A fun thing to do when travelling is to visit a local game store and browse their collection of boardgames and roleplaying games. These days you can get practically any game in print shipped to your kitchen table from all over the world, but there is still that special feeling of going into a physical store, picking up a box, feeling the weight and texture, skimming the pitch, and having a chat with the store assistant about your favourite games.
So on my last day in Singapore, I asked my local friend for a good store to visit and set out for a little adventure.
Games@PI is a fine brick-and-mortar game store inside a sleazy shopping mall. Sleazy as in the downstairs shop selling magic wands and not the kind they use in Harry Potter.
The spaciously laid out corner shop features a finely curated selection. Boardgames in the left side of the shop, a sales desk in the centre, a section miniatures games, and a partly shielded of play area in the back of the room to the right. Laid out on tables are a few select boardgames inviting you to pick up and play.
I arrived as the shop opened at 12 noon local time on a weekday and had ample time to browse and chat with the clerk, a young woman. While she excused herself for not having played some of the games I asked into, she had a good knowledge of the games on display and gladly offered insights and tips.
The most prominent shelf displayed recommended games for new and seasoned players. I recognised and agreed with most earning the shop extra levels of trust as I turned to the shelf behind it with local designed games. Card games with local themes makes for excellent souvenirs and Games at PI offered a wide selection. After chatting with the shop assistant and browsing the games, I picked up a sample of local games plus the game Bristol 1350 that the shop also had on display. Bristol 1350 is a social deduction game featuring people escaping the plague. While not designed locally, global pandemics still very much associate with Singapore.
If you are into boardgames and happen to be in Singapore, Games@PI is well worth a visit. Brief pitches and reviews of locally designed games follows.
Makan Mania (2024)
Reviewed by our man in Singapore.
Makan Mania is a short dice game best played in large groups. The title is a reference to the lunch time mania often experienced in Singapore during the packed office lunch hours.
The game is played over 5 rounds corresponding to a regular work week. In each round there are two phases, Rush and Queue. During Rush, all players roll simultaneously (hence the Mania part of the title) to grab dishes off the counter before the other players take it. It is possible to grab more than one dish during this phase, as all dishes score at the end of the game. Fear not though, if you are not lucky to grab dishes during the Rush phase, you can always spend unused dice in the Queue phase where you grab drinks adding to your end game scoring or gives benefits in future rounds.
The game ends after 5 rounds. Whoever has the most combined points from dishes and drinks wins the game. Luck plays are large part in the game. Not much strategy is required and since all players roll simultaneously, it’s a game best played with 4 or more players for optimal pressure.
Makan Mania is a short chaotic chance game with each game lasting 10 to 15 minutes.
Hawker Wars (2021)
Hawker Wars is a party game where you compete to cook the most iconic hawker dishes in Singapore. In Singapore, a hawker is someone who sells food informally in public places, like a street kitchen or in a food court.
Hawker Wars is a card game for 2-4 players with 110 cards in a bright yellow tug box. The visual style is appealing with lots of cartoon style drawings in bright colours. The text is large, short and easy to read. Cards are plastic coated which is great for a party game but unfortunate also makes them a bit sticky and hard to shuffle and fan.
Each player gets to play one of four kitchens: Indian, Chinese, Malay and International. You can cook dishes from any kitchen but you get a bonus for cooking dishes from your cuisine. During the game you draw ingredients cards to collect ingredients until you can cook one of four recipes on order. Action cards form a separate deck with cards that allow you to mess with other players out of turn. Event cards mixed in with action cards are fun and hits home for anyone who has visited a food court. Who doesn’t fear food poisoning and a cockroach invasion?
Hawker Wars is quick to learn, fast to play and makes for a good ice breaker. Mechanics could be polished for greater replay value and make it even faster to pick up and play. Like having only one draw pile of mixed ingredients, actions and events would make for more variation between cooking dishes to win and playing cards to sabotage other players. The action and event cards are great and call out for fun storytelling. Tell me again how you cook Tom Yum in your family?
It was a great gift for the family and an opportunity to share stories.
Oh My Orchids! (2023)
Oh My Orchids! is a set collection game where players compete to grow flowers and orchids from Singapore.
The game comes in an appealing box with a cover that looks like something out of a botanical tome. This ties great in with a visit to Singapore where you should definitely not miss visiting the Singapore Botanic Gardens.
I bought this game for my wife. She likes orchids and she likes games with nice pictures. This was perfect. We have still to get Oh My Orchids to the table so the following is based on my first impressions and a read through of the rules.
The visual design of the cards are colourful. The cards are poker size plastic. They shuffle well and will survive an accidental water spill. The edges on some of the illustrations are a bit blurry (from a JPEG compression?) which takes the design down a notch from great to good.
The rules are clearly explained and illustrated both with examples from play and for aesthetics in a fold-out. If you prefer to learn the game from a video, scan the QR code and watch a walkthrough.
Each turn players either collect seeds or plant flowers until one player has planted at least seven flowers after which players tally points. You score for each flower and orchids and for having planted a variety of types. Orchids are unique in the game scoring up to ten points whereas there are many cards of each non orchid flower scoring from two to five points.
What is special for this game is how you collect seeds. Seed cards have colours (red, green, yellow and blue) and types (one to four). When it’s your turn, you pick either all of the same colour or all of the same type out of five displayed. You then place the seeds you have collected face up in front of you. With a hand size of seven cards you need to pick those that will help you grow the flowers you need in your garden but as you also pick flowers to grow from the same display, you have enough information to not only further your own garden but also to make life difficult for the next player.