Tan Shao Han

An experienced game master and designer, Shao is the lead architect and driver behind many of our Curious Chimeras games.


shao@curiouschimeras.com

Tan Shao Han, Founder.

“Headstrong Minotaur”

Shao’s strong interest in gaming as a catalyst for community building and engagement led him to set up the Curious Chimeras. Shao has a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) and a Masters of Arts from the Department of Southeast Asian Studies, National University of Singapore (NUS). Shao’s research at NUS focused on community engagement, education and culture, and did his Master’s Thesis on tabletop role-playing games and their ability to engage, empower and educate.

Prior to the Chimeras, Shao worked as a game designer at the National Institute of Education, designing and producing games for science education; a researcher for the Preservation of Monuments Board and the National Archives of Singapore; as well as an adjunct lecturer for the Singapore Institute of Management. Shao was also a head Teaching Assistant for the Department of Southeast Asian Studies, National University of Singapore.

Shao has spoken and presented at many events and art performances, including:

    • “Why So Serious? Play-Play Only Lah! How Games (Serious and Otherwise) Can (And Can’t) Empower their Players: Case Studies in Singapore” in Toys, Games and Comics in Asia Conference, December 2010
    • “The Ethnographic Contribution to Game-Based Learning: How Participant Observation and Thick Description Enhance Studies of Game-Based Learning” in Global Chinese Conference on Computers in Education (GCCCE), May 2013
    • “How to use Tabletop Role-Playing Games to Collaboratively Produce and Create Stories” in International Conference on Digital Storytelling (ICDIS), November 2014
    • “Agents of Change: Strategizing in the Face of Inequality” in Young Singaporeans (Un)Conference, September 2016
    • “Game as Discussion, Play as Dialogue: an invitation to Game Design for Enthusiasts of History and Heritage” in Blindspots in History and Heritage: An Intercultural Dialogue, September 2016
    • “Meta Gear Studies: A Video Game Performance and Open Discussion of State Violence and Statelessness” in Survey: Space, Sharing, Haunting, September 2016