Elicia, Managing Director of Eliphant, introduces TableCon Quest, a tabletop gaming event in Singapore that aims to bring together diverse gaming communities, including board games, trading card games, miniatures, and tabletop RPGs. We find out more about her motivations for organising this mega event.
TableCon Quest is happening at Suntec Convention Hall 403 over the weekend of 22 and 23 June from 10am to 8pm. Evolving from the GameStart Asia event, TableCon Quest aims to bring together diverse gaming communities, including board games, trading card games, miniatures, and tabletop RPGs. With exclusive demos, special guests, industry insights, and local game showcases, it offers a comprehensive and welcoming experience for both seasoned gamers and newcomers.
Q: Please give a short introduction about yourself and TableCon Quest. What is your role? What is TableCon Quest about? Why did you decide to start TableCon Quest?
My name is Elicia, and I am the Managing Director of Eliphant, which is the co-organiser of TableCon Quest, together with Genesis Frontier. I am also the creator of GameStart Asia, which was Singapore’s largest gaming event from 2014 to 2019.
TableCon Quest has its roots in GameStart Asia, when we introduced tabletop gaming to the event in 2017. It was so popular that it became a key zone at the event till 2019, after which GameStart Asia went on hiatus and the COVID pandemic hit. We have avid tabletop gamers in our team, and have worked with Genesis Frontier for many years as friends and partners. With the return of events post-pandemic, we were inspired to create a tabletop-specific event, with the goal of providing a fun tabletop event that caters to the various communities in Singapore, and is also a welcoming experience for new players who are interested in the hobby.
Q: Can you tell us about the highlights of this year’s event and what attendees can look forward to?
Attendees can look forward to a wide variety of tabletop content, from board and card games to miniatures and tabletop RPG experiences.
We have some exciting exclusives from Tsuburaya, who will be showcasing the full demo of their upcoming Ultraman TCG for the first time, and Bushiroad, as TCQ will be the first convention to demo the new Shadowverse Evolve: Gloryfinder’s format. They will also be giving out exclusive TableCon Quest 2024 promotional cards for Cardfight!! Vanguard and Weiß Schwarz.
We will have international Special Guests Satoshi Nakamura from Yuhodo and Eiji Shishido from Tsuburaya Productions, who will be taking the stage on Saturday, 22 June to share more about their games and meet with fans.
The Singapore Games Association (SGGA) will hold its annual Industry Day in TableCon Quest, and will have a line up of industry veterans to share about their journeys in game development and share tips on how students and fresh graduates can build a career in the games industry.
We’re also happy to be showcasing made-in-Singapore tabletop games by six local developers, and hope to bring more attention to the fantastic games that are being developed in Singapore.
There will also be lots of game demos, sessions and a large board game library for attendees to play and participate in at the event.
Q: What distinguishes TableCon Quest from other tabletop gaming events?
We have some really good tabletop game events in Singapore like ABGF, but we realised that events tend to be genre specific. e.g. TCG events are usually focused around a single title, or titles only from one developer, while others focus more on specific genres like board games or miniature games. TableCon Quest hopes to be the event that brings all of these communities together in one place, similar to how we brought triple A, indie and communities together when we ran GameStart Asia.
Q: What are some of the greatest challenges you faced when organising the event? Any interesting stories you would like to share?
Starting a new event is always challenging. With no track record it’s harder to convince potential exhibitors to take a chance on us, and we are grateful for all the exhibitors, partners and communities who are embarking on this journey with us for TableCon Quest 2024. Building up awareness and a community around a new event also takes time and much investment, which is another challenge that is also quite exciting to us, as we hope to be able to grow a passionate community like we did with GameStart Asia.
Q: Eliphant is no stranger to the tabletop scene, having organised Game Start Asia which featured a tabletop segment. However, the events went on hiatus due to the pandemic. What changes have you observed in the Singaporean tabletop scene before and after the pandemic?
Back when we ran GameStart Tabletop, we were one of the few events that had tabletop content, and there were also fewer local developers back then. Post pandemic, we noticed that tabletop gaming has actually gained a lot more popularity and visibility, with tabletop events happening regularly both locally and also in the region. I feel that after being isolated and stuck indoors for years, people crave the in-person interaction with friends and family that tabletop gaming brings. This change is partially what gave us the motivation to create TableCon Quest as we see a big opportunity to play a part in growing this industry further.
Q: How do you see tabletop gaming in Singapore evolving in the coming years, and what role do events like this play in that evolution?
I think tabletop gaming will only continue to grow in popularity as they gain more mainstream exposure. I am also hopeful that we will see more locally made games that gain local and international recognition, and that with more international developers looking to expand into Asia, Singapore will benefit from more industry players and investment coming in.
I strongly believe that events play an important role, because they create opportunities for visibility and hands-on experience, especially for the uninitiated or those new to the scene. Events play a key role in bringing together communities and providing opportunities for interaction, engagement and education.
Q: What are the future plans for TableCon Quest next year? Any dates already in consideration?
We hope for TableCon Quest to become an annual event, and grow over the years together with the industry. We are looking at the June period again, as it is during the school holidays and avoids the peak event season in the second half of the year.
Q: Where can we find out more about TableCon Quest?
Please visit tableconquest.com for more information, or follow us on Facebook and Instagram @tableconquest. Tickets are available now on Eventbrite and will also be on sale at the door during the event.
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