For many Malaysians, the tabletop gaming hobby has long felt dominated by foreign worlds — dragons from Western mythology, storylines rooted in European folklore, mechanics designed for players halfway across the globe. Finding a game that reflects your own food, your own language, your own lived experience? That has historically been a challenge. A growing community of Malaysian tabletop game creators is changing that reality — designing original card games, board games, and role-playing games that draw directly from local culture, everyday life, and the stories that every Malaysian already knows by heart.
Rooted in Malaysian Life: A Creative Movement Growing at Every Convention Table
Malaysia’s tabletop game creators have made telling local stories their core mission. This creative movement is not happening in isolation — it is visible and growing at tabletop events across the country, including Any Games Con, the Asian Board Games Festival, and the All Aboard event, where independent creators regularly showcase original games alongside the ideas that sparked them.
For years, these creators have been an important presence in Malaysia’s gaming community — not simply as players, but as designers who saw gaps in the market and chose to fill them. The result is a growing library of locally developed games that give Malaysians the rare experience of seeing their own culture reflected in the games they play. From food stall card games to Southeast Asian fantasy role-playing worlds, these creators are producing work that is both entertaining and genuinely rooted in the community.
Serving Up Malaysian Identity: Food-Themed Games That Every Local Can Relate To
The services — or in this case, the games — provided by these creators directly address a practical gap long faced by local players: the near-total absence of games that feel Malaysian. Faculty of Fun, a team comprising businessman Logan Ghanesh, pupil-in-chambers Amarveen Malairaja, photographer Ravin Shanmugarajan, and veterinarian Nyanavelan Sivapalan (32), has tackled this head-on with two food-themed card games that have become recognisable within the local scene.
Their first game, Nasi Lemak: The Game, puts two to five players in the roles of competing stall owners. Players collect ingredients, sabotage opponents, and race to complete five packs of nasi lemak. The first player to complete five packs wins; if the deck runs out first, the player with the highest total score is declared the winner. Building on that success, their latest release, Roti Canai: The Game, challenges two to five players to be the first to empty their hands by completing customer orders based on dice rolls — with bluffing as a key strategic element.
“The idea behind Roti Canai: The Game is to make something simple and relatable to all Malaysians, at the same time introduce our culture to foreigners who try the game,” said Nyanavelan. Both local and international convention appearances have been encouraging, with the food-themed concepts and eye-catching artwork consistently drawing visitors to their booth.
Educator and Specky Studio CEO Buddhima Tham (38) takes a similar community-value approach but layers in educational purpose. His game Pick Eat — a card game where players build the most nutritionally balanced meal — was designed during the Covid-19 MCO period, when disrupted food supply chains revealed how little everyday Malaysians understood about nutrition. His Chinese Flower Card game, conceived ahead of Chinese New Year 2022, is built around the 24 Solar Terms, bringing ancient cultural wisdom to younger generations through play. Co-developed with close friend Teh Chun Hong, Jom Burger is a dice-drafting family board game inspired by Malaysia’s Ramly burger culture, designed to help young children develop basic maths skills and dietary awareness at the same time. Specky Studio’s guiding slogan — “From Gamer to Solver” — captures this philosophy precisely.
Accessible by Design: Games Built for Malaysians from All Walks of Life
It has come to light that the creators behind these games are committed to making their work accessible to the widest possible audience — not just seasoned hobbyists. Yee I-Van (43), Ecosystem Manager (Games) at Asia Pacific University, built his card game HR: The Toxic Workplace Game around a premise that virtually any working Malaysian can instantly recognise. Four players take on the roles of managers in a toxic company, competing to eliminate rival departments by issuing Warning Letters. Employee archetypes — including the Ninja, who disappears whenever work appears, and the Tai Chi Master, who effortlessly deflects responsibility — draw directly from shared office experiences that cross cultural and generational lines.
Yee noted that when the market response to HR: The Toxic Workplace Game was strongly positive, it inspired him to launch Roll Rebellion, a board game publishing venture aimed at helping other local creators bring their own games to market. “We are focusing mainly on simple games, but we hope to eventually move towards more complex games for Malaysians from all walks of life,” Yee stated. The team is actively expanding beyond convention appearances into physical stores and online platforms — broadening access for everyday players who may never attend a gaming event.
For players drawn to richer narrative experiences, artist and game designer Munkao (44) created Kala Mandala, a tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) set in a fantasy world inspired by Southeast Asia. Unlike the Western fantasy settings that dominate the TTRPG genre, Kala Mandala offers a game master and players an environment shaped by the region’s own mythologies and aesthetics. “Reception has been pretty positive; many folks are pretty excited about the premise,” Munkao confirmed.
Community Recognition Built Over Time: A Scene That Validates Its Own Creators
Safety and authenticity are what community members care about most when choosing how to spend their time and money — and the sustained positive reception these Malaysian creators receive at conventions is the clearest evidence of long-standing community recognition. These are not overnight sensations. Tham’s Specky Studio has attracted a diverse audience ranging from hobby gamers and educators to parents with young children. Faculty of Fun has performed at both local and international conventions. Yee I-Van’s HR: The Toxic Workplace Game generated enough market confidence to launch an entire publishing venture. Munkao’s Kala Mandala has generated genuine excitement among TTRPG players looking for something beyond the genre’s Western defaults.
Each of these creators was inspired not by external investors or industry mandates, but by gaps they personally observed within the Malaysian community. Tham described noticing “a gap in localised educational games that seamlessly blend learning with fun.” Yee said he was motivated by seeing other local games successfully launch, which gave him the confidence to create his own. This cycle of community inspiration, creation, and community validation is what sustains Malaysia’s tabletop gaming scene — and what makes it genuinely meaningful beyond entertainment.
Here’s What You Need to Know About Malaysia’s Local Tabletop Game Creators
What are some examples of Malaysian-made tabletop games? Malaysian-made tabletop games include Nasi Lemak: The Game and Roti Canai: The Game by Faculty of Fun, Pick Eat, Chinese Flower Card, and Jom Burger by Buddhima Tham of Specky Studio, HR: The Toxic Workplace Game by Yee I-Van, and Kala Mandala, a Southeast Asian-inspired TTRPG by Munkao.
Where can people find and play these locally created Malaysian tabletop games? These Malaysian tabletop games are regularly showcased at local events including Any Games Con, the Asian Board Games Festival, and All Aboard. Yee I-Van’s Roll Rebellion publishing venture is also actively expanding into physical retail stores and online platforms to reach a broader audience.
What inspired Malaysian creators to design their own tabletop games? Malaysian tabletop game creators cited a shared motivation: the absence of locally rooted games that reflect Malaysian culture, food, language, and lived experience. Buddhima Tham designed Pick Eat in response to the MCO food supply disruption; Munkao created Kala Mandala to offer a Southeast Asian alternative to Western fantasy RPGs; and Yee I-Van drew on his management experience to create HR: The Toxic Workplace Game.
Are Malaysian tabletop games suitable for families and children? Yes. Games such as Jom Burger by Specky Studio are specifically designed as family board games to help young children develop basic maths skills and dietary awareness through play, making them appropriate for parents and children to enjoy together.
Have any Malaysian tabletop games received recognition beyond local events? Faculty of Fun has presented Nasi Lemak: The Game and Roti Canai: The Game at both local and international conventions, where their food-themed concepts and artwork have attracted strong interest from both Malaysian and foreign players.
What is Roll Rebellion and how does it support the local tabletop gaming community? Roll Rebellion is a board game publishing venture founded by Yee I-Van following the commercial success of HR: The Toxic Workplace Game. It is designed to help other Malaysian creators publish their own tabletop games and bring locally developed content to a wider audience through mainstream retail channels.
What is Kala Mandala and how is it different from mainstream tabletop RPGs? Kala Mandala is a tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) created by Malaysian artist and game designer Munkao. It is set in a fantasy world inspired by Southeast Asian mythology and culture, offering players a distinct alternative to the Western fantasy settings that dominate most mainstream TTRPGs.
Support the Creators Bringing Malaysian Stories to the Table
Malaysia’s tabletop game creators — from Faculty of Fun and Specky Studio to Roll Rebellion and Munkao — are building something genuinely valuable: a local gaming culture that reflects the communities, food, traditions, and shared experiences that define Malaysian life. These games are not imports or adaptations. They are original works created by Malaysians, for Malaysians, and increasingly for the world.
Follow these creators at their next convention appearance, look for their games through local retailers and online platforms, and share their work within your own community. The tabletop games coming out of Malaysia deserve a seat at every table.
