Adil Aziz and Mohammed Nedal have fond memories of playing board games at Bengaluru’s cafes. Dice N Dine in the city, remembers Aziz, had a huge collection of more than 200 board games. For Nedal, the recollections led him to eventually run his own board game cafe, Baker’s Treat From Mariam’s Kitchen, in his hometown Mangalore. The two are avid gamers, playing a range of games like Risk where the fight is for control over parts of the world, Pandemic Legacy where players as part of a research team find cure for a virus, and Ticket to Ride, a railway-themed game where players claim train routes across a map. Apart from provoking thought and driving players to strategise, these games also serve to bring out the personalities of fellow competitors, they believe. “They give you a perspective on your friends that you may not have otherwise. They can build and break friendships,” laughs Nedal.

Zain Memon