Gapla

Gapla is a two to  four player strategy board game where players take on ideological roles Humanitarian, Environmentalist, Dominionist, and Industrialist, to manage and “improve” struggling states. The states face interconnected problems such as flooding, infrastructure breakdown, resource shortages, and social conflict. There are no correct solutions, only choices, costs, and consequences.

Each round begins with a Problem Statement Card, which describes a crisis affecting a specific area of the village. The card presents four solution options, each belonging to one ideological category. Every option includes a short description and the amount of money required to implement that solution.

Players place their role badge tokens on the area mentioned in the problem statement to show their intended action. If more than one player selects the same solution, a bidding process begins. Players raise the amount they are willing to spend, and the highest bidder secures that option, paying the final amount from their personal budget.

After all players have made their choices, a Special Consequence Card is revealed. This card determines the outcomes of the decisions taken during the round. Consequences may create gains or losses, alter future costs, or affect control over areas. Even expensive or well-intentioned solutions can result in negative effects, reinforcing that every intervention has hidden trade-offs.

Each player starts with a personal budget of ₹1,00,000 and maintains a Balance Sheet to record all expenses, gains, and losses. Throughout the game, players accumulate badge tokens on the map based on the solutions they successfully implement. These tokens remain on the board and represent ideological influence over specific areas.

An area is considered owned by the ideology that has the highest number of badge tokens placed there. As the game progresses, players expand or lose control of areas depending on their decisions and consequences.

The game ends when all Problem Statement Cards have been resolved. The winner is the player who controls the most areas on the map through badge tokens, while still managing their budget effectively. 

Gapla reveals how power is built not just through money or good intentions, but through repeated decisions that slowly reshape systems.