It is summertime sadness! As many have cancelled their summer plans due to COVID-19 pandemic. But still one can save their summer fun by spending time with family and playing board games. A perfect picture of Kolkata summer holiday evening is where everyone (irrespective of age) spent time playing ludo or carom with their closed ones accompanied by a spicy treat of jhaalmuri. In fact, everyone might have similar memories irrespective of regions. As Covid-19 lockdown continues, people are getting the chance to stroll down the memory lane with their family through board games and it has transformed the grim summertime into a much enjoyable one.
Today with the help of the digital technology, those games are back and since people have more time to spend while at Covid-19 lockdown the digital board games are getting more traction. Paytm First Games Ludo game has witnessed a surge in traffic during the lockdown period. With over 2 lakh new users joining the game every day, the game-time per users has also increased from 32 to 45 minutes. And they have witnessed that their ‘Play with Friends’ format has seen a jump of 300 per cent, as people invite their friends and family to come and play on the same ludo board irrespective of where they are.
Recently gaming platform WinZO has seen a 10X increase in the gameplay of age-old board games including Ludo and Carrom during the lockdown period. In addition to that, LUDO king has recently crossed 50mn DAU with the daily installation of 20 to 25 mn during lockdown according to Gametion founder Vikash Jaiswal.
Why there is a surge in these age-old board games?
It is an undeniable fact that board games like Carrom, Ludo, and Chess have always been in the top 10 list when it comes to number of game downloads and gameplays in India. The reason behind the success is the familiarity of the game and the nostalgia-stricken players who play these board games with their family/friends/significant other. Thanks to the leaps in technology, people can concurrently chat via audio/video call during the gameplay.
As WinZO shares to us, “Humans are social animals. We feel the need to connect with people despite the lockdown. Phone calls/ video calls may provide a way to connect with people – but after a while you connect over a common activity. At the same time, people want to be entertained too as they are sitting at home the entire day. Multiplayer Board Games provide two-way joy – fun audio/visual interaction and bite-sized entertainment. The surge in private play modes (Vs-Mode and Tournaments) clearly indicate that people are preferring to play with their friends, family and in many cases, significant others, separated by the COVID.”
It is true that board games and casual games were never out of fashion- they are one of a kind examples of how social gaming is consumed in bite-size for a quick escape from the monotony of our life by catching up with friends, similar to how meets friends over a cup of coffee or ice cream. WinZO has observed “Our core audience is 18 to 25. However, we have seen an increase in users from the age group of 25-35 in the last few weeks.” The surge of various age groups consuming boardgames symbolises that games have more to offer apart from gaming bit. Today it can be a conversation alternative to stay connected with friends who are sitting in a faraway place. Not only that, when someone is connecting on a daily basis, that person also needs to engage in a common activity, playing board games becomes the one, and when it’s paired with reward winnings the excitement of the experience doubles up.
What’s next?
If the graph can report an upsurge, there is every possibility of a decline too and what is holding the balance between is the time which determines whether it will sustain or collapse. Board Games are now skyrocketing but where it will be in the future is unknown.
In conversation with AnimationXpress, Aryavarta Technologies co-founder Nilesh Gawde shares that they launched age-old traditional game Challas Aath with a twist for android users named Challas Aath – Ludo Game in India. He explained “when all you kids perched on wooden ‘paatas’ around a slate onto which you had traced a gameboard with chalk, threw tamarind seeds or cowrie shells and played an exhilarating game of Challas Aath? Mind you, it wasn’t just the kids. Everyone joined in – parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins – and a boisterous time was had by all! Now you can relive those moments with this Challas Aath game, and play with family members and friends no matter where they are. And if you’ve never played it before, then here’s a chance to discover a digital version of a favourite traditional game.”
The challenging part to maintain the retention and engagement rate of the audience is very difficult as there are various options available and therefore the audience gets bored (pun intended) very easily. If one seeks to maintain the retention and engagement rate in a single game, bringing variations and novelty is the key. Challas Aath has the DNA of Ludo, therefore the users are finding it interesting and within the few days of launch, the game has surpassed 10K downloads. As India has rich diversity of cultures and every culture has some traditional board games in common, therefore the developers have to identify the pulse and offer it to the users on the digital platform.
The expansion of digital board games with more regional variations will be the next phase.