''Desi Adda: Games of India'' is a collection of video games developed by

Gameshastra Gameshastra is a video game company headquartered in Hyderabad, India with offices in Japan and Europe. The company tests, develops and publishes games for dedicated gaming consoles including the Sony PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Nin ...

and published by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. It was released for

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...

on October 27, 2009. It was later released for

PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PAL regions on September 1, 2005, ...

and was the first Indian developed game to be added to

PlayStation Network PlayStation Network (PSN) is a digital media entertainment service provided by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Launched in November 2006, PSN was originally conceived for the PlayStation video game consoles, but soon extended to encompass smartp ...

. The game is in four languages: English, Hindi,

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

and

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a British Th ...

Gameplay

''Desi Adda'' consists of a collection of cultural games from India, based on traditional Indian sports. These include

kite fighting Fighter kites are kites used for the sport of kite fighting. Traditionally most are small, unstable single-line flat kites where line tension alone is used for control, at least part of which is manja, typically glass-coated cotton strands, ...

, kabaddi, pachisi, bagh-chal and

gilli-danda Gilli Danda (also spelled Gulli-Danda) also known as Viti Dandu, Kitti-Pul and by other variations, is a sport Traditional games of India, originating from the Indian subcontinent, played in the rural areas and small towns all over South Asia ...

. The player is placed in an Indian village, where they can play the different games with other villagers and converse with them. The player will learn from the villagers of a couple in love and must interact with different villagers in order to progress the story. An additional beat-matching dance game is unlocked by completing the story.

Plot

The player takes the role of Avinash, the son of an

NRI NRI or Nri may refer to : * Kingdom of Nri, an Igbo kingdom that flourished between the 10th century and early 20th century * National Radio Institute, a now defunct post-secondary vocational correspondence school * National Resources Inventory * N ...

businessman. Avinash has lived abroad but returns on a trip to his ancestral village. During his visit, he meets Gowri and Gopal, a couple who are in love. The village head, Garjan Singh, opposes their match. Through his interactions with villagers, Avinash helps the couple gain approval for their wedding.

Development

The game was developed by

, an Indian-based developer. Sony Computer Entertainment Europe published the game, with the goal of helping keep the PlayStation 2 market in India alive. It is the first game developed entirely in India to be released on the

and included three languages. ''Desi Adda'' was designed for both home consoles and handheld devices, and oriented towards casual gaming. It was targeted towards a first-time gamer audience between the ages of 8 and 15.

Reception

Bollywood Hungama was critical of the bonus beat matching game, calling it a "showstopper" as the controls were not very responsive. They were more receptive towards the Gilli Danda game, saying that the unpredictability made it fun. Ultimately however, they did not feel the game was worth the price. ET Now noted that the game was very simple in terms of gameplay and graphics and was not really appealing to gamers over the age of ten.

References

{{Reflist, refs= {{cite web, url=http://www.livemint.com/Industry/jalawTnfEWwlzvH0efF3CP/PlayStation-still-has-a-long-way-to-go-in-Indian-market.html, work= Live Mint, title=PlayStation still has a long way to go in Indian market, first=Shuchi, last= Bansal, date=November 3, 2009, accessdate=December 15, 2015 {{cite news, url=http://www.business-standard.com/article/technology/sony-goes-desi-to-appeal-to-first-time-gamers-109110900049_1.html, work= Business Standard, title=Sony goes desi to appeal to first-time gamers, first=Aabhas , last=Sharma, date=November 9, 2009, accessdate=December 15, 2015 {{cite web, url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/gallery/Sony+unveils+Desi+Adda/1/2160.html, title=Sony unveils Desi Adda, date=November 10, 2009, work= India Today, accessdate=December 15, 2015 {{cite web, url=http://www.siliconera.com/2010/01/03/desi-adda-games-of-india-sonys-second-attempt-at-breaking-into-india/, title=Desi Adda: Games of India, Sony's Second Attempt At Breaking Into India, author=Ishaan, date=January 3, 2010, work= Siliconera, accessdate=December 15, 2015 {{cite web, url=http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/desi-adda--games-of-india-compilation-of-traditional-indian-games-available-for-download-in-europe-from-tomorrow, title=Desi Adda: Games of India, author=GamesIndustry International, work= GamesIndustry.biz, date=February 24, 2010, accessdate=December 15, 2015 {{cite web, url=http://www.sony.co.in/microsite/playstation/product/desi_adda/game.html, publisher= Sony, title=Desi Adda:Games of India, accessdate=December 15, 2015 {{cite web, url=http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movies/features/type/view/id/620/, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222101325/http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movies/features/type/view/id/620/, url-status=dead, archive-date=December 22, 2015, work= Bollywood Hungama, title=Game Review: Desi Adda, date=January 7, 2010, accessdate=December 15, 2015 {{cite AV media, url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mbTCpDz0Ts, work= ET Now, title=Review- Desi Adda: Games of India, date=February 23, 2010, accessdate=December 15, 2015 2009 video games India-exclusive video games PlayStation 2 games PlayStation Portable games Single-player video games Sports video games Video games developed in India Video games set in India Gameshastra games