Why boardgame industry people are nice

This is my theory, and it might not be entirely correct, but I'm sure it is at least partially true. 

I have been a hobby gamer for many years, but I have only been in the industry side of it for about 5 years. I count from 2022, the year Dancing Queen was released. I have met many, many nice people in the industry. Game designers, game publishers, play organisers and so on. My theory is that for many of us this is a passion industry. We wouldn’t be doing this if we didn’t have enough passion for it. And that’s why I meet nice people. If you’re doing this out of passion, you are not desperately fighting for survival. You are not competing. You are not plotting to get rich out of this. You just enjoy the love of playing, and of spreading the joy. Maybe this is a naïve perspective. There are many people making a living from boardgames. To them it is life and death. So I consider myself lucky being a struggling wannabe game designer. I may never make it as a professional game designer. I may never be able to build a sustainable boardgame business that can feed my family, or even just me. But perhaps that’s okay. If someone plays my game today and it makes them laugh, it is a good day. 

I always have an urge to go around asking people, how do you make money from your boardgame business? I am curious because I can't get the numbers to work for me. At least not yet. A game designer is not a real job. This is the kind of thing I'd say, looking at my financial statements for Cili Padi Games. My little indie game design studio is not being sustained by profitability, but by passion. The financially responsible side of me says I am investing in a business that may grow into a stable source of passive income. The honest side of me says you can afford this hobby so just do what you want. My boardgame business is not a distraction or escape I need from a stressful full-time job. I do love my job and take pride in it. I am just greedy and I want to do all the things that make me happy.

At TOBE 2026 my wife Michelle met some of my boardgame industry friends for the first time. Out of the blue she said to me that Milk is such a kind person. She had just met Milk, and they didn't even have much time to chat. It was Michelle's comment that made me realise I do meet many nice and sincere people in the boardgame industry. Before TOBE 2026 Milk knew Michelle was going (and they had never met), and when she saw a small red chilli hairclip at a night market in Taipei, she decided to get it for Michelle. That was really thoughtful of her. 

I met Ming again at TOBE, and his wife accompanied him too. I can totally imagine our wives rolling their eyes at each other, and talking about how crazy their husbands are, and how they are humouring their husbands by coming along. 

I am grateful for my friends, and I wish them joy. And money, if they want more of it.