Meet the Couple Behind Popular Tabletop Instagram @boardgames.joel and Their Homegrown Board Game Community
- Denise Chan
- Jun 15
- 4 min read
Meet the couple and popular tabletop Instagrammers who set out to create an escape from the stresses of daily life by opening their home to bring people together. We speak with Joel and Wan Ping as they share the joys and challenges of hosting their board game meetups, and how they unexpectedly built one of Singapore’s most popular tabletop Instagram communities.
Q: Please give the readers a short introduction about yourself and how you came to enjoy board games. What is your "origin" story?
Hi, we’re Joel & Wan Ping, from Board Games @ Joel & Wan Ping’s. We host sessions at our place while also maintaining an Instagram account that has grown to what it is today. Joel has always been interested in games from young, visiting board game cafes in the early years and visited some Meetup sessions. When he started hosting sessions at his home on International Tabletop Day, he invited his friends and Wan Ping was one of them. That’s when her love for board games grew!
Q: What inspired you to start hosting board game meetups in Singapore? Tell us about your experiences.
Joel started hosting from his parents’ condo function room when he came back from a semester of study abroad. In the time that he was away, he found that there was a lack of hospitality in Singapore, and homes tended to be seen as a safe fortress instead of a place of gathering.
When we were able to get a home in Singapore, we asked ourselves whether we could use the home well and if we could do something similar in our place. While we initially thought of hosting multiple tables a session, we found that the conversations we were able to have were much better when we just gathered around 1 table.
Q: You post a lot of reviews on different types of games. Why don't you see yourself as a board game reviewer and more so as a board game host?
The reason why we have an Instagram is because of the sessions we host and the account getting traction is really simply a happy accident and by the whims of the algorithm. We also never set out to be board game reviewers but have always seen it as a place to share our frank thoughts on games. Also, we hold people who write for a living to a high esteem, so we wouldn’t want to be compared with them.
Q: What are some challenges you tend to face when organizing board game meetups and how did you overcome them? Has there been a time you had to cancel a session?
Fatigue has always been something that we have to be aware of. As we host an average of 3 times a week in our home, it can get tiring when work is overwhelming but we make sure to take regular breaks and to make sure we take care of ourselves too.
We have always recognized the personhood of everyone that comes through our doors and as much as we're ok with our guests cancelling on us due to life, we show ourselves the same grace to do so if we are fatigued. We do our best to give everyone an early enough headsup so that it isn't too sudden but there's been days doing this that we wake up sick and have to cancel a session because of that. Since everyone also thankfully recognizes that we're human, we've not had any issues about it
Q: What is your motivation for keeping these board game meetups going outside of your full-time jobs?
It’s really the people that we get to meet and the opportunity to share life with one another in these crazy and uncertain times. While we definitely have the usual friends that join us, many of them were new faces that joined us and are now joining us regularly. Witnessing and being with one another, learning and growing with others from various walks of life is a privilege we have by hosting these sessions.
Q: Is there a board game session that left a lasting impression on you? What happened during the game, and why does it stand out in your memory?
Truth be told, it’s the conversations that we have that always leave a lasting impression. Yes, the games are great and we really enjoy them (we love our late night Spirit Island sessions) but the enjoyment of the games is multiplied by the great people and how we share a bit of ourselves when we gather around the table.
We always enjoy the conversations we have and the laughter being had around the table. It’s also great finding a game that a new player enjoys and seeing friendships created around the table.
Q: Are there any future plans to try and expand these board game meetups to include newer players outside your current circle?
We are always open to new people, even people who are new to board games, as long as they desire to create a safe and open space for one another with us. That being said, we only host 1 table each session so we may not be able to accommodate everyone who is interested.
