Unboxed Game Fest 2026 Concludes, Celebrating a Decade of Board Gaming in Ahmedabad
Dice, Design and Community: Unboxed Game Fest 2026 Marks a Decade of Play in Ahmedabad
From Living Rooms to Festival Halls: Unboxed Game Fest Celebrates a Decade of Board Gaming
A Decade at the Table: Unboxed Game Fest 2026 Concludes in Ahmedabad
The two-day festival brought together families, designers, educators, and gamers from across India, highlighting how tabletop play has grown into a cultural movement
Hosted by the volunteer-led Unboxed Club, the festival reflected the rise of community-driven gaming and its impact on learning, creativity, and connection
- Bilkul Online | By Junaid Quadri
- Ahmedabad | 5 January 2026
What began a decade ago as quiet board game sessions in living rooms and cafés across Ahmedabad culminated yesterday with the conclusion of Unboxed Game Fest 2026 (UGF 2026), marking 10 years of board gaming in the city and the evolution of a once-niche hobby into a vibrant cultural movement.
In its early years, board gaming in Ahmedabad existed in small, informal circles—groups that often stayed long after games ended as conversations continued. Champions of this emerging culture kept tables open and invitations wide. Among them was Shradha Jain, founder of Studio Clock Works, who regularly hosted game nights and helped create welcoming entry points into the hobby. Over time, these efforts shaped a culture where people who may never have crossed paths otherwise came together through a shared love for analogue, screen-free play.
Step into a world where the nostalgia of Stranger Things meets the imagination of Dungeons & Dragons—dice, daring adventures, and friendships included. That sense of shared storytelling and connection resonated throughout the two-day festival, echoing the spirit that has sustained Ahmedabad’s board gaming community for a decade.
Hosted by Unboxed Club, a not-for-profit and entirely volunteer-driven collective, UGF 2026 marked both the city’s gaming journey and the festival’s own growth into its second edition. Building on a successful first edition that saw over 700 participants from 15 cities, the festival once again emerged as Gujarat’s largest board game event. Families, first-time players, students, educators, designers, publishers, retailers, and seasoned gamers gathered around tables at Jodhpur Hall in a shared, screen-free space.
A Movement Beyond the City
The festival reflected a larger national shift underway across India. Board game conventions such as TTOX in Bengaluru and Chennai signal a growing movement in which tabletop games are no longer niche hobbies, but cultural tools shaping learning, thinking, and interaction.
Indian board game designers are now being recognised internationally, games are increasingly entering classrooms and academic discourse, and children are discovering play as a social and collaborative experience away from screens. Unboxed Game Fest 2026 stood at the intersection of these changes, celebrating both progress and future possibilities.
Play as Learning, Culture, and Career
UGF 2026 went beyond casual play to explore the deeper impact of games on culture and livelihoods. Workshops and masterclasses featured voices from design, education, and industry.
Design educator Prof. Jay Thakkar of CEPT University examined games as tools for reflection and dialogue.
“Play is not entertainment — it’s a method of inquiry,” he noted, highlighting how games allow people to engage with complex ideas through participation rather than debate.
Game designer Shradha Jain focused on accessibility in design, introducing open-source digital tools that lower barriers for young creators. Drawing from her international experience, she emphasised how structured toolkits can help Indian designers move from ideas to playable prototypes.
Other sessions explored designing a first board game, using play to teach mathematics, building cognitive and life skills through games, and understanding how designers can build sustainable careers.
Strengthening India’s Board Game Ecosystem
Adding a national perspective were Phalgun Polepalli and Shwetha Badarinath, founders of Mozaic Games and organisers of the TTOX board game convention.
“Festivals like Unboxed and TTOX bring the whole community – from designers & publishers to players – in one place and help the ecosystem mature together,” said Polepalli.
Badarinath highlighted the importance of in-person festivals:
“Online platforms show numbers. Retail shows what sells. Festivals show how games are actually played. Watching people learn, struggle, enjoy and return to a game gives insights you simply can’t get elsewhere. For young and aspiring designers, such spaces can be transformative.”
“For many creators, this is the first time they feel their ideas matter,” added Polepalli. “One weekend at a festival like this can completely change how someone sees their future.”
Voices from the Founders
Speaking on the culmination of the festival, Niyanta Shah, co-founder of Unboxed Club, Ahmedabad, said,
“Seeing tables filled with families, children, students, and seasoned gamers reminds us why we started Unboxed—to make play accessible and to create spaces where people can connect meaningfully, without screens.”
Saumil Shah, co-founder of Unboxed Club, Ahmedabad, added, “What stands out every year is how games bring strangers together. This festival isn’t just about playing games; it’s about building confidence, curiosity, and community through play.”
Earlier, reflecting on the broader journey, Kruti Shah, Founder of The Hive and co-founder of Unboxed, had said,
“Board games have quietly shaped how people in Ahmedabad connect — across ages, professions, and backgrounds. Over the years, we’ve seen children teaching adults, strangers becoming friends, and families discovering new ways to spend time together. Unboxed is a celebration of that journey — of play re-entering public life, and of the people who have made a decade of gaming possible.”
Festival Highlights
- Held on January 3 and 4, UGF 2026 featured:
- Over 150 board games, including Indian-designed titles and global favourites
- Dedicated facilitators ensuring beginners felt welcome
- A Family Play Arena with all-day access to age-appropriate games
- Tournaments for all age groups, with prizes worth ₹60,000
- Immersive experiences such as Dungeons & Dragons, a Squid Games–style treasure hunt, and social deduction games like Blood on the Clocktower
- Games Ravivari, a marketplace for buying and selling pre-loved board games
- Workshops and masterclasses exploring play as learning, culture, and career
Anirudh Shetty, software engineer from the Basecamp team, Mumbai, spoke to BILKULONLINE and shared the event highlights, describing the festival as a rare space where “people disconnect from screens and genuinely reconnect with each other through play.”
As Unboxed Game Fest 2026 concluded yesterday, it closed not just a successful weekend but a decade-long chapter in Ahmedabad’s cultural life—one defined by dice rolls, shared tables, and communities built through play.
Kindly Like the shared links and Subscribe our channel for such valuable inputs. https://youtu.be/Y3ViJ9ZyCd8 https://youtu.be/miF49iIwlkM https://youtube.com/shorts/r0PNXt4tFSA?feature=share https://youtube.com/shorts/xxKZg4jTTto?feature=share https://youtube.com/shorts/FjP-IantTfQ?feature=sharehttps://youtube.com/shorts/FjP-IantTfQ?feature=share https://youtube.com/shorts/Fp9TYjhPo88?feature=share
