Tyranny of Blood: India's Caste System Under British Colonialism, 1750-1947

The first place winner of the 2021 Zenobia Awards, Tyranny of Blood models the rise and fall of British colonialism in India from 1750 to around 1947, and the ensuing social displacement—in the religious, military, economic, and labor domains—that still resonate today. The game seeks to answer the lofty questions: how do classes with disparate bases of power work together in a society, how do they struggle against each other, and who are the victims of this process?

In this asymmetric card-driven game, each player plays as one of the four major caste groups (Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, and Shudra/Dalit) with the end goal of shaping the coming independent Indian nation-state to support their interests while dealing with their unique and unequal places in the hierarchy. Each faction has its own role to play in the game and its own method of earning victory points based on its distinct goals.

In this game, the British are not a playable faction, but a non-player force that players will have to respond to, either by fighting against colonial forces, or working with them to oppose the other players.

Designer note: Tyranny of Blood is about a hierarchical system that has oppressed people throughout history and has lingering effects that continue to cause suffering today. The game is meant as a condemnation of the system and a method of understanding it, not an endorsement or celebration. I hope that learning about this history will inspire players to think critically about the inequalities that plague the world today, and to struggle against them.