Salivate over the Multicultural food Diversity of Board Games

Singapore is popular for the many inspirations of its culture from language, fashion, identity, and of course famously its fusion of food. So in the world of board games, why to limit your themes to only the seasoned ones, ie. trading in the Mediterranean or War when you can include the universal of food, by incorporating the glorious food theme in your gaming too! Which one might add is also a much more welcoming topic to draw in newer gamers, families, and maybe even those who have not discovered the board gamer in them yet! 

Kopi King

Do you hear what the Kopi King is serving! The rush to serve your Kopis in the heartlands of Singapore's hawker centres with loud calls of the various types of tailor-made drinks for each customer. This is the loving theme of Kopi King, a shoutout to all the hardworking people in Singapore serving up these locally made brews every day. 

In Kopi King, you need to have both quick hand and eye coordination. After setup, play starts with a  shout of "Kopi King!" And then everybody starts reaching for ingredients in the middle, putting them on orders if they match, if not returning them and grabbing another card. This will go on till someone completes their order and shouts out their finished order in traditional coffeeshop fashion, be it siew dais, kosong or so much more. They then grab a new order card and continue.

This will go on till one player has 5 order cards done. Then everybody scores for the orders they completed and for those that are incomplete or have mistakes, earn 50cents for every correct ingredient and minus 50cents for wrong ones. The player that made the most cash wins!

Mooncake Master

You are a local entrepreneur, looking to make a business of your mooncakes which everyone tells you are fantastic. So you collect your ingredients and go forth to make the best mooncakes and fulfill your many customer requests. 

Mooncake Master is played over 3 rounds. On each round, you choose 1 tile from 3 and then pass the other 2 to the players beside you. Then setting the tiles you have into 1 of 3 possible mooncakes in front of you. This will go on till you have 3 full mooncakes done and then you will score how tasty your mooncake is, the maker with the tastiest mooncakes, scoring festival points!

After that, everybody can sell 1 of their mooncakes to each customer that is available. Scoring more festival points. In the end, the person with the most festival points wins. 

Ramen Fury 



Cook and serve up the best ramen to a menu that fills the mouth with just the right flavours. A nuance of ingredients mixed to reach Michelin star levels.

To play Ramen Fury, on your turn, you take 2 actions. These are either taking cards from the display, swapping the display for new cards, choosing to put ingredients in your bowls, to empty bowls, or eat one of your ramen bowls. Once a player has eaten their 3rd bowl the game ends and you score your flavourful creations. The player that has made and ate the best menu of ramen bowls wins!  

Related: Exploring the Different Types of Board Games + REAL Examples (2018) by Byran Truong of Game Cows

Sushi Roll

Eating sushi as a conveyer of constant food passes you by and paying by the colour of your plates. A very common experience that many Singaporeans are now used to and now that experience is translated into board games form in a light family game that can be enjoyed by all.

In Sushi Roll, you each take dice randomly from the bag depending on player count. Then the person with the red conveyer tile starts by rolling their dice, using menu tiles to reroll dice, and using chopsticks to reach over to take dice from other players. Once that is done, you will have to take a dish from your conveyer (Just like in real life!), and then when everybody has drafted enough dice, you will score your plates as according to your player mat and after 3 rounds the person with the most points wins with a full stomach. 

Chope

The struggle is real. Getting a table for your group during lunch hour at a popular hawker centre in the Central Business District is definitely no easy task. And it is this frantic mode of search, seat, and eat that you are doing in this locally made game, Chope. 

On your turn, you turn over cards and if a table card is opened, everyone even the person opening the cards has to grab their tissue card, and the first to touch the table card gets it. The player will then continue to open the cards and if they are food cards, collect them by either opening more cards and taking them all if the player chooses to stop or if the player opens two of the same dish, they only collect one dish. At the end of the game, tables with dishes gain points but tables without food or food without tables will lose you points. The best-fed player wins!

Point Salad

Now how can we advocate food without health in mind? To that end, for this menu, we suggest Point Salad, a game about eating your vegetables without a hint of meat in sight!

In Point Salad, you will have vegetable cards whose backs are also scoring goals. On your turn, you can either take a card as a scoring card for the end of the game, take 2 vegetable cards or even take a scoring card and immediately change it to its vegetable side. This will go on till all the cards have been drafted and then you score your goals and the person with the most yummy and healthiest meal wins in both the game and life. 

Kuih Muih 

You are on your way to the lovely makcik's Kueh stall and you, your friends, or family have chosen which kuehs to buy and have brought them home to eat. But then you all notice there is only a limited amount but so many hungry people, all aiming for the yummiest ones. so you have to get to your favourite kuehs before other grubby hands do.

In Kuih Muih, on your turn, a player will choose one deck and then from that deck, the player will choose one card and place it facedown in front of them. Then reveal them as part of your meal. This is repeated till one deck is empty and then scoring is done. At the end of 3 rounds, the player with the most points wins.   

Say What? Shiok Food 

Do you have a friend from overseas that would love to try the local delights of Singapore but are not sure where to start? Then Say What? Shiok Food edition is for you. Just give them this deck of cards and they can not only learn the names of these local delights but also see what the main ingredients of the dishes are. It also can help to ease them into their food journey in Singapore by drawing one card for every meal to choose a dish to try rather than agonizing over the limitless choices here. 

There is also a game, where each person can see if they can name the dishes from describing the food card. Simple, easy, and a wonderful gift to remind those leaving Singapore of the multicultural food culture here. 

Foodies 

The hawker or food court, a way to not only house a myriad of food options but also keep it affordable for the everyday person. 

In Foodies, you each play an owner of a new food court. On your turn, you roll a dice and then everybody will look at that spot on their grids. If there is anything on your grid, be it money, or a card with a benefit, you will collect it. Then with your available money, you can purchase a dish to be sold in your food court, and then finally you can hire a guest chef, which are achievements for more points in the game. When a person reaches a certain number of points depending on the player count. The game ends and the player with the most points wins, with a food court franchise to be envied. 

Email: huibin@toytag.com

Zhou Huibin is a smith of words who majored in Philosophy & History from the University of Western Australia and whose life has followed the flow of his hobbies. He seeks continual contentment in his ponders, reading, writing, painting and board games which fills almost all of his time.