Arunika: Creating innovative games for creative minds

Many businesses suffered during the pandemic, but Arunika faced a different scenario altogether. It was because of one of their best selling products, their gameboards.

Arunika is a store that sells handcrafted products such as jewellery, home decor, and stationery. However, among their most popular items are their innovative and creative games.

Arunita Ghoshal and Debashish Roy opened their store, Arunika, in 2015. Arunita is a dietician by profession, and is passionate about crafts. Debashish is an architect and a maths-enthusiast. Together, they made the perfect team. While Arunita delves into her creative side, Debashish perfects the prototypes into practical products.

"The hobby started when I was young, even before I knew what crafts were. I'd make things out of colourful papers and stray beads from clothes," said Arunita.

Even though they started out with jewellery, the board games came into fruition from a spontaneous decision when dealing with the stress of work.

"There were huge orders for jewelleries, and I couldn't get myself to work. One day I painted a few blocks of wood lying in my room, and turned it into a ludo board. We ended up introducing the product at a fair and the response has been amazing," she added.

The store has also been working with Brac to create innovative and educational toys for the Brac Education Programme. The products they make exclusively for Brac are designed to educate children about maths, science, and more. Some of the products they have made for the programme also include solar system models and puzzles. 

With all that said, Arunika still remains environmentally conscious. "Around 95% to 98% of our products are made from eco-friendly materials. We look for ways to minimise waste as much as possible; for example, we use mostly paper packaging instead of plastic or polythene," said Arunita. 

Arunika started its journey during a time when courier services weren't as accessible as it is today. People also rarely trusted online stores. They had to slowly build their customers' trust. But they created solid bonds by even delivering the products themselves at times. However, today, they are able to fulfil corporate-level orders, for which she gives the entire credit to her customer base.

"Arunika's customers are extremely loyal and understanding. I don't think it would have been possible to come this far without their trust," said Arunita. 

Here are some of our favourite games from Arunika.

Six-player ludo 

Ludo is infamous for tearing friends and family apart. The four-player game is the root of many family-feuds due to how competitive it can be. 

Now, imagine amping up the competitiveness. Arunika offers a round, six-player ludo board.

Photo: Courtesy

"When creating the six-player ludo board, the competitiveness of four-player ludo is something we had in mind. This six-player game can get crazy," said Arunita. 

As the game includes more people, it will take 45 minutes to an hour to complete a game. 

The vibrant art on the board is beautiful and the game can double a piece of decor.

Photo: Courtesy

Arunika also offers the game in its original four-player form.

Price: Tk 980 to Tk 6,750

Puzzles

Puzzles are some of the most relaxing activities one can indulge in. The stimulating task gives you time alone with your thoughts. Puzzles can also encourage teamwork if you choose to complete it with a friend.

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Arunika offers a wide range of wooden puzzle sets. The store also allows customers to customise their orders, so you can choose the photo for the puzzle. 

Many customers have opted to use family photos. The game can double as a decor piece or a meaningful gift. 

Price: Tk 750 to Tk 1,850

Solar System

This piece is a true gem for children, or those who truly love the wonders of space. The educational piece is a puzzle-like game where you fit the planets in their respective slots. You can also arrange them to be in orbit around the sun.

Photo: Courtesy

The Solar System is helpful for children getting acquainted with planets, and it can be a great way to demonstrate how the solar system works. 

Price: Tk 1,580

Puzzle board games

Arunika has combined the beauty of both puzzles and board games by turning their classic games into puzzles. 

You will be able to find the famous snakes and ladders and ludo in puzzle form, waiting to be assembled. The set also comes with 16 ludo tokens divided into four sets of colours and one dice. You can add the snake and ladders game to the back of the ludo puzzle, just like a traditional ludo board. 

This piece is handy because it gives you more to do out of one single purchase. And just like all their other games, the style of the puzzles are too beautiful to not put up on display. 

Price: Tk 980 to Tk 6,750

Where to find: https://www.facebook.com/aarunikaa