Tag: games
Dusting Off My Sungka, A Traditional Filipino Board Game
I was decluttering when I found this toy I purchased from Dagupan in 2008—a sungka (pronounced as soong-kah) set. Still wrapped in plastic with its ₱130 price tag, my oblong-shaped traditional Filipino board game was gathering dust. As I unwrapped it, I realized I didn’t really know how to play this game. My parents forbade […]
Free Download: Travel Slambook Templates for Instagram Stories
Also known as social distancing bingo, Instagram bingo exploded on social media in March, just as quarantine was being implemented around the world in the time of COVID-19. It may not be the most exciting activity, but it does give people something to do with their friends while maintaining social distance and busting boredom. Variations […]
Quirk of the Month: Old Maid Travel Card Game
When going on long flights and road trips, boredom can strike any time. For millennials and Gen Z, there are gadgets, phone apps, and lately, fidget cubes to combat long hours of waiting. But whatever happened to the analog ways of killing time? In my childhood (I’m a milleXial), we turned to board games, card […]
Quirk of the Month: Mystery Manila’s Card Game
When I was 11 years old, I wanted to be many different things when I grow up—writer, lawyer, and during one brief period, toy maker. I wanted to invent different board games and puzzles for kids. The people working at Mystery Manila currently do that for a living. They’re in charge of designing the game rooms of […]
Detective For a Night
I was still reeling from my Mystery Manila experience when I received this interesting package in the mail: I was invited to the official press launch of Murder Manila, where I got to fulfill my fantasy of playing a life-sized version of Cluedo, and I am one of the role-playing characters. From the makers of […]
Childhood Fantasy Fulfilled at Mystery Manila
When I was a kid, my favorite board game was Cluedo, a British murder-mystery game where you determine the killer, where the crime took place, and which weapon was used. Growing up, I enjoyed detective novels such as Nancy Drew, horror flicks such as Scream, and game shows such as The Crystal Maze and Nickelodeon’s […]
Quirk of the Month: Minion Monopoly
Call me a predictable tourist, but I cannot leave a theme park unless I purchase something from the souvenir shop. Look what I got from last month’s trip to Universal Studios Singapore—Monopoly: Despicable Me! It’s like your regular Monopoly game with a few loony twists. Instead of traditional dice, you use the Minion spinner to […]
Quirk of the Month: Pick-Up Sticks
My good friend Javi gave me an early birthday present—pick-up sticks and jackstones, a throwback to the toys I enjoyed in my analog childhood. I’m starting to sound like a grandparent incessantly talking about the good old days when we didn’t have what the kids of today have. My childhood in the ’80s and ’90s […]