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How The PlayFest Initiative is building interest-based communities in Thiruvananthapuram
The board is out and the players, 10 of them, are ready. As the Game Master gives the instructions, the pros are excited while the newbies seem cautious. As the game heats up, there is commotion — arguments, squabbles, banter, laughter, claps… Meanwhile, a dozen others are patiently waiting for their turn to play. That was Secret Hitler (a social deduction board game involving 'liberals' and 'fascists') in progress on a Sunday evening at Eve's Coffee on Pettah-Anayara road in Thiruvananthapuram. With only the fascists aware of each other's identities, they spice up the proceedings with deceit and lies, in their bid to install their leader.
Sunday evenings are meant for board game sessions at Eve's, which has games and books on its menu alongside coffee and short eats. Over the last one year, the coffee shop has become home to a movement in the making — building communities through offline games.
Leading this are Beta Jayakumar, who runs Eve's, and two entrepreneurs, Anurag RS and Amith Thampirajan. They kickstarted PlayFest last year, an initiative under which games were organised at Eve's and various venues across the city to connect and engage people of all ages. PlayFest has now formed a trust, The PlayFest Initiative, with an aim to bring 'people together through the power of offline play.'
Among the Trust's objectives are 'balancing screen time with real-world interaction, standing against drug abuse through meaningful, joyful alternatives, fostering mental well-being, inclusion, creative expression, and reclaiming public spaces for connection and collaboration.'
PlayFest has acted as a catalyst for the growth of several interest-based communities, which fall into categories such as games, culture and creativity, hobbies and collectibles, and sports. So there are now communities for board games, Dungeons & Dragons, Lego, anime, movies, sports, writing, reading, die-cast and many more.
'Not all communities are formed by us. We have been providing a platform for many of them to grow,' says Anurag.
The games category alone has communities for board games, Dungeons & Dragons, Contract Bridge, Lego, Nerf, and Trading Card Game. The board game community is the largest of the lot, with over 280 members in its WhatsApp group, and they meet on Sunday and Tuesday evenings at Eve's, where Beta has stocked over 700 board games.
'We usually play Shasn, Pandemic, Secret Hitler, Blood On The Clock Tower, Sheriff Of Nottingham, Startup High, Catan, Splendor and Risk. Shasn and Secret Hitler have more fans. While each Sunday is for a specific game, on Tuesdays, they try out different games. Even if you don't know any of the games, we have Game Masters who will guide you,' Anurag says.
Sunday mornings are for fans of Dungeons & Dragons, a table-top role-playing game. 'D&D is like playing a novel rather than reading it. A Dungeon Master (DM) creates the setting in which the players take on various roles. We usually have one-shot games devised by one of the DMs, which last a few hours. Like, Nizhal Maalika, which we played recently. It was a game set in the Kerala of 1700, which had local folklore, history, black magic, horror and more. The session was housefull,' says Surya Narayan Menon A, a senior cloud security engineer, and one of the founders of the community formed in December 2023. He adds that they also play Campaign, which are games that go on for years.
They conduct online games as well. 'I used to play D&D online, and it was a friend who put me in touch with Arshith V Menon, who was trying to start an offline community in Thiruvananthapuram. Now we have 30 members who regularly play at the weekly sessions. Our WhatsApp group has 100 members,' Surya adds.
A Contract Bridge community is the latest addition to the list. Initiated by Jaget Babu, former professor at College of Engineering Trivandrum, it is a card game played by two opposing teams and involves bidding and tricks. Owing to its global popularity the game made its debut at the Asian Games in 2018.
The Lego community is also expanding. With a current membership of 70, they either play with the 20,000 Lego bricks available at Eve's or choose from 30 Lego sets. 'We have families coming in. The group is planning for regular meet-ups,' Beta says.
Coming to the hobbies and collectibles, an RC (Remote Control) community is in the early stages of becoming a large group. Those who have any remote-controlled device can come in and PlayFest team will set up the terrain, if needed.
The die-cast community is on a roll with over 150 members. They are planning to have regular sessions and a meet-up is scheduled for July 4 (at 7.30pm). Those who collect die-cast cars, bikes, planes, trucks and more can walk in to showcase, trade, race or fair-play raffle.
PlayFest is also promoting communities for movies, F1, Cosplay, Anime, writing and reading. 'The movie community meets on Wednesdays and watch classics in different languages. We didn't expect it to grow into a large group of 180 members. A badminton community is also shaping up,' says Beta.
Besides Eve's, PlayFest has held events in colleges, parks, clubs, hotels, institutions and cultural festivals. This includes techno-cultural festivals at various professional colleges, music and art events, get-togethers etc. Game sessions are arranged as part of Happy Trivandrum programme at Manaveeyam Veedhi as well. 'In such events we make them play miniature games. Over 6,000 people have learned these games in the last few months,' says Beta. Among these games are Maki Stack, Operation, Blokus, Uno No Mercy, Happy Salmon, Kluster etc. Passive games such as Giant Stackr, Jenga, Perplexity, mini table tennis etc are also played.
Let's play This weekend, PlayFest is teaming with Pakida, the new board game café in town for an evening of fun and games. Pakida, which opened four months ago opposite Technopark Phase 1, is run by Astrin Anil and his cousin, Ashin T Biju. 'I quit my job with a company in Technopark since I couldn't adjust to the work culture that gave me a lot of stress. I wanted to do something that would keep me away from the screen and instead connect me with people,' says Astrin. The café has over 100 board games. Customers can indulge in a game as they enjoy their drinks or snacks or people can walk in for the Saturday sessions featuring music or stand-up along with the games. 'Even if you don't know a game, our game masters will suggest the game that suits your schedule and taste.'
'Before we launched the brand PlayFest, we organised a two-day session to teach the games for the public at a park at Pettah during Onam holidays. Among those who walked in were children on the autism spectrum and their parents. They got so interested in the games that they now visit Eve's to play some of these games that help in hand-eye coordination,' Beta says.
He adds, 'Initially those who turned up at Eve's were interested in playing common games such as Jenga, Monopoly, Scrabble, Uno etc. But now every game we have at Eve's is being tried and more people are coming in to play.'
There is no entry fee to play at Eve's. However, the participant has to place an order for food or drink. 'Our intention is to build communities through games. Anyone can start a community as long as they conform to rules and guidelines prescribed by PlayFest,' says Beta and Anurag.
People from all walks of life come to play the games that too on regular basis. Mukund V, who works with Wipro, says his Sundays are spent at Eve's, playing D&D in the morning and a board game in the evening. 'I love being part of this community. They are so welcoming and it is fun,' says Mukund.
Samyuktha Chandrakumar, an engineer currently on a career break, adds, 'I was not into board games. I play Ultimate Frisbee, which keeps me physically active. So I wanted to take up something to be more mentally agile and that's why I started coming here. I liked the community. It is safe and the group is respectful and friendly.'
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