Sen-Foong Lim

Designer / Developer / Writer

Selected Boardgame Design Credits

Sen-Foong Lim burst onto the board game design scene in 2011 and quickly earned a reputation for being one of the most versatile designers in the industry. His diverse portfolio includes:

(All co-designed with Jay Cormier)

He and Jay also co-created the innovative Coded Chronicles system which takes escape-room-in-a-box games to a whole new level by integrating immersive stories with devious puzzles. So far, they have co-written:

Due to his skill and flexibility, Sen has had the privilege of working with some of the most beloved properties in all of Fandom including:

He brings his love of each property to the forefront, ensuring that the design teams include other fans like Jay Cormier, Josh Cappel, Alara Cameron, Helana Hope, Erica Bouyouris, and Jon Cohn.

Recently, Sen has been working with engineer and industrial designer, David Killing, to create more family-friendly, toyetic games. Their first game (of hopefully many) hit shelves this year!

Selected Development & Consultation Credits

Sen is often requested to work as a cultural consultant or a developer and has helped put the finishing touches on games for many companies such as:

Sen often works with the Zone of Proximal Developers team that includes Scott Veenvliet and Alara Cameron. He also does rules work with Chad Nolan and consults with Matt Paquette & Co.

Selected RPG Credits

A life-long role-player, Sen began his foray into working in tabletop RPGs by contributing scenarios or other bits and bobs for many systems including:

He also co-authored a campaign for Mecha + Monsters II Evolved with Banana Chan and the introductory adventure, "The Horrors of the House on Hook Hill", for Kids on Bikes 2e with Alara Cameron.

Sen has also created RPG systems including:

Sen has also written content and designed systems for some amazing games, including some of the biggest projects this side of The Dragon Game.

Current Projects

Sen and Alara Cameron are eagerly awaiting the production of Grendel: The Game of Crime and Mayhem. Off The Page Games is bringing Matt Wagner's seminal work to life on the tabletop through this "Meeples on a Map" genre. Machinations turn to mayhem on the streets and rooftops of Manhattan when the towers fall!

Co-designed with Jay Cormier and based on the comic series Manifest Destiny, Corps of Discovery gets another entry: Corps of Discovery Duo - a 2-player map making game that leverages similar logic and deduction aspects that garnered the original game multiple award nominations and "Best of" rankings. Corps of Discovery (or Sudoku x Minesweeper = Monsters! as Sen describes it!) is already on shelves with Core of Discovery Duo to soon follow.

Another project Sen is working on is Tankhead, based on the amazing artwork of Emerson Tung and worldbuilding of Tim Popelier. Sen and Nicholas Yu (co-designer of D&D Onslaught) are working on a game set in a world where walking tanks stride across the battlefields. The artbook is currently available for preorder from Udon's website - click the image for more info!

Sen is also partnering with industrial designer David Killing on some cool toyetic games, the first of which is called Rooftops. If everything goes well, you might see a different game come out from this team before the sign Rooftops, though. They're working on an ant-themed pinball game, a dungeon cafe marble game, and more, so keep your eyes peeled!

On the RPG side of things, Sen is working on a new game with Banana Chan, Calvin Wong Tze Loon, and Hong Di-Anne called Tiān Dēng: Tales of the Immortal God Ship. It explores the Chinese diaspora in the far-flung future where humanity has left earth. It's post-scarcity, but the gig economy still exists so people can still look forward to a comfortable retirement, if they so choose. Found family flying around in an ancient ancestral spaceship governed by a computer tied to the a galaxy spanning network - what could go wrong?

Sen is working with hypertalented creature illustrator Sarah Dahlinger to bring her world, Astra Fauna, to life. Sen's Unpub mentee, Anivette Wong, brings her narrative design skills to the table, providing the glue that link's Sen's system design to Sarah's storytelling, illustration, and graphic design. This solo journaling RPG is currently in beta testing and it's going really well! If things work out, Sarah hopes to expand her universe with more books that utlitize the same system.

Sen is also finalizing work on Fast Cars & Family, a One+ game for Wet Ink (publishers of Never Going Home and co-publishers of Jiangshi) with his ride-or-dies Chad Nolan and Doug Levandowski. Think Fast and the Furious on the tabletop! Expect to see this game drift into your lane Fall 2026! Cover art forthcoming!

Selected Awards

Sen is grateful to have been recognized within the tabletop gaming and comic book communities, by both consumers and peers. Some of his most prestigious awards and nominations include:

Probably, his most important award, though, is the 2020 James Mathe Mentorship Award, named in honour of one of Sen's many mentors (R.I.P. James).

Sen knows that he could not have reached this level of success without the trust of all the publishers who have faith in his work. He would also like to thank all of the wonderful people he regularly collaborates.

Selected Media Appearances

Sen’s work has been featured prominently in tabletop media, gaming media in general, and beyond. He has been interviewed for several stories, articles, and books, including publications in other languages like Japan’s Nikkei. Sen is more than happy to share his experiences around the gaming table.

Community Involvement

A frequent panelist, moderator, keynote speaker, and media representative at industry events, Sen has been honoured to be a guest at:

Sen values helping others gain traction in the industry. He has facilitated many workshops at the above conventions and through organizations like the Tabletop Mentorship Program and the Board Game Design Conference.

As a fierce advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion in the tabletop industry, Sen helps to determine the recipients for the scholarships disbursed by New Voices in Gaming. Sen also assists with curating the schedule for the Board Game Design Summit for the Game Developers Conference as part of their Advisory Committee.

Together with Geoff Engelstein and Elizabeth Hargrave, Sen founded the Tabletop Game Designers Association (TTGDA) in 2024 to elevate the profession. Sen currently serves as the association’s vice president and chair of the education sub-committee. He hopes that this group increases the recognition game designers receive for their contribution to culture and decreases predatory practices amongst game publishers.

Media

As one of the co-hosts the Meeple Syrup Show (started in 2105), a weekly design-centric webcast, Sen has carved out a niche in tabletop media. Sen then joined the Ludology crew in 2021 as one of the co-hosts for the podcast alongside his long-time partner-in-crime, Erica Bouyouris. Sen is currently working with Camilla Zamboni to focus on exploring how analogue roleplaying games are informed by and, in turn, inform culture at large in their longform podcast series, RPG Roots - Session 0 is tentatively set to drop in Q4 2026 as a part of the Ludology Podcast Network!

Meeple Syrup has been creating resources for game designers since its inception. One of the most used projects has been the Contact Checklist - the first version has been featured in Jay Cormier's Fail Faster Game Design Journal.

Another project they completed was PechaKucha Kon 2021. Sen’s submission delves into how he uses psychological theories in game design.

Contact Information

Sen loves to help foster networking opportunities for freelancers. He enjoys interacting with designers and fans of gaming alike.Please reach out to him through any of the channels below!

• Email
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Patreon
• Apple Podcasts
• YouTube