Simbly City began as a simple game created by filmmaker and photographer Deepak Thomas to help his wife learn Mumbai's geography after their move to Chandivali and Powai. Inspired by map-based races and shaped by lessons from a board game design workshop, the project evolved into a fully developed board game centred around urban commuting.
For most people, learning the layout of a new city involves a combination of wrong turns, cursing out Google Maps for always leading you to some random dead end, and patiently asking people which bus will lead you where, until you get the hang of it. For filmmaker and photographer Deepak Thomas, it became the inspiration for an entire board game.
The origins of 'Simbly City' go back to a period when Thomas and his family moved across Mumbai. Having spent much of their life living in Versova and moving around areas like Khar and Bandra, he found himself navigating a different part of the city on moving to Chandivali and Powai with his wife after their baby was born . His wife, unfamiliar with the area, often struggled to make sense of the city's geography. Instead of explaining routes repeatedly, Thomas came up with a playful solution. He drew out a map and turned the process of learning the city into a game.
"We would play a game on the map, almost like Ludo," he recalls. "Friends would come over and join in. It started as a joke, never as something serious." The premise was simple: players raced across a city map trying to reach their destinations first. What began as a family activity gradually became a recurring fixture during gatherings with friends. As more people played, Thomas realised the idea had potential beyond his living room.
The turning point came earlier this year when he attended a board game design workshop. Until then, his understanding of board games had largely been limited to the familiar classics we all associate with board games but then, the workshop exposed him to an entirely different world of game design.
"It was an eye-opener," he says. "I was exposed to so many new things. I didn't know the kinds of mechanics that could exist in a board game or the different theories you could use while designing one."
Drawing from his background as a filmmaker, Thomas began thinking about game design in a more structured way. The workshop gave him the vocabulary and tools to refine an idea that had previously existed as a casual pastime. Soon, Simbly City evolved from a homemade map game into a carefully balanced board game with its own mechanics and systems.
From March to May, Thomas and his collaborators immersed themselves in an intensive process of playtesting. They regularly invited players to try new versions, collected feedback, revised rules, and returned with updated iterations. "We'd do these bursts of playtesting, work on the feedback, and then come back with a new version," he explains. Today, the changes being made are increasingly minor, a sign that the game has reached a mature stage of development.
The flagship version of Simbly City, titled 'Last Mile', is designed as a multi-race experience that captures the challenges of urban commuting. Teaching the game takes around twenty minutes, while a full session can last up to three and a half hours. Recognising that not every player wants such a lengthy commitment, Thomas is also developing a streamlined version focused on trains, metro systems, and monorails, reducing playtime to under an hour.
For now, the game continues to grow through community. Interested players can discover it through social media and message the Simbly City account on Instagram directly. Sometimes, he and his team even carry the game to strangers' homes for play sessions. A growing network of players joins testing events, conventions, and game nights whenever additional participants are needed.
Thomas believes board games create opportunities for genuine social interaction in an increasingly digital world. That's why a printed rulebook remains an important part of the experience. "People don't want to keep opening their phones, even if it is to check the rules of the game itself" he says. "They want something tangible."
Board games create conversations. For introverts and extroverts alike, the structure of play naturally encourages interaction. In a way, that's what Simbly City has been about more than navigating a city, but helping people connect within it.
Follow Simbly City on Instagram and DM them to play a game with your friends and family.
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