Sorcerers will descend on Horniman Circle

Pervasive Pop-ups, live action games, activities, Horniman Circle, Ninja Tag, witches warlocks, Mumbai Guide

Imagine scampering under the rainy, grey sky amidst bright green trees, shouting ‘I Spy' with a racing heart. We kid you not, but city-based game designer Shagun Shah has been mustering rollicking fun for theatre groups, NGOs, architects, banks, corporate trainers and even Columbia University under his company Chaos Theatre that he founded in 2012.

Ninja Tag being played at the first edition of Pervasive Pop-ups

Now, the 23-year-old is busy adding a dash of fun to Sundays by arranging pop-ups of the pervasive games making everyone relive their childhood. Shah shares, "I've always been deeply fascinated by live games. I decided to create the event, Pervasive Pop-ups as a way of sharing my passion with everyone. I've designed about 117 games to date." While the games have been designed catering towards specific ends, Shah tweaked them for enjoyment too. "I have a wonderful group of people in my life who are more than happy to be my monthly guinea pigs. Making a public open event of it felt like a natural step forward. At this point, Pervasive Pop-ups is completely free."

Pervasive games are live games that help build interactivity and communication sans technology that we depend upon day in and day out, in our train-chasing lives. For instance, this edition will have a game called the Checkmate - a live action chess game, which was created for Godrej India Culture Lab's Vikhroli Skin event. Shah has lots more in store, "This time, players will take on the roles of mighty witches, warlocks and sorcerers as they engage in magical duels and go questing to expand their arcane knowledge. The second game focusses on masked bank robbers deal and double-deal to split the loot."

Shah is convinced that Pervasive Pop-ups should do very well, "I think pervasive games - live immersive games, if you will, are such a wonderful way to communicate, really communicate, with one another. As Mumbaikars, we typically live and function in high-stress environments. It's good to be reminded that, that self-same environment can also be transformed into a play-space or ‘magic circle'." The event is open to all and is a monthly feature in the greater scheme of things for Shah who will host the event at a different location every month.