Hiew's Boardgame Blog

Reversalers is a 2-player microgame from Japan, designed by Ryusei Nakata of Ryusei Games.

The special sauce in Echoes of Time is how the cards you play usually only take effect in the future.

Citadels (2000) is a classic from Bruno Faidutti, and a highly successful game.

Durian Smuggler is a small box card game from Indonesia.

Starlight Quartet is a game from Hong Kong, designed by Hims Chu and published by Capstone (Hong Kong).

TOBE (Taiwan Original Boardgame Expo) will be held in Taipei 25-27 September 2026.

When you were little, did you enjoy playing with magnets?

I participated in a mid autumn festival event on Sat 19 Sep 2026.

Teh Tarik Game by Ray Tan was the winner of the 2025 Malaysia Design & Play game design competition, of which I was one of the judges.

Bloody Breakers is a 2-player microgame from Japan, designed by Ryusei Nakata.

The results of the Design & Play Game Design Competition 2026 have been announced on Malaysia Day, 16 Sep 2026.

This is a game I have been keen to write about since I played it.

Zombicide has been around for quite some time.

Neon Reign is a simple game I have played several times, and still don't understand.

I'm going to booth at a mid-autumn festival event in Klang on Saturday 19 September, 5pm - 10pm.

Tash-Kalar: Arena of Legends is a 2013 game from Vlaada Chvatil.

Tanglung is a 2-player abstract game by Mark William, published by Malaysian publishing house Luma.

Simon Schmieder is the designer of Jakarta Traffic, Durian Smuggler and Food Alley.

This game will probably always be called the mosquito game.

TOBE (Taiwan Original Boardgame Expo) will be held in Taipei 25-27 September 2026.

The Isle of Cats Duel is a 2-player polyomino game.

I have been wanting to bring Faiyum to the table again for some time.

"Joraku" is a Japanese term which means advancing to the capital.

Trash Traders is a game from Hong Kong.

108 Outlaws is a game from Daryl Chow of Origame.

Plantful Life is a roll and write game from Taiwan.

Too Many Exits is a game from Korea.

28 - 30 Aug 2026 was the Bangkok International Game Festival (BIGF) in Thailand.

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.

Roti Canai is from Faculty of Fun, the makers of Nasi Lemak.

This is the second year the Design & Play game design competition is held.

This is a game I feel I shouldn't like, but I end up quite enjoying it.

Shady Lady is yet another game by Kaya Miyano I have played this year.

I asked my artist Edwin to design a roll-up bunting for Pilgrim Poker.

New Old is a game from Japan.

LOOP is designed by Takashi Saito, who is from Nagasaki, Japan.

Bangkok International Game Festival (BIGF) is happening in Bangkok 28 - 30 August 2026.

This is a game I am very excited to talk about.

Pilgrim Poker is named so because the setting is Journey to the West, the Chinese classic novel.

We have a new physical boardgame store in downtown Kuala Lumpur!

When I was in Kota Kinabalu I asked my mum to playtest my Dream of the Red Chamber (红楼梦) game with me.

Having played Quartermaster General: East Front recently, Han and I moved on to play the South Front version.

Dog Poker is first in a series of animal poker games from Japan by Kaya Miyano.

Rikka is from the makers of Tiger & Dragon, which I greatly enjoyed.