Asians Represent! is here to celebrate the brilliant Asian creators in the analogue gaming community while examining the challenges they face within the industry. They also regularly deconstruct the use of Asian cultural tropes in gaming by asking, “Is this cultural appreciation, or appropriation?”
Agatha Cheng burst into the RPG scene in early 2015 armed solely with the knowledge that gnomes are a fantasy race and apparently so are bards. She has since waded deep into the world of story games and LARPs, but still maintains the wide-eyed enthusiasm of that long ago first session. When not obsessively dissecting pop culture and media, she has a particular fondness for sad games, romance RPGs, and Chinese wuxia dramas. burst into the RPG scene in early 2015 armed solely with the knowledge that gnomes are a fantasy race and apparently so are bards. She has since waded deep into the world of story games and LARPs, but still maintains the wide-eyed enthusiasm of that long ago first session. When not obsessively dissecting pop culture and media, she has a particular fondness for sad games, romance RPGs, and Chinese wuxia dramas.
Daniel Kwan is one of the co-owners of Dundas West Games, an educational creative producer, and co-host of the Asians Represent! podcast on the One Shot Network. Daniel has co-authored Zany Zoo! and is currently working on Ross Rifles – a WWI dramatic action RPG powered by the apocalypse. In addition to his design work, Daniel is one of the co-founders of Level Up Gaming – a Toronto-based organization that provides adults with autism and other disabilities opportunities to develop their social skills through group gaming experiences. He also oversees the Royal Ontario Museum’s Dungeons & Dragons program, which uses tabletop roleplaying games to teach teens history, science, and social skills.
New Shambala #1 – New Beginnings
Masks: New Shambala is here! Get to know Tommy (Daniel), Naomi (Jayd), and Jhangir (Ammar) as they navigate high school, life with powers, and family. If you have questions about this episode’s themes, suggestions, or anything else related to Asians Represent, get in touch with us on Twitter/Instagram @aznsrepresent, Facebook/aznsrepresent, or at aznsrepresent@oneshotpodcast.com. Follow Ammar...
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March Bonus: Magical Girls ft. Brother Ming
Brother Ming is a designer of print-and-play fan games that you can download for free! They joined Daniel and Agatha for a discussion of the widely known, but perhaps also misunderstood “magical girl” genre! If you have questions about this episode’s theme, the games discussed, or anything else related to Asians Represent, get in touch...
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Welcome to Masks: New Shambala ft. Ammar Ijaz
It’s time. The very first Asians Represent actual play! Daniel, Agatha, and Jayd were joined by fellow Torontonian Ammar Ijaz for session zero of Masks: A New Generation. Set in a city of our own creation – New Shambala – this will be a series of romantic ups and downs, action, and family drama!
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February Bonus: Outdoor Skills & Gaming ft. Jeeyon Shim
Daniel and Jayd hung out with game designer, outdoor skills educator, and wilderness first responder Jeeyon Shim to talk about cultivating connections to nature through gaming.
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Ep 5 – Re-envisioning Cyberpunk ft. Banana Chan
Are there problems with the current state of cyberpunk? Daniel and Agatha sat down with TTRPG/LARP designer Banana Chan to discuss the past, present, and future of the cyberpunk genre. If you have questions about this episode’s theme, the games discussed, or anything else related to Asians Represent, get in touch with us on Twitter/Instagram...
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January Bonus: Welcome to the team Jayd!
Jayd Matyas joins Daniel and Agatha for another episode of Asians Represent as…a member of the team!
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Ep 4 – How to Play as an Asian Character (If You Aren’t Asian)
Daniel and Agatha sat down with Clio Yu-Su Davis, a game designer, and interactive media writer, to discuss how to play as Asian characters if you aren’t Asian.
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Bonus: Sarzameen ft. Mariam Ahmad
Mariam Ahmad is currently writing a desi fantasy campaign setting called Sarzameen. This episode was a Patreon early-access exclusive for the month of November 2018. For early access to bonus episodes of Asians Represent, become a patron at patreon.com/oneshotpodcast! Learn more about Mariam on Twitter @media_junkie If you have questions about this episode’s theme, the...
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Episode 3 – Learning Through Play (part 2) ft. Derek Chung
Daniel and Agatha sat down with game designer Derek Chung to discuss Emberwind and the uses of tabletop roleplaying games in therapy! Learn more about Emberwind at emberwindgame.com and Derek’s other work at nomnivoregames.com. Back Emberwind on Kickstarter until Dec. 16 at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/nomnivoregames/emberwind-a-new-breed-of-tabletop-role-playing-gam?ref=nav_search&result=project&term=emberwind If you have questions about this episode’s theme, the games discussed, or...
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Metatopia & Thousand Arrows ft. James Mendez Hodes
James Mendez Hodes is a Filipino American TTRPG writer, developer, editor, and sensitivity reader. His latest creation, Thousand Arrows: a Samurai Action & Drama TTRPG is now on Kickstarter. James and Daniel discussed whether or not you have to be Japanese to write a game set in Japan. They dove into their academic histories and...
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