“Politiko” was a satirical take on contemporary Malaysian politics and involved players fighting for voters and seats through playing cards cheekily named after underhanded political manoeuvres.

Players likely had a good giggle as they used cards the likes of “Sex Scandal”, “Phantom Voters”, “Gerrymandering” and “IC Registration Programme” against their opponents.

Following the success of “Politiko”, it was only logical for Centaur Games to come up with a new idea.

Last month, the studio unveiled “Reach of the Roach God”, a tabletop roleplaying game (RPG) adventure book inspired by the caves of Southeast Asia and the mythology of the region.

“Explore villages and temples; follow trails through karst and cave; breathe in the darkness; parley with a god in chitin,” the official description of the project reads.

“Inspired by the vast caves of Southeast Asia: places of underground rivers, entombed jungles, ancient bones, holy spirits, and many, many roaches.”

While most people associate RPGs with video games, the latter were often inspired by their tabletop predecessors.

In brief, RPGs allow players to create and take on the role of a fictional character embarking on quests in a fictional setting.

These characters could have certain attributes, such as strength, intelligence or charisma, that can help them succeed in quests.

Success and failure in these quests are often dictated by dice rolls, though a character’s attributes can tilt the outcome in their favour under certain circumstances.

Play sessions can vary greatly in terms of time required; some groups finish in an hour or two, while others can take a whole day or even longer.

In a traditional RPG game, one player is often selected as a dungeon master, effectively the game organiser who comes up with the storyline and quests using their own imagination.

In the case of “Roach God”, however, the dungeon master need only rely on the adventure book that accompanies the game.

Estimated to be released late next year, “Roach God” had a modest Kickstarter goal of RM38,539.71. Much to its creators’ surprise, though, the goal was reached within 27 minutes.

It has to date received pledges of more than US$84,000 (RM355,000) from over 1,530 backers.

Two of the creative minds from Centaur Games, author Zedeck Siew and game designer Mun Kao, spoke with FMT on the success of “Politiko” and what else players can expect from “Roach God”.

Siew believes the draw of tabletop games is the social interaction one has with fellow players.

“Not only do you share physical space with your friends, you share mental space, your imagination,” he says.

“You are a society, building in a new land, or paranoid space refugees.”

The duo never expected “Politiko” to be so successful, so much so that local politicians have played and talked about it. Political satire aside, Siew believes the game’s appeal was the fact that it was tethered to real-life events.

“Making the game was an opportunity to teach ourselves about how Malaysian political parties work. They really do function as they play in the game,” he says.

As for “Roach God”, Siew believes it will be a good way to introduce novice players to tabletop RPG adventures, with the book providing the setting and acting as a guide.

“We wanted a setting that plays off our own experience of going into these deep, dark, wet caves,” says Mun Kao.

“We knew we wanted to explore something closer to home, but we didn’t want to just draw a keris or nasi lemak. We wanted to go beyond the usual visual shortcuts.”

To that end, the book will feature some 200-300 pages of text and detailed black-and-white line art depicting an underground world and its inhabitants, drawing on the rich culture of a region “that has also been called Indochina, Suvarnabhumi and the Nusantara”.

So, is the success on Kickstarter a sign that there are many Malaysians out there willing to support local game studios and creators? Perhaps.

“RPGs are still considerably niche here, so it might take a bit of time,” Mun Kao muses. But he looks forward to this form of gameplay growing in popularity since “each table can be full of new people”.

“I think tabletop RPGs feel inaccessible for many,” he adds, “but compared with other gaming mediums, there’s no need for a computer or any other device – just pen, paper and the desire to play.”

To back the ‘Reach of the Roach God’ campaign, click here. More information on the ‘Politiko’ card game can be found here.