The Hyderabad Board Gamers Club, a hub for many board game enthusiasts in the city for the past three years, organises events every weekend where people come together to play different kinds of boardgames. These are not the regular games like Ludo, Snakes & Ladders, Uno, Chess, Monopoly, Clue, Taboo, Pictionary or Scotland Yard; they include lesser-known imported games that have won awards in international platforms and require talent and thought to master them. These games take hours to complete. King of Tokyo, Catan, Exploding Kittens, 7 Wonders, Codenames, Loot, Khan of Khans, Lords of Waterdeep, Istanbul, Carcassonne, Stone Age, Vye, One Night Ultimate Werewolf, Mage Knight, Terra Mystica, The Manhattan Project, Castles of Burgundy, Tzolk’in, Tigris & Euphrates, Dungeon Petz, Broom Service, Dice Forge, Modern Art, Loot are some of the games. These games take any time between 30 minutes and three hours.
Tauqeer Ahmed, an organising member of the club says, “We’ve been accustomed to playing games that are repetitive and do not offer much scope for anything new. But international games, particularly those from Europe, allow us to do new things at every turn.” Tauqeer is an architect who is studying Toy and Game design at NID (National Institute of Design), Ahmedabad, and has designed a game called ‘Hyderabad’ that can be played in three centuries — in Qutb Shahi times you build the Golconda Fort, in the time of the Nizams you design the queen’s necklace and in today’s times you play the role of tour operators and develop tourism in the city.
“These games are not just played for fun but they also give you a glimpse of different economic styles and the happenings of the times the game is set in. The minute details and the exemplary artwork by the game designers add to the experience while playing,” says Meghavarshini Krishnaswamy, co-organiser of the club.
“Games like Manhattan Energy Empire, an extension of Manhattan Project, is about dealing with a country that has efficient energy consumption and production, and the game Modern Art features artworks from artists in real life. In this game, the players auction these artworks and describe it for minimum 20 seconds. The games give you an experience of different settings and also educate you,” she adds.
Many people who come to the city for work spend their weekends playing board games, thereby making new friends. “I work for a corporate company and on weekends, playing boards games makes my weekend more productive and fun”, says Neeraj Kumar who moved to Hyderabad from Jharkhand.
Rahul Arora from Punjab, working for a finance company says, “I don’t get to socialise as we just interact with clients and office members. Playing board games is a chance to meet new people and socialise in person and not virtually through social media.”
There are a few gamers from other countries as well. Aron Afeworki from Eritrea in East Africa came to Hyderabad for his cousin’s treatment and spends his weekends playing with the club members. “I was dining at a restaurant where I saw some people play board games which didn’t seem like the regular ones. I found it interesting and joined them.”
The club is now divided into two, Hyderabad Board Gamers and Twin City Board Gamers, for the convenience of the members. The Hyderabad Club hosts events in the Hitec city and Madhapur areas. The Twin City Board Gamers Club hosts events in an area that’s convenient for members from Secunderabad.
For more about the club, look up http://www.meetup.com/HydBGC.
