2025 / Monsoon Sem / Re-imagining the Vernacular TOI-5

Abhinav Nambiar

Obsidian

Jay Thakkar (Tutor)

Kamna Vyas (Teaching Associate)

Obsidian is a strategic palace-building board game inspired by the legacy of City Palace Udaipur. The game explores a peaceful path to succession after the passing of the last king, where four heirs compete through intelligence rather than conflict. Players collect resources, unlock production buildings, and use their gathered wealth to construct parts of a shared palace. Each architectural piece earns points, encouraging smart planning, timing, and resource management. The game blends cultural themes, cooperative construction, and competitive scoring. The player with the highest points at the palace’s completion, or the first to reach one hundred points, becomes the new ruler.