STUDIO KEINGÅ
ILLUSTRATION
GRAPHIC DESIGN
GAME DESIGN
WRITING
FEATURED PROJECT
ALCHEMAGICA
A tableau-building trial of card-flipping combos!
BUILD your Spellbook tableau, CAST powerful Spells and wield versatile TRANSMUTATIONS to earn the title of Master Alchemagus!Combine cards' Actions and Effects to craft Spells for your steadily cycling Spellbook. Plan ahead to take advantage of your dual-function cards that flip and shift every turn to yield new Spell combinations!Will you be able to map out, manipulate and maximise your moves to pull ahead of your Rivals in this test of tableau-tinkering and tactical timing?
15-20 MINS/PLAYER • 1-4 PLAYERS • AGES 14+INCLUDES 90 CARDS • 100 REAGENT TOKENS •
4 TABLEAUX • SCOREPAD AND RULEBOOK
Ready to become a Master Alchemagus?
Join the mailing list for updates, launch news and special offers for when Alchemagica goes live on Kickstarter!
ABOUT
Keingå Qie (aka Alex Cheng; any pronouns) is a Los-Angeles based digital artist, graphic designer, game designer and writer of speculative fiction.
Their career has spanned management consulting for major biopharmaceutical companies, academic research in the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing system, and tabletop game design, branding and marketing.Kei draws upon inspirations from their cross-cultural upbringing from post-colonial Hong Kong to the United States, experiences in the digital queer community and their expertise in cellular and molecular biology to create a unique skillset and set of perspectives for their work.Milestone creative works include: Alchemagica (2024 - ongoing), Coronea (2017 - ongoing), Widgets n' Digit$ (2022 - 2024), DailyKobolds (2019 - 2020)
FAQ
How do I pronounce your name?
"Keingå Qie" (奇娥 啟峨) uses Cantonese and Mandarin pronunciation, but is pronounced "KAY • ngauh CHEE • uh" in English.
Use this name if you only know me from my online presence. Most people call me "Kei" for ease."Alex Cheng" is pronounced "a • LECKS CHEH • ng".
You may only use this name if you know me in person or if you already knew this name prior. If in doubt, feel free to ask!
Why go by another name?
My original given name is a hybrid of English, Cantonese and Mandarin that reflected my mixed cultural background in an oddly serendipitous sort of way. After moving to the United States, I was pressured to and eventually legally removed the Chinese portion of my name to reduce potential stigma and prejudice around being an Asian immigrant in a predominantly Western society.My chosen name is both an homage to my cultural roots and a step towards defining my own persona beyond what was prescribed to me.
How long have you been doing art?
I never received any formal education in art outside of short stints in after-school activities and standard curriculum art classes in primary and secondary school, but I've been doodling and sketching in my notebook margins and drawing up comics in my exercise books as far as I can remember. I only pivoted to digital art when I was about 16, but even so, I didn't have a proper drawing tablet - I made do using an old Chinese handwriting input tablet instead, since it was the only thing to hand capable of turning penstrokes into mouse movements.The pivotal moment that marked the start of me taking digital art seriously was most likely when I started doing the DailyKobolds series of daily drawings at the start of 2019 - up until then, drawing was just a hobby. I am and will always be grateful to all the friends and kind strangers that have been supportive of my ongoing journey to evolve as an artist.
What software and tools do you use?
I'm a big advocate for accessible and affordable tools, and I firmly believe that industry-standard premium software is by no means necessary to produce great work. I currently use a combination of free and paid tools, but I certainly would not have been able to pursue my aspirations in creative media if I had been locked out of the basic tools I needed to start out due to industry paywalling.
| Raster Art | FireAlpaca (free), CLIP STUDIO PAINT (paid) |
| Vector Art | Inkscape (free), Microsoft PowerPoint (paid) |
| Digital Art | HUION HS610 (current), Turcom TS-6608 (starter) |
| Programming | Python 3 (free), Microsoft Visual Basic (paid) |
| Website Design | Carrd (free with upgrade potential) |
| Writing | ClickUp (free), Evernote (free) |
CONTACT ME
PORTFOLIO
This section is currently undergoing reconstruction and may not be complete.
Please check back later or reach out directly for inquiries!
2024 - ongoing
Designer • Illustrator
ALCHEMAGICA
A tableau-based trial of spellbinding strategy!
BUILD your Spellbook, CAST powerful Spells and wield versatile TRANSMUTATIONS to earn the title of Master Alchemagus!Combine cards to craft powerful Spells for your steadily cycling Spellbook. Your double-function cards flip every turn to yield new Spell combinations for constantly shifting strategy!Balance your limited actions and resources between amassing might and saving for score as you race against your Rivals!Alchemagica is currently under active development and alpha testing.
If you're interested, stay tuned for updates and launch news here!
15-20 MINS/PLAYER • 1-4 PLAYERS • AGES 14+
Alchemagica © STUDIO KEINGÅ 2024
Publisher TBD
2022 - 2024
Illustrator • Head of Branding
WIDGETS N' DIGIT$
Be the CEO of Game Night!
Widgets n' Digit$ is a race against the clock engine builder about building your own business!Each turn you'll make and sell Widgets, using the profits to upgrade your business, purchase resources, and hire workers.Unique marketplace mechanics allow demand from your competitors to set prices creating dynamic market-driven play!Designed by Joseph Bugbee and illustrated by Alex Cheng together as the Friendly Bee Game Company, Widgets n' Digit$ successfully funded on Kickstarter and has raised over $11,000 in pledges as of July 2024.Following Widgets n' Digit$' launch, the Friendly Bee Game Company has ranked among the 2024 UCLA Bruin Business 100, and is currently slated to launch the award-winning abstract strategy game TacTile in Q4 2024.
30-60 MINS • 2-4 PLAYERS • AGES 14+
Widgets n' Digit$ © Friendly Bee Game Company 2024
2017 - ongoing
Setting Architect • Concept Artist • Author
CORONEA
Lives within lives within lives.
The story of life and death has been told and retold in human history since time immemorial: deities and dimensions have risen and fallen to house the human curiosity of what lies beyond the veil and grant solace to those who have passed.With the tide of each civilisation's mythos waxing and waning within the collective corpus of knowledge, perhaps some slivers of truth rise to the surface.
Many, however, fail to account for a single, simple fact:Humans are hardly the only creatures that die.Coronea is currently under active development.
PRIVATE project • contact for inquiries
ILLUSTRATION • GRAPHIC DESIGN • GAME DESIGN • WRITING
FEATURED PROJECT: ALCHEMAGICA (2024)
MULTI-USE CARDS • CARD CYCLING •
ACTION ECONOMY • SHARED MARKET •
VICTORY POINTS AS RESOURCES
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