boardgaming in photos: the fun in making games

A Japanese visitor to Malaysia purchased a copy of Dancing Queen. I always feel excited when I see Dancing Queen reach different countries around the world. The art for the game was done in a Japanese 90's comics style, so it is extra meaningful to see it reach the hands of a Japanese player. 

I met up with my friends from the mobile gaming company, and taught them my third game title Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. If all goes well the game should be out by Christmas 2024. They all enjoyed the game and asked to play again after we finished the first game. That is encouraging. Edwin (2nd from left) is my designated artist for Cili Padi Games now. He has done the art for both my previous games, and will be helping me with the third one too. We met up to have him experience the game, so that it would help him think of ideas and concepts for the artwork. 

I taught Xiaozhu (right) Dancing Queen. When we met up last year he wanted to order a copy. I didn't bring enough then. I said I would certainly keep a copy for him. And then the next time we met was one year later. We should meet up more. 

TTGDMY (Tabletop Game Designers Malaysia) did an annual meeting at FnD Mindspot recently, to talk about what we wanted to do as a community. It was great to be able to meet Evan in person. He came all the way down from Penang. His games won both 1st and 2nd place at the 2023 Malaysian Boardgame Design Competition, and one of them will soon be published by LUMA. 

TTGDMY did a playtest session in Kajang on 9 Mar 2024. I tried quite a few games, but only remembered to take photos of a few. This is Haireey's wedding game. You need to invite guests, of which there are four categories - family, friends, elders and VIP's. You need to prepare services - food, music, photos and decorations. All eight elements score points in different ways.  

This is the player board. You use it to mark who you have invited and where they will be sitting. Some guests don't like sitting next to some others, and you lose points if this happens. Sorry, your elders don't want to sit next to your rowdy friends.  

Availability of services is determined by die roll.

This is Jon's ESG game, about how to be a socially responsible corporation. It's a cooperative game. You run a diamond mining company. You mine diamonds and process them. Decisions you make affect the environment and society. How do you take care of these while maintaining profitability? 

Diamonds are Forever

You'll operate your company for one year, and then at the next Annual General Meeting you need to have achieved an average ESG score of 7. 

I have been playtesting with the TTGMDY community for quite some time. It has been a fun and fulfilling journey, supporting and helping one another, and together learning to be better. I am grateful to have this circle of friends.