Chinese Board Gamers

I usually write on this blog during the weekends, so it came as a bit of a surprise when I was searching for work related information related to Petroglyph's recent board game releases, when I discovered that Asians, especially Chinese, were quite the board gamers also!

There were several articles discussing how even hard-core computer gamers are ditching Internet Cafes and home computers and turning toward "Board Game Cafes". Think a bunch of tables with board games in a cafe and you get the idea. I picture it like my grandparents bingo halls, but a notch more "new-age".

While the Chinese have always had a fascination for classic board games such as Mahjong, Xiangqi (Chess), Go, and many others, they have taken interest in newer board games, including Petroglyph's own 'Panzer General: Allied Assault'. They are particularly interested in our fantasy version, Guardians of Graxia.

While in Shenzhen, I spent many hours stopping at board games being played randomly along the street and asked to join in. If you're interested in learning what Chinese gaming culture is about, you don't need to go to stuffy Internet Cafes. Sit down with a group of board gamers and you'll learn a lot more than you may expect.