we scored the game designs only based on video and rulebook, without actually having played the games themselves. This is certainly not a perfect approach. It is what is feasible and practical, and we have to accept the limitation. We mitigate the risk by having every game scored by multiple judges in Stage 1.
One thing we might consider doing if (or maybe I should say when) we run this again next year is in Stage 1 to encourage contestants to share some or all of their print-and-play game cards. Some games have simple rules, and much of the gameplay is captured in the card powers, which are not shown through the video or rulebook, unless the designer deliberately inserts some of this information to showcase to the judges. If the card powers are submitted, we as judges can get a better idea of what the game is like.
I notice how rulebook writing can be very difficult. We had a mixed bag. Some were done very well. Clean, clear and minimalistic. Some were frustrating and we had to spend time debating the designer's intention. We had to decide for ourselves how to interpret the rules. I have written rules myself, and I know how hard it is. It is not a surprise that some contestants have difficulties. It is more surprising that some managed to write so well.
By the end of the day, we were quite happy with our ranking of the nine finalists. We had debates and we made adjustments after hearing different views, but ultimately all of us felt confident and proud to stand by our final ranking.
Now that I have experienced being on the other side of a game design competition, I have learned that judging someone else's game is highly subjective. Whether a game does well in a competition is not an absolute measure of how good it is. It is only a measure of how good the panel of judges collectively think it is at the time of the competition. We the judges do our best to be objective, and to select the best game of the crop, but we know in game design there is no such thing as being 100% objective.
Competitions are cruel, in that 99% of contestants walk away feeling disappointed. There is only one winner. Unfortunately, and this is probably an Asian culture thing, we tend to fixate on whether we win anything, and we overlook other things we gain along the way. Going through the whole game design, development and testing process and learning how to do them hands-on. Writing and rewriting the rulebook. Writing the script for a 2-minute video to make sure I present the most notable aspects of my game. Sharing my rulebook and asking others to critique it. We as judges wanted to give all contestants as much as we can, and we wrote detailed feedback and suggestions. We hope we will grow the community of boardgame designers in Malaysia, and have more and more quality designs emerge from this community.
Here are our nine finalist games.
Rentak Wau by Rasis is a 2-player microgame using only 18 cards. Over three rounds you want to fly your kite higher than your opponent, or you want to cut his kite down so that yours become the only kite remaining. Beware, if the wind is too strong, you might lose your kite to the wind.
Gotong-Royong by Lim Feng Kiat has players playing cards to get as close to a specific target number as possible, but not more than that. If you go overboard, you get nothing. If you and another player achieve the same number, you clash and both get nothing. Of the remaining players, whoever is nearest to the target number wins the round. Cards can be played face-up or face-down, so you often don't know for sure what your opponents have. Cards have special powers which can modify your own total or your opponents' totals. One interesting aspect of the game is how you must conserve your cards. You don't draw cards by default. At the end of every round, you may decide to refill your hand to the standard hand size. However, whenever you do so, your hand size shrinks by one.
Teh Tarik Game by Ray Tan is played with exactly two teams of two, and teammates sit across the table from each other. Each team has exactly two opportunities to complete a teh tarik (bubbly milk tea) in the whole game. Each card in your cup scores 1 point. However, during the game you may spill tea too, either because you are unable to play a card on your turn, or you decide not to use your teh tarik card yet. When you spill tea, each card is negative 1 point.
Each team has one cup, and when you start making tea, cards must be played in ascending order. The nasty part of this game is you can play a card in your opponent's cup. Yes, you are potentially giving them a point, but most likely you will be messing with them and limiting their plays. Some cards allow you to change the number requirement to the opposite direction, e.g. play in descending order instead. This can help you get more cards played to your cup, and thus score more points.
Kandar Klash! by Jason Sondoh is a real-time game and requires some spatial skills. Every round an order is revealed, and everyone tries to complete that order as quickly as possible.
Everyone has the same set of 6 cards. You must arrange them to create the pattern shown on the order card. Ideally you do so with as few of your 6 cards as possible. If you are quick enough, you score 1 point plus 1 point per leftover card in hand. If you are too slow, you get nothing. If you are quick, but you make a mistake, you are penalised instead.
JAM! from Kenny Goh unites all Malaysians in hating traffic jams. Everyone wants to advance, and you simultaneously choose whether to take the highway, the city road or the back alley. If others choose the same route as you do, you will clash, creating the dreaded jam. You may end up in a standstill, or you may even be forced to go backwards. This is a game about trying to guess your opponents' choices.
Batik from Anas Maghfur is a game of pattern recognition. Cards are double sided, with one side being a batik pattern, and the other being an objective you can try to fulfil and score points for. On your turn, you normally draw a card (deciding up front whether to make it an objective or batik), or play a batik to the table.
At any time, including on other players' turns, if one of your objectives is fulfilled, you may declare so and play that objective before you. One interesting mechanism in the game is each completed objective can be tapped once per game to give you an extra play action on your turn. This can be crucial in completing some of the high-valued objectives.
In Malashion by Tang Hoe Ching you try to claim traditional costumes by creating a row or column of three specific materials. You always have a hand of four materials which you can use for swapping with materials on the table. There are specific rules around when the swapped card stays face-up or must be turned face-down. Turning a card face-down is important because only the row and column of that face-down card can be used to claim a costume.
Costumes come from different ethnic groups in Malaysia. If you collect two or more of the same ethnic group, you score bonus points.
Botanical Grabber by Awake En is a 2-player game in which one plays the human and the other the monkey. The monkey has just stolen the human's bag, and the human needs to hunt down the monkey to get it back. Side note: Haireey who is from Penang has a different take on this. When we played, he was the human and he tried to run away from me, the monkey. He said in real life that is what he would do, because the monkeys in Penang are mad, and if you lose your bag to them, just kiss that bag goodbye. I think he's just making an excuse for having lost to me.
The game is played over 8 rounds. The human wins by catching the monkey, and the monkey wins by avoiding capture for 8 rounds. Every round, both players simultaneously play a movement card and optionally an action card. The human movement cards offer more flexibility. The human can always choose one of two directions. The monkey movement cards only point at one direction. The human's movement is resolved before the monkey's.
Action cards are drafted before the game starts, so once you are familiar with the game, you'll know which cards your opponent has chosen.
Twin Towers by Jeixel Heng is a 2-player cooperative game with communication restrictions. You can't discuss your cards. You build the Petronas Twin Towers and try to go as high as possible. At Tower A, cards must be played in ascending order, while at Tower B, it must be descending. You must play a card every turn, because once you fail to do so, the game will end, and you will score based whatever you have achieved so far.
You want the two towers to be of the same height. If they are not, a penalty is applied. I needed to take this photo to show how good I was at the game. I scored 23 points, partnering with Haireey. That was the high score. The other judges were nowhere near. Haiya... what are you guys doing?
Haireey, Buddhima, Chee Kong, Logan, Jon and I
