Are you willing

It’s time for a new political game, maybe with lesser stakes but no less compelling, as election fever sweeps the country. The political strategy card game “Kursi,” created by Mumbai-based board game designer Siddhant Chand, 37, and Delhi-based political strategist Manthan Anand, 26, is scheduled to premiere just before the 18th Lok Sabha elections.

Even while board games have been played for pleasure throughout history and civilizations, they need careful planning and are not just chance-based games. They include strategizing and perhaps changing course. These games have lasted, whether it the royal game of Ur from ancient Mesopotamia, Qing dynasty Mahjong, or Pachisi, which the Mughals played with great fervor and was described as Pasha in the Mahabharata.

“I never thought I would get into designing board games,” Anand says. Anand proposed creating a political-themed board game to Chand over LinkedIn in February of last year. “I contacted Siddhant on LinkedIn with the idea of creating a political game since I recognized him from his prior work, particularly Chai Garam (a game centered on how to promote your product, tea, in a mela). And now here we are,” adds Anand.

Delhi’s political landscape

Anand attended the University of Delhi while attending school in Delhi. “I was always aware of political shifts and changes because Delhi is the epicentre of politics and the North Campus of DU is a politically active campus,” the man claims. Being politically conscious and actively involved in politics are two different things, however. Former parliamentarian Mani Shankar Aiyar paid a visit at St. Stephen’s College in 2016. I asked him if he and his buddies may sit and talk with him when he first entered the cafeteria. One of the extremely significant topics we covered was young people’s participation in politics, the speaker adds.

Anand’s awareness of politics was further expanded by his interactions with political personalities like MLA Sachin Pilot and MP Shashi Tharoor. “These exchanges made me realize that although there will always be new voters and those who consistently cast ballots, their post-election participation is minimal and their general political knowledge is simplistic,” he adds. After seven years, Anand claims that this idea stuck with him and he moved on to become a ministerial adviser to the Delhi government. Currently, he serves as an advisor to Kailash Gahlot, the transport minister of Delhi.

A deck of cards for chess

Anand approached Chand about creating a game for young people that would make politics engaging for them, as Zenwood, Chand’s business, excels at creating games based on original ideas. “Every vote counts,” is our catchphrase, and we want to communicate this to players of our game. You’ll discover when you play this game that one vote has the power to completely change the outcome,” Chand explains.

Each player chooses five candidates to fight for five open seats in this two-to-four player game. For a candidate to be elected to a seat, they must meet the requirements for that particular seat, which are specific. In order to meet the requirements for the seat they are vying for, candidates must choose “icon cards” that symbolize different campaign concerns and play them. Throughout the game, players gather several symbol cards. The proper card played at the right time receives points, which are totaled as votes at the conclusion. The amount of pertinent problems that a player effectively resolves determines the winner.

You will see as soon as the game starts that it is impossible to win all five seats, which is where strategy comes into play. You should consider the seats you have a possibility of winning and pursue them, advises Chand. “It’s like playing chess with cards; you have to strategically plan your moves and make use of your pawns to score big wins.”
Review by players

After testing the game, 35-year-old marketer Yukti Pal of Mumbai comments, “It is easy to follow and it shows various aspects that go into campaigning.”

“How you campaign is highly important since it determines how many points you may get or lose depending on the cards you play. Your votes are influenced by these points. Here is when it becomes abundantly evident how crucial even one vote is, according to Chennai-based freelance writer Siddharth Manickasundaram, 38.

“There is competition manipulation and a race for the same seat,” says 41-year-old data scientist Piyush Athawale of Pune. John Kingsley, a 39-year-old cybersecurity engineer living in Chennai, agrees. “It’s a useful skill, backstabbing,” he smiles. According to play testers, replay value in a game arises when players realize that their first plan did not work or that a different approach could work better.

What comes next?

These days, business schools often employ board games as a teaching tool to teach students the art of strategy. Tycoon, a board game designed by Chand for corporate planning, is now being examined as a case study at his alma school, the Management Development Institute in Gurugram. In order to include Kursi in their curricula, the pair is also in discussions with many business and policy institutions in the US and India. Anand asks, “What better time to launch this game than the upcoming election? The game is not just about the election.”