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- (From left) Jefferson, board game enthusiast Elma Balen and company shareholder Kali Muthu Tambusamy hold aloft the boxes of the board game.
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- A closer look at Gua!.
KUCHING: Beast of Borneo Sdn Bhd recently launched its latest board game called ‘Gua!’ which was inspired by the majestic caves of Mulu.
This comes not long after the success of ‘Parang’ – the Sarawak headhunting-inspired card game, also by Beast of Borneo.
The launch of Gua! took place at Icube Innovations Sdn Bhd, which provides a home for Beast of Borneo and supports the game publishing company from day one.
Gua! involves players travelling through the subterranean world in the quest to find the rarest of gemstones.
The game is set in the fictional cave of Gua Pelangi, secretly located deep in the heart of the Borneo rainforest.
Players take on the role of any of six characters (based on real people in Sarawak who like to explore caves) and try to collect one of each type of gemstone without getting caught by the cave’s fearsome inhabitants – the ‘Orang-gua.’
Gua! is composed of hexagonal tiles that fit together in thousands of ways to give you a different cave to explore every time you play.
Each player must navigate the passageways of the cave carefully and also influence the movement of the Orang-gua to their own advantage. The rules are simple and everything is laid out in English, Bahasa Malaysia and Mandarin.
The founder and director of Beast of Borneo, Alex Jefferson, said the main purpose of Gua! was to bring people together.
“We want to celebrate what Sarawak has to offer in a way that promotes social interaction in an age where too often, people are isolated by technology.
“Playing board games is a great way for families and friends to have fun together and what better way to do it than by having your own Borneo cave adventure,” he said.
Beast of Borneo Sdn Bhd worked in conjunction with Chameleon Design House (Miri) to create the game.
This was to ensure a high quality product which could promote Sarawak in the competitive international board game market.
The recommended retail price for Gua! is RM150 and it is available to buy at selected Everrise stores, Museum Café, and Chinahouse, as well as via online at www.beastofborneo.com.
Next in line for Beast of Borneo is a game called ‘Hantu’ – a haunted fort-inspired board game that mixes local folklore with Sarawakian history.