The newest board game in town SHASN by filmmaker Anand Gandhi and Zain Memon has taken the gaming world by storm and created a sensation of sorts by closing 80 percent of their kick starter goal within 24-hours of the launch. Never in the history of gaming or board games has a Made-in-India game generated so much buzz as SHASN.
With so many celebrities and media influencers chiming in for this very addictive game, SHASN is indeed changing the narrative of how the average layperson views Indian politics. The very USP of this game lies in its immersive power of persuasion and political simulation. It is forcing players to look at Indian politics and how elections are conducted with its juggernaut focus to retain power.
Shekhar Kapur tweeted about this mesmerizing game with fair warning to the players, “Don’t try it. Unless you’re willing to be addicted. Unless…you are willing to let #Shasn take over your life.”(sic) Former Rajya Sabha MP and National Spokesperson of the Janata Dal(United) tweeted the kick start launch.
The Indian Board game sector has not experienced the kind of sensation that SHASN has generated across the gaming world in such a short span of time with popular media influencers taking to their Instagram stories and Twitter to post about SHASN and how it has changed the way we see Indian Politics. Stand-up comedian Abish Mathew took to his Instagram stories to talk about SHASN and stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra who is very vocal and critical with his political opinion tweeted about SHASN this morning, “Being political has never been so much fun. Playing Shasn gives you a taste of the real world politics.”