For many Americans, Sunday brunch means waffles, pancakes, and bacon and eggs. But for my family and millions of Chinese immigrants, Sunday brunch means only one thing: it’s time for some dim sum. A new board game called Steaming Up: A Feast of Dim Sum, published by Hot Banana Games, has adapted the tradition of dim sum – small portions of flavorful dishes steamed in bamboo baskets – into a fresh new board game. While it’s not the first table game to focus on Chinese traditions, it offers one of the most engaging board game experiences I’ve had in a long time.
Coincidentally, the launch of Steam up coincided nicely with my grandma, or grandmother, Belle Yee’s birthday celebration in Vancouver, where the game was made. I sneaked in my mom Brenda Ford, my cousin Eric Lee, my cousin Kimberley Lam, and her husband Sing-Yue Lam to play a few games steam up — an aperitif, if you like – before the big birthday dinner. What we’ve found is a game that’s deceptively simple, but with lots of moving parts to keep track of.
The set-up board looks like a real dim sum table, with little steamers to hold pieces on and a revolving turntable, just like in the restaurant. On their turn, each player performs two actions of their choice: take a dim sum token, draw a lucky card and optionally spin the turntable, play a lucky card and optionally spin the turntable, exchange two lucky cards for one token, and/or buy a steamer by issuing tokens that exactly match the pieces in them.
If a player buys a steamer, he scores points. Characters get different points for different dim sum pieces, and at the end of a round, a fate card is drawn and the effects are resolved. After each steamer has been bought, a tracker counts down and once the tracker reaches the end – or all destiny cards are drawn – the game ends and the player with the most points wins.
Photo: Hot Banana Games
Steam up comes in two editions: standard and deluxe. The differences are essentially aesthetic. The deluxe edition replaces flat punch card chips with wooden chips, prints characters and the scoreboard on higher quality card stock, and most importantly, replaces flat dim sum punch card pieces with rubber dim sum squishies.
The squishies deserve attention, as they delighted all members of my family, especially my 婆婆, who quickly made siu mai (pork dumpling), lo mai gai (sticky rice), har gow (shrimp dumpling), fung zao (chicken feet, but literally translates as “phoenix claws”), and char siu bao (pork buns). The premium, soft bits were also more functional than the cardboard chips. Getting them out of a bag and moving them around during the game was easier than using the flat pieces. Even my 103 year old dog found the squishies easy to handle.
However, they were so attractive that Kimberley and Sing-Yue had to bow, as their two-year-old son repeatedly tried to grab the squishies. They’d probably be in his stomach without intervention – they just look so good.
The family was also very happy, especially my son, because of the manual and the game layout. Some customs of dim sum, such as serving tea to others before yourself, are described. The artwork is also stunning and cute, and my boyfriend loved flipping through the manual and seeing the dim sum stereotypes that make up the different characters you can play – the loyal customer, the food blogger, or the seafood lover to just to name a few. Each is associated with one of the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac.
Unfortunately, the complexity of the game also meant that my friend was unable to participate directly. There was a surprising amount of effects from fortune cards, destiny cards, character abilities, and the turntable itself to keep track of. This became a problem when we found ourselves going back for missed effects, especially destiny cards. The second problem was the physical design. The turntable was a pain to turn, and only Eric used it effectively, robbing my mother and I of full steam at a few key points.
The steamers and dim sum squishies can also be finicky. While the squishies were easier to handle and definitely better aesthetically, they could cause steamers to tip over if the squishies weren’t placed perfectly inside. The steamers also sometimes clung to each other leading to spilled dim sum.
In the end, my mom emerged victorious with her “loyal customer” persona quickly adding up bonus points, which is related to one of the game’s problems. There are characters that are just easier to win with. Some are even marked with a teacup icon, indicating they are easier to play.
Steam up is aimed at a Chinese-American audience. The familiarity of dim sum squishies and the character archetypes is something that felt welcoming, especially to 婆婆, who pronounced it “really cute” and “just like real dim sum” – even if competitive eating goes against true Chinese courtesy.
Steam up is a bit of a niche specialty, but the Kickstarter success shows that the creators have hit that niche well. Overall, the experience left us full enough but hungry to try the thousands of possible variations. In short, it’s the ultimate dim sum experience.
Steam Up: A Feast of Dim Sum is now available. If you’re intrigued by it, opt for the Deluxe Edition for $66. While currently sold out, more copies should be available for pre-order soon. The Standard Edition feels less special and only saves you a little money at $47.