boardgaming in photos: Through the Ages, Sabah Honeymoon

This was my submission for the Sabah game design competition organised by STTOS - Sabah Honeymoon. The box is just a regular plastic document case that can be found in most stationery shops. I did not spend much time creating a nice box cover. My game components are functional but not exactly pretty. I hope the competition stays true to being a game design competition and does not turn out to be an art or graphic design or crafting competition. 

These are my game components. I have a sell sheet which summarises what the game is on one page. 

The map is roughly the size of four A4 sheets. This is double the size of the first version. There is much more space for the player pieces and this is much more comfortable. I added a reference chart at the bottom left to remind players of the card combinations that can be used as a joker. 

By the time of this blog post, I would have done the presentation of my game to the judges, and I would be waiting for the final results. The city of Tawau in the photo above is the city I was born in. My family moved to Kota Kinabalu when I was three. Although I grew up in Kota Kinabalu, I visited Tawau every year when I was little, because we had many relatives there. 

My game in development Taking Sides has now been renamed to Rebels of the Three Kingdoms. I have an updated prototype, and one of the elements added is the names of the characters. This is much more immersive. Also now I have two prototypes, in English and Chinese. I am thinking about a two-player variant for the game. I need to start playtesting it. 

Younger daughter Chen Rui played Through the Ages with me. This was her first game and she did well, scoring over 300 points. We played a full game and not the shortened version recommended for first time players. 

There was a period when my wife Michelle and I played a lot of Through the Ages. At the time we had an earlier version of the game. However it is not too different from the current latest version. 

My early leaders were Moses and da Vinci. 

2-player game

Father and daughter

This end turn process reference chart on the player board is a great idea. 

My civilisation at game end. I had many colonies. 

Chen Rui's civilisation at game end. She had more wonders than me.