Potatoes to Bubbles

Yes, it’s been almost a year since I’ve made a post. It will probably stay this way as we’re flat out designing games and getting things in order for conventions and Kickstarters. I know it’s no excuse, but we are updating the website constantly and prioritising what we think is important to grow our brand.

Thank you to all the interviewers who have reached out and interviewed me, me! Never would I have thought I would be important enough to be interviewed. Next I have to thank you all those people who have came to visit our booths at conventions and game days, your excitement, engagement and support are what is keeping us motivated to continue our mission. Your smiles are making this journey worth it.

This moment was so memorable (Yum Cha). The little girl won the round with Dragon Well tea.

Ok, let me tell you the story of Boba Master from the very beginning. Boba Master came about through an interesting thought experiment. Wouldn’t it be fun to make people play cards from other players hand instead of their own hands. Flipping the natural muscle memory of playing cards from your own hand on its head.

Then the thoughts came flooding in, wouldn’t it be fun for peoples hands continuously grow making it harder and harder? wouldn’t it be funny to get rid of the progress you’ve already made? wouldn’t it be fun to create as much chaos as we can.

It started off themed around potato chips. Chips are one of my guilty pleasures. At the time of the inception, I had recently bought an air fryer so potatoes were front of mind. Being a couch potato, I thought it would be a great theme because it’s super relatable.

Yum Cha itself has proven to be a hit amongst people of similar background. Parents of Cantonese descent have reached out and thanked us greatly for making a game that can teach their children about our culture. It is these moments that make our Quokka Games journey so worthwhile. So, we knew we had to change the potato chips into bubble tea. Boba Master was born.

Unlike Yum Cha, the gameplay of Boba Master kind of fell into place. After figuring out the main game mechanic, all the other subsequent actions and tools came quite intuitively. All I had left to do was to create a proof of concept, I did this by printing text on A4 paper, slipped it within plastic sleeves. Alas, I created a working prototype. Without a doubt there was still the hurdles of visual designs, colour schemes and layout, but the core mechanics were there.

Not long after, I began drawing and finessing the finer details. It did take a while to work out the colours. Many iterations of icon placement, where to position the text and including them where necessary. Play testing with friends and community game days (Board Game BBQ) were very helpful. Once it was ready, we launched it on Kickstarter.

After our successful Kickstarter campaign, we submitted our game for PAX AUS Indie Showcase. We were somehow selected to be a winner again, we couldn’t believe it. It’s funny because the congratulatory email went straight into our junk folder. We had to read it several times before we were convinced it was the real deal.

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