Wish you could turn back the hands of time and indulge in a session of your favourite childhood board games? While the very thought may invoke strong bouts of nostalgia among many; Karthik Balakrishnan, Mithun Balraj and Kaushik Narayan, a young Bengaluru-based trio, is planning on reviving the lost art of recreation – Through ReRoll, a broad gaming venture, which is making waves in the city since its inception early this June. In a candid chat, they tell us more as they are all set to host a pre-launch event at Comic Con on October 9.
“We realised that the board game culture is fast catching up in the city. Every time there was an event listing, people were kicked about the whole idea to see how it pans out. We attended a few, and saw such weekly meetups actually met with a massive turnout. But strangely, while everyone seemed game for it, there’s wasn’t a particular space solely dedicated only for board games. That’s when we decided to make a start,” shares Kaushik, a lawyer by the day, who moonlights as a gaming host at most of re-roll sessions.
While they’ve been fortunate enough to garner takers by the hordes, Karthik reiterates that the idea was to revive the lost form of recreation, with a unique twist. “We do more of modern designer board games like Catan, Ticket to Ride, Small World and the like as opposed to the classics like Monopoly, Scrabble, Candyland and Life. And personally, it’s been very heartening as the responses to these events have been great — it had a mix of people who were into the game and wanted to give it a shot.”
Juggling a hectic 9-5 alongside, they tell us how having packed weekends can serve as a challenge, but it’s their innate passion which keeps them going.
“ Yes, the days are quite packed. But as a rule, I always make time for everything I love — like being actively involved in theatre,” pipes Kaushik, who has previously been a part of Renegade Arts and Theatre Society for over 12 years. On the other hand, it’s hard core gaming for Karthik and Mithun.
“Conducting video game meet-ups are what we do in our free time, and since it’s now a big part of our lives, we love doing it whenever we can. Karthik accidentally stumbles onto Internet movements, whenever he gets the time,” quips Mithun.
With about 200 likes within just a couple of days since their Facebook page went alive, the boys are quite ahead of the game — quite literally! “We have a couple of events in the pipeline. Preparations for the Comic Con Bengaluru’s pre launch event is keeping us occupied. One at the Humming tree on October 30 and a Pride celebration event at Urban Solace. The idea was not not just to offer board games, which we were fond of as kids, but rather, bring about a twist to the entire concept of board gaming — keeping the free spirited vibe of the city in mind.”
