Run like Neha Bora: New game turns the recent protests into a pixelated race

Bhaag Neha Bhaag is an Internet game that turns the recent protests surrounding Neha Bora into a pixelated, increasingly difficult race

Neha Bora just cannot catch a break. The activist is running, the Delhi Police are on their tail, a saffron-clad pursuer is closing in, barricades are blocking their way and bricks are flying at their head. But there is one thing worth running for - democracy. Welcome to Bhaag Neha Bhaag, an Internet game that turns the recent protests surrounding the student activist and AISA president into a pixelated race.

With its colourful, 1990s-style graphics, the game feels like a cross between Mario and Google's dinosaur game, the one that appears on your browser when your Internet connection disappears. The difference? Here, every coin collected is called a democracy.

The idea came to brothers Anav and Akshay Nayar, who run a social-first intellectual property (IP) studio working on content strategy, brand films, and original concepts. Originally screenwriters and filmmakers, the brothers have been experimenting with artificial intelligence in storytelling since 2023.

Akshay (left) and Anav Nayar

"We have been following the news about the protests over the last several days," Anav says. Every evening, the brothers would read reports of Bora being detained, only to see clips of them back at protests the following morning. By the third day, Akshay posed a question that would eventually become the premise of their game, "How are they doing this?"
The answer, at least in their digital universe, was to keep running.

Anav initially imagined a Subway Surfers-style game, with the camera following Bora from behind. But his first attempt did not quite work, so he took the idea to Akshay, who developed the visual design. Their shared affection for old-school gaming helped shape the final product. "We've played a lot of PS and Game Boy games, so this is the kind of format that attracts us the most," Anav says, referring to the pixelated aesthetic and familiar mechanics of the 8-bit games they grew up playing.

The brothers used AI to build the game in a day. Initially, Bora was simply running away from a police officer. Then they added an orange-clad pursuer. Next came the addition of coins. The question was what those coins should represent. "Something felt amiss," Anav recalls, "These coins must represent something." That was democracy. The choice gives the otherwise simple chase game its political punch. The player is not merely trying to beat a high score but collecting a resource that is also the subject of the satire.

Meanwhile, the obstacles - barricades, flying bricks, and pursuers - turn the news cycle into an arcade challenge. As the distance increases, the game becomes harder, keeping the player on their toes.

For Anav, the humour is central to the idea. "As artistes and filmmakers, we've always believed that satire is the most powerful way to talk about serious things," he says. Rather than getting lost in endless online arguments, the brothers wanted to approach the subject through a format that was playful, accessible and easy to share.

The name, meanwhile, is a nod to Run Lola Run, the 1998 German film directed by Tom Tykwer. The film follows Lola as she races against time, repeatedly confronting the consequences of her choices. It is one of the brothers' favourite films, and the connection felt natural for a game built around a woman who keeps running.

The project also reflects the brothers' approach to working with AI. While the technology helped them turn an idea into a playable game quickly, Anav believes it still takes creative judgement to decide what to make in the first place.

"You can do anything with AI. But it's also like, oh my God, you can do anything. So what should we do?" he says. For now, the brothers have been manually sending the game link to people, including through direct messages, and are exploring ways to automate its distribution. They have also considered introducing a leaderboard to see who can collect the most democracy coins. Anav suspects Akshay might top it, given how intensely he plays.

The rules are straightforward. Keep moving, dodge the obstacles, and build up as much democracy as you can. The chase may get harder, but the game is not over yet.

Play it at bhaagnehabhaag.netlify.app.

Did you know?

Remember when Neha Bora used a decoy to give their pursuers the slip so they could continue protesting? It harks back to a long tradition of revolutionaries using disguises and redirection tactics. In Russian military strategy, this is known as the Maskirovka technique, which became famous during World War II. "It is not known if Bora was aware of Maskirovka. But given her Left political leanings, it is a possibility," says Parth Satam, a journalist who writes on Russian military aviation.