Exploring the world of Bangladesh’s tabletop game enthusiasts
What started as a community meet-up by Bangladesh Board Game Community’s Facebook group in 2022 has now flourished into a regular Saturday session, where tabletop game enthusiasts meet
Contrary to the competitive spirit of games, the ambience of the room was not hushed or focused; it was full of laughter. You would not be able to tell the two people who had joined the table for the first time apart from the others besides their shy demeanour.
One had put down their first deck of matching cards, and the table gasped.
Every Saturday, like clockwork, people gather inside Panaderia (a restaurant in Gulshan) for tabletop games, ranging from a quick round of Archaeology: The New Expedition to the mind games of Polashi.
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At each table, games of varying difficulty levels are being played, with an expert there to supervise newcomers. Even though the session I attended was quieter than normal, it did not dim the intense games throughout the four tables the players occupied.
What started as a community meet-up by Bangladesh Board Game Community's Facebook group in 2022 – organised by Arafat Wasi and Imtiaz Haider – has now flourished into a regular get-together, where tabletop game enthusiasts meet.
The Facebook group has more than 2,100 members to date and every Saturday, which the enthusiasts call "open sessions," they play a wide range of games.
An inexpensive hobby
"People often complain, that there's nothing to do for fun in Dhaka besides dining out, but they're not looking hard enough. There are so many things to do, and this is one of them," said
Adib Sarwar, a regular participant at these game nights.
Though the irony was not lost that we were playing games in a restaurant, Adib was not wrong.
For two years, the game nights took place at Panaderia and the organisers managed to keep the event free of cost. There was an agreement made between the players and the restaurant made purely out of a mutual understanding through Mahbub— a regular customer of Panaderia and a participant in the tabletop games.
It was only recently that the restaurant requested participants to order food of at least Tk300 while they were there.
To accommodate these events, the restaurant curated a small, new menu just for Saturday, which has about 30 participants. This comes as a surprise really since neither the organisers nor are any members affiliated with the restaurant.
The stigma around tabletop games
The restaurant's accommodation for these events came as a surprise for the organisers as well. From their experience, playing tabletop games in restaurants was not always welcomed.
"People still associate board games with gambling or part of something negative. I've faced incidents where, even with just a group of four people, we were asked to stop playing at well-known restaurants," said Arafat.
There are other misconceptions about tabletop games, such as not being a productive or educational hobby. According to Arafat – and backed by other 4-5 players at the table – Bangladesh is limited to available games such as Uno, Ludo and Snakes and Ladders.
Arafat, who is also one of the co-founders of Playground Inc – a Bangladeshi boardgame company – and who designed the reimagination of The Resistance: Avalon named 'Polashi,' believes games can be educational.
Polashi – a locally-made card game which is commercially available – uses characters from history such as Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah and Mir Jafor.
Arafat backs this sentiment further, "Even if you think about it, the best games are made by intellectuals like mathematicians and historians." From here, the conversation went to Dimitry Davidoff, the maker of the famous game, 'Werewolf,' or better known as 'Mafia.'
Davidoff, a psychology student with the intention of conducting a social experiment, introduced the game to his high-school students. The result of that was a game that transcended time and made its way across the globe.
Arafat still feels there is a huge gap in the market for gateway games. Even the cheapest printed copies of famous games such as Catan are too expensive for those new to tabletop games. "Even if you consider a printed copy of a game that costs Tk2,500 to Tk3,000, locals will still feel hesitant to buy it," remarked Arafat.
Ultimately, before brands such as Playground Inc. and Kraftz stepped up, these foreign and out-of-budget games were the only options locals had.
Where game developers and users meet
Aside from the founders of Playground Inc, other entrepreneurs join these sessions too, including brands like Kraftz and BrainSport Games.
Tasliman Azam, co-owner and head of R&D at Kraftz mentioned, "As the board game community is small, our board games have received support from the group by purchasing our games."
Ahbab Zaman, founder of BrainSports Games which specialises in educational tabletop games, was a participant in Shark Tank Bangladesh.
"I pitched a lot of games on Shark Tank and they were all educational, exploring subjects like mathematics and science. There was one business-based game called 'Merchants of Bengal' and I played it with the Sharks as well," he recounted.
Ahbab benefitted from the board game community's sessions through the feedback he received from players. While 'Merchants of Bangladesh' was in its development phase, he ran a few trials of it in these sessions.
"I got valuable feedback while my game was played here. Players mentioned how the game depended on its main mechanism mostly, which meant that its value in being replayed would decrease. So, I added a ship component [an element of surprise like a wild card] which made it more engaging," he explained.
He also emphasised how this feedback came only after the game was played several times during these sessions.
While Ahbab focuses on making educational games more accessible, Arafat wishes to spread its impact on mental health. He recalls his time before he developed a passion for board games.
"I'm an avid lover of PC games, but noticed how limiting it was for social interactions, and in the back of my mind, I used it as an escape from reality. When I played my first board game, I was amazed at how it brought me out of that and how social it is," said Arafat.
The entrepreneurs and the organisers agree on a few things — board games need to be more accessible, relatable and easy to play. With the combined efforts of business owners and the community, the hobby market for tabletop games has actually seen changes.
Arafat expressed his hope to see this community playing games in its own space in two years. Bangladesh Board Game Community, though a flourishing community, still dreams of seeing tabletop games prosper without stigma, and enjoyed by all.
