by Mark William

Howdy everyone. I am Mark William, former video editor, current data insights officer and the designer of Tanglung. This post is adapted from the blog series that I wrote on the game’s page.

The Malay word tanglung [tahng-loong] is a direct loan from the Cantonese term for lanterns: 灯笼 [dang1 lung4], literally meaning ‘light’ and ‘basket’. Brought in to the Malay Archipelago by early Chinese Settlers, paper lanterns have been part of the Mid-Autumn Festival for centuries. Lighting up animal-shaped tanglung and carrying them around neighbourhoods together have now become a shared cultural experience for Malaysians.

Tanglung Tokens
Tanglung is my first published game, developed by Evan CheahEvan Cheah, illustrated by Yuki Joe Gaik KeeYuki Doodles and published by LUMALUMA. It is a game that tries to capture the feelings of the final bit of chess where you are trying to corner the king.

To have a better idea of what I am talking about, here is a brief description of the rules.

Limitation Breeds Creativity
There is a saying that necessity is the mother of invention. I like to think if that is so, limitation is the father of creativity. Tanglung started its life as an entry to the 2025 ABGF MY (Asian Board Game Festival Malaysia) 18 card game competition. During that time, I was already playing around with the notions of minimalism. Of ‘pack small and play big’, and the competition’s constraints of 18 cards with no extra components perfectly encapsulates that idea.

Tanglung (formerly known as We Are Kings) won 1st runner up in the ABGFMY 2025 18 card competition
If I couldn’t have a big sprawling table presence I could still take up that play space not physically, but mentally. The game is represented in reality by 18 cards, but it exists in the yomi/donkey space that is the players minds.

Shedding Light On Its Purpose
Initial versions of this game were serviceable, but initial playtests had a recurring thread in the feedback. What was the point? The game was technically sound, but the possibilities felt endless and gameplay felt like busywork. It lacked a pulse.

The prototype stage
In the beginning, the sole objective was capturing your opponent twice. But that felt more like a side effect rather than an objective. But through some deep soul-searching and playtesting revealed two more goals. Flipping the final facedown card when explored, and outwitting your opponent tactically by leaving them with no valid moves. Now the game has a direction.

3 Acts Told in 16 Cards
Cole Wehrle said that “Games are these weird narrative spaces. You can’t have beginnings, middles, and ends the way a story can have.” And I agree – but games still need progression.

We Are Kings (Tanglung) was extensively tested both offline and online
At first all 16 cards were set up facedown. Players had a huge possibility space where every move felt as valid as every other. So I thought let’s have some cards face up – that signposted where players may want to go, and gave a shape to the decision space.

But it still felt static where the beginning of the game felt the same as the end. So then we added the rule that when you use the cards for their movement powers, they are then removed. Having cards be removed as you use them also helped to reduce mental load while also letting the game have an escalating tension.

[imageid=9768099 medium square]
Seeing the Lantern For the Trees: Letting Go
This part will be significantly different from the designer diary – as it was written before the game was released.

I have been in the creative industry for the bulk of my working life. I was no stranger to that delicate dance between your creation as a personal expression and as a professional and collaborative pursuit. Yet I would be lying if I said that it wasn’t a struggle.

As designers, we become attached to ideas, mechanics, and the stories we tell ourselves about our designs. Yet if I held on too tight and did not allow people into this space that is Tanglung; I believe it would not have made as much of an impact as it does.

Tanglung gave Yuki the illustrator a reason to dive deep into the history, aesthetics and cultural significance of the lanterns to the Malaysian people. Tanglung gave LUMA a reason to share about the lanterns at the George Town Heritage festival. My mother-in-law was even interviewed as she made lanterns the traditional way when she was younger.

Gameplay wise I’ve seen the smiles that people had while playing the game, the laughter, and of course that face when you are locked in – brows furrowed, jaws clenched and for some people red faced, yet internally they are having the time of their lives (one of the inspirations for Tanglung was this exact feeling when I was playing Hive with a friend and we didn’t speak throughout the game but as soon as it ended we were laughing, teasing and giving play-by-play analysis of what went right and wrong).

Perhaps most humbling of all are the testimonials from players using Tanglung (which has a puzzly but cosy solo mode) to keep their minds active and comfort themselves in hospital wards post-op. That deeply moved me.

This is all a long-winded way of saying: If I hadn’t let go, Tanglung would have just been my game. But by letting people in, it became ours – a shared experience, with effects outgrowing the people involved.

Tanglung is available at retail through “Play Play Asia” an onsite shop that curates tabletop games from across Asia.
It will be at Spiel 2026 in Essen, Germany. I will also be there (Say hi!)
We are working to get it available to be purchased online in the future.