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SHASN box
Box image: SHASN official store

Strategy game · Designed in India · Indian edition available

SHASN

Indian-made election game where your policy answers fund your campaign.

Players
3–5
Best with
4
Play time
2–4 hrs
Age
14+
Rules
Involved
Language
Needs English

SHASN is an Indian-designed political strategy game in which 3 to 5 players fight an election. You answer real policy questions to earn money, clout, media and public trust, then spend them to win voters across nine zones. It suits groups who enjoy long, argumentative game nights and don't mind politics at the table. At 2 to 4 hours and rated 14+, it is not a casual family game.

Is SHASN right for your table?

A good pick for

  • Groups of 4 or 5 friends who enjoy debating politics over chai
  • Long weekend game nights with older cousins or college friends
  • Players who enjoy making deals and breaking them as much as planning
  • A gift for someone who follows elections closely

Skip it if

  • You want a game that finishes in under an hour
  • Political arguments at your table tend to turn personal
  • You mostly play as a couple or with children under 14

How SHASN plays

Each player is a politician trying to win an election. The board is split into nine zones, like constituencies, and each zone has a fixed number of voter seats.

On your turn, the player next to you reads out a question from an Ideology card. These are real dilemmas, the kind you hear argued about on news debates, and each has two possible answers. Your answer decides which of four ideologies the card counts towards (the Capitalist, the Supremo, the Showstopper or the Idealist). It also decides which resources you collect: funds, clout, media or trust.

You spend those resources to buy voters and place them in a zone. Once you hold the majority in a zone, it is locked in as yours. Collecting several cards of one ideology unlocks special powers. Conspiracy cards let you make sneaky moves, Headline cards bring in sudden news events, and whoever controls a zone can gerrymander by shifting voters across its borders.

The game ends when every zone has a majority, or when the board fills up. Only voters in the zones you control count at the end, so you can have the most voters on the board and still lose, much like a real first-past-the-post election.

Takes about 25 minutes to teach. Every turn starts with a policy question read aloud in English, and the cards carry a lot of text. Everyone at the table needs to be comfortable reading and discussing in English, though the arguments that follow can happen in any language.

Buying SHASN in India

SHASN is designed and published in India, and Memesys sells the India Essential Edition directly at ₹3,499 (MRP ₹4,499). It was sold out on 4 Oct 2026. An Essential Edition for overseas markets (SKU GAD01300, sold through Asmodee UK and others) also appears on Amazon.in as 'Shasn: Essential Edition'. That one is likely to cost more and take longer to arrive, so look for the India edition first.

The current base game in India is the Essential Edition (India). It plays 3 to 5 from the box and comes with the India campaign deck. The publisher sells a 2-player mode separately as the 'Alternate Game Board', listed at ₹499. The 2019 Kickstarter also produced Standard and Founder's editions. Add-ons include USA, UK Brexit, Rome (Fall of the Republic) and Earth 2040 campaigns, an India 2022-23 deck, and SHASN Elites (13 extra characters). All of these showed as sold out on the official India store on 4 Oct 2026. Several have their own Amazon.in listings: Alternate Game Board B09715D7J1, Rome Deck B096ZWQQ1K, USA Campaign B0DJ3JSBKL, Elites B0FVMS4P7T and Earth 2040 B0CJMFCBZQ. SHASN: AZADI (Kickstarter 2021) is a separate, standalone game. You first play semi-cooperatively as revolutionaries against an imperial power, and then it turns into SHASN-style competition to lead the new republic. Its Kickstarter Collector's Edition was listed at ₹14,999 (sold out), and playshasn.com links to a BackerKit pre-order. For most buyers, the original SHASN is the one to look for.

How to make sure you get a genuine copy

Clone risk: Low
  • The box and listing should name SHASN and Memesys Culture Lab. The publisher's own India store is shasnthegame.com.
  • The publisher's India price was ₹3,499 (MRP ₹4,499). A new copy far below that from an unknown seller is worth questioning before you pay.
  • The India Essential box says 3-5 players, with the 2-player board sold separately. A box claiming something different may be another edition.
  • Check the contents list. The India Essential Edition has 60 voter cards, 250 voter tokens, 108 ideology cards, 20 conspiracy cards and 20 headline cards.
  • On Amazon.in or Flipkart, check who the seller is and whether they are linked from the official SHASN site or are an established game store.

No obvious knock-off SHASN listings turned up in Amazon.in search results on 4 Oct 2026. Fakes are a smaller concern for this game than finding it in stock, since the publisher's India store showed the base game as sold out.

If SHASN isn't quite right

Catan box

Catan

3–4 players60–90 min10+
from ₹3,299 genuine

Also built on trading, table talk and deal-making, but shorter and friendlier

Also worth a look (not in our catalogue yet): El Grande – A classic area-majority game about controlling regions, without the politics debate; Hegemony: Lead Your Class to Victory – Another heavy political-economy game for groups who want even more depth.

Questions people ask about SHASN

Is SHASN an Indian board game?

Yes. It was designed by Zain Memon and published by Memesys Culture Lab, a Goa-based studio, and launched in 2019. Its Kickstarter raised $339,045 from 4,209 backers.

Can 2 people play SHASN?

Not with the India Essential box on its own, which is for 3 to 5 players. The publisher sells a 2-player mode separately as the Alternate Game Board (listed at ₹499, sold out when checked on 4 Oct 2026).

What is the difference between SHASN and SHASN: Azadi?

SHASN is fully competitive: everyone is a politician chasing votes. SHASN: Azadi is a standalone follow-up that starts as a semi-cooperative fight for independence, with campaigns including South Asian Independence 1947. It then turns into a SHASN-style contest to lead the new country.

How long does a game of SHASN take?

The publisher puts it at about 2 to 4 hours, and games with 5 players or first-timers run towards the long end. Plan a full evening rather than a quick game after dinner.

Sources

Facts on this page come from the publisher, Indian distributors and the store listings below. Prices were checked on 4 October 2026.

Prototype notes for review (won't appear on the live site)
  • Amazon match: exact link, medium confidence. Listing title seen: "SHASN Political Strategy Board Game".
  • How it was found: WebSearch 'SHASN board game amazon.in Memesys' and 'site:amazon.in SHASN board game' -> https://www.amazon.in/Political-Strategy-Children-Politics-Multicolor/dp/B0C1NNBL73 (also seen as https://www.amazon.in/gp/aw/review/B0C1NNBL73/... titled 'SHASN The Political Strategy Board Game for Adults and Children'). Alternative listing in the same results: 'Shasn: Essential Edition' https://www.amazon.in/Flat-River-Group-228462-Shasn/dp/B09Y27561X, which looks like the overseas edition.
  • The exact edition and the seller on Amazon.in listing B0C1NNBL73. The search result showed no brand, seller, price or stock.
  • Whether the Flipkart seller BTPLD (₹2,428, 46% below MRP) is an authorised Memesys reseller. That price is left out of price_range_inr for this reason.
  • Playing time varies by source: about 2-4 hours (publisher's India store), 60-120 min (Asmodee UK), and 90-180 min at 2 players up to 4-6 hours at 5 players (Wikipedia). The publisher's figure is used.
  • Minimum age: the publisher says 14+, but the Hamleys India listing says 10Y+. The Hamleys page showed no price or stock.
  • Whether SHASN: AZADI is currently available to Indian retail buyers. playshasn.com shows a BackerKit pre-order link, and the India store's Kickstarter Collector's Edition is sold out.
  • Whether Amazon.in listing B09Y27561X ('Shasn: Essential Edition', URL mentions Flat River Group) is the overseas edition, and how it differs from the India edition.
  • Fine scoring details. The how_it_plays section is summarised from reviews and Wikipedia, not from the rulebook itself.