Janice Cheng

Online Nickname: @ChickyBisky

Introduction 

Oye! I’m Janice, and I go by ChickyBisky in online TTRPG spaces. I grew up in Taipei and now live in the Northeastern United States. Since discovering the hobby in 2019, I have become an avid consumer and evangelist for all things tabletop, from big box board games to your favorite dice-based elves and dragons stories. I’d make an excellent ENNIES judge because I’m thoughtful, sensitive, and curious. When I’m not running TTRPGs, I’m thinking about running TTRPGs. I’m a Top GM on StartPlaying, where I’m dedicated to creating safe tables for neurodivergent players and those with marginalized identities. As a GM, I eat character backstories for breakfast, and you can trust me to maintain a deft hand when it comes to equally spotlighting players and enforcing safe boundaries for everyone to have fun. Though my bread and butter is D&D 5e and Daggerheart, my favorite games are story games where collaboration and “play to find out” is the point, like “For the Queen” and “Last Train to Bremen.” I’m also an academic at heart, and closely follow the work of Dr. Em Friedman, Mike Shea (Sly Flourish), and Thomas Manuel (The Indie RPG Newsletter) where we just think way too much about how games work, man. I am a professional and clear communicator who takes the duty of judgeship seriously, and am committed to showing up in spaces where there aren’t many who look like me or share similar life experiences, so that others may feel encouraged to do the same.

Why do you play/run RPGs?

As a hobby, running and playing RPGs is uniquely tuned to the way I’m wired — spontaneous, creative, empathetic, collaborative, theatrical. RPGs have the potential to teach us so much about ourselves if we are ready to put in the time and effort to look in the mirror. As a creative writer, I felt blocked for many years until RPGs showed me I could write again. It’s my biggest creative outlet, reliable source of making wonderful new friends, and a tesseract lens through which I can experience all the different lives one can live.

The ENNIES requires a major commitment of time and energy. What resources do you have that will help you discharge these responsibilities? Will your gaming group or other individuals be assisting you? Does your family support you?

I’m a project manager from 9 to 5, which means staying organized and communicative is what I do for a living. I must also constantly judge the scope of projects and how manageable they are, and would not be applying for such a major commitment if I didn’t have the tools and support network to keep me on task.

Judging requires a great deal of critical thinking skills, communication with other judges, deadline management, organization, and storage space for the product received. What interests, experience, and skills do you bring that will make you a more effective judge?

I manage projects for a biodiversity conservation organization during the day and run TTRPGs at night, both of which require strict organization, clear communication, and working as part of a team while focused on individual goals and deadlines. I have a bachelor’s in creative writing and a master’s in public policy; I’m used to synthesizing tremendous volumes of content, and maintaining professionalism during critical discussion and decision making.

What styles and genres of RPGs do you enjoy most? Are there any styles or genres that you do not enjoy? Which games best exemplify what you like? Do you consider yourself a fan of a particular system, publisher, or genre?

I love collaborative storygames like “For the Queen,” “Last Train to Bremen,” and “Good Society.” I do not enjoy games where player characters are pitted against each other by design, like “Paranoia” and “Fiasco.” As both a GM and player, I tend to enjoy what The Retired Adventurer calls the “OC / Neo-trad” culture of play (https://retiredadventurer.blogspot.com/2021/04/six-cultures-of-play.html), which de-centers the GM as the main narrative authority and invites players to give creative input on both the story and the world. My tastes also tend to vary — as a GM, I love running games like Call of Cthulhu and ShadowDark, where players bump into the story and hope to make it out alive. As a player, I cannot get enough of Forged in the Dark and Powered by the Apocalypse.

List (up to 5) games you’ve played in the last 2 years. What drew you to playing them? Which did you like best and why?

“7th Sea (1e)” – I’m currently a player in a game based on the Heroes of Altamira living campaign (https://www.guildofsanmarcos.net/hoa/hoahome.html). It’s swashbuckling and theatrical, and I love how the setting is a magically realistic “mirror world” of our own. It’s too bad there’s no official analog for Eastern nations — I would love to play as someone from behind the Great Wall of Fire.

“The Zone RPG” – I play this game multiple times a year, and it’s fun every single time. With the free-to-play website, it’s minimum setup with maximum payoff as the story unfolds in gruesome and melancholic ways.

“You Must Leave This Party Engaged” – Another game I love to run multiple times a year. This is a Good Society spinoff one-shot where you play as debutantes who are desperate to get engaged by the end of the party. You’re 24, how dare you not be married yet? It has the spirit of Good Society with minimal rules, and always leads to hilarious shenanigans and chaos. I love this one for theater of the mind play, and also enjoy making Regency England as gay as possible.

“Last Train to Bremen” – Played this at a convention, then promptly backed the Kickstarter and played it again with friends. As long as every player buys into the vibe, “Bremen” is collaborative, punch-you-in-the-gut storytelling at its very best. The liar’s dice mechanic is inspired, and I like how it really pushes players to explore nuanced relationships between characters through prompt questions in very little time.

“Mothership” & “Alien RPG” – I lump these two together because they’re spiritually the same game, just different chassis. I enjoyed both for the sci-fi vibe, and the fact that you are very much just meat-on-bones humans who are up against impossible, alien odds. The Mothership mechanics were easier to learn for me, and I would love to try a long-term Mothership campaign someday!

Have you been a game master in the past 2 years? If yes, what games have you run? What made you decide to run those games?

  • I have been a game master since 2019 and a paid one since summer of 2025! It’s my dream job, and I feel very lucky to do it even part time. Below is a list of games I’ve run in the past two years, in no particular order; each one appealed to me in one way or another because of mechanics or setting, and I wanted to try on different types of storytelling for size.– Dungeons & Dragons 5e and 5.5e
    – AD&D
    – Pathfinder 2e
    – ShadowDark
    – Daggerheart
    – Good Society
    – Call of Cthulhu
    – Monster of the Week
    – Blades in the Dark
    – Mothership
    – Alien RPG
    – Outgunned
    – Candela Obscura
    – Pumpkin Spice

Summarize the criteria you would use to determine if a game deserves to be nominated for Best Game.

Best Game needs to have heart. There are only so many ways you can roll dice and put the results together. What makes this game stand out? What are its inspirations, and how has it chosen to integrate them? What kind of experience does it aim to provide its players? What kind of picture is it trying to paint about the world? Is it thoughtfully (doesn’t have to be expensively) produced? When you take away the fancy graphic design and accessories, can the game stand on its own creative merit?

How will you judge supplements or adventures for game systems whose core rules you are unfamiliar with or you believe are badly designed?

I will take some time to become familiar with the basic rules, whether for the first time or again. I will consider what others in the community have said about the core game, but not let it become the basis of my own judgement. Whether or not I believe the core game is badly designed, I will judge the supplement on its own, based on how well it is put together, whether the tone of the game matches, extends, or thoughtfully counters the core game, and what kind of experience it promises to the players.

How would you like to see the ENNIEs change? What should remain inviolate?

I love that the ENNIES exist. It has a long legacy and can really make or break new games, in addition to giving fans a forum to appreciate their favorites. I hope it continues to become more inclusive and nurturing of new and diverse voices in the industry.