Gather round adventurers, as TableCon Quest 2024, Singapore’s inaugural tabletop gaming convention, rolled for initiative, gathering hundreds of eager fans in a two-day gaming extravaganza.
While staple tabletop games like Dungeons & Dragons and Warhammer had a strong presence with learn-to-play sessions and Hammer Fest, the curtain rises on more obscure role-playing games (RPGs) and board games that got their chance to shine.
Here’s every booth with an obscure or upcoming RPG and trading card game (TCG) focus at TableCon Quest 2024.
Tinker Tales
Local game studio Tinker Tales brought a wide catalogue of various RPGs to TableCon Quest 2024, where interested gamers could sign up for learn-to-play demo sessions. If you can think of a franchise, there’s likely a role-playing game for it, from adventuring into Fallout’s wasteland to even Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Some of these games bring a local twist, like a Call of Cthulhu game set in Singapore, or a Vampire the Masquerade adventure where the clans vie for power in Singapore, as an unseen power struggle lurks beneath. SCP: Delta Green sees players taking on the role of investigators in a supernatural horror mystery game, while others did battle with zombies in The Last Of Us-inspired system, All Flesh Must Be Eaten.
Null Signal Games
Only 90s kids will remember Netrunner, which was published by Wizards of the Coast, before eventually falling out of popularity in the 2000s, and going out of print in 2018. And the game would have fallen into obscurity, if not for Null Signal Games, a Netrunner community in Singapore dedicated to keeping the TCG alive, even publishing their expansion cards and a revamped core system.
Players go head-to-head as either a sinister corporation determined to control the city, or a rogue hacker infiltrating the corporation in this asymmetrical card game, played using cards and tokens. The booth had plenty of curious onlookers at the convention, and perhaps, Netrunner’s future is looking bright after all.
Curious Chimeras
Getting everyone together to play an RPG can be tough, and that’s where Curious Chimeras gets to shine — the team is known for their solo RPG books that can be played with just a pack of playing cards, a set of dice, and a pen and paper. From cosy baking journaling games like Whisk & Wonder to Southeast Asian fantasy epics, there’s something for everyone, particularly lovers of supernatural intrigue. Most notably, Swordfarer: A Youxia’s Tale, also serves as a setting guide for game masters looking to base their games in Asian wuxia fantasy settings and a standalone game.
Other activities were available at their booth as well, including a dice scooping trove and custom glitter jar dice, which D&D fans got excited about. It isn’t every day you see a 20-sided die encased in a glitter jar that reveals the result on the bottom, bringing a touch of whimsy to the booth.
Indie Board Games
Unlike most occasions where board games stay on their shelves, the indie board games section of TableCon welcomed gamers to try their hand at new additions and lesser-known favourites in the board gaming scene.
Legions of Kadmon commanded a fearsome presence, and this new Magic The Gathering-esque strategy TCG has players fight waves of stunningly illustrated enemies to eventually defeat Kadmon, the final boss, who commands legions of the dead.
Taking things for a more local twist, Capital Games Studio showcased a wide array of board and card games, with collaborative entries like Dream Diary, which sees players work together to escape a series of dreams, and competitive card game Singapore 1889, revolving around a fierce resource war between merchants, secret societies, and colonial forces.
Things heated up over at the Isekai demo station, a fast-paced TCG adventure from local avid card gamer KS where players reincarnate as heroes with broken skills in a race to defeat the Demon Force.
Good Spirit Games had a variety of games, and its Japanese-focused games got to shine. Taking familiar concepts such as sushi and kabuki warriors, Kabuki Tricks and Nightmares of Sushi puts a fun spin on those ideas, creating fun co-operative party games that resulted in plenty of laughter. Their other game, Contraband Insider, is a deduction board game where players take on the role of police infiltrators attempting to foil contraband raids, which gets even more chaotic with more players in the mix.
Apart from local games, Origame also brought a wide array of games from other Southeast Asian publishers, while showcasing its newest games, Cube Melt, and Chock A Block. Highlights include Buffet Boss, a lighthearted stacking game, and Kopi King, an ingredient-snatching, drink-making card game saw eager onlookers join in on the fun.
Ultraman TCG
For the first time in Singapore, gamers got to try out the highly-anticipated Ultraman TCG, a competitive two-player strategy game to build the ultimate Ultraman, assembling a powerful force of defenders. After participating in the demo, attendees got a free deck of their own, along with an exclusive holographic card.
And that wraps up two days of exciting tabletop gaming action. As the hobby continues to pick up momentum in Singapore and the region, we’re looking forward to the next iteration — and beyond.
Trinity is a geek who enjoys watching anime, superhero and Sci-Fi movies and TV shows. She enjoys gaming (however has terrible gacha luck) and creates cool homebrew campaigns in her free time. She’s always up for a new adventure — with a cosy jacket and a good book in hand.
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