From Engineer to Game Designer: The Story Behind nPips Games

How does an engineer turn a lifelong passion for games into a board game publishing company? In this interview, game design Poon Jon shares his journey from playing Pokémon TCG and Magic: The Gathering to designing and publishing games like Furmation of Rome and King and Peasant, and the lessons learned along the way.

Q: Please give the readers a short introduction about yourself and your company, nPips Games. What is your “origin” story?

I have been a gamer all my life, be it video games or tabletop games. I started with Pokemon TCG (Trading Card Game) when it first came out, then moved to Magic The Gathering, DnD (Dungeons and Dragons), and now board games.

Being an engineer, I aspired to make a product to call my own. I did a few freelance gigs within my line of work, but stopped because it was not rewarding. Delivering the product was the only thing that was expected of me, and the only calls I got were when there was a problem with the product. The constant negative feedback loop was eating me from the inside. I stopped freelancing and looked for a new path to busy my nights with. Since I was already a board gamer, why not try making a board game myself?

Game design is probably the best choice out of everything I could have chosen. The technical challenges in designing and “debugging” my game after receiving player feedback tickles the same part of my brain as when I worked on engineering projects. I get a warm fuzzy feeling when I watch players enjoy my game. While I got my fair share of negative comments, these were suggestions to make my game better, as compared to the demands that I had to meet while doing engineering.

After a few years of designing games for fun, I decided to start nPips Games to really commit myself to board game design full-time.

Q: What inspired the concept of Furmation of Rome? Give us some insight into the creation process behind Furmation of Rome.

I decided to design and publish Furmation of Rome (published in 2024) first after demoing King and Peasant (published in 2025), because I realized that the local market was not ready for such a “gamers’ game”, even though Furmation of Rome was actually designed after King and Peasant. My first product had to be something the local market was able to accept while I learnt how to operate nPips Games.

I learned that players like fighting over something, but some players are turned off by direct confrontation. I went with an Area Majority mechanic, similar to Hanamikoji. Being a former TCG Player, Furmation of Rome has elements of card effects. The tactical decision of building faction majority or to use its card effect gives the game a degree of replayability. Theme-wise, I personally love the roman theme, and cats work well with the local market. So… Anthropomorphic roman cats?  

Q: What was the board game design scene like in Malaysia when you started conceptualizing and designing board games, and how is the board game design scene like now? What were some changes you noticed?

When I first stepped foot into the Malaysian board game design scene, the community was recovering from the post-covid lockdown. Its members were scattered, some had left the community, and some couldn’t wait to come back. From what I heard from senior community members, it was like a fresh start.

Currently the board game design scene is growing fast. There are more designers publishing their projects, even more that are venturing into board game design, we also have designers winning international board game design competitions, and others have their games licensed worldwide.

Q: Did you face any challenges in the creation of Furmation of Rome? What were they and how did you overcome them?

Manufacturing was probably one of the greatest challenges, since I decided to manufacture my first game locally. Coordinating between my artist and the manufacturer was a challenge, but it was a great learning opportunity to understand what assets are required by a manufacturer and the process behind it.

I did nothing particularly special to overcome the various challenges that came with publishing my first game. Patience, persistence, confidence in myself and my product, support and advice from friends, family and the community, and money from having a day job helped greatly.

Q: Did you get inspired to create King and Peasant based on any experience you had while creating Furmation of Rome? If so, what was the experience and what did you learn from it?

As mentioned previously, I designed King and Peasant first before Furmation of Rome. King and Peasant came about because I found a company called Buttonshy, who specifically publish 18-card games. One day, I just simply challenged my designer friend, Haireey from Mejabelakang, to each design an 18-card game. A few years down the road, both of us ended up publishing our designed games with pretty good responses from the market.

I used all the experiences gained from publishing and marketing Furmation of Rome in King and Peasant, from joining distribution channels, to sending the game for reviews. King and Peasant also helped me to understand the overseas market better.

Q: How did you begin to market yourself and your games? Tell me more about how you started to promote nPips Games.

After taking advice from numerous podcasts and interviews, instead of promoting nPips Games, I promoted myself first by being an active member of the board game community. Naturally, the community and others will get to know of my games and my company as I participate in their activities.

Aside from that, I also actively participate in a number of boardgame events, ACG (short for Anime, Cosplay and Games) events, etc. This allows me to directly market my games and myself to a wider audience.

Q: What were some important lessons or takeaways you gained from your journey in designing, producing and marketing your games that has stuck with you?  

Patience, persistence, and believing in yourself. Be part of a good community, love what you do, and so on. You will make friends along the way, and it is all thanks to these friends I am able to continue doing this.

Be conscious of what you want to do and achieve. Feedback is just feedback, not all feedback is right, but that doesn’t mean you must discard all feedback received. Properly digest it and consider all possibilities before making your choice.

Q: Do you have any advice for aspiring tabletop board game designers?

Don’t design in a vacuum, show your game to the nearest person. Playtest and playtest again, make quick changes and playtest after that. Being a boardgame designer, we are so fortunate to be able to make something with just a pen and a piece of paper, so there is no reason why that idea in your head should stay as an idea.

Q: Are there any future games in production for nPips Games?

There are always future games in the pipeline. Because I’m leaning towards producing “gamers’ game”, getting this playtested is currently a challenge. Hopefully we will able to see a new product next year.

Q: Where can we find out more about nPips Games and any upcoming releases?

You can follow me on all my social media accounts @nPipsGames, and also my website npipsgames.com.