Ditch the usual weekend plans to duel with fellow Mumbaikars in Catan while relishing a five-course menu themed on this popular board game
Dark chocolate brownie bites with almond rocks; (right) crackers and soup sticks with hummus. Pics Courtesy/Gaurav Ganesh Jhawar
Remember the days when friends, families and neighbours would gather after meals, huddle over a dusty board game and embark on a night of intense revelry? Yes, we miss that time too. While the city’s nightlife culture might have replaced those golden days of fun, you will be quite amiss to think that the passion of playing board games has died as well. For one, Borivli resident and board game enthusiast Gaurav Ganesh Jhawar’s session, The Settlers and Suppers of Catan not only intends to take you through the engrossing landscape of Catan (formerly Settlers of Catan), a board game based on the trade dynamics of medieval times but also treat you to a menu especially curated on the game’s elements.
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“It is a way for me to combine two things I love the most — board games and hosting people. Whenever we talk about board games it is either something very nerdy like Dungeons and Dragons or something basic like Snake and Ladder. I wanted to show how there is a whole spectrum of easy-to-play, medium strategy games that can be an invigorating alternative to the usual weekend party scenes,” the 29-year-old explains.
Gaurav Ganesh Jhawar
With the second session of the game scheduled today, Jhawar tells us that he did a couple of trial runs to see how people are picking on the game before deciding to start a community. “Usually people between the age of 20 to 30 years turn up for the session but the game can be played by anyone. In our house, I play these matches with my six-year old niece, my 53-year-old mother and 77-year-old grandmother, who, by the way, is quite an ardent player,” he reveals.
Designed by German board game designer Klaus Teuber, the game is set on the fictitious island of Catan where four players (can extend till six) try to dominate the land by building settlements, roads and cities while acquiring and dealing in resources like wheat, sheep, wood, brick and ore. The menu is inspired by these elements. “The idea is to play the game while also nibbling on a dish that’s literally inspired from it,” Jhawar informs. From sourdough topped with ricotta cheese and hot honey, to a kiln-fired kulhad pizza, soup sticks with wood-fired hummus and dark chocolate brownie bites with almond rocks — we are leaving you to match these home-made treats to the game’s five important elements, the resources.
With plans to extend the series to other games like Azul to hosting summer-special sessions for kids, Jhawar has some big ideas to get people back to the allure of board games, replete with an immersive experience. “We have a medieval orchestra compilation playing in the background to add to the atmosphere but it is essentially a jam where people pitch in with their preferred songs as well,” he shares
before signing off. With that, it seems like we have our weekend plan sorted.
ON Today; 7 pm onwards
AT 1202, Tower-1, Green Ridge, Chikuwadi, near Shimpoli Metro Station, Borivli West.
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