LOCAL GAMES IN TREND
The number of local indie tabletop game designers has skyrocketed from a handful in 2014 to over 50 today, said Mr Xeo Lye, editor of the Singapore Boardgame Design website.
Businesses and government institutions have also published their own games to increase public engagement, with the trend growing 10-fold over the past five years, he added.
Homegrown tabletop game studio Origame – known for its uniquely Singapore-themed games – has seen a 20 per cent jump in revenue in the past year.
Since the company started in 2019, it has released more than 20 original games.
Its most popular games are big on hawker culture. These include Durian Dash – where players collect Singapore’s favourite fruit – as well as Chope!, which tasks players with reserving tables with tissue packets.
Kopi King, a game where players snatch ingredient cards to make coffee shop drink orders, has sold over 20,000 copies in the nation.
“The modern board game industry is designer-created games that tell stories. Our games try to have stories that resonate with Singaporeans and Asians,” said Origame co-founder Daryl Chow.
“This industry is very developed in Western countries like the United States, Germany, France, where they support their local game makers,” he added.
“We are trying to build the industry in Singapore, and also Asia. It’s a very young sector here and we are basically building the industry and our fan base as we go along.”
DEMAND FOR COLLABORATION
Mr Chow said there are increasing partnerships between tabletop developers and other industries in the production of themed games.
One example is a collaboration between Origame and traditional Chinese medicine firm Eu Yan Sang to create the Master Sinseh card game, where gamers play physicians who prescribe herbs.
“Two years ago, I wouldn’t have imagined that we could have games that sell in Chinese medicine shops,” said Mr Chow.
The firm also collaborated with iconic comic Mr Kiasu to come up with the Shop Until You Drop card game, where people can play as their favourite characters to get the most discounts.
Such local games are gaining traction not just in Asia, but also in Europe and America, where there is a growing appetite for games that are not made in the West, said Mr Chow.
Internationally, the firm’s top-selling games are Asian-themed.
Some examples are Wok and Roll – a dice-rolling game about stir-fry, and Buffet Boss – a stacking game using miniature food pieces.
MORE FOOTFALL AT GAME CAFES
Board game stores and cafes have also popped up across the island, with demand surpassing pre-COVID levels, industry players said.
Ms Grace Tan and her husband set up the King and the Pawn board game cafe in 2018 after being inspired by a similar concept when residing in London for a year.
She said business was slow at first but picked up significantly once word got around, with Fridays and weekends almost always fully booked.
“The reception has been pretty good and business has been fairly stable. More businesses are holding events (with us) after COVID-19. We’re also seeing more families coming in with their young kids and it’s a really good bonding time for them,” she added.
Mr Isaac Tay, a customer who was playing word game Codenames with his friends, told CNA they visit such game cafes every few months.
“Codenames show how people think about words differently due to their unique life experiences. It can lead to very funny moments where people have very different connections to words,” he said.
“We still play online video games together. But (this) is just a different experience of being able to play, laugh and eat together (at the same time). We also learn more about our friends, especially in a bigger group where not everyone knows everyone that well.”
GROWING TABLETOP SCENE
The growing scene in Singapore saw 6,258 enthusiasts attend the inaugural TableCon Quest tabletop gaming convention at Suntec City last weekend.
