You can play Scrabble in 30 languages, but not in any Indian ones, given their intricacies. To fill the void, a Hyderabad-based company has developed an innovative word game in Hindi and Telugu to help youngsters grasp their languages better.
“It is important not to forget your roots,” says Hareesh Viriyala, founder and chief product designer of Jodo Games. “It all started when my mother refused to join in a family game of Scrabble because of her limited knowledge of English,” says Hareesh, who is also the director of the company, Out-Box Edutainment Private Limited.
The game is linguistically sound and also maintains the sanctity of the script. The tiles can be put across horizontally as well as vertically. Top-down word formations are possible with limited number of blocks that come in different shapes and sizes.
Hareesh says, “When you are playing a word game in languages like Hindi and Telugu, two things have to be kept in mind, the words have to be visually and technically correct and the mathematics regarding it has to work out.”
That has been taken care of and it is perfect for children above four years of age. The game takes about an hour and a half to finish. There are also some variants to the game such as Jaldi Mein Jodo, which can be played in just 20 minutes. The game is not played on a game-board though. The company has also come up with a unique teaching game that enables mastery over Hindi or Telugu spellings overnight! Hareesh said, “We target students of all ages and hope schools will include it in their curricula.”
It is easy to learn Indian languages because they are phonetic in nature. These games makes it more interesting to learn the language which can be drab otherwise. The games have been influenced by other crossword puzzles and can be interesting for adults who do not have a good grasp over English. “Our games are for young ones and for young-at-hearts. It makes sure that nobody is left out,” says Hareesh.
