Mumbai Board Gamers (MBG) take their games very seriously

Mumbai Board Gamers (MBG) take their games very seriously. 'Do not steal', 'do not cheat', 'do not quit' and 'be courteous to girls' are a few of their guidelines. They have politely and sometimes, not so politely, shown the door to single men looking to hook-up. Traders compete against investors and there's 'Panic in the Wall Street', others 'Race for the Galaxy', while few analyse the present and future market of power grids. These are not figments of an imaginary planet, but are few of the board games, which have more than 700 members hooked.

What began as a group of 20 people meeting up online four-and-a-half years ago, MBG now hosts meet-ups throughout the week and a mega meet-up once a week.

Free of charge, the group is only looking for people dedicated to playing the games. "I went to the global board game geeks website and found many meet-ups across the world and thought why don't we have something similar here? I married later that year, and today, even my wife plays board games with us," said the founder, 30-year-old Prashant Maheshwari, an exporter by profession.

MBG now has many organisers in areas like Colaba, Andheri, Mahim, Powai, Juhu, Matunga and Mahalaxmi. If you are regular for more than five to six meet-ups, you will be added to their WhatsApp group. If you're an introvert, you needn't worry as it is less about socialising and more about the game.

The games can take from 20 minutes to six hours and the members belong to various professional backgrounds – ranging from scientists, lawyers, businessmen, architects, doctors to even dancers.

"The games teach you team building as well. You understand people's behaviour and also how to use the resources you have. The game 'Settlers of Catan' is like monopoly on steroids. These board games are active entertainment, whereas watching TV and movies with family and friends is passive. Many people have these impressions that board games are for children, but they are not," said Maheshwari who has also seen the group grow across other cities in India. They have even conducted sessions at educational institutes and corporate offices.

While MBG leans heavily towards strategy games, Board Games Bash (BGB) plays both strategy and party games like Taboo, Pictionary and Monopoly. They have between 60 and 100 game titles, and more than 2,000 members on their Facebook page.

Ajesh Shah, one of the people who started it back in 2009, gave the reigns to Kumar Jhuremalani when he shifted to the USA. BGB meets once in a month on Wednesday, and it too is a free-for-all group. Shah said that there was no other option for youngsters, apart from meeting at coffee shops. He says that BGB began as a three-member Scrabble group, which expanded all over India.

Shah informs that the group encourages folks to not just play with their own friends, but to let other people sit with them. "Within a few rounds of a game, people start to really get along. There are a lot of folks who have made new best friends from this. For me, Kumar is one of my best friends and I met him after he started coming to BGB. One of my memorable moments is playing Taboo and Pictionary under the stars with 30 or more people at Carter Road amphitheater," said Shah, who is a web developer and project manager.

Jhuremalani is into digital marketing and product management, and the 28-year-old joined the group back in 2010. He says that in India, people are restricted to thinking about board games as Snakes 'n' Ladders or Monopoly.

"There is a world of games that is not available in India which I buy from abroad once every two to three months. We also play many alternative games like Quelf. While playing these games, you understand the opponent better. You understand if a person is creative, a negotiator or has foresight. The trend I see in our meets is that more than 30% of the people are new each time," said Jhuremalani, who claims to own the biggest collection of board games in BGB – 40.

Asavari Honavar joined MBG just last year and is one of their most active members. She is currently designing a game with Apar Maniar, a gaming expert, whom she met at one of the MBG meets.

The longest she claims to have played is five hours. "My interest in gaming is pretty old and being a graphic designer, packaging for games interested me to no end. Last year, I took a U-Penn course for Gamification and stumbled upon this group online. Board games are the origin of computer games and companies make computer games out of board games these days too. One of our members uses board games to teach management students in lectures," said Honavar, whose favourite game is 7 Wonders.