22 April 2025, Singapore — Tiger Girls is back with a vengeance. Difference Engine’s first webcomic makes a fierce return in print with additional never-before-seen bonus content that dives further into the lore of the Southeast Asian-inspired young adult dystopian fantasy comic created by writer Felicia Low-Jimenez and illustrator Claire Low. Originally released as a free eight-part online comic in July 2024, Tiger Girls will leap out from the screen and onto bookshelves everywhere with its release on 22 May in full colours, beautifully bound in crisp paperback.

Based on the age-old Chinese superstition of the Tiger zodiac, Tiger Girls turns this myth on its head by pushing it to the extreme in a fictional world where women born in the Year of the Tiger are killed for the belief that they are bringers of bad luck. Tiger Girls is built on the bones of a young adult story with the heart of a fantasy world wrought by layered worldbuilding that unfolds in each chapter, revealing an authoritarian mainland government that is shrouded in mystery but transparently ruthless in its dogmatic beliefs and persecution of Tiger women. Told from the perspective of Suling, a young record-keeper who yearns to fight on the frontlines to protect her island, young adult themes of identity, adolescent angst, and finding one’s place in the world are intertwined with the weightier, world-altering concerns of misogyny, grand narratives, and the perils of beliefs left unquestioned and unchecked. 

Tiger Girls holds these narratives in its unflinching grip, placing pressure to see how they bend, break, and reveal cracks as arbitrary beliefs that are inherited, and perpetuated – not a relic of a distant past, but one that is still alive today. Built on the personal stories of women who have faced discrimination for being born in the Year of the Tiger, Tiger Girls embeds these historical accounts into the fantastical world of the comic and deftly blurs the lines between fact and fiction. “It is not that long ago when ethnically Chinese female babies of the Tiger zodiac in Singapore were given away to Malay-Muslim families for the belief that they would bring misfortune,” Low-Jimenez shares. “Fiction has always been powerful as a way to hold a mirror up to reality, and Tiger Girls is my way of responding to the discrimination women still face every day. Looking around at what’s happening in the world now, it is a story that feels realer than ever.”

There’s much to chew on in Tiger Girls, but the comic hits without being heavy as its ambitious themes are balanced with drama, action, and levity, all carried out with great manga-style flourish. Taking inspiration from manga and animated TV series such as Bungo Stray Dogs and The Legend of Korra, the comic eagerly plays with the tropes and features of the manga genre which is known for its versatile, highly stylised narrative vocabulary that effortlessly moves between moments of high-stakes tension, comedic beats, and emotional conflict. While manga typically skews East Asian in lore and setting, Claire Low’s expressive and sophisticated illustrations gives it a distinct and purposeful Southeast Asian feel through its character design and visual landscape of lush archipelagoes, kelongs, and monsoon-swept mangrove swamps familiar to the region.

In this print edition, readers can fully indulge in the details of Low’s intricate illustrations, bound by a wraparound cover design with updated main visuals that would make the comic a centrepiece on any bookshelf. Fans of the webcomic can also expect additional bonus material exclusive to the print edition to quench their demand for more Tiger Girls content: concept art, a new prose short story by Low-Jimenez centered around a fan-favourite character, and new character art in a darker, moodier rendering that brings a different timbre to the story.

Low reflects, “Even after completing the webcomic, it was clear that the story of Tiger Girls is not finished. There’s so much more that Felicia and I wanted to explore in both character and lore, and hearing that readers out there also want more is a sign that we’ve landed on a story worth telling because of how deeply it resonates.”

Tiger Girls has earned praise for both its compelling visuals and challenging story with Bora Chung, author of the 2022 International Booker Prize-shortlisted Cursed Bunny, lauding it as a “haunting and heartbreaking exploration of courage and solidarity.” Wen-yi Lee, author of When They Burned the Butterfly, praises the comic’s combination of artfulness and grit, describing it as a “tense, gorgeously illustrated island fantasy (where) you can smell both the mangroves and the blood.” Meihan Boey, Singapore Book Award-winning author of The Formidable Miss Cassidy affirms it as “an exploration of girlhood and rebellion, with a powerful message in its roaring heart.”

Tiger Girls will also be arriving on shores farther abroad with Danish publisher Bogoo acquiring rights for the print comic to be translated into Danish, and interest also from South Korean and Taiwanese agencies and publishers. Charlene Shepherdson, DE’s Business Development Manager, shares: “Tiger Girls might have started off as a story rooted in Southeast Asia, but we’ve always felt that its power was in the way it could speak to readers everywhere. We hope that people would recognise themselves and the world around them in Tiger Girls, and to see it translated into different languages speaks volumes to that.”

---

Tiger Girls retails at $24.90 SGD (w/o GST) and is now available for preorder till 22 May 2025 through the following channels: 

• Difference Engine’s webstore: www.differenceengine.sg
• Book Bar: www.bookbar.sg

Download the Tiger Girls  press kit here.

Follow Difference Engine on:
Website: https://differenceengine.sg/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/differenceenginesg
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/differenceenginesg

For enquiries, contact:
Olivia Djawoto
Marketing and Communications Manager, Difference Engine
olivia@differenceengine.sg

---

ABOUT THE WRITER

Felicia Low-Jimenez believes that stories have the power to change the world. She’s also one half of the writing team AJ Low, authors of the best-selling middle-grade mystery series Sherlock Sam. Find her at aj-low.com.

ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR

Claire Low has a deep interest in storytelling and is always seeking to bring unique experiences to audiences across mediums. She is the illustrator of the 2024 Southeast Asian fantasy webcomic Tiger Girls, and her works range from graphic and editorial design to comic illustration and scriptwriting. In her free time, she bakes bread and posts fantasy-inspired works under the Instagram handle @comatomato.

ABOUT DIFFERENCE ENGINE

Difference Engine is an independent comics publisher based in Singapore. We are inspired by stories from Asia, and we are committed to publishing diverse, well-written, and beautifully illustrated comics of all genres and for all ages. We collaborate closely with Southeast Asian creators, both new and experienced, with genuine and thought-provoking ideas to share. Difference Engine was founded in 2018 and is part of the Potato Productions group of companies. 

28 March 2025, Singapore — Too big. Too small. Wanting to feel special. Never feeling like you’re enough. These familiar emotional refrains of adolescence come flooding back through the pages of To the Last Gram, Difference Engine’s first comic of 2025 releasing on 28 April. The full-length comic debut of writer Shreya Davies and illustrator Vanessa Wong, this young adult fiction comic captures the experience of living with an eating disorder (ED) through the lens of young Divya as she navigates the changes within her growing body alongside the desires and expectations that come with it. 

To the Last Gram is the fourth addition to Difference Engine’s DE Shorts imprint, a range of short comics that shed light on social issues and shared conundrums through stories of lived experience. Divya’s coming-of-age story in To the Last Gram might begin with scenes familiar to anyone’s childhood growing up in 1990s Singapore: going to school, learning new things, and making new friends. But as a young Indian girl, she also starts to see that she is in many ways different – the size and shape of her body, the texture of her hair, the languages she speaks, her family’s eating habits and routines – from those around her. We see how racism, prejudice, bullying, and expectations of gender all play a part in fracturing Divya’s relationship with food and her own body, even in a diet-free household that celebrates all kinds of food.

Lending a sensitive voice tinged with humour and irony to the heavy subject of EDs, Davies’ introspective writing opens a window into Divya’s emotional journey as she negotiates the tumultuous relationship between her mind and body through puberty, adolescence, and adulthood. Grappling with the inscrutable changes they bring, it’s a process of learning and unlearning as she tries to find a balance within, picking up the pieces when things come undone and stitching herself back together when it falls apart like motif of the patchwork quilt that runs through the comic.

Divya’s world is captured by Wong in a warm two-colour orange and brown, dancing across pages with artwork that densely but unhurriedly fills each panel, often spilling out across spreads. Instead of depicting the literal and embodied, Wong instead uses surrealism and imagery to evoke a sense of the uncanny. Her illustrations play with scale and proportion to depict a world seen through Divya’s eyes, warped with a visceral sense of anxiety and self-consciousness as Divya faces the scrutiny of others and herself in scenes both heartbreaking and tender.

Divya’s journey echoes various accounts of both disordered eating and eating disorders, encountered by Davies through intimate observations of real-life experience and research into personal blogs and memoirs. The throughline that Davies hopes to emphasise is how isolating the illness can be, and the unseen mental and emotional conflicts that take place in the mind of someone with an ED. Davies shares, “This is an issue close to my heart, and I’ve always wanted to talk about it in some way. As a condition that’s often misunderstood, I felt that it was important for people to also see EDs through the lens of a minority living in Southeast Asia and the layers of stigma when you’re growing up as someone who is made conscious of how they take up space in the world – whether it is because of the colour of your skin or the size of your body.”

Wong adds, “Working on To the Last Gram has really opened my eyes to the challenges that come with untangling the complex experience of EDs. As an illustrator, it was an exercise in listening, being open, and asking questions to understand what goes on in Divya’s head. I wanted the art to capture the nuances of living with an ED and its different facets: both the hard-hitting moments that we shouldn’t shy away from, but also the vulnerability and triumphs that are a part of the journey.”

To the Last Gram has received much praise from early readers who lauded the comic for its unflinching look into the subject, with Pooja Nansi, poet and author of We Make Spaces Divine, calling it “a fierce, funny, and deeply poignant exploration of body, hunger, and belonging… both a scalpel and a salve.” Tania De Rozario, visual artist and author of Dinner on Monster Island, also appreciates the way that it “peels back layers of stigma and silence surrounding disordered eating.” Playwright and author of Fat Shame Joel Tan describes the comic as one that “speaks with so much compassion and hard-won wisdom to the acidic voice in our culture.”

Difference Engine Co-Founder and Publisher Felicia Low-Jimenez shares, “To the Last Gram is exactly the kind of story we feel the world needs. We’re grateful to Shreya for bringing us such an emotionally resonant story, and Vanessa for helping put Divya’s ineffable journey into images when words do not feel like enough. To the Last Gram shows us the capacity for comics to take on even the most challenging of stories, and we hope to continue pushing those boundaries.”

Echoing those remarks, Davies emphasises, “I hope the one message that can be taken from this comic is that recovery is a long journey, but a hopeful one nonetheless. To the Last Gram  is not about recovering from an ED, but about living with one.”

---

To the Last Gram retails at $22.00 SGD (w/o GST) and is now available for preorder till 28 April 2025 through the following channels: 

• Difference Engine’s webstore
• Book Bar

Download the To the Last Gram press kit here.

Follow Difference Engine on:
Website: https://differenceengine.sg
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/differenceenginesg
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/differenceenginesg

For enquiries, contact:
Olivia Djawoto (Marketing and Communications Manager, Difference Engine) at olivia@differenceengine.sg

---

ABOUT THE WRITER

Shreya Davies is an editor based in Singapore, and has worked on comics, literary fiction, and non-fiction publications. 

To the Last Gram is her first foray into writing a comic. Her short stories have previously been published in The Epigram Books Collection of Best New Singaporean Short Stories (Vol 4) and Mahogany Journal. 

She never leaves home without a book in tow and enjoys long walks to nowhere in particular with her husband.

ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR

Vanessa Wong is an illustrator and graphic designer from Singapore.

Initially starting with an interest in drawing, Vanessa then pursued further studies at Nanyang Technological University (NTU)’s School of Art, Design and Media, where she received a Bachelor’s in Fine Art (Design Art) specialising in Visual Communication. Since then, in addition to practising graphic design, she has been given opportunities to share her art through collaborations with other creatives and commissions for different companies and brands.

As a generally uncertain person who is not very good with words, Vanessa thinks that drawing better conveys what she intends to say. With a keen interest in storytelling, she enjoys creating characters and environments that are inspired by the mundanity of everyday life and injecting them with a tad bit of humour. Drawn to the places, people, and daily occurrences around her, she hopes to create works that are able to resonate with people from different walks of life.

25 February 2025, Singapore — Difference Engine is excited to launch the open call for its first multi-medium anthology, Free to Play: A Video Games Anthology, slated for print publication in 2026. From 14 Feb–31 March 2025, writers, artists, and creators can submit pitches for Free to Play across the categories of fiction, creative non-fiction, comics, poetry, and multimedia work.

Recognising the deep resonances that video games have with traditional narrative forms of prose, comics, poetry, and visual art, this anthology open call invites creators to submit pieces that celebrate video games as powerful vehicles for storytelling, critically engage with video games and video game culture, and build narratives through experimentation and play. 

In addition to works received through the open call, Free to Play as a publication will also feature pieces by guest contributors — established writers and creators who have a strong interest in gaming as culture and storytelling. Leading this roster of names is American speculative fiction writer Ken Liu, winner of the Nebula, Hugo, and World Fantasy awards. On his participation in the anthology, Liu, the author of The Dandelion Dynasty and The Paper Menagerie says, “Games as a medium have been incredibly influential for several generations now, yet the critical discourse around them still feels underdeveloped. I hope Free to Play can help to spark these conversations.” 

Curating this diverse anthology is a four-person Singapore-based editorial team comprising avid gamers and accomplished writers: poet Natalie Wang; translator, and co-creator of the popular Sherlock Sam children’s book series Adan Jimenez; poet, data scientist, and pro-wrestler Joses Ho; and poet, translator, and recipient of Singapore’s Young Artist Award in 2023, Daryl Lim Wei Jie. On behalf of the editorial team, Natalie Wang shares, “As writers who also love video games, we want to see pieces that are inspired by, a love letter to, and a challenge to what video games and gaming culture are and can be. We want this anthology to be a space where creators can indulge in everything we love about video games, whether it’s the idea of play, pushing the boundaries of a narrative experience, or the sheer joy and surprise you get when playing a game for the first time.”

Following Difference Engine’s first two comics anthologies SOUND and DELAY which were open exclusively to Southeast Asian creative teams submitting short comics, Free to Play is the first time the publisher is inviting submissions from international creators beyond the region.  The anthology also marks a next step towards expanding its publications beyond comics and prose since Difference Engine’s 2022 prose-comic hybrid Work-Life Balance. Difference Engine is not new to working in the transmedia space however, having created microsites, interactive browser games, and webcomics to supplement past print publications.

Difference Engine’s Publisher and Co-founder Felicia Low-Jimenez reflects, “At Difference Engine, we’re fans of all kinds of work and make it a point to be open and inspired by other forms of narrative-making. Free to Play is definitely an extension of this ethos. Difference Engine will always remain committed to highlighting our regional creators, but we also want to create spaces where Southeast Asian creators can participate and be seen in conversation with creators from all over the world. We’re proud to be able to invite a truly international community of creators to be part of this anthology.”

---

Difference Engine is accepting submissions for Free to Play: A Video Games Anthology from 14 February–31 March 2025. For submission guidelines, head to https://differenceengine.sg/ftpopencall/ 

Download the Free to Play press kit here

Follow Difference Engine on:
Website: https://differenceengine.sg
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/differenceenginesg
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/differenceenginesg
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@differenceenginesg

For enquiries, contact:
Olivia Djawoto
Marketing and Communications Manager
Difference Engine
olivia@differenceengine.sg

About the Editors
Adan Jimenez is a writer, editor, and translator. He is the proud son of Mexican immigrant parents and became an immigrant himself when he moved to Singapore. His gaming journey began when his parents bought him a Nintendo Entertainment System for Christmas when he was six, and he has played hundreds of games since then, of every genre and on (almost) every platform, including PC and mobile. You can find him playing all kinds of games on his YouTube channel: youtube.com/@thecomicman.

Daryl Lim Wei Jie is a poet, editor, and translator from Singapore. His poetry collection Anything but Human was a finalist for the 2022 Singapore Literature Prize. He conceptualised two anthologies: Food Republic: A Singapore Literary Banquet, which won a Special Award at the 2023 Gourmand World Cookbook Awards, and The Second Link: An Anthology of Malaysian and Singaporean Writing, shortlisted for Best Literary Work at the Singapore Book Awards. He translated Short Tongue, a collection by the Singaporean Chinese poet Wang Mun Kiat. In 2023, he was awarded the Young Artist Award, Singapore’s highest award for young art practitioners. His favourite games include Diablo I & 2, Age of Empires 2, SimCity 2000 & SimCity 4, Emperor, RollerCoaster Tycoon, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Control, Cyberpunk 2077, Papers, Please, and Robert Yang’s queer games. Find Daryl at www.darylwjlim.com.

Joses Ho is a poet, pro-wrestler, and scientist. As tech sorcerer for SingPoWriMo, he archives and visualises the poetry posted. Joses also has interests in creative computing and generative text. His pamphlet Dogma was shortlisted for the inaugural Paper Jam series in 2021, and his manuscript Moving Downwards in a Straight Line was selected for Manuscript Bootcamp (organised by Sing Lit Station) in 2019. He is also a pro-wrestler and ring announcer with GrappleMax. Joses’ gaming niche is puzzle platformers that combine mind-melting mechanics, (almost) wordless worldbuilding, and narratives: INSIDE, Cocoon, Portal 1 & 2. Joses also wants more people to play Sam Barlow’s Immortality, even though he had nightmares for the entire duration whilst playing it.

Natalie Wang is more likely to play video games or write novel-length fanfiction than write poetry, but still calls herself a poet. She has been published in The Fairy Tale Review, Cartridge Lit, and Quarterly Literary Review Singapore, amongst others. Her book The Woman Who Turned Into A Vending Machine is a collection of poems on metamorphosis, myth, and womanhood. She has played and loved Elden Ring, Dark Souls I–III, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Cyberpunk 2077, Baldur’s Gate 3, Hollow Knight, Hades, Oxenfree, and various Pokémon games since Pokémon Yellow. 

About Difference Engine
Difference Engine is an independent comics publisher based in Singapore. We are inspired by stories from Asia, and we are committed to publishing diverse, well-written, and beautifully illustrated comics of all genres and for all ages. We collaborate closely with Southeast Asian creators, both new and experienced, with genuine and thought-provoking ideas to share. Difference Engine was founded in 2018 and is part of the Potato Productions group of companies. 

Literature as a game. Gaming as literature.
How are writers interacting with games,
gaming, and notions of play?

This open call is now closed. Shortlisted creators will be contacted by 2 May 2025.

Calling all creators! Difference Engine invites you to submit pitches for our upcoming anthology Free to Play, which will be published in 2026. Spearheaded by a dynamic team of avid gamers and multidisciplinary writers — Adan Jimenez, Daryl Lim Wei Jie, Joses Ho, and Natalie Wang — this print publication spanning fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry, comics, visual art pieces, and multimedia works will be an exciting collection that celebrates games, gaming, and play. 

Free to Play will also feature guest contributions by invited writers and artists who have a strong interest in gaming as culture and storytelling. Submit your pitch and potentially get your piece featured alongside theirs!

The Free to Play team is excited to announce the following guest contributors:
– Ken Liu, the Nebula and Hugo award-winning author of The Dandelion Dynasty and The Paper Menagerie.
– Alvin Pang, award-winning poet, 2022 Dublin Literary Award judge, and author of All That Is Left Of The Sea.
– Wen-yi Lee, speculative fiction writer and author of When They Burned the Butterfly and The Dark We Know
– Erica Eng, Eisner and Ringo award-winning creator of Fried Rice

We’re looking for pieces that:

• Celebrate video games and the culture around them
• Offer critical or reflective perspectives on games and gaming culture
• Employ gaming approaches in the process of their creation, or
• Surprise us with a fresh take on video games and gameplay

Submissions should be:

• Previously unpublished original works of any genre
• Written in the English language, or translated into the English language

Submissions may be in any of the following mediums:

• Fiction
• Creative non-fiction
• Poetry
• Comics
• Multimedia work (comprising both print and digital elements)

Click the links to find the respective submission guidelines for each medium.

We are not accepting:

• Submissions that are fanfiction. Submissions must be able to stand alone as a piece of original work without relying on existing video games as the only world or setting in which your story takes place. (e.g. we will accept pitches for stories about people playing Horizon Zero Dawn but not for a story set in Horizon Zero Dawn).
• Pitches for works that are about tabletop RPGs (TTRPG), since this anthology is focused on video games. With that being said, there are many video games based on TTRPGs, so if your submission is about the video game element/adaptation of the TTRPG, it would still be eligible.

Who can contribute?

• Contributors from all over the world are welcome. Being from Southeast Asia ourselves, we’d especially love to hear from our fellow gamers and gaming enthusiasts in the region!
• Contributors must be aged 18 and above upon submission.

Works selected for publication will receive the following rates:

• Prose (Fiction and creative non-fiction): US$0.07/word
• Poetry: US$50.00/piece
• Comics: US$25.00/page
• Multimedia work: US$200.00/work

Jump to:

1. Submission guidelines
2. Submission documents
3. Meet the editors
4. Open call info sessions
5. Rules and regulations
6. FAQs

---

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

All submissions:

• Submissions will be open from 14 February 2025 to 7 April 2025, 11.59pm GMT +8.
• All submissions should be typed in Arial, font size 11.
• All submissions must be in soft copy. Difference Engine will not accept any hard copy submissions.

Fiction submissions must include:

• A completed prose story of 1000–5000 words (with preference for pieces that are of 2000–3000 words)
• A short biography of the author/s (50–150 words).
• A completed and signed entry form.
• All of the above needs to be compiled into a single .DOC file no more than 10MB in size. 
• Label the .DOC file with the title of the story.
• Email the file to submissions@differenceengine.sg with the subject header “Free To Play Fiction Submission: [title of the work]”.
• Fiction submissions selected through this open call will be eligible for eventual publication in the anthology. Author/s will go through a process of feedback and revisions with the editors.

Creative non-fiction submissions must include:

• A one-page pitch, single-spaced, for the proposed work of 1000–5000 words (with preference for works that are of 2000–3000 words). The pitch should include the author/s’ interest in the topic, relevant qualifications (including lived experience), and research done or planned.
• A short biography of the author/s (50–150 words).
• A completed and signed entry form. 
• All of the above needs to be compiled into a single .DOC file no more than 10MB in size.
• Label the .DOC file with the title of the story.
• Email the file to submissions@differenceengine.sg with the subject header “Free To Play Non-fiction Submission: [title of the work]”.
• Creative non-fiction pitches selected through this open call will be eligible for eventual publication in the anthology. Author/s will go through a process of development, feedback, and revisions with the editors.

Poetry submissions must include:

• A maximum of 3 completed poems per submission, not exceeding 5 pages in total.
• A short biography of the poet/s (50–150 words).
• A completed and signed entry form.
• All of the above needs to be compiled into a single .DOC file no more than 10MB.
• Label the .DOC file with the title of the work(s).
• Email the file to submissions@differenceengine.sg with the subject header “Free To Play Poetry Submission: [title of the work]”.
• Poetry submissions selected through this open call will be eligible for eventual publication in the anthology. Poet/s will go through a process of feedback and revisions with the editors.

Fiction comics submissions must include:

• A full comic script with page, panel, and dialogue instructions for a 5–10 page work.
• One to two pages of concept sketches showing characters and setting.
• A portfolio sample of previous illustrations or comics work. 
• A short biography of the creator(s) (50–150 words).
• A completed and signed entry form.
• All of the above needs to be compiled into a single PDF file no more than 10MB.
• Label the PDF file with the title of the story.
• Email the file to submissions@differenceengine.sg with the subject header “Free To Play Comics Submission: [title of the work]”.
• Fiction comics submissions selected through this open call will be shortlisted for eventual publication in the anthology. Creator/s will go through a process of comic development with the editors, after which there will be a second round of selection.
• Submissions that make it through the second round of selection will be eligible for eventual publication in the anthology. These creator/s will go through a process of feedback and revisions with the editors.

Non-fiction comics submissions must include:

• A one-page pitch, single-spaced, for the proposed work of between 5–10 comic pages. The pitch should include interest in the topic, relevant qualifications (including lived experience), and research done or planned.
• One to two pages of concept sketches showing characters and setting.
• A portfolio sample of previous illustrations, or comics work. 
• A short biography of the creator/s (50–150 words).
• A completed and signed entry form.
• All of the above needs to be compiled into a single PDF file no more than 10MB.
• Label the PDF file with the title of the story.
• Email the file to submissions@differenceengine.sg with the subject header “Free To Play Comics Submission: [title of the work]”.
• Non-fiction comics submissions selected through this open call will be shortlisted for eventual publication in the anthology. Creator/s will go through a process of comic development with the editors, after which there will be a second round of selection.
• Submissions that make it through the second round of selection will be eligible for eventual publication in the anthology. These creator/s will go through a process of feedback and revisions with the editors.

Multimedia submissions must include:

We are open to all proposals involving multimedia elements. For example, you could submit a poem or short story that embeds an interactive web element that can be separately accessed and which builds on the print version. We’re excited to find out how creative folks will get! Technical requirements such as web hosting and coding should be included in the pitch.

• A one-page pitch, single-spaced, that should include a description of the piece, the reasoning behind it, the creator/s’ interest in the topic, relevant qualifications (including lived experience), and research done or planned for the submission.
• Multimedia submissions that include a digital component must also be accompanied by a printable textual or visual component that can be published within the physical book (i.e. your submission cannot consist of only digital material). This printable component should function as an essential part of the creative piece (i.e not just peripheral or bonus content).
• A portfolio sample of previous multimedia projects, if available. 
• A short biography of the creator/s (50–150 words).
• A completed and signed entry form.
• All of the above needs to be compiled into a single .DOC file no more than 10MB.
• Label the .DOC file with the title of the story.
• Email the file to submissions@differenceengine.sg with the subject header “Free To Play Multimedia Submission: [title of the work]”.
• Multimedia submissions selected through this open call will be eligible for eventual publication in the anthology. Creator/s will go through a process of feedback and revisions with the editors.

Important things to note:

• The deadline for Round 1 (Call for Submissions) is 7 April 2025, 11.59pm GMT +8.
• Final creators/creative teams creators will be informed by 2 May 2025 if their submission has been selected. 
• Difference Engine and the Editors reserve the right to ask for clarification from creators/creative teams before making their decision. 
• For submissions in the form of pitches, if selected, the Editors will work closely with the creator/s on fully developing the piece. Creator/s will be expected to adhere to the timelines and schedules set by the publisher. 
• For more details, read our rules and regulations at the bottom of this webpage, or download the PDF (they’re the same!).

---

SUBMISSION DOCUMENTS

Entry Form (PDF) / Entry Form (Word Doc)

Rules and Regulations (updated 25 Mar 2025)

---

MEET THE EDITORS

ADAN JIMENEZ 

Adan is a writer, editor, and translator. He is the proud son of Mexican immigrant parents and became an immigrant himself when he moved to Singapore. His gaming journey began when his parents bought him a Nintendo Entertainment System for Christmas when he was six, and he has played hundreds of games since then, of every genre and on (almost) every platform, including PC and mobile. You can find him playing all kinds of games on his YouTube channel: youtube.com/@thecomicman.

“I mostly want to see fun and interesting things. Things that will make me smile, laugh, and feel good about video games. Things that show me how much the creator loves the medium of video games.”

DARYL LIM WEI JIE

Photo credit: National Arts Council, Singapore

Daryl is a poet, editor, and translator from Singapore. His poetry collection Anything but Human was a finalist for the 2022 Singapore Literature Prize. He conceptualised two anthologies: Food Republic: A Singapore Literary Banquet, which won a Special Award at the 2023 Gourmand World Cookbook Awards, and The Second Link: An Anthology of Malaysian and Singaporean Writing, shortlisted for Best Literary Work at the Singapore Book Awards. He translated Short Tongue, a collection by the Singaporean Chinese poet Wang Mun Kiat. In 2023, he was awarded the Young Artist Award, Singapore’s highest award for young art practitioners. His favourite games include Diablo I & 2, Age of Empires 2, SimCity 2000 & SimCity 4, Emperor, RollerCoaster Tycoon, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Control, Cyberpunk 2077, Papers, Please, and Robert Yang’s queer games. Find Daryl at www.darylwjlim.com.

“I’m looking for writing which uses games as a process/generative tool. Pieces of writing which are games the reader can play on the page. How gaming has changed the way we view narratives and characters. How hybrid and complex identities are expressed and forged through gaming. How gaming has changed the way writers write. Games where you least expect them.”

JOSES HO

Photo credit: Najwan Noor

Joses is a poet, pro-wrestler, and scientist. As tech sorcerer for SingPoWriMo, he archives and visualises the poetry posted. Joses also has interests in creative computing and generative text. His pamphlet Dogma was shortlisted for the inaugural Paper Jam series in 2021, and his manuscript Moving Downwards in a Straight Line was selected for Manuscript Bootcamp (organised by Sing Lit Station) in 2019. He is also a pro-wrestler and ring announcer with GrappleMax. 

Joses’ gaming niche is puzzle platformers that combine mind-melting mechanics, (almost) wordless worldbuilding, and narratives: INSIDE, Cocoon, Portal 1 & 2. Joses also wants more people to play Sam Barlow’s Immortality, even though he had nightmares for the entire duration whilst playing it.

“I’m looking to be surprised and intrigued. I hope to find submissions that use video games to talk about things that aren’t necessarily related (at first blush) to video games.”

NATALIE WANG

Natalie is more likely to play video games or write novel-length fanfiction than write poetry, but still calls herself a poet. She has been published in The Fairy Tale Review, Cartridge Lit, and Quarterly Literary Review Singapore, amongst others. Her book The Woman Who Turned Into A Vending Machine is a collection of poems on metamorphosis, myth, and womanhood. She has played and loved Elden Ring, Dark Souls I–III, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Cyberpunk 2077, Baldur’s Gate 3, Hollow Knight, Hades, Oxenfree, and various Pokemon games since Yellow. 

“I want to see how people build worlds. Some games have item descriptions which are poetry in themselves and give intriguing hints to the world (basically all the item descriptions in the Souls series).”

---

OPEN CALL INFO SESSIONS

Interested in submitting but need more details first? Join the editors for a virtual info session! Facilitated by the DE team, the sessions will cover the following, and more:

• Introductions to Difference Engine, the DE team, and the anthology’s editors.
• What “Free to Play” means to us, and inspiration for potential stories.
• Insight into the editorial process contributors can look forward to.
• Tips on preparing a compelling and comprehensive submission.
• Q&A.

Who knows, you might even find a potential collaborator amongst your fellow attendees!

Both sessions will cover similar content. However, the Q&A segment will vary based on the questions raised by attendees.

Session 1: Wed, 26 Feb 2025, 8pm to 9pm GMT +8, via Zoom (Registration closed)
Session 2: Sat, 8 Mar 2025, 3pm to 4pm, GMT +8, via Zoom (Registration closed)

---

RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR FREE TO PLAY: A VIDEO GAMES ANTHOLOGY

1. Theme

The theme of this anthology is “video games”. 

2. Content Eligibility

Content must be:

• Original works of any genre, and not currently under review or previously published by a publisher. We accept works that have been self-published on personal blogs, personal social media accounts, personal websites, platforms like Webtoons and Tapas, e-newsletters like Substack, Patreon, or elsewhere. We will also accept excerpts from longer work if they can be understood as a standalone without the need for additional context.
• 2000–3000 words if prose, 5 pages maximum if poetry, or 5–10 pages and in black & white if comics.
• Written in the English language. Where integral to the work, the use of non-English languages in dialogue or as sound effects is welcome. Works translated into English are also welcome.
• Suitable for readers aged 13 and above, containing no explicit content, including but not limited to graphic language, depictions of violence, drugs, and sex.
• Content that appears in the submission must not be output from any generative AI tools that draw from copyrighted material.

Creators/creative teams whose stories are selected will be working with the anthology editors to prepare it for publication. Selected creators/creative teams should expect – and look forward to! – a professional and highly collaborative editorial process intended to support the development of the story to its full potential.

3. Creator Eligibility

Creators must be:

• Aged 18 and above upon submission.
• Creators can submit as an individual or as a team.
• Multiple submissions are accepted, up to a maximum of 3 submissions per creator/creative team.
• Creators/creative teams must own all copyrights to their submitted work.
• Creators/creative teams must be prepared to take on all aspects of the project’s creation (e.g. including lettering and colouring for those submitting comic pitches). Difference Engine will not be able to pair or group up creators.
• Difference Engine reserves the right to request for verification of eligibility.

4. Submission Guidelines: 

Fiction submissions must include:

• A prose story of 2000–3000 words.
• A short biography of the author/s (50–150 words).
• A completed and signed entry form.
• All of the above needs to be compiled into a single .DOC file no more than 10MB in size. 
• Label the .DOC file with the title of the story.
• Email the file to submissions@differenceengine.sg with the subject header “Free To Play Fiction Submission: [title of the work]”.
• Fiction submissions selected through this open call will be eligible for eventual publication in the anthology. Author/s will go through a process of feedback and revisions with the editors.

Creative non-fiction submissions must include:

• A one-page pitch, single-spaced, for the proposed work of 2000–3000 words. The pitch should include interest in the topic, the author/s’ relevant qualifications (including lived experience), and research done or planned.
• A short biography of the author/s (50–150 words).
• A completed and signed entry form. 
• All of the above needs to be compiled into a single .DOC file no more than 10MB.
• Label the .DOC file with the title of the story.
• Email the file to submissions@differenceengine.sg with the subject header “Free To Play Non-fiction Submission: [title of the work]”.
• Creative non-fiction pitches selected through this open call will be eligible for eventual publication in the anthology. Author/s will go through a process of development, feedback, and revisions with the editors.

Poetry submissions must include:

• A maximum of 3 poems per submission, not exceeding 5 pages in total.
• A short biography of the poet/s (50–150 words).
• A completed and signed entry form.
• All of the above needs to be compiled into a single .DOC file no more than 10MB.
• Label the .DOC file with the title of the work(s).
• Email the file to submissions@differenceengine.sg with the subject header “Free To Play Poetry Submission: [title of the work]”.
• Poetry submissions selected through this open call will be eligible for eventual publication in the anthology. Poet/s will go through a process of feedback and revisions with the editors.

Fiction comics submissions must include:

• A full comic script with page, panel, and dialogue instructions for a 5–10 page work.
• One to two pages of concept sketches showing characters and setting.
• A portfolio sample of previous illustrations or comics work. 
• A short biography of each creator (50–150 words).
• A completed and signed entry form.
• All of the above needs to be compiled into a single PDF file no more than 10MB.
• Label the PDF file with the title of the story.
• Email the file to submissions@differenceengine.sg with the subject header “Free To Play Comics Submission: [title of the work]”.
• Fiction comics submissions selected through this open call will be shortlisted for eventual publication in the anthology. Creator/s will go through a process of comic development with the editors, after which there will be a second round of selection.
• Submissions that make it through the second round of selection will be eligible for eventual publication in the anthology. These creator/s will go through a process of feedback and revisions with the editors. 

Non-fiction comics submissions must include:

• A one-page pitch, single-spaced, for the proposed work of between 5–10 comic pages. The pitch should include interest creator/s’ in the topic, relevant qualifications (including lived experience), and research done or planned.
• One to two pages of concept sketches showing characters and setting.
• A portfolio sample of previous illustrations or comics work. 
• A short biography of the creator/s (50–150 words).
• A completed and signed entry form.
• All of the above needs to be compiled into a single PDF file no more than 10MB.
• Label the PDF file with the title of the story.
• Email the file to submissions@differenceengine.sg with the subject header “Free To Play Comics Submission: [title of the work]”.
• Non-fiction comics submissions selected through this open call will be shortlisted for eventual publication in the anthology. Creator/s will go through a process of comic development with the editors, after which there will be a second round of selection.
• Submissions that make it through the second round of selection will be eligible for eventual publication in the anthology. These creator/s will go through a process of feedback and revisions with the editors. 

Multimedia submissions must include:

We are open to all proposals involving multimedia elements. For example, you could submit a poem or short story that embeds an interactive web element that can be separately accessed which builds on the print version. We’re excited to find out how creative folks will get! Technical requirements such as web hosting and coding should be included in the pitch.

• A one-page pitch, single-spaced, that should include a description of the piece, the reasoning behind it, interest in the topic, relevant qualifications (including lived experience) and research done or planned for the submission.
• Multimedia submissions that include a digital component must also be accompanied by a printable textual or visual component that can be published within the physical book (i.e. your submission cannot consist of only digital material). This printable component should function as an essential part of the creative piece (i.e not just peripheral or bonus content).
• A portfolio sample of previous multimedia projects, if available. 
• A short biography of the creator/s (50–150 words).
• A completed and signed entry form.
• All of the above needs to be compiled into a single .DOC file no more than 10MB.
• Label the .DOC file with the title of the story.
• Email the file to submissions@differenceengine.sg with the subject header “Free To Play Multimedia Submission: [title of the work]”.
• Multimedia submissions selected through this open call will be eligible for eventual publication in the anthology. Creator/s will go through a process of feedback and revisions with the editors.

5. Timeline:

The Call for Submissions closes on 7 April 2025, 11.59pm GMT +8.

Final creators/creative teams creators will be informed by 2 May 2025 if their submission has been selected. Difference Engine and the Editors reserve the right to ask for clarification from creators/creative teams before making their decision.

6. Contracts

With the exception of comics submissions for which there are two rounds of selection (shortlist and final list), creators/creative teams selected will be offered a contract in May 2025. Finalists for comics submissions will be offered a contract at a later date.

7. Publication Details

Free to Play will be published in print and digital formats.

Estimated Publication Date: June 2026.

8. Payment

Works selected for publication will receive the following rates in USD (or the SGD equivalent)

• Prose: US$0.07/word
• Poetry: US$50.00/piece
• Comics: US$25.00/page
• Multimedia work: US$200.00/work

Creative teams may determine the payment division between them.

Each creator will receive two complimentary copies (up to a maximum of six copies per submission).

9. Rights Requested

Exclusive first world anthology rights for one year from the date of publication in both print and digital formats, including exclusion from republishing in any other format.

Continuing non-exclusive rights to print and reprint as this anthology for 10 years from the date of publication in both print and digital formats.

Copyright to the published work will remain with the creator(s).

10. DATA PRIVACY

Difference Engine will take all reasonable efforts to ensure that your personal data is securely handled according to the guidelines set out by the Personal Data Protection Act of Singapore.

---

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q: WILL SUBMISSIONS FROM SOUTHEAST ASIA RECEIVE PRIORITY? WHY?

A: The anthology is open to submissions from contributors aged 18 and above from all over the world. Being from Southeast Asia ourselves, we’d especially love to hear from our fellow gamers and gaming enthusiasts in the region.

Having said that, all pitches will be evaluated on their merit, with the goal of eventually assembling a selection of content that represents the diverse audiences that engage with video games!

Q: DO MY PORTFOLIO SAMPLES NEED TO BE LINKED TO THE PROJECT I AM PITCHING FOR FREE TO PLAY?

A: They do not need to be linked.

Q: FOR COMICS SUBMISSIONS, DO MY PORTFOLIO SAMPLES NEED TO BE IN BLACK & WHITE?

A: They do not need to be in black & white.

Q: CAN I SUBMIT AI-GENERATED CONTENT FOR THE PITCH?

A: No, you may not submit AI-generated content in your submission. Difference Engine reserves the right to request to view working files in cases where a submission is suspected to include AI-generated content. 

Q: DO YOU ACCEPT SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS?

A: No, we do not accept simultaneous submissions. As per the rules and regulations, we are not accepting pitches or works that are currently under review by another publication.

Q: WHERE CAN I FIND THE ENTRY FORMS AND SUBMISSIONS DOCUMENTS?

A: You can download them below.

Entry Form (PDF) / Entry Form (Word Doc)

Rules and Regulations (updated 25 Mar 2025)

---

Updated 25 March 2025

Difference Engine reserves the right to amend these rules and regulations at any time without prior notice. We will take reasonable efforts to communicate key changes.

Five years after our first Southeast Asian comic anthology SOUND, we’re finally back with our second collection of short comics by Southeast Asian creators. It’s been a long time coming, but we’re incredibly excited to reveal the full line-up of 12 creative teams for DELAY: A Comics Anthology, coming out in October 2025.

When we were conceptualising the theme for this anthology, we began with the idea of disruption, missed connections, and the disconnect between expectations and reality. We thought about the frustratingly relatable moments of delay, whether it’s while we wait for a bus that never comes or the unfriendly voice that constantly whispers to us that we’re behind in life. We could not anticipate how the stories we received would take us down so many roads beyond what we first imagined.

It was tough to pick from over 80 submissions, but the final selection of stories by guest editors Charis Loke and Paolo Chikiamco promises to bring a different perspective the next time you’re standing in line for coffee or waiting for your video to buffer. The anthology is diverse and ambitious, featuring stories that bridge subconscious worlds and reality, explore the taste of delay, push back against the point of no return, and take us on detours that open us up to the cosmic encounters in everyday life.

Here are the final stories and teams that will be featured in the anthology:

A Day in the Life
Written by Cesar Miguel Escaño (Philippines)
Illustrated by Ferdee Bambico (Philippines)

Ad Astra
Written and illustrated by Nicolette Lee (Singapore)

Astray 
Written and illustrated by Farid Nad (Malaysia)

DELAYED
Written by Peter Lin (Singapore)
Illustrated by Angela Wu (Singapore)

Fish Curry Tastes Better the Next Day
Written and illustrated by Paati Philosophy (Singapore)

Hold
Written and illustrated by Azisa Noor (Indonesia)

Limerence Station
Written and illustrated by Eliot Lime (Singapore)

Ma, Pa, Delayed Ako
Written and illustrated by Hansel Dimapilis (Philippines)

Syncopation
Written by Aime Marisa (Malaysia)
Written and illustrated by Bonnibel Rambatan (Indonesia)

The Adventures of Sunday Domingo (feat. Yaya Precy)
Written and illustrated by Julius Villanueva (Philippines)

The Other World
Written and illustrated by Cathlyn Vania (Indonesia)

Time For That Later
Written by Wayne Rée (Singapore)
Written by Nadia Daeng (Singapore)
Written and illustrated by Abigail Goh Tian-I (Malaysia)

Thank you to everyone who trusted us with their stories. We can’t but will – in the spirit of delay – wait to hold them in our hands. If you didn’t get your pitch accepted this round, don’t fret because we’ve got more open calls coming your way in 2025!

DELAY: A Comics Anthology will be published in October 2025. Follow us on social media and subscribe to our mailing list to stay updated on the anthology’s launch and upcoming open calls.

As the school bell rings, we pick up our bags and run
across fields, towards friends, and into trouble…
What are we chasing with all that teenage fire within us?

Send us your stories now.

We’re looking to publish graphic novels that:

• Are original fiction or non-fiction across any theme or genre
• Are targeted at readers aged 13 – 18
• Are inspired by Southeast Asia
• Are written in the English language (Where integral to the story, the use of non-English languages in dialogue or as sound effects is welcome)
• We also accept original unpublished graphic novels or previously self-published comics, digital or print (Please indicate when it was previously published and through what channels)

Plus!

Aside from potentially getting your story published, creators who submit pitches that wow us may also receive these extra perks:

• A one-on-one editorial feedback session with us
• An invitation to our next industry social event

Submission Requirements

Creators must be:

• Living in Southeast Asia
• Of Asian descent
• Age 18 and above upon submission

Your fiction submission should contain:

• 50-100 word bios of each creator
• Description of the target readers
• One-page story synopsis including the conclusion
• Character bios
• Rough sketches of characters and settings (Of proposed work)
• Sample comics pages (From prior work)

Your non-fiction submission should contain:

• 50-100 word bios of each creator
• Description of the target readers
• One-page proposal of topic
• One-page explanation of interest in topic, relevant qualifications (including lived experience), and research done or planned
• Rough sketches of art (Of proposed work)
• Sample comics pages (From prior work)

Please do not send us:

• Hard copies of your submission
• Your script without art samples
• Your illustration portfolio without a draft script
• Your full script or finished comic art until we have requested for it
• AI-generated content (Difference Engine reserves the right to request to view working files in cases where a submission is suspected to include AI-generated content) 

Important things to note:

• All pitches will be treated with the utmost confidentiality
• If a pitch is successful, creators will be offered a publishing contract with DE. Creators will retain copyright of their project
• Individual creators should only submit a pitch if you are able to take on both the roles of writer and illustrator (including lettering and colouring)
• Group applicants should apply as a complete creative team that is able to take on all aspects of writing and illustration (including lettering and colouring)
• Difference Engine will not be able to pair writers up with illustrators or vice versa

Please email your submission as a single PDF file (maximum 10MB) to submissions@differenceengine.sg by 6 January 2025, 11.59pm (GMT +8)

Selected applicants will be notified by March 2025.

18 July 2024 – Difference Engine (DE) marks its first foray into the world of webcomics with Tiger Girls, a new young adult fantasy series by a Singaporean creative team comprising writer Felicia Low-Jimenez of the award-winning middle-grade Sherlock Sam series and illustrated by Claire Low. Unfolding across eight episodes in full colour, Tiger Girls debuts with a two-episode release in the first two weeks of its immediate launch on 26 July 2024 before following a monthly release until February 2025. 

Based on the Chinese superstition that girls born in the Year of the Tiger zodiac are bringers of bad luck, Tiger Girls turns that myth onto its head in a dystopian narrative that features amphibious water warriors, mysterious islands, and a diverse cast of strong female characters. Originally written as a short story by Felicia Low-Jimenez for the Singaporean speculative fiction anthology Fish Eats Lion Redux, Tiger Girls sees this myth of the Tiger zodiac taken to an extreme in a world overrun by misogyny where girls born in the “wrong” year are sentenced to an ominous fate.

Tiger Girls opens through the lens of the protagonist Suling, a teenager living amongst other Tiger women on an unnamed island hidden among the shadows. Suling begrudgingly fulfills her duties as record-keeper while yearning to be on the frontlines fighting alongside her sign sisters who are part of the formidable Water Tigers – warriors who patrol their beaches as the first line of defense against potential attacks from the mainland. As the keeper of the island’s history, Suling is painfully aware of the implications of being a Tiger Girl. Her unhappiness with her place in the world comes up against a moment of reckoning when the discovery of a mysterious visitor dredges up a threat that might upend life on the island.

On the motivation to write a story based on the Tiger zodiac myth, Felicia Low-Jimenez shares, “In recent years, I’ve encountered stories from family and friends about girls and women who face discrimination for being born in the Year of the Tiger. Even though it’s a myth rooted in Chinese culture, this superstition has had an impact across ethnic groups in Singapore’s multicultural society where ethnically Chinese female babies might be given away to Malay-Muslim families because they were thought to be bad luck.”

Set against lush tropical greenery, coastal life on kelongs or offshore wood houses, and with the heaviness of the monsoon season hanging in the air, Tiger Girls occupies a fictional world inspired by the historical landscapes of countries in Southeast Asia – places that have had to reckon with zodiac superstitions and similar cultural beliefs that continue to discriminate against women. 

Like most dystopian narratives, Tiger Girls straddles fantasy and reality with themes that hit close to home as much as they stoke readers’ imagination. Fighting to survive covertly under an oppressive eye, Tiger Girls invites questions about who gets to write history, the kinds of stories we tell ourselves and each other, and the dangers of clinging unquestioningly to our beliefs. On the relevance of the Tiger Girls story today, Low-Jimenez adds, “Women around the world are seeing how our agency can be quickly lost, how female bodies are increasingly policed, and the way power and control are easily wrested away from us. Given the real-life horrors being perpetuated on women these days, the world of Tiger Girls doesn’t really seem all that fantastical.”

Amidst the perils faced by the women on the island, Tiger Girls also sees Suling’s story unfold as she faces difficult and character-defining choices that place her at a crossroads between her ambitions, duty, and expectations. Low’s emotive manga-inspired art style captures the emotional intensity of these young adult themes but also does not miss a beat as it quickly pivots from tense moments to action and comedy scenes with characteristically manga-like pacing and flourish.

While the attitude and voice of Tiger Girls draws parallels to shows, manga, and comics such as The Legend of Korra, Bungo Stray Dogs, and Squire, the visual world of Tiger Girls stands out as distinctly Southeast Asian in a genre largely dominated by East Asian tropes and cultural references. Sharing more about how her character designs and concept art were directly inspired by iconography found across Southeast Asia, Low shares, “Even though Tiger Girls is a work of fantasy, Felicia and I set out to build a dystopia that still reflects Southeast Asia in the real world. It was important that we kept every design detail true to the culture, geography, and symbolism of the region, from the weapons that the characters carry to the armour that they choose to wear.”

With the global webcomic platform Webtoons recently launching its IPO and major traditional publishers launching imprints adapting webcomics into print, Tiger Girls comes at a time when demand for webcomics is at its peak. DE sees this as an opportunity for Southeast Asian comics as DE’s Business Development Manager Charlene Shepherdson explains, “Releasing Tiger Girls as a webcomic first is both a strategic decision and an experimental opportunity for us to explore how community engagement in the digital space might bring Southeast Asian comics to new audiences on their mobile devices. We’d love to see how the characters and story of Tiger Girls evolve and take on different lives in the future, whether it’s through adaptations or fan-made content.”

Tiger Girls launches as a webcomic on 26 July 2024 at tigergirlscomic.differenceengine.sg. A print edition that includes never-before-seen bonus content will be released in May 2025. Download the Tiger Girls press kit here.

---

Follow Difference Engine on:
Website: https://differenceengine.sg
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/differenceenginesg
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/differenceenginesg
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@differenceenginesg

For enquiries, contact:
Olivia Djawoto
Marketing and Communications Manager
Difference Engine
olivia@differenceengine.sg

ABOUT THE CREATORS

Felicia Low-Jimenez believes that stories have the power to change the world. She’s also one half of the writing team AJ Low, authors of the best-selling middle-grade mystery series Sherlock Sam. Find her at aj-low.com.

Claire Low has a deep interest in storytelling and is always seeking to bring unique experiences to audiences across mediums. She is the illustrator of the 2024 Southeast Asian fantasy webcomic Tiger Girls, and her works range from graphic and editorial design to comic illustration and scriptwriting. In her free time, she bakes bread and posts fantasy-inspired works under the Instagram handle @comatomato.

What marvellous mammal has armour that will make a knight envious, and can curl up into a near-perfect sphere?

It’s the pangolin!

If this is your first time hearing about a pangolin this World Pangolin Day or World Wildlife Day, it might seem like a render from a video game. A mammal – nope, not a reptile – covered in scales? It looks almost like a waddling pinecone or a less flamboyant dragonfruit!

Pangolins are unlike any other mammals. That’s not a hyperbole. They are currently the only mammal discovered that is fully covered in scales! That brings us to our first phenomenal pangolin fact:

1. Pangolins are covered in pinecone-like tough scales made of keratin.

While we may not see any similarities between our bodies and the impressive scale mail pangolins don, believe it or not, the sturdy coat of overlapping scales is actually made of keratin – the same thing our nails and hair are made out of.

Keratin renders the scales hard and durable. Each scale is made of tightly compressed hair finished in a sharp tip for that extra offensive edge. (Although your mileage may vary with a tub of hair gel and a tail comb.) These scales are arranged in a partially overlapping lattice to provide optimal protection without compromising on flexibility.

Equipped with a coat that will give Colossus a run for his money, how does the pangolin utilise it against its natural enemies?

2. Pangolins curl into balls when frightened.

Let’s just say they get all dressed up with nowhere to go. Deliberately.

You see, pangolins have one weakness: Their soft underside.

To protect their tender tummies, they cover their head, tuck themselves into a tight ball, and let their scales do the rest of the work. It’s nature’s way of giving the pangolin an instant “nope” button whenever they feel stressed or frightened. So recognisable is this ability that the World Wildlife Fund explains the name “pangolin” is derived from penggulung, the word for roller in Malay.

Pangolins can also weaponise the sharp scales on their tail if they perceive a Big Bad Evil Guy, but their poor vision does not do them many favours.

Against its natural predators like big cats or hyenas, this defensive bunker tactic works. Really well.

Ever seen photographs of lions pawing or chewing frustratedly at a balled-up pangolin? The scales make pangolins nearly impervious to bites and uncomfortably prickly to those who try to unroll it. It may look hilarious, but more importantly, it is a testament to how effective this evolutionary trait is.

Against a human hand however, that’s a different story. (We’ll get back to this later.)

If it’s not already obvious from their preferred type of engagement with predators, pangolins are quite shy. Part of it is due to this third phenomenal pangolin fact:

3. Pangolins have no teeth.

You read that right. Like boy bands of the early 2000s, pangolins devoted all of their spikes to their head and ‘fits, while hiding their true docile nature from hungry pap-, predators.

Another name that pangolins are commonly known by is the scaly anteater. (No prizes for guessing their favourite bites.)

A typical day of a pangolin sees it in its burrow or on trees with its nose set on the nearest ant colony or termite mound. Once settled into their selected buffet of the day, pangolins utilise their very long, very sticky, very thin, saliva-coated tongue to slurp up their meal – with adults vacuuming up to a suggested 70 million insects each year according to Singapore’s National Parks Board! (Try getting your exterminator to go up against this ant-agonist’s scoreboard.)

As a very nice bonus, the action of vacating insects from their tunnels lends to aerating the ground, thus improving soil health in the area. Given their current repertoire, they probably have greener thumbs than most of us city dwellers!

Wait, if pangolins can’t chew, how do they digest their food, hard exoskeletons and all?

The answer is rock ‘n’ roll. Literally.

Pangolins eat rocks. To make up for their lack of teeth and their penchant for ants over bean sprouts, pangolins intentionally ingest small rocks, called gastroliths, for storage in their gizzard. As the gizzard contracts, the rocks roll and churn, which in turn grinds down the food.

A simple and effective solution by nature. But sadly, this lack of teeth is a handicap against humans. (Starting to see a pattern?)

Artwork from Marvellous Mammals: A Wild A to Z of Southeast Asia

4. Pangolins are currently the most trafficked mammal in the world.

Unfortunately, this last fact about pangolins isn’t very fun at all.

There are eight pangolin species in the world. Three of the four Asian species, including the Sunda pangolin that calls Singapore its home, is Critically Endangered.

For most of their existence, pangolins have been a solid contender for predator-prey relationship manager of the year. (Considering how even their most enterprising enemies struggle to take a literal bite out of them, they were doing pretty well.)

Then everything changed when greedy humans attacked.

The spherical fortress that pangolins have evolved is excellent against most threats… Except traffickers, with their dexterous, grasping hands and voracity for greed, aren’t most threats. Spook the pangolin, wait for it to roll into a ball, and simply carry them away – like Gen Z in a macabre medicine ball fitness class.

That is precisely what many poachers boil these unique mammals down to: Very expensive and very high-value literal medicine balls.

In Asia, some traditional medicine practitioners fight tooth and nail to continue touting the supposed curative properties of pangolin scales and blood. Pangolins: Science, Society and Conservation announced that approximately 195,000 pangolins were trafficked for their scales alone.

Nevermind that it has been scientifically debunked that pangolin scales have no medical properties, and chewing fingernails has never proven effective in any quest to cure inflammation/lactation issues/cancer/what-have-you.

And those who don’t use pangolin scales for pseudo-medicine, use it to scale up their leather fashion products in the United States and Mexico.

That’s not all: Another big driver for pangolin trafficking is meat. (Notice how it is reported as meat, and not food.) Hunting pangolins for bushmeat is not new – pangolins have been a food source in Africa and China historically. But with the proliferation of food supply chains worldwide, pangolins are no longer necessary as a staple food source. So, why the demand for pangolin meat?

In this age of abundance and accessibility, having suckling pig or duck confit daily no longer signals wealth and exceptionalism. You need something more exclusive, something rare, to really get tongues wagging.

Introducing the delicacy du jour of parts of China and Vietnam: The pangolin.

If the thought of sampling a pangolin does not make you baulk, the price tag surely will. In a paper by Wang et.al. (2021), the price of a whole pangolin can fetch anywhere from 2,000 to 3,400 yuan (~290USD to 495USD) per kilogram.

Even though the population of wild pangolins in Asia has declined by over 50% in recent years according to the Center for Biological Diversity, the demand for their flesh and scales remains insatiable. Can’t find pangolins in Asia? Just take them from Africa and ship them over. This hunger for pangolins is so strong that from 2015 to 2021, almost half of all pangolin derivatives confiscated in Asia are found to have been brought over from Africa.

Since 2019, there has been a global consensus in banning pangolins from commercial trade internationally. While that has led to more seizures and discoveries of illegally trafficked pangolins, poachers still find ways to circumvent law enforcement. Money, it turns out, is a great motivator for… creativity.

This World Pangolin Day and World Wildlife Day, especially if your days are spent roaming in metropolises, the predicament of pangolins may feel removed from your lives. But wait: How can we get pangolins from the depths of our forests, to the nouveau riche trying to be the next photocopied version of the Kardashians in cities?

The answer is that it is inevitable for pangolin traffickers – and a lot of the illegal wildlife trade – to funnel a considerable amount of their operations through urban areas. In 2019, World Wildlife Fund Singapore reported that a staggering 35 tonnes of pangolin scales (around 40,000 pangolins) were seized by port authorities.

What can I do to help?

As individuals, all this may seem overwhelming. It is. And if you – understandably – do not intend to go up against international criminal organisations, can you really do anything of meaningful impact then?

The short answer is: Yes.

Although the pangolin is no Billie Eilish of the endangered animal world, they are charismatic enough for children and adults alike to pause and go, “hey, that’s one cool mammal!” That is a good, even great, first step.

For context, in ‘Generally ignored’ species face twice the extinction threat, warns study by The Guardian, it was shown that the extinction rate in insects is eight-fold more than birds, mammals, and reptiles, and receive nearly 500 times less funding for each species than vertebrates. In other words, the more you like something, the more funding it receives. (Usually.)

The next step is simple: Talk, share – shout, even! – about all you know about pangolins! Tell them to your friends and family, use your knowledge as a potential ice-breaker for conversations, or even showcase your knowledge at your next quiz night; chat about them to those who are willing to listen.

When your conversation ends, and everyone goes their separate ways, that’s when the ball really gets rolling. All these phenomenal pangolin facts no longer exist in isolation – they instead live in voices, echoed in the people we have met, and finding new homes in the places we have travelled through.

Two decades ago, you may not have heard of the pangolin. Now, it is a marvellous mammal that is starting to be recognised even outside of Asia and Africa.

The next time you, or someone you have spoken to, encounters a pangolin, this knowledge will guide their encounter. Spotted a lost pangolin in the city? Found medicine shops illegally selling pangolin scales? Spied someone in a bad Solid Snake cosplay setting traps in forested areas? Things that could have unintentionally slipped by one’s radar can now find anchor in one’s knowledge of pangolins.

(For those wondering what to do in the aforementioned scenarios in Singapore, the answer is to call the National Parks at 1800-471-7300.)

We will leave you with two adages at the end of our World Pangolin Day and World Wildlife Day piece: “Knowledge is power” and “sharing is caring”. While global lawmakers and conservationists are working to tighten regulations and protection for these marvellous mammals, we can help them on the ground by keeping a literal eye out for pangolins, especially those in plight.

The scales are not tipped in favour of the pangolins, but it is not too late for us to prevent the final nail in their potential coffin.