Hamleys & Indian Traditional Games

The Context
Indian traditional games are becoming less familiar to today’s children, while their limited visibility at Hamleys makes them easy to overlook. The current packaging of this segment relies on Indian craft to superficially communicate Indianness, without building a meaningful connection to the games themselves. Alongside weak storytelling and visual hierarchy, limited communication of the game’s benefits and poor organisation, the packaging fails to extend the playful experience of Hamleys’ stores.

The Proposed Solution
To introduce a dedicated category of Indian games at Hamleys, the starting point is to bring indoor and outdoor traditional game combos together. The indoor games include four nostalgic games, namely, chaupad, char-bhar, pallanguzhi and put put nav. Likewise, the outdoor games include pitthoo, lattoo, kanche and gilli-danda. The packaging aims to make these games visible, desirable and easier to discover, while creating a bridge between nostalgia of parents who may have grown up playing these games, and the curiosity of children encountering them for the first time. Through meaningful storytelling, interactions and visual cues, the packaging becomes an invitation to discover the game, understand how it is played and create a new memory around it.

The Outcome
Direction 1 puts the game itself at the centre. Illustration of kids and the actual play pieces in a vibrant colourful world make the product appealing on shelf. The overall experience focuses on discovery, play and understanding the product.

Direction 2 puts the experience of playing together at the centre. Hand-drawn scenes of children playing create an emotional connection with both children and parents. It focuses on making the games feel and inviting to a new generation.

Team Credits
Yasha Shamsukha, Akanksha Bhansali, Shubhashish Roy [Visual Communication Design]
Shaurya Raina, Priyani Vijayvargiya [Industrial Design]

Project Guide
Dr. Pritesh Bhatia, Prof. Hardik Shiroya, Ms. Tanha Shah, Mr. Jaimin Bhavsar [GLS Institute of Design, Ahmedabad]