Over a month into the lockdown, India is still fighting the COVID war and there are chances you will be locked in even after May 3 if you are in any of the red zones. Chennai-based educationist, entrepreneur and politician Sam Paul has a way to ease your lockdown blues. Available on both iOS and android, his new online multiplayer card game, Kalutai, does not only promise to keep you entertained but also enhance your analytical skills. Kalutai (donkey or ass) is an old Indian card game which Paul has revamped and taken online.
But launching the game during the lockdown wasn't the plan. Paul, who is a lawyer and an engineer himself, has been working on the project for more than four years and has written the codes himself. "I have been playing this game with my friends and family for almost 12 years now. Even though it is played as a party game, this is a real test of your analytical thinking and helps form an acute sense of strategies as well," said the entrepreneur-turned-politician. "This game can be played by kids and elders alike — just for fun or for fine-tuning your mathematical skills and planning abilities. We have been playing an enhanced and advanced version of the game for quite some time now," he added...
Coding for this game was no child's play though. "The single-player simulation requires three bots to play with you since this is a four-player game. The coding for the single-player mode was complex. I did the entire flow chart and coding for the game while Jungo Games, a Bengaluru-based developer, worked on the software," said Paul, who is excited about the launch of the game.
With the lockdown in effect, none of us can step out so the game had to be launched over video. Former Indian batsman Subramaniam Badrinath officially launched the app on Facebook on April 27. "This is a fun card game but has nothing to with gambling. We have all played Kalutai and it's great that Dr Sam Paul has brought it online," he said in a video posted on the social media network.
