r/indianboardgamers

I'm Livi, an environmentalist and together with my husband Robert - musician and graphic designer - we'd like to share the story behind our first soon-to-be-published board game: Bharat: Kings of Legend.

Since I was a little girl, I have loved folk tales and mythology. Some stories I heard somehow became alive inside me and stayed with me ever since. About ten years ago, I came across a story of this kind: the Mahabharata.

At the time, Robert and I were living in Cambridge, UK, and were becoming increasingly interested in yoga. Through that journey we found a teacher whose words resonated deeply with us, and we started listening to more and more of his talks.
That was when we discovered his series of lectures on the great Indian epic, Mahabharata. Fantastic tales of kings, yogis and warriors and their struggles woven through lifetimes across millenia. It has the kind of drama which makes Game of Thrones feel like a Saturday morning cartoon. It completely blew our minds.

We became so fascinated by the culture and by yoga that we decided to make a bold move: leave our jobs, leave the UK, move back to Hungary, and travel to India for as long as our visas and savings would allow.

Over the years we ended up spending nine months living in the ashram in Tamil Nadu, India - learning yoga, volunteering, and just immersing ourselves in one of the only remaining ancient living cultures. These times were the most magical and rich experiences in my life, it had everything from tending for cows to unspeakable spiritual experiences, from hanging out with monkeys, peacocks and cobras to picking jasmines with the locals, or not even recognising my husband one morning, because he offered his long hair for some ritual and turned completely bald - not to mention tasting the best mangoes on the planet…oh, those mangoes. Whenever I think about it I’m like, what am I doing in Europe anyway?

These times felt like we were living the epic.

The stories of Mahabharata became richer the more context we learned. One idea especially stayed with us. Our teacher often encouraged us not to judge the characters as historical figures, but to experience them as reflections of ourselves.

"It is not just history (his-story)," he would say. "It is your story."
That idea completely changed the way I experienced the epic. Instead of asking: "Was this character right?" I started asking:"What would I have done?" "What would it feel like to be one of those kings?"

With this new insight, the stories of Mahabharata became deeply personal. This, along with the crystal clarity with which our teacher revealed the multi-layered dynamics of being a leader in that age, felt like we’ve got hold of something really valuable, something universal that is so inspiring it yearns for finding expression. The more we looked at what we received, the more it started to resemble something truly unexpected: a game. A bundle of interwoven mechanics, together expressing something much deeper than the sum of its parts.

This eventually became the seed of our game; Bharat. 

As I was always toying with the idea of designing a board game, it felt like everything fell into place: This is what we will do! A Mahabharata board game…How hard could it be, right?

Well, looking back after 8 years of designing the game: pretty goddamn hard. 

(But also kinda beautiful…)

Has anyone ever played cluedo?

I've owned cluedo for years, and every time I play it, I'm reminded why I love it so much.

I never get bored of trying to eliminate possibilities, second guessing everyone at the table, and having that "wait... I think I've figured it out!" Moment. Its one of those games that keeps yours brain constantly working while still being really fun and competitive.

I also like that every match tells a different story, even though the rules stay the same. It never feels repetitive to me.

Anyone else still playing cluedo? I'd love to hear what you enjoyed most about it or any funny moment you've had during a game.

Would love more recommendations on games like cluedo.

I'm an indie game developer from India, and I've been experimenting with a new board game concept called Carrom Pool 360.

The idea combines Carrom flick mechanics with 8-ball Pool rules, but instead of walking around the table or changing your position, the entire board rotates on a Lazy Susan, allowing players to line up shots from any angle.

The video I'm sharing is the Android version that I built to test the gameplay mechanics.

This got me wondering whether the idea could work as a real physical board game.

I'd love your honest thoughts:

• Would you enjoy playing something like this on a physical rotating board?
• Do you think the rotating mechanic adds strategy, or would it feel gimmicky?
• If the board was well-made with smooth rotation and quality materials, would you consider buying one?
• What would make a physical version more fun or appealing?

I'm genuinely looking for feedback from people who enjoy board games, so feel free to be as honest as you'd like. I'd really appreciate your suggestions and ideas.