XOXO‘S LUDOMATIC UNIVERSE!
About XOXO
“XOXO’s Ludomatic Universe” is a passion project with a vision: An exciting new series of analog card games, where each product stands on its own yet is simultaneously part of a larger story world. Across ongoing episodes, you will encounter familiar characters once again and see how they develop. The more games you play, the more you‘ll discover the connections, backstories, and Easter eggs.
Join us on a playful journey through the vibrant world of Asian pop culture; at turns cheeky, cheerful, dark, and dazzling. Always heartfelt. And always with a wink.
XOXO — more than just a game!
↑ Cool tagline, huh?
Well, to put in plainly:
We‘re gonna start off the show with three casual plus card games — POW MAU, SALARYMAN MADNESS and YOKAI YEN?!!
Those will be launched in October 2026 at SPIEL ESSEN, the world‘s largest public fair for board games. Here‘s the countdown:
- 00Days
- 00Hours
- 00Minutes
- 00Seconds
- You‘ll be attending the fair? Cool! You‘re more than welcome to pop by and say hi, to check out our games and to snatch your free gift!
- You won‘t be attending the fair? Pitty… But hey, we‘re gonna be out there for quite some time—sooner or later we‘ll meet up!
Meanwhile, here‘s some more information on what we‘ve come up with and where we‘re heading … More games already in the making!
What unites them all:
- Small Box — 104x134x32mm, easy to take-along.
An ongoing design stretching across the spine will make a good impression
in your game shelf 🙂 - Nice Price — just 12,99 € recommended retail price.
Or get the bundle and save some cash. - Cool Design — black, yet colorful and striking.
Equally appealing to players, comic book fans, and graphic design enthusiasts. - One Universe — meet the gang again throughout an ongoing story
and see how things develop. Just like watching your favorite series … - Cheeky and Charming — despite their borderline attitudes,
you‘ll love the XOXO characters and their everyday problems. - Communicative — no matter how hard you compete,
you‘re gonna be talking while playing. Spill it out! - 2-Player-Friendly — whether you‘re two or more people, the game experience
will be the same. Head to head fun … - Secret Messages — examine the boxes and its contents thoroughly —
there might be hidden treasures. Now go!
XOXO — play it cool! (yepp, we‘ve got plenty of taglines)
Meanwhile, here‘s some more information on what we‘ve come up with and where we‘re heading … More games already in the making!
What unites them all:
- Small Box — 104x134x32mm, easy to take-along.
An ongoing design stretching across the spine will make a good impression in your game shelf 🙂 - Nice Price — just 12,99 € recommended retail price.
Or get the bundle and save some cash. - Cool Design — black, yet colorful and striking.
Speaking to comic book lovers and graphic design enthusiasts. - One Universe — meet the gang again throughout an ongoing story and see how things develop. Just like watching your favorite series …
- Cheeky and Charming — despite their borderline attitudes, you‘ll love the XOXO characters and their everyday problems.
- Communicative — no matter how hard you compete,
you‘re gonna be talking while playing. Spill it out! - 2-Player-Friendly — whether you‘re two or more people, the game experience
will be the same. Head to head fun … - Secret Messages — examine the boxes and its contents thoroughly —
there might be hidden treasures. Now go!
XOXO — play it cool! (yepp, we‘ve got plenty of taglines)
S01E01
POW MAU
Take on the roles of feisty Lucky Cats and give each other some good old scratches …
POW MAU is like Mau-Mau — just better. And slightly more challenging 🙂 See for yourself!
An elaborate Mau-Mau variant with a power twist.
Ages: 10+ | Players: 2 – 5 | Playing time: 20 minutes
Prologue
S01E01
1 The Maneki-neko (Japanese for “inviting cat”) is a traditional Japanese lucky charm intended to attract prosperity, customers, and good fortune. Other, sometimes derogatory, nicknames include: waving cat, annoying cat, decorative trash.
Tonight‘s main event is about to begin! Step into the paws of these feisty “Lucky Cats“ and battle it out in an elaborate variant of the classic card game, Mau-Mau. Seriously? Yes, seriously! 🙂
The special features: You can play sets of identical cards, strategically activate card sequences, and—with a little sly maneuvering—foist the dreaded Black 6 onto your opponents. It’s a chaotic yet tactical interplay where you inflict minor scratches (= penalty cards) or deeper scrapes (= penalty points) upon one another. The player who ends up with the fewest penalty points at the end of the game is the winner!
Game Contents
93 Cards:
- 81
Number Cards (8x 1, 12x 2, 16x 3, 20x 4, 24x 5, 1x 6) 
12 Special Cards (4x Skip, 4x Reverse, 4x Joker)
S01E02
SALARYMAN MADNESS
Step into the shoes of numerophobic bookies and rapidly face your fear of numbers …
SALARYMAN MADNESS is a thrilling speed matching game that will drive you crazy. Wanna bet?!
A fast-paced, number-driven reaction game.
Ages: 10+ | Players: 2 – 4 | Playing time: 20 minutes
Prologue
S01E02
1 See S01E01 “Pow Mau”
2 The term Salaryman refers to Japan’s 24/7 male office-worker culture, for whom leisure time is more or less a dirty word. The Salaryman: a modern antihero of traditional Japanese work society.
The betting operation is complete mayhem! Step into the bookmakers’ roles of Kim and his coworkers and involuntarily face your numerophobia through shock therapy.
Keep your cool amid the frantic chaos, skillfully juggle small numbers, and process the flood of betting slips as quickly and accurately as possible. As a reward, you’ll earn a lucky cat autograph card. The first player to collect 2 or 3 autograph cards wins the game!
Game Contents
98 Cards:
- 45 standard Betting Slips (numerical values 1 – 9 in 5 colors)
- 45 special Betting Slips (15 each of Minus, Lower-Higher 1, Lower-Higher 2)
8 Autograph Cards
S01E03
YŌKAI YEN?!!
Step into the shoes of flat broke supernatual beings and blow all your cash …
YOKAI YEN?!! is kind of like the climbing game “President & Scum” (you know the game?) – but flying blind. Spooky!
A blindfolded, money-driven climbing game.
Ages: 10+ | Players: 2–4 | Playing time: 20 minutes
Prologue
S01E03
1 See S01E01 “Pow Mau”
2 See S01E02 “Salaryman Madness“
3 Yōkai is the collective term for the bizarre world of monsters, spirits and demons deeply rooted in Japanese culture.
Suspiciously, the Yōkai huddle in their chairs, trying to make sense of their negative cash flow. Step into the
roles of Lulu and her demonic pack and reenact the financial disasters by getting rid of your cards (= $$$, or more accurately ¥¥¥) as cleverly as possible.
The discard rules strongly resemble the classic card game President & Scum, but Yōkai Yen goes far beyond that, because at no point do you have direct insight into your own hand (memory lapse included). Sooner or later, the game erupts into a chaotic blind-sided showdown. According to the wonderfully twisted logic of the XOXO universe, the first player to run out of cards has definitively been swindled, and therefore wins the game!
Game Contents
91 Cards:
- 4 Character Cards (in Blue, Pink, Orange, Green
- 20 Divider Cards (1 – 5, each in Blue, Pink, Orange, Green)
- 50 Banknote Cards (5 each in values 0 – 9)
5 Special Cards (in Gray-Black)
12 Loot Bags (3 each of A, B, C, D in Beige)
VENDORS, YOUR CALL!
Our eye-catching retail counter display holds 5 sets with 3 games each. And there‘s more to come … We‘d love to have
you on board!
• Cool card games for clever minds
• The start of an exciting new series
• Japan meets comics meet pop art
• Games you‘ll still be talking about tomorrow
meet the heads ...
Thade — a.k.a. TPPD — is the founder of XOXO. He created the overall concept and is in charge of game design, story telling, game development and graphic design.
For him, play and work flow seamlessly into one another. His favorite material is wood, his favorite color is pink, and his favorite symbol is the heart. In his opinion, creating the perfectly shaped heart is one of the greatest design challenges of all 🙂
Chris — a.k.a. Killerartworx — is the master of the pen and as such, he‘s in charge of character design.
After an early phase devoted to cartoon drawing, he now primarily creates artwork for bands and festvials. His favorite colour is black, even though he knows it tecnically isn‘t a color. He was awarded the „Piglet Stamp“ for Best Handwriting in his elementary school class of 1985.
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