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Board game based on 1863-64 anti-Russian uprising created in Belarus

A board game revolving around the 1863-64 anti-Russian uprising was launched in an art gallery in Minsk this past weekend.

Titled Insurgents, the game allows participants to take on the roles of insurgency leader Kastus Kalinowski, Russian imperial statesman Mikhail Muravyov and other historical figures.

Six to 20 people can enter a game. Each contestant can use trickery and kill off others, while gameplay is based on discussions and voting by participants. The entire narration is done in Belarusian.

The game has been created by Hrodna-based writer and folk art enthusiast Anton Yankowski and designer Nastasya Lukashkova.

"The game is fully consistent with the events of the 1863 uprising," Mr. Yankowski told BelaPAN. "The game's characters are 10 insurgents, real-life figures who took part in the events, nine imperial officials and 20 fictional Belarusians."

"We have no Belarusian board games," he said. "There are Russian, European, other, but there's not a single Belarusian one. And I thought why I could not create one. This is the first board game that characterizes Belarus, its history, and which tells young people about the uprising in an entertaining way." //BelaPAN