A group of National Cheng Kung University students are crowdfunding the development of a satirical tabletop game, Her Errand Boys, which they said parodies the group dynamics between attractive and overbearing “princes or princesses” lording it over a cohort of “errand boys and girls.”
The game developers said that they want to highlight the absurdity of the players’ real interactions with their personal prince or princess, and to hammer home a lesson that they had been “taken for a ride” in real life.
The game, designed to last 30 minutes, incorporates commonly experienced errands for a romantic crush, such as delivering late-night snacks, fixing electrics and plumbing, and other unreasonable or tedious tasks, the developers said, adding that they aim to “deliver an authentic experience in melancholy and angst.”
The card-based game includes multiplayer scenarios, including “the beast of burden,” “the handyman,” “the study guide,” “the male BFF,” “the second-generation rich” and “the handsome,” who take on challenges from an imaginary “princess,” while sabotaging other players’ quests, with a leveling system implemented in gameplay.
“We chose the tabletop format because we want to encourage interpersonal interactions, and we think that the game encourages flirting. Phubbing [snubbing someone in favor of a smartphone] is so prevalent now, it is no wonder that nobody finds true love,” said one game developer, who declined to be named.
By reflecting on their “past miseries” as “errand boys and girls” through gameplay, they hope gamers “have fun in moving forward” from their past relationships, while making new friends and acquaintances, the developers said.
A small number of Taiwanese this year lost their citizenship rights after traveling in China and obtaining a one-time Chinese passport to cross the border into Russia, a source said today. The people signed up through Chinese travel agencies for tours of neighboring Russia with companies claiming they could obtain Russian visas and fast-track border clearance, the source said on condition of anonymity. The travelers were actually issued one-time-use Chinese passports, they said. Taiwanese are prohibited from holding a Chinese passport or household registration. If found to have a Chinese ID, they may lose their resident status under Article 9-1
PROCEDURE: Although there is already a cross-strait agreement in place for the extradition of criminals, ample notice is meant to be given to the other side first Ten Taiwanese who were involved in fraud-related crimes in China were extradited back to Taiwan via Kinmen County on Wednesday, four of whom are convicted fraudsters in Taiwan. The 10 people arrived via a ferry operating between Xiamen and Kinmen, also known as the “small three links.” The Kinmen County Prosecutors’ Office yesterday said that four of the 10 extradited people were convicted in Taiwan for committing fraud and contravening the Money Laundering Control Act (洗錢防制法), and were on the wanted list. They were immediately arrested upon arrival and sent to Kinmen Prison to serve their sentences following brief questioning, the office said.
PROBLEMATIC APP: Citing more than 1,000 fraud cases, the government is taking the app down for a year, but opposition voices are calling it censorship Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday decried a government plan to suspend access to Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu (小紅書) for one year as censorship, while the Presidential Office backed the plan. The Ministry of the Interior on Thursday cited security risks and accusations that the Instagram-like app, known as Rednote in English, had figured in more than 1,700 fraud cases since last year. The company, which has about 3 million users in Taiwan, has not yet responded to requests for comment. “Many people online are already asking ‘How to climb over the firewall to access Xiaohongshu,’” Cheng posted on
Taiwanese were praised for their composure after a video filmed by Taiwanese tourists capturing the moment a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck Japan’s Aomori Prefecture went viral on social media. The video shows a hotel room shaking violently amid Monday’s quake, with objects falling to the ground. Two Taiwanese began filming with their mobile phones, while two others held the sides of a TV to prevent it from falling. When the shaking stopped, the pair calmly took down the TV and laid it flat on a tatami mat, the video shows. The video also captured the group talking about the safety of their companions bathing
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