Basant: Festival of Kites 2027

Basant is a medium-weight strategy game for 2 to 4 players set in Lahore during the 2026 revival of the city's historic spring kite-flying festival. After 25 years of a province-wide ban, the skies of Lahore are open again. The old kite-making khandans (families) of the Walled City have to rebuild their workshops, revive their supply chains, and stake a claim to the festival's returning cultural legacy. But the same dangers that killed Basant the first time are back too: contraband metal-wire strings, unregistered kite factories, and a police force with drones on every rooftop.

Each player controls a rival khandan in Androon Lahore. Through worker placement across neighborhoods like Mochi Gate, Bansanwala Bazaar, and Gawalmandi, players gather bamboo, kite paper, and thread; craft kites of different sizes; and sell them to locals, tourists, and overseas cousins returning for the festival. A deck-builder layer represents the Karigar (craftsman) Crew: as your khandan's reputation regrows, you recruit apprentices, masters, and contacts whose card effects unlock new tactical options. On the roof, rival kites clash in pechas (aerial duels) resolved by kite quality, string sharpness, and a little luck, netting you reputation and clientele.

Players choose how much to risk. Legal cotton thread is safe but limits your cutting edge. Contraband manjha cuts ribbons through your rivals but accrues law enforcement heat and raises the shared Festival Heat tracker. If Festival Heat gets too high, incidents begin: power grid shorts, motorcyclist injuries, police raids, finally a full crackdown that ends Basant early. The player who contributes most to a successful revival wins, but if the festival collapses, and the player that triggers the collapse becomes first loser. Thus it becomes a delicate balance between maintaining an edge, keeping law enforcement off of your case, and not allowing Basant to be cancelled once again, after he 25-year ban.

—description from the publisher