“Pawikan Patrol” creator Mykey Cuento talks about fulfilling his childhood dream of designing a game, making it more than just fun, and giving advice to future game designers.

Strike up a conversation with Marc Reuben K. Cuento, AKA Mykey Cueno, AKA The Tabletop Traveler, at any event, and you’ll know he’s very passionate about three things. Games are the first.

“I’ve been playing tabletop and video games since I was a kid. It was always my dream to design a game of my own, like games with mazes that had turn-based combat, heavily influenced by Dungeons & Dragons and Pokemon, Breath of Fire, and the Final Fantasy series,” Mykey says. “Eventually, I got hooked on Magic: The Gathering, Pokemon cards, and YuGiOh, joining tournaments to win big-money prizes.”

The second? Teaching.

Mykey shares that part of his teaching style is using games, thanks to the influence of a teacher in high school who allowed them to do fun stuff during class. “It left an impression on me,” he says. “That’s why when I became an elementary teacher of Social Studies, I used games as part of my lessons and got a reputation for doing that.”

The third thing Mykey is passionate about? Championing good causes. He was part of a non-profit organization during college and for years after. In 2013, tired of city life, Mykey even moved to Palawan and became a teacher for another non-profit that focused on empowering women and young people.

That’s why in the game he designed, “Pawikan Patrol,” he made sure to incorporate all three of his passions.

What is Pawikan Patrol?

Official “Pawikan Patrol” art

BoardGame Geek describes it best:

“Pawikan Patrol is an action-selection, light deduction strategy game set in a coastal community where players send Characters to the Beach to find the location of Pawikan (sea turtles) and their nests while keeping the Poacher away from them. Along the way, players must also clean up Trash and make sure that the natural Predator of the sea turtles is kept safe from harm.”

If you’re wondering why Mykey just didn’t make a digital game, he admits that it’s not really his forte, and it was out of his skill set. “Plus, I wanted people to stay away from their phones for a change,” Mykey laughs. “And for me, tabletop games have a tactile sensation that can match and sometimes even exceed that of the haptic feedback from the best videogames on the market.”

The Inspiration For Pawikan Patrol

One of the places Mykey volunteered was the Pawikan Conservation Center in Morong, Bataan. That inspired him to make a tabletop game he hoped would make people appreciate sea turtles more.

He also volunteered at Coastal Underwater Resource Management Actions or CURMA, a marine turtle conservation program located in San Juan, La Union. That was where he met a group of people living in coastal communities who were helping CURMA protect sea turtles—the real-life “Pawikan Patrol,” if you will.

That was what prompted Mykey to name the game after them when he was done creating it.

But what struck him most about turtles? Well, this quote he gave GMA says it best: “They are a keystone species that make the fishing and tourism industries possible in coastal areas: they cultivate the seagrass and eat the sea sponges that damage coral reefs, the breeding ground of fish; they also consume the jellyfish that would otherwise overpopulate the beach.”

Game-Making Starts

Just because Mykey already had a game in mind didn’t mean it was easy to create. He admits that one of his biggest initial challenges was not knowing anything about game design. “I’m not a game design major, and I have never taken a short course on game design!” he exclaims.

Some of Mykey’s initial designs

And as mentioned above, he also had no computer programming experience. And as a teacher, he admits he had no funds to enroll in any coding courses.

But what he did have was plenty of experience playing games. “I told myself that all I needed to do was learn the principles behind their design,” Mykey says.

One thing he did to help him in his creation was to join UnPub PH, a local game design community, to help him bounce ideas around. And the second and probably the most important step, according to Mykey, was to read “The Art of Game Design” by Jesse Schell. “Reading this game design literature helped me learn in detail what essential experience is,” Mykey says. “Having a community of veteran designers to support you by sharing their experience is one thing, but having the necessary knowledge to do something with actually allowed me to follow through on what I learned.”

A Collective Effort

If Mykey already didn’t have the funds to learn how to design games, what more producing one? This particular problem he solved thanks to crowdfunding. “A lot of it came out of my pocket, but most of the funds I needed to get this game out was from the money I borrowed from friends and family,” Mykey remembers. “It was a crowdfunded effort without the use of actual crowdfunding platforms, which I was unfamiliar with at the time.”

While he did get most of the financial backing he needed, he was still pretty much alone in designing and marketing “Pawikan Patrol.” Thankfully, Mykey got artist Patricia Ramos on board. “Having this talented illustrator working on the art direction of my game took a massive load off of my shoulders because that meant I could just focus on playtesting and tweaking the rules to make it balanced,” he sighs in relief.

Some of Patricia Ramos’ artwork for “Pawikan Patrol”

The Turning Point

In 2018, Mykey was finally able to self-publish “Pawikan Patrol.” Initially, for him, it was just a passion project for his Social Studies class about the environment, a resource he could share with other teachers. “Funny enough, though,” Mykey says, “a local game distributor recognized my efforts at the 2018 E-Sports and Gaming Summit, where I demonstrated how it worked during the Indie Fiesta side event.”

Repping “Pawikan Patrol” at ESGS back in 2018

Little did he know that Freddie Tan, founder of Neutral Grounds and president of Ludus Distributors, had been watching the entire time he demonstrated the game. “I was fighting against fatigue and sickness while selling the 100 copies I had with me, so I wasn’t feeling good the whole time. But when I walked out of ESGS, it was with a publishing contract that saw “Pawikan Patrol” sitting on the same shelf as Magic: the Gathering, Dungeons & Dragons, and Warhammer!” Mykey exclaims. “You could say that more than revived me. It was a dream I had once given up on, but it became a reality through the support of people who trusted me.”

More Wins For Mr. Cuento And Pawikan Patrol

“Pawikan Patrol” got decent mainstream recognition in the Philippines. Despite having the look of a children’s game, it has appealed to board game enthusiasts of all ages, and Mykey credits it for kickstarting his career in game development. “It opened many opportunities for me in general,” he says.

And,” he adds, “I think we can call ‘Pawikan Patrol’ a success, especially since there are already plenty of schools and non-profit organizations who use it as a form of edutainment.” Mykey further shares that his game has already been featured in Inquirer, ABS-CBN, GMA 7, and FlipScience.

“Pawikan Patrol” being featured on an ABS-CBN show

And in 2019, the Department of Foreign Affairs enshrined the game in their library as a pioneering title in modern Philippine game design.

“Pawikan Patrol” at the DFA Museum

Even during the pandemic back in 2020, it sold well. “Pawikan Patrol” was and still is an affordable, family-friendly analog game,” Mykey explains. “Some even invented solo game rules to let them enjoy a game even if they didn’t have anyone to play with, thanks to the lockdown!”

The game appeals to both the young and the young-at-heart. Good job, Mr. Mykey Cuento!

Despite these achievements, Mykey keeps a realistic view of things. “Even globally, the most popular board card games could never match the sales figures of indie video games on Steam!” he exclaims.

Mykey’s Advice For Aspiring Game Designers

If you want to start game design, Mykey advises, “Don’t quit your day job for game design! I’m lucky to have had people supporting me every step of the way, but if I could have done it more easily, I would have. Plus, you’ll need all the funding you can get, and your job is your income source.”

Another piece of advice he gives is to “follow the principle of ‘essential experience,’” Mykey says. “Remember, the goal of a game designer is to get an experience across to the player, no matter what kind of experience it is, via the game mechanics. You should always ask yourself what you want your players to feel before, during, and after they play the game. Next is who you’re designing the game for. These two questions are related to the essential experience principle. Basically, it’s knowing what your audience wants.”

Finally, Mr. Cuento says that you should always playtest often to get feedback. “Game design, ultimately, is an art form that is highly interactive and needs a continuous response from your players,” he says. “And isn’t that the whole point of making a game? Getting people to play it and have fun?”

The Future For Mykey Cuento, AKA The Tabletop Traveler

Talking games and game design

Despite his passion for game design, Mykey admits that it is something he only does freelance as a consultant. “I design games on the side, mostly after working hours at my day job as a full-time content developer for an education technology startup and during the weekends,” he says. That means he can only take on one project at a time, especially since game design requires a lot of extensive playtesting and feedback from players.

However, that doesn’t mean it will stay that way—Mykey is currently learning to code and understand programming language. “This way, I’ll be able to work with programmers who can execute my ideas digitally,” he says.

So does that mean we can expect to see a digital game creation of his anytime soon? “You never know!” Mykey laughs. “For now, I’m just focused on designing more games as art while making extra income. And if any of what I’m doing will help me champion more causes and educate more people, I’m all for it.”

Want to work with Mykey Cuento? Message him at The Tabletop Traveler Facebook page or email him at tabletoptravelerph@gmail.com. To get Pawikan Patrol, check out its Facebook page or Instagram account.

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