Vietnam heritage board game
Story
One evening after dinner, my seven-year-old daughter Nguyễn Mai San and I were sketching dresses together. As an engineer who usually lives in hoodies, I know little about fashion, so we used AI to turn old photos into new dress ideas.
Our favorite ideas came from a museum trip in Vietnam, where we saw the colorful brocade dresses of the country’s many ethnic groups.
I told her how each fabric was woven by hand, passed down for generations, and how her great-grandmother once sewed clothes for children in need every day until she passed away.
That night, Mai San dreamed her own story.
“Daddy,” she said,
“I dreamed the world forgot how to choose for themselves.
Their AI said gray was beautiful, and soon everything looked the same.
I made myself a bright dress, like the ones we saw at the museum in Vietnam,
but no one bothered to look at me.
I asked the government, but they said, ‘No colors.’
So I waited until everyone slept and painted colors on every house in the neighborhood.
When they woke, they didn’t feel different anymore,
because everyone around them had color too.
And that’s when they realized: color is joy.”
That bedtime story became the inspiration for Weaving Dream (Dệt Mộng).
This is not only a game about fabric and fashion, it’s about understanding where color comes from: the land, the hands, the hearts of generations of Vietnamese families.
From Dream to Design
Vietnamese brocade weaving has always been about resilience and love:
a mother weaving for her son,
a sister sewing her best work for her brother’s wedding,
someone leaving a design behind so they’d be remembered.
Each of these garments became the foundation for our Brocade Cards,
every motif, every dye, every seam translated into playable art.
From Story to Board Game
Weaving Dream turns that art into dresses.
Players collect Brocade Cards, Dress Cards, and Event Cards to design their own colorful fashion. Each dress was sketched based on traditional and modern Vietnamese fashion.
Players will mix and match colors and patterns to design dresses for life’s most meaningful moments: a wedding, a farewell, a newborn celebration.
When players can’t agree whose design fits best,
they can ask the AI Companion (now, the machine learns from your creativity).
Play solo or with friends (1–4 players) · Easy for ages 3+ · Fast games in just 5–15 minutes
With over 2,000 possible combinations, every playthrough ends with a runway full of unique creations, no game is the same.
Why We Made This
Weaving Dream (Dệt Mộng) is more than a game.
It’s a story passed down through generations: from our great-grandmother, who sewed clothes for children in need, to our daughter, who made tiny pillows as farewell gifts for faraway family.
“We don’t just play to win.
We play to remember.”
Every brocade in this game is based on textile across Vietnam. We researched ancient techniques like Ikat or Batik. We learnt distinct colors such as those of Khơme: pink and red from cây điều, golden from lá hòe, deep blue from cánh cam, and the legendary black from mặc lưa: a fruit rich in resin, ground and mixed with leaf water to create a dye that doesn’t fade.
The following brocade is from thổ cẩm Tà Ôi, each color row is a “hàng hoa” (flower row). Each hàng hoa is a woven narration. An easy way to read them: ⚫ earth – 🔵 water – 🟡 rice – 🔴 life – ⚪ spirit.
What’s Inside the Box
- 10 Dress Cards
- 32 Brocard Cards
- 3 Special Occasion Cards
- 4 Meeples & Dice
- Rulebook
- AI Companion App
Credits & Acknowledgments
Created by: Na Board Games
Story by: VietAnh & Mai San
Weaving Dream (Dệt Mộng) received Second Prize at the 2025 Cielune Spiele Board Game Competition for its creative fusion of Vietnamese textile heritage and contemporary design.
By supporting Weaving Dream (Dệt Mộng), you’re helping preserve and celebrate Vietnam’s cultural heritage through play. This campaign is also a family project that spans four generations, built on the legacy of a great-grandmother’s sewing machine and carried forward by her children to great-grandchildren. Most importantly, you’ll be part of a global movement where board games aren’t just fun. They are a way to keep traditions alive.
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Our Kickstarter campaign was posted on 9/20/2025 at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/vietanh/weaving-dream-det-mong-fashion-board-game
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The game is currently for sale at https://naboardgames.com/collections/frontpage/products/d%E1%BB%87t-m%E1%BB%99ng-weaving-dream