At the end of the day, we all love playing games, whether it’s with a controller or on a tabletop.
PGDX 2025 brought together some of the most creative minds in the Filipino gaming scene which includes console, mobile, PC, and tabletop as well.
Ludus Distributors had quite a presence in this year’s PGDX, attracting all manner of curious con-goers. As the biggest tabletop and hobby distributor in the Philippines, Ludus is a familiar name to all board game enthusiasts in the country. Beyond distributing, they’re also in the business of publishing board games made and designed by talented Filipinos.
“We’ve published 12 to 13 Filipino-designed games, two of which have been picked up overseas so we’re very proud of that,” said Freddy Tan, President of Ludus Distributors. “We’ve been in this industry for three decades now, but we’ve only started publishing in the last 10 years.”
Their catalogue of published local games is already available on Shopee and Lazada. They’re working on having a physical presence in stores like Toy Kingdom as well. And of course, that means Ludus is always on the lookout for local game designers whose ideas they can bring to life.
“I actually went around the indie area,” said Freddy Tan. “We’re looking for people with good game design sense. And when may nakikita kami na ‘uy, pwede ito para sa tabletop’ we try to talk to them.”
It is called the Philippine GameDev Expo, and game development is not an exclusively electronic field. In that sense, PGDX 2025 is the perfect place for Ludus as they’ve been able to connect with not just local talents but with schools and businesses as well.
Gamers are Gamers
Still, it’s a little odd to see an area dedicated to tabletop games surrounded by a sea of electronic ones. When asked how they ended up in an overtly electronic games-oriented event, Freddy Tan said that it came from mutual admiration between him and the event’s organizers.
PGDX 2025 is also not the first time Ludus has appeared in these events. They’ve had a presence all the way back to the ESGS days and are quite familiar with the mingling of these two worlds.
Throughout all the time he’s spent in these videogame-centric events, Freddy Tan has come to one conclusion. “At the end of the day, gamers are gamers. Nagiiba lang yung platform. So, just consider us as another platform. The table is just another platform for gaming. If you enjoy the stimulation sa utak mo sa gaming, then it’s all the same thing.”
Freddy Tan gets to the very heart of why we enjoy playing games. We may engage with them differently, but we all enjoy them for the same reasons. Digital or analog — games tickle our brains the same way, and that’s something that any gamer can understand.
Banner photo by Ramon Domingo.
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