The Civic Games Lab is a games for social change lab that seeks to promote civic values by building games that tell South Asia’s story through play, but using its spoken, written and visual language. Through play we seek to challenge the problem of unequal access to information, around issues such as human rights, climate change, natural resource management, democracy, privacy, cities and urbanisation, news, history and other civic issues.
The lab, has previously worked on the extensive and popular board game, 'The Poll' that released in January 2019. The game puts regular people at the helm of the affairs of a political party, creating a-one-of-a-kind experience of the Indian elections.
The lab provides game consultancy, and in 2019/20 helped Breakthrough Trust build a game that would promote the idea of student councils in government schools in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. In 2021, the CGL will launch its Online Naagrik suite of games - which seek to provide a vocabulary of rights, privacy and security online through interactive stories, and two card games.
CGL builds games that intend to strengthen the civic of muscle in those communities that do not have access to such methodologies. It is our mandate to take these games to both urban and rural settings with the clear intention of helping young and old people more aware of their rights and role in society, and improve the bargaining power of the citizen.
"No one listens to young people, no listens to us. We aren't factored in to decision making, we aren't included in conversation on our cities, our politics or anything else. We need build tools, that aren't one way like our classrooms, like video content online that speaks only one way. We need to go back to sitting around a table, or go back to the adda, or to gaming arcades and learn to speak to each other again. Our games do just that get people around a table and get them to play through the things that matter"
We are part of SMART (Seeking Modern Applications for Real Transformation) NGO, who work with vulnerable communities, with a focus on women, and is committed to creating awareness and empowering communities to speak up and stand up for their rights and entitlements.
Abeer is a journalist & creator of India’s first election board game called ‘The Poll’. He is a graduate of Azim Premji University, Bengaluru. His articles have appeared in Hardnews, The Wire, Scroll.in, Quartz and other magazines and websites. He has also been profiled by CNN, Vice, The Diplomat, and several other National and International publications.
Abeer Kapoor
Founder
A young, budding game developer from New Delhi, Akshay graduated with an undergraduate degree from Amity University, and with a postgraduate degree from Marwah Studios. From developing games to being an avid gamer himself, Akshay eats, sleeps, and breathes games.
Akshay Gupta
Game Developer
A young researcher and writer, Kritvi graduated with a Master’s degree in Film Studies from the University of Amsterdam. Largely interested in post-colonial cinema, she believes that films are necessary visual texts to understand the social, political, and cultural of any society.
Kritvi Rana
Game Writer
A young designer from New Delhi, Malavika is passionate about visual communication. She believes that graphic representation is an effective way to put across ideas, experiences, and information.
Malavika Sagar
Game Designer
A freelance illustrator and graphic designer from New Delhi, Meher believes design thinking is a crucial aspect in the field of social innovation. Her work aims to reflect meaningful and effective experiences that design societies.
Meher Rajpal
Graphic Designer
We are very solid online and Yes we have worked long enough to have alumni 🙂
Anandya has helped out us in past with research assistance, conduct research, utilize institution libraries, archives, and collections, and other sources of information, to collect, record, analyze, and evaluate facts.
Anandya Bajaj
Research Associate
Vidita has worked as a research consultant with NGO SMART in association with Friedrich Naumann Stiftung South Asia. She shares her views through Scroll.in and Poverty Action Lab.
Vidita Priyadarshini
Research Consultant
