Deck of kings: Bengaluru teen’s card game makes history lessons fun

Tired of memorising names and dates from history textbooks? A class 10 student Sinchana S from Bengaluru has designed a card game, featuring 50 Indian rulers to make learning more engaging for children.

Inspired by Pokemon trading cards, 15-year-old Sinchana developed a deck that is based on rulers featured in NCERT textbooks from Classes 7 to 10. Each card assigns scores for attributes such as military power, welfare, wealth and historical impact, allowing players to compete by comparing strengths of rulers, ranging from Ashoka and Krishnadevaraya to Shivaji Maharaj.

The idea struck her while watching friends effortlessly recall details of hundreds of Pokémon characters. “With one game, children could remember so many Pokémon. I wondered why we couldn’t learn history the same way,” she said.

What began as a simple idea in Nov last year evolved into months-long project, involving multiple redesigns, play-testing sessions and feedback from friends, cousins and teachers. Using Canva and AI tools to create the visuals, she revised the deck nearly six times before finalising it in May this year.

The game has already been introduced in her school, where history teachers encouraged students to play it during class. She also distributed around 170 card sets to BBMP schools, personally demonstrating the game to students. “The goal is not to make children memorise facts but to spark curiosity. If they come across a ruler in the game and later, want to know more about them, the game has done its job,” she said.

A history enthusiast since childhood, Sinchana credits family trips to historical sites such as Hampi, Badami, Pattadakal and the Shore Temple, along with stories narrated by her father, for nurturing her interest in the subject. The family has so far printed about 200 sets of the laminated cards.

Interestingly, the teenager is already working on her next idea — a finance-themed educational game aimed at helping students understand saving, investing and personal finance. “I love finance and I might also perceive it in my higher studies. Now after these cards, I am exploring if I can do something to simply finance and understand finance better,” she said.

Sinchana’s efforts were recently recognised by Bengaluru West City Corporation, which sent her an appreciation letter for developing an innovative learning tool after she donated cards to govt schools. While the family is exploring ways to expand its reach, Sinchana’s father Santosh Kumar said the primary goal remains educational. “We want more students to enjoy learning history.”

Source: The Times of India