My Story

I grew up in Malaysia and at 17, I left and spent the next 20+ years in the United States. Since then, I have moved back to Singapore for work but still maintain close ties to people in the United States. I am a husband to a wife that enjoys gaming and a father to a growing daughter that is learning to be a gamer. As far as I can remember, I have always enjoyed gaming. Starting from simple and classic board games to computer games and then to role playing games, I think I have gone through a full circle and found my way home again to board games.

I was introduced to European style board games while in graduate school in the early 2000’s. I remember clearly how hooked I was on my very first play and have not looked back since. The first game I played was Munchkin, followed by Carcassonne and the first game I purchased was Guillotine from a local game store in New Jersey. Since then, my collection has grown and continues to grow. No doubt, board games have enriched my life in so many many ways. I have met lots of good friends through playing board games and will hopefully continue to do so for the rest of my life. While not all friends have kept in touch, I am proud to say that I have introduced board gaming to a whole host of folks who have hopefully picked up and propagated the hobby.

It is true that while I love exploring new games, I enjoy board games because it brings people together and forces us to spend quality time in a shared pursuit. In an era where digital entertainment reigns supreme, playing board games feels like a throwback to the good old days where people sit around a table, imbibed and shared a good laugh. I am proud to call this my hobby and prouder still to promote this hobby.

I enjoy a variety of games. I love a heavy and intricate game but I also enjoy simpler designs. In truth, the best games are the ones where you can pick it up, play it, put it down and then remember the rules 6 months from now. These are the games where rules are simple but with multi-layered or emergent properties that are not apparent from just reading the rules. Not surprisingly, many of the game designers I admire include Knizia, Kramer, Kiesling and others from what I considered the Golden Age of Euro designs. These days, I find games to be more solitaire puzzles which encourage optimization and engine building over player interaction.

My dream is that where ever I end up, I can continue to game with family and friends more than once a week, find a small place large enough to store all my games, and a sleek grill big enough to hold an 18 lbs turkey for Thanksgiving.