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

Neha Bora just cannot catch a break The activist is running the Delhi Police are on their tail a saffronclad pursuer is closing in barricades are blocking their way and bricks are flying at their head But there is one thing worth running for mdash democracy Welcome to Bhaag Neha Bhaag an Internet game that turns the recent protests surrounding the student activist and AISA president into a pixelated raceWith its colourful 1990sstyle graphics the game feels like a cross between Mario and Googlersquos 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 socialfirst 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 2023Akshay left and Anav NayarldquoWe have been following the news about the protests over the last several daysrdquo 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 ldquoHow are they doing thisrdquoThe answer at least in their digital universe was to keep runningAnav initially imagined a Subway Surfersstyle 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 oldschool gaming helped shape the final product ldquoWersquove played a lot of PS and Game Boy games so this is the kind of format that attracts us the mostrdquo Anav says referring to the pixelated aesthetic and familiar mechanics of the 8bit games they grew up playingThe brothers used AI to build the game in a day Initially Bora was simply running away from a police officer Then they added an orangeclad pursuer Next came the addition of coins The question was what those coins should represent ldquoSomething felt amissrdquo Anav recalls ldquoThese coins must represent somethingrdquo 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 satireMeanwhile the obstacles mdash barricades flying bricks and pursuers mdash turn the news cycle into an arcade challenge As the distance increases the game becomes harder keeping the player on their toesFor Anav the humour is central to the idea ldquoAs artistes and filmmakers wersquove always believed that satire is the most powerful way to talk about serious thingsrdquo 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 shareThe 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 brothersrsquo favourite films and the connection felt natural for a game built around a woman who keeps runningThe project also reflects the brothersrsquo 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 placeldquoYou can do anything with AI But itrsquos also like oh my God you can do anything So what should we dordquo 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 playsThe 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 yetPlay it at bhaagnehabhaagnetlifyappDid you knowRemember 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 ldquoIt is not known if Bora was aware of Maskirovka But given her Left political leanings it is a possibilityrdquo says Parth Satam a journalist who writes on Russian military aviation