Agro, a new homegrown card game, is turning agriculture into a family-fun and educational entertainment.
In the game, each crop card consisting of fruits, vegetables and cereal is worth a certain number of points. Whether it is durian or long beans, your goal as a farmer is to harvest as many crops as you can.
Launched in early November, Agro is based on farming and agriculture in Brunei and is the fourth game created by independent local game creator Comet Games.
The strategy card game is suitable for all ages and can be played by two to six players with activities designed to teach basic farming economics and recreate the challenges of being a farmer – managing resources, unpredictable weather patterns and making money.
Besides providing family-fun entertainment, Agro also aims to educate the younger generation on the variety of local crops.
From Sikoi (Watermelon) to Bayam (Spinach), the deck contains 20 different local crops which names come in both Brunei-Malay and English to help the younger players to get familiar with the local fruits and vegetables.
Not only that, but the card game is also a fun and great way for the younger players to learn basic mathematical skills.
Sowing a seed with Agro
Image: Nurhana Diah
After releasing “Letters to Brooketon” in 2021, it inspired the founder of Comet Games, Zaed Hani to publish and produce more Bruneian-themed games.
Zaed describes himself as more of a traditional gamer, whose fond memories of childhood are playing Monopoly and Scrabble with his family.
Growing up, he realised that he rarely found board games made by Bruneians.
As a way to combine his passion and hobby, Zaed decided to set up the first tabletop game developer in Brunei, Comet Games in late 2017.
“Tabletop games from the west are usually party games like Unstable Unicorns and Exploding Kittens, among others, or serious games like Settlers of Catan… At Comet Games, we hope to fill in that in-between niche where it’s fun and entertaining and also uniquely Brunei,” he said.
He added: “We want to build interests in tabletop games again, as people (both young and old) are more inclined to digital or mobile games.”
Talking about the idea behind the card game, Zaed thought of creating more games that revolve around local Bruneian themes and that it would be more interesting to showcase popular local fruits and vegetables as a new theme.
The local creator and entreprenuer said that Agro was realised before the beginning of the second pandemic and wanted to create something simple and fun for everyone.
Furthermore, for illustrations, Comet Games collaborated with talented local graphic designer Nadh Affendy to bring the idea to life. The set of 101 cards comes in colourful Bruneian touches, elevating the otherwise simple card game.
Furthermore, for illustrations, Comet Games collaborated with talented local graphic designer Nadh Affendy to bring the idea to life. The set of 101 cards comes in colourful Bruneian touches, elevating the otherwise simple card game.
The game in its entirety took four months to make – it was not all smooth sailing.
When asked about challenging aspects of designing the card game, Zaed recalled that during the design phase it was straightforward.
“However, It was only during the printing phase that presented some challenges. There were some colour issues and other technical mistakes which we had to rectify,” he reminisced.
Aside from seeing a shift and growing trends in the local card and board games community, Zaed said that the game publishing sector in the sultanate is still at its infancy, but he still sees potential in it.
Moreover, in terms of promoting and marketing Agro, he said that the business is currently utilising Instagram as the main platform to expand its reach with plans to connect with established local digital marketplace/e-commerce sites for customers’ easy purchase.
Not only that, but Comet Games will also be concentrating on organising an Agro Tournament and the game’s first expansion pack expected to launch in early 2022.
“As suggested by the board game community, some wish to see an AGRO Expansion Pack which would be a smaller set of new additional cards that you can add into your current AGRO pack,” he said.
The family-fun Agro card game is priced at $25 and is available for purchase on Comet Games official Instagram account @cometgamesent.
Image courtesy of Comet Games
This article was first published on 27 November 2021 in our Weekly E-Paper issue 169 |
THE BRUNEIAN | BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
