Why I’m helping to "Banish the Hidden" in Women’s Health using a game
Lạc Chẩn (English title: Misdiagnosis) reimagines the journey of women's health as a mythological battle between light and darkness. In this vibrant world, the body is a kingdom under siege by "Anomalies"—dark monsters representing real conditions like Endometriosis, Fibroids, and PCOS. To restore balance, players must reveal "Guardians"—magical avatars of real-world solutions like the Knight (Vaccine), the Guardian Angel (Doctor), and the Spirit of Strength (Exercise).
Last year, I sat down with the team at Nơ Xanh Việt Nam, and their vision stopped me in my tracks. They wanted to build a game to fund women’s health initiatives across Vietnam, and while I was initially surprised by the idea of using a game for fundraising, I immediately saw the potential to build awareness through something truly unique. The heart was there, but the gameplay needed a "spark" to honor the weight of their mission. Their initial concept was a simple "Old Maid" style game, and as a designer, I saw an opportunity to transform that simple idea into a mechanic that mirrors the actual reality of health struggles.
This isn't just a professional project for me—it’s personal. I grew up in a house raised by a single mother and four aunts, and today, I’m raising two daughters here in Vietnam. For me, these aren’t "women’s issues"; they are family issues. Every man has a significant woman in his life, whether a mother, a wife, a sister, or a daughter. I wanted to use my experience to create a medium that helps normalize topics too often tucked away in silence.
To bring that "human soul" back to the project, we started by scrapping the AI art in favor of hand-drawn illustrations that improved the overall look and feel. But the most significant change was in the mechanics. We developed a "Hidden Struggle" system using a memory-grid to represent conditions like Endometriosis and PCOS. Just like in real life, you only see "hints" of the problem at first because the cards are facedown. Even with unique card backs that offer clues, you still have to pay close attention to see the full picture. We even flipped the competitive mode on its head—you don’t win by defeating others, but by being the ultimate ally. You win by identifying and helping your friends manage and cure their hidden health issues before your own are revealed.
Whether you're playing co-operatively or competing, the goal is simple: making it easier to talk about "uncomfortable" topics through play. I believe in this mission so deeply that Rolling Wizards Studio is fully funding the first print run. By covering all production costs, we’re ensuring that 100% of the proceeds go directly to Nơ Xanh Việt Nam’s initiatives, providing health products and support to women across the country. We recently joined Nơ Xanh at their 6th-anniversary gala to officially launch the game, and seeing the response was a true career highlight. Play can be a powerful vessel for education, and if we can make even one person feel less alone through a deck of cards, then we’ve done our job. Check out some photos from the launch event below! 📸👇
Stem and Branch online launch with Board Game Arena
Stem and Branch (Thiên Can Địa Chi) is an approachable & fast playing strategy card game inspired by the animals and elements of the 60-year Eastern zodiac calendar. Now available to play online via BGA
Stem and Branch has officially released on Board Game Arena today! Just in time for Lunar New Year celebrations! We are so excited to have this be available for anyone all over the world to try online with the physical version coming soon in March. Chúc mọi người năm mới nhìu nhìu may mắn nheee!
Vietnam — The Next Great Board Game Market
Vietnam is undergoing a quiet revolution. For the past year, I tracked the rise of a new tabletop giant—from the early days of game cafes to a modern explosion of culturally rich, locally designed games. Here is the untold story of how 100 million people are discovering the hobby.
Is Vietnam the next great frontier for board games? For the last year, I’ve been on a mission to find out. I’ve interviewed designers, publishers, and cafe owners across the country to piece together the story of this exploding market. The result is a deep dive into the history, current boom, and future potential of tabletop gaming in Vietnam. The full article is now live on Board Game Geek—the 'Wikipedia of board games' and the largest tabletop community in the world with over 2 million users. Check it out here: BGG
Onstage joins the Dice Towers Essentials line
Onstage will join the Dice Towers Essentials line of games this August at Gen Con 2025
So honored that our first game, Sáng Đèn (aka Onstage) will join The The Dice Tower's Essentials line of games, with Arcane Wonders releasing the English language version at Gen Con 2025! See the announcement from Tom here: Dice Tower Essentials: Onstage
PAX Rising Showcase
Stem & Branch has been selected to join the PAX Rising Showcase for PAX Unplugged 2024!
We’re excited to share that Stem & Branch has been selected to join the PAX Rising Showcase at PAX Unplugged 2024!! This is an intensely curated collection of games selected by the PAX Team and highlighted on the show floor. Six games were selected out of hundreds of submissions to be shared with the over 40,000 board game fans coming to Philadelphia this year! Big congrats to all the other winners and we can’t wait to meet all of you at the show and share the game we have been working so hard on for the past year.
See all the winners here: PAX Rising Showcase
Ludology 327 - Game On in Vietnam
Interview with Ludology about game design in Vietnam
The Ludology Podcast has been my go to game design podcast for over 10 years now. I'm extremely humbled to have been interviewed by Sen-Foong Lim & Erica Hayes-Bouyouris to share my experience with game design here in HCMC.
Have a listen if you'd like to get a view of what's been happening in my world the last year or so I just wish I had my good microphone for this one...
https://ludology.libsyn.com/ludology-327-game-on-in-vietnam
https://podcasts.apple.com/.../ludology.../id419046224...
Onstage pre-order is up!
Pre-order for Onstage is now available in Vietnam!
Click here to reserve your copy now.
We’ve been hard at work putting the finishing touches onto our latest game about hát bội. We hope to promote and educate more people about this amazing Vietnamese performance art while also bringing joy around the table.
You can learn more all about hát bội by following the link here
Pre-order for the game can be found on on Ngu Hanh Games website here
2024, the year of the Wood Dragon
Sneak peak at our upcoming game inspired by the Chinese Zodiac.
The Year of the Wood Dragon is meant to be a very lucky year. I'm excited to share a peak at some of the wonderful art Minh Nguyễn has been working on for our upcoming game. He has made over 60 unique illustrations for the game, which is inspired by the sexagenary cycle, also known as the stems-and-branches or ganzhi.
The earthly branches are represented by the 12 zodiac animals, while the heavenly stems are expressed as the 5 elements for each animal. The deck of cards will perfectly match the 60-year-cycle and can be used to determine your zodiac animal based on your birth year. We hope to inspire more curiosity in this cherished system, while also bringing together friends and family around the table.
We’ll have much more to share in the coming months, including more art and details on the game, so stay tuned!
If you'd like to learn more about the Year of the Dragon and the history of the Chinese Zodiac, here’s a great article in the Smithsonian Magazine all about it.
Board Game Design Workshop at RMIT
Great turnout for our workshop at RMIT
We co-hosted a board game design workshop with Ngu Hanh Games at RMIT University Vietnam during the Vietnam Festival of Creativity & Design in November. We had over 30 attendees for 3 hours going through the concepting, prototyping, playtesting & feedback loop of a 50-card-game design challenge.
The local news, Thanh Nien, also did a write up and video tour, take a look!