Lagori - Board game design
OVERVIEW
To challenge here was to build a board game for the Indian traditional outdoor game Lagori also known as seven stones. The goal was to translate the same game experience and dynamics of the physical game onto the board game. After a lot of iterations, we came up with a 4 player board game having two teams play against each other.
TEAM
Poorva Ketkar
Vrushika Bhansali
Anirudhha Kenge
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Mentored by Amit D
YEAR
2022​
The product is currently undergoing the procedure for Copyright Registration and is soon going to be available in the market after manufacturing. Kindly get in touch to learn more about this project. The process we used to arrive at our solution can be seen below!
PROCESS
Background study
Board game dynamics
About Lagori
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Game Strategy
Conceptualisation
Visual Language
User testing
Iterations
Prototyping
Development
Just click on the button to jump directly to that part of the process
Game Design Dynamics
Strategy games are defined as “contests of decision-making” and therefore a very specific form of an interactive system. Different domains under games such as strategy games, educational games or luck games have an impact on how highly replayable a game is and demand creative finesse in coping with diverse challenges. The following are the core concepts underlying these systems to then derive specific quality criteria for their gameplay design. ​​​​​​​
Conflict is the key to building engaging games with strategy and luck involved. Game hardware, mechanism and other factors contribute to how the game is played, the time spent on the game, the number of people involved and where the game is played, etc.
Ever felt nostalgic when someone mentions traditional Indian outdoor games?
As children, we were often able to interact with each other as we played classic traditional games, which allowed us to talk, laugh, and share our experiences together despite simple rules and a fast pace. We feel nostalgic today because of all of these things that helped us grow up.
About Lagori
Lagori is played by targeting the pile of seven stones with the ball. Each team gets their chances, 3 chances for each player to knock down the stack of stones. If one team is unable to knock it down then the next team gets the chance. If the throwing team knocks down the stones then their task is to reassemble and stack them, while the opposite team attacks them.
It's an ancient Indian game that originated in Karnataka, in the South of India whose history dates back to the Bhagwad Purana, a Hindu religious text that is claimed to be written 5000 years ago and is still played in parts of India. It is a matter of great pride that Lagori is played by 30 nations across the globe. The game slowly reduced in popularity due to a lack of open grounds and innovation of technology that has children glued to their gadgets all the time.
PROCESS
Play
How do you translate this chaos onto a board game without taking away the game dynamics and essence of Lagori?
About our board game Lagori
Keeping the main essence of the actual Lagori game, we designed a 2-4 player board game
2 teams- Stackers & Attackers
The team that gets the same numbers on the dice, gets to hit the Lagori stones and become team stackers
The opposite team will be attacking, hence they are called “Attackers”
Role of Stackers:
(1) Break the Lagori stack with the striker
(2) Collect the stones and place them in the correct order in the centre
Role of Attackers:
(1) To eliminate all the Stackers on the grid
(2) They can also move the blocks away from the stackers
Kolam, also known as Muggu or Tharai Aalangaram Rangoli is a form of traditional decorative art that is drawn by using rice flour and originated from the south. As Lagori is also an ancient game from the south of India, the board game's visuals are heavily influenced by Kolam's.
Here is a glimpse of the visuals designed for the board game version of Lagori. Kindly get in touch to learn more about this project.
PROCESS
Iterate and redefine
We created a prototype of this game and tested it with multiple people to get feedback. With every round of user testing, we made iterations and changed rules to balance out the probability of winning for both the attackers and the stackers. Even the most minor iteration had a significant impact on the gameplay.
After finalizing the rules and all the visuals we started exploring materials and creating tangibles with rubber wood.
The product is currently undergoing the procedure for Copyright Registration and is soon going to be available in the market after manufacturing. Kindly get in touch to learn more about this project.