Kids make the most brutal critics, finds Santhosh Kumar Subramanian. The Chennai-based game maker has been getting his board games vetted by a demanding brigade of seven to 12 year olds. “They are blatant; they tell you what is good or rip the game apart if it does not interest them. Or, they just say they are bored and stop playing,” laughs Santhosh, admitting that he has often had to tweak games, sometimes a good six or seven times to get them approved by the young critics.
Santhosh started Bambaram Toys and Games in 2010 as a toy lending library before the team began creating games themselves. His latest launch Belly Battle — a trading game where players buy restaurants — has kids coming up with names for restaurants. “Murakami sushi, Chole Bhavan, Burgerer, Osteria, Akira Ramen to name a few,“ lists out Santhosh, adding that some of the nicest ideas came from the young players.
