Strategy game
Bharata 600 BC
Build an ancient Indian kingdom; dice-free battles, handmade Channapatna pieces.
- Set-up
- About 10 min
- Reading
- Some
The quick verdict
Full verdict ↓Great for Families with teenagers who have outgrown Ludo and Business and want a proper strategy game
Think twice if You want something to play quickly after dinner; even the Basic game can take an hour
How we rate it
Learning curve. The Basic game sits around Catan's level or a little lighter. One reviewer taught it in about 10 minutes, and the publisher-sponsored video covers it in about 11. The Advanced game adds events, ability cards and hidden tokens, but reviewers say it adds variety more than rules.
Luck & skill. There are no dice, and battles are planned with hidden army cards. But resource cards help some players more than others, and army cards are drawn unseen. One independent reviewer felt this luck, and uneven starting positions, outweighed the planning.
Set-up. The pieces come sorted in small card trays, so setting up is mostly putting the trays out, placing each capital, fort and two armies on the map, and dealing tracker boards and cards. Reviewers call it quick and easy. Allow longer for the first game, and a few more minutes for the Advanced game's event and hidden tokens. The publisher gives no setup time, so this is our estimate.
Reading. Rules and cards are in English. Ability and event cards have short text, and a Hindi how-to-play video is available.
Learning curve: 1 = UNO or Connect 4; 3 = Catan; 5 = a heavy strategy game. These describe the experience, not an overall score.
Paid link · We may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.
Is Bharata 600 BC right for you?
Great if
- Families with teenagers who have outgrown Ludo and Business and want a proper strategy game
- Friends who like Catan but want battles decided by planning rather than dice
- History lovers: the map shows the 16 Mahajanapadas of around 600 BC, and the coins are modelled on punch-marked coins from that period
- A gift that looks good on the shelf, with hand-made Channapatna wooden pieces and a gold-foil cover
Skip it if
- You want something to play quickly after dinner; even the Basic game can take an hour
- Your group dislikes direct conflict, because armies attack each other and take each other's regions
- You want a cheap first game; it costs more than most family games
How Bharata 600 BC plays
Each player rules one of the Mahajanapadas, the great kingdoms of the Indian subcontinent around 600 BC. You start with a capital city guarded by a fort, two armies, and markers on your player board that track your victory points and your stocks of iron, wood and food.
- Time to teach: about 15 minutes for the Basic version.
- Reading and language: The box, rulebook and cards are in English, so at least one person should be comfortable reading English rules and card text. The publisher's FAQ links how-to-play videos in both English and Hindi, which helps if some players at the table prefer Hindi.
Bharata 600 BC – How to Play · Chai & Games (made with GoIndia Games)
Choose a video · Watch right here
If this creator doesn’t allow embedded playback, watch on YouTube ↗.
A turn, step by step
- 1Collect
Turn over a resource card. Every player takes what it shows, such as two wood each, or double the resource you have least of.
- 2Spend
Swap iron, wood and food for coins, sell trade goods if you hold a sea port, and buy army cards for 2 coins each. You draw them unseen, so you don't know how strong they are until you have them.
- 3Act
Take two actions, or three if you pay a coin: march an army to a neighbouring region, take over an empty region by paying its cost, or attack a rival. In a battle both sides secretly pick army cards and show them together; the defender adds the region's strength and the higher total wins.
- 4Win
Regions you hold are worth points, and you lose them if the region is taken. You also score for goals such as holding four ports or winning three battles. The first to 20 points wins, or 25 with two players.
The full explanation: how a game of Bharata 600 BC goes
A turn starts with a resource card that gives every player some supplies. You can then sell goods for coins, sell trade goods if you hold a port, and buy army cards. After that you take two free actions, and can pay a coin for each extra one: march an army into a neighbouring region, take over a region, collect a region's resources, or attack a rival.
Battles use no dice. The attacker and the defender each secretly commit army cards from the army involved and reveal them together, and the defender adds the strength printed on the region. The higher total wins the region and whatever it holds. An army that loses all its cards is removed and comes back at its capital.
The first player to reach 20 victory points wins, or 25 in a two-player game. Points come from conquering regions and from completing victory-point goals. The Advanced version adds event cards that place floods, disease and riots on the map, hidden tokens to uncover and special ability cards, which makes games longer and less predictable.
The box is big: more than 550 components, including 64 wooden pieces hand-made by Channapatna craftspeople and coloured with natural dyes, a large illustrated map of ancient India, and separate components for the Basic and Advanced versions.
What's in the box
- 1Game board
large illustrated map of the Indian subcontinent around 600 BC - 1Rulebook
English - 4Quick-start cards
- 4Player tracker boards
peg tracks for victory points, iron, wood and food, and spaces for your two armies' cards - 16Personality cards
- 32Resource modifier cards
- 80Army cards
- 80Coins
with markings based on punch-marked coins of the period - 30Trade objects
- 5VP condition prize cards
- 8Wooden armies
hand-made in Channapatna; two per player - 40Wooden forts
hand-made in Channapatna - 16Wooden tracker pegs
hand-made in Channapatna; four per player - 36Ability cards
Advanced game - 16Ability action completion tokens
Advanced game - 70Event cards
Advanced game - 88Event tokens
Advanced game - 25Hidden tokens
Advanced game
Box: 30.5 × 24.5 × 7 cm, 2.44 kg. Handy to know for gifting and travel.
Counts are printed on the back of the box (photo g02, from the publisher) and match an Indian listing sold by GoIndia Games. That makes 552 pieces plus the box, including 64 wooden pieces. The last five items are used only in the Advanced game. Details in brackets come from the box photos and reviews.
Where to buy
Paid link · We may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.
How to make sure you get a genuine copyEditions and the details worth checking.
What reviewers and players say
Reviewers mostly praise how Bharata 600 BC looks and feels: the hand-made Channapatna wooden pieces, the big map of ancient India and the plastic-free box come up again and again, and the Basic rules are said to be quick to learn. The most detailed independent review found that luck in the cards and uneven starting kingdoms spoiled it for his group. He also points out that playing with more than four people means playing in pairs. Coverage is thin and mostly from the 2020–21 launch, and one of the main video reviews was sponsored by the publisher.
What people love
- The production: hand-turned Channapatna wooden armies and forts, a large illustrated map and a box with almost no plastic.
- The setting: you rule one of the 16 Mahajanapadas, with coins based on punch-marked coins from the period, which history lovers enjoy.
- Quick to learn and quick turns. The Basic game suits newcomers, and one reviewer's group played a Basic and an Advanced game in one evening, taking about an hour each.
- No dice in battles, and the Advanced game's ability cards and events add more choices once you know the basics.
Common complaints
- Luck still matters: resource cards can help some players far more than others, and army cards are drawn unseen, so one player may hold strong cards while another holds weak ones.
- Starting kingdoms aren't equal. Some start next to ports and rich regions, so the others have to gang up on them early.
- '2–8 players' on the box means teams of two sharing a kingdom once you have more than four players, not eight separate kingdoms.
Based on 5 reviews and discussions
- Review Bharata 600BC (Tomasz and Sharon, December 2020) · BoardGamesWithCouple
- Video Bharata 600 BC - Regelübersicht und Meinung (rules overview and opinion, in German, December 2025) · Tilestyle (YouTube)
- Video Bharata 600 BC - Unboxing & Review (December 2020) · Chai & Games (YouTube)
- Press The designers bringing Indian culture into the world of board games (July 2021) · The National
- Review A slice of Indian history on a board game! (Karthik S, December 2020) · Beast of Traal
Summarised in our own words from the sources above. We don't use Amazon reviews or ratings.
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YOU’RE VIEWING
Bharata 600 BC
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ANOTHER WAY TO PLAY
Catan
|
|---|---|---|
| Why consider it | This game Build an ancient Indian kingdom; dice-free battles, handmade Channapatna pieces. | A different fit Also about gathering resources and growing your territory, with more trading and less fighting |
| Players | 2–4 | 3–4 |
| Best with | 3-4 | 4 |
| Play time | 30–90 min | 60–90 min |
| Age | 14+ | 10+ |
| Rules | Medium | Medium |
| Indian edition | Available | Available |
| On this page | Explore Catan |
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Also worth a look (not in our catalogue yet): Risk – The classic conquer-the-map game; Bharata swaps Risk's dice battles for hidden army cards.
Questions people ask about Bharata 600 BC
Is Bharata 600 BC made in India?
Yes. GoIndia Games, a Bengaluru company, designs and publishes it and says all its products are 100% made in India. The 64 wooden pieces are hand-made by Channapatna craftspeople and coloured with natural dyes.
Can two people play Bharata 600 BC?
Yes. The box is for 2 to 4 players, and in a two-player game you need 25 victory points to win instead of 20. The publisher also says the game can be extended to 8 players.
Can 8 people play Bharata 600 BC?
Yes, but in teams. The box has four kingdoms, so with five to eight people, players pair up and share one kingdom's board and pieces. With three or four teams the target is 20 points; with two teams it's 25.
What age is Bharata 600 BC suitable for?
The box says 14 and up. The publisher adds that customers report it working with children of about 11, and sometimes 8, which is most realistic with the Basic version and an adult who knows the rules.
Does Bharata 600 BC use dice?
No. Battles are settled with army cards that both sides reveal at the same time, and the defender gets a bonus from the region. Fights depend on how you have built and spent your armies rather than on a lucky roll.
Game facts
- Designed by
- Cristina Maiorescu, Sumit Sinha
- Publisher
- GoIndia Games (Terrals Entertainment Pvt. Ltd., Bengaluru)
- In India
- GoIndia Games (the publisher itself)
- First published
- 2020
- Players
- 2–4 kingdoms; with 5–8 people, players pair up and share a kingdom
- Barcode
- 0793591682525
- Language
- Some English – The box, rulebook and cards are in English, so at least one person should be comfortable reading English rules and card text. The publisher's FAQ links how-to-play videos in both English and Hindi, which helps if some players at the table prefer Hindi.
- Box size and weight
- 30.5 × 24.5 × 7 cm, 2.44 kg
Sources & photo creditsThe references behind this guide.
Facts on this page come from the publisher, the Indian maker or distributor, and the sources below. Photos are credited under each one.