Two Malaysians one Seoul

Jon from nPips Games (King & Peasant, Furmation of Rome) and Chee Kong from Haribol Way (Zodiac Go) are two of my regular game exhibition buddies. We have been to many game exhibitions together, not just in Malaysia but also in Thailand and in the Philippines. In July, they went to Korea. I could not join them, so I asked them to share their experiences with me. We did this in an interview format. 

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Tell me about the Korean boardgame event you attended as exhibitors. 

Jon: It was a boardgame convention called simply Board Game Con, held in conjunction with Korea Character Licensing Fair. I was told that normally it is a standalone event, and also on a larger scale. It was held over 4 days, from Thursday to Sunday, in Gangnam. 

Chee Kong: It is one of the major Korean board game fairs, and it was held at the COEX convention and exhibition centre. 

Tell me about how you got involved in this event. 

Jon / Chee Kong: We were generously offered by Underdog Games to co-exhibit with them and a few others at the event. 

What were your biggest impressions at this boardgame exhibition? How does it compare to others you have been to? 

Jon: The number of people who attended the event was overwhelming. It could be because of the Korea Character Licensing Fair next door, and Friday was a national holiday. There were many publishers and distributors at the event. 

Chee Kong: My key impression is Korean gamers will take the opportunity to buy many games. Many of them used shopping carts when buying games because there were big discounts offered during the fair. Some new games were almost the same price as used games in Malaysia, for example in the Board Games To-Go Facebook group. 

Tell me about the boardgame scene in Korea. How is it different from other countries? 

Jon: The games were going off at 10~40% discount. Our games were considered expensive compared to other international titles that are localised in the Korean language. People who attended the event were quite well versed in boardgaming, regardless of age and gender. 

Chee Kong: The key difference is we need to have our game in the Korean language and we need a Korean helper to teach our games. Similar to the Thailand boardgame market, all imported games need to be translated to the local language. 

Do you see any specific Korean boardgame style? From the titles by Korean designers, do you see anything that makes Korean designed games a little different from those from other countries?

Jon: I did not play many indie designer games when I was there so I can’t comment about this in good faith. 

Chee Kong: I didn’t go around to check out local Korean indie publishers, but there was a neighbouring booth Joen which showcased an 18-year-old Korean game title - Hexus. Even Tom Vasel has reviewed it positively. The owner told me they started with educational games and built a good channel marketing through primary and secondary schools. They encouraged me and said that this is a business that requires both passion and patience. The results come gradually but they will come eventually. They have survived for 18 years with a few locally designed evergreen games.

How about the demographics of gamers in Korea? How is the age distribution and gender distribution?

Jon: Everything on the spectrum, but due to the fact that the event was next to the Character Licensing Fair and it fell on a holiday, I feel that the demographic could have been skewed.

Chee Kong: The gamer community is quite balanced in terms of male and female players. They are mostly aged 20 to 30. This is unlike Malaysia, where most gamers are male. 

What kind of games are most popular in Korea?

Jon: Party game-wise Halli Galli and Kushi Express are the most popular. I’m not sure what the gamers are into, but I was told that games with numbers are popular among gamers, such as Nana and Scout.

Chee Kong: It seems Koreans like games with good quality deluxe components. Popular games look very mixed - eurogames, party games, some thematic story driven games and even historical war games all were exhibited.

What were your goals for taking part in this event and do you feel you have achieved them? 

Jon: I primarily wanted to understand the scene in other countries for my own knowledge because I have started organising events, and also to seek out licensing opportunities, if not just to playtest my game with other audiences. Yes, I now understand the scene in Korea more, I got to playtest my game, but no my game did not get licensed as of this writing. 

Chee Kong: My main goal is to introduce Malaysian designed games to the Korea market and hopefully to get licensing opportunities in the near future.

What was your biggest surprise on this trip to Korea? 

Jon: How cheap the games were, and how people lined up outside the venue before the doors opened because of the limited editions / discounted goods. 

Chee Kong: The boardgame prices are very low in Korea during fairs compared to the South East Asian market. Competition is tough. 

This was taken at a boardgame cafe in Korea. They have enclosures like this.

What is your advice to boardgame designers and publishers about entering the Korean market? 

Jon: Do not fight Korean prices, they are just way too low to even consider after factoring in exchange rate and logistics. Instead go for a more premium route, so that the people there feel justified to purchase your game at a premium rate. Otherwise just aim for localisation deals.

Chee Kong: The Korean game community and market are mature like Japan and Taiwan. If our game design is good, there are opportunities to introduce our games to local publishers to remake into Korean versions. It is very difficult to directly sell our own versions because of the language barrier.

What would you like to share with boardgame players about Korea? 

Jon: Go buy games! Language independent ones especially. It is a very good country for consumers. There are not many brick and mortar shops. Korean gamers usually buy their games online. Only during events these shops will exhibit with generous discounts. 

Chee Kong: Many beautiful girls in Korea! Just a glance at any shopping mall and at least 30% are pretty girls. Good for designers who are still bachelors (you mean Jon?).