Board Games: India’s Latest Successful Startups

A new tribe of entrepreneurs is fast sprouting across the startup landscape: board game creators. 

India has a long history of board games. Their popularity resurged during the pandemic and has sustained beyond. Game nights are common, board game cafes are opening across cities, and OTT shows have made people aware of international strategy games beyond Monopoly and Cluedo. In India, new board games are being constantly created: themed on local history, politics and popular culture. From Shasn, Mahabharat, Indus, Bharata 600 BC and Karigar-e-Taj to The Poll there’s scores of indigenous games raring to take on the German OG of board games renaissance: Catan.

Dia Rekhi delves into this fascinating new ecosystem—biggest names, ideation, production, margins, investment, taxes and competition—with Phalgun Polepalli, creator of Mozaic Games, and the creator and director of The Civic Games Lab, as well as Prashant Maheshwari, Co-founder - MeepleCon, and Abeer Kapoor, Founder, Civic Games Lab.

Credits: Memesys Culture Lab, Wishberry, Angry Indians Game Official

If you like this episode from Dia Rekhi, you can check out her episodes - Twitter Tales, India vs Europe: Regulatory Rift, ChatGPT Explained and Explored, Band, Baaja, Billions and more

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