At the Asian Board Games Festival in Penang in August, I did a game exchange with Vito of Homp, an Indonesian game design studio. I still have not managed to play some of the games, but they look good and I want to showcase them. Sultan Spices was inspired by a children's book called Sultan Kecil Mencari Rempah (Little Sultan Hunts for Spices).  Back of the box

This is a small part 2 of sharing my experience at TOBE 2026 (Taiwan Original Boardgame Expo). Part 1 is here. This is a photo dump. Throughout my three days exhibiting at the fair, I had very little time to visit other booths or try other designers' games. I basically demoed my games at my own booth 8 hours straight for three full days. I had a little time in the mornings before

TOBE 2026 (Taiwan Original Boardgames Expo) was 25-27 Sep 2026. I participated as an exhibitor. TOBE was first held in 2017. I had never visited TOBE before, so this was not only my first time being an exhibitor, it was my first time ever attending. One thing different about this exhibition for me was my wife Michelle joined me to be my helper. I have exhibited at many boardgame

Reversalers is a 2-player microgame from Japan, designed by Ryusei Nakata of Ryusei Games.  You randomly set up five treasure cards to be fought over. Treasure cards are worth points. Some have a fixed number of points, while for others the point values depend on other factors, for example the fighter card played by your opponent, or the fighter card remaining in your hand. The

Durian Smuggler is a small box card game from Indonesia. Well, from both Indonesia and Germany. The designer Simon Schmieder is from Germany but lives in Indonesia. The game has two modes, one best with three or four, and one best with two. These two modes are very different, and at the moment I have only played one of them, the one mainly for two players, but can also be

Starlight Quartet is a game from Hong Kong, designed by Hims Chu and published by Capstone (Hong Kong). It is an abstract game for 2 to 4 players.  You start with nine empty tiles arranged in a 3x3 grid. Every player has his own token colour. On your turn, you must place one of your tokens on a tile, then move that tile somewhere else. To win, you need to

When you were little, did you enjoy playing with magnets? Now you get to play with magnets under the guise of a strategic boardgame. Upside Town is designed by Singaporean designer Quentin Quek and published by PlayByDesign. Quentin comes from a product design background, and it shows in how well put together Upside Town is. This is not a game with a gimmick. The

This game will probably always be called the mosquito game. This is a game from Taiwan, and players play the role of mosquito families trying to attack a sleeping guy and then escape without getting squashed. I certainly have not played any other game with this premise.  Everyone starts with the same set of cards with exactly the same distribution. The only

TOBE (Taiwan Original Boardgame Expo) will be held in Taipei 25-27 September 2026. This will be my first time exhibiting in Taiwan. I got into this beautiful hobby in 2003 when I lived in Taipei. 23 years ago, I could not have imagined that 23 years later I will be exhibiting at a game fair in Taipei as a game designer and indie publisher. Who's in Taipei that weekend? Come play with me! 

I have been wanting to bring Faiyum to the table again for some time. Finally I did a 2-player game with younger daughter Chen Rui. She absolutely slaughtered me, even though it was her first play. She went into building and using workshops, and I didn't. There seemed to be few workshops so I thought it wasn't worthwhile to get into. I really enjoy how differently each game of

"Joraku" is a Japanese term which means advancing to the capital. In Japanese history, sometimes local warlords will lead their armies and move to the capital, claiming that they are there to protect the Emperor from evil forces. In truth, they want to take control of the Emperor and rule the nation. The game Joraku has an interesting combination of two popular game mechanisms - trick-taking

Trash Traders is a game from Hong Kong. You are raccoons. Now this is not a game about raccoons’ natural habitat or ecology or saving the planet. Instead it is about speculating in cryptocurrency and losing all your money. Raccoons love digging through trash so in this game you trade trash stocks. You win by having as little money left as possible.  This is a take that type card

108 Outlaws is a game from Daryl Chow of Origame. It is based on the Chinese classic novel Water Margin. I have been designing games based on the four Chinese classics, including Water Margin, so I was certainly interested in seeing Daryl's take on the topic.  108 Outlaws is a tableau building game. All 108 characters of Water Margin are in the game. They are

Plantful Life is a roll and write game from Taiwan. You take care of a plant and you nurture it to grow and bloom. The game comes with six different plants, and they need to be taken care of differently. At the end of the game, you will score points in several ways, including how much your plant has grown, how many flowers it has, and how many butterflies it has attracted.

Too Many Exits is a game from Korea. It is based on the horror movie trope of a bunch of teenagers being hunted down by a mad killer. Like the story about friends running away from a bear, you don't need to outrun the bear. You just need to outrun your friends. This is a single loser game. When one player gets killed, everyone else survives and wins.  Characters

28 - 30 Aug 2026 was the Bangkok International Game Festival (BIGF) in Thailand. This was my third time exhibiting in Thailand. I first exhibited at the Thailand Boardgame Show (TBS) in 2024, and I went to TBS too in 2025. This year I wanted to try the other main boardgame event in Bangkok. Choon Ean of LUMA was at BIGF last year, and she helped me sell my games. Sales was great. So

War of Beauty is a game from Taiwan, and it is a party game about palace drama, i.e. how the concubines of the emperor fight for power and influence. One of the designers is Kevin Tsai (蔡康永), a popular TV show host. When I saw the components of the game, I was intrigued and very keen to give it a go. If you like this kind of Chinese TV drama about politicking at the palace, you will get a real

LOOP is designed by Takashi Saito, who is from Nagasaki, Japan. I bought this game when I was traveling in Nagasaki. Because of this the game will have a special place in my collection. This is a climbing card game, like Tichu and Big 2. You play different combinations of cards and your goal is to play all your cards. The most important twist in this game is

  Bangkok International Game Festival (BIGF) is happening in Bangkok 28 - 30 August 2026. Cili Padi Games will be there. The new game I am bringing is Pilgrim Poker. I have exhibited in Thailand before, twice, at a different event - the Thailand Boardgame Show. This year I want to try going for a different event. It is my first time at BIGF. Let's see what it's like. I hope to be

This is a game I am very excited to talk about. Restoration is a game from Vietnam, designed by Plum Tran and Toan Nguyen, and published under Ngu Hanh Games. It is a strategy game about restoration of the Kien Trung Palace. You play the role of artists and craftsmen. This is a worker placement game. It uses a rondel mechanism, and it has area majority competition.