Catherine Raphaely’s Escape From Samsara

WORDS Michaela Stehr PHOTOS Hayden Phipps

A new high-end board game called Escape from Samsara, which incorporates spiritual and esoteric elements, is also a work of art. We spoke to its designer, Catherine Raphaely.

What made you design a board game?

I love design and it was a pleasure project that I embarked on after selling my shares in a safari company in Botswana. I totally indulged myself and made the board game that I wanted to own. Almost all the components are lovingly designed and beautifully made from scratch.

Who else was involved in the design and production of the game?

Everything except the egg timer was made and sourced in Cape Town. I was fortunate to be able to draw on a network of creative friends and contacts to help me execute my ideas. Sam Hendricks, the graphic designer who worked on the game, is really good at making things, so I was lucky, as she got involved with extra stuff like covering boxes. Chloe Townsend from Missibaba and her incredible seamstress Desiree Richards stayed up all night making my bags. Ida Elsje carved the karma beans and made the dice. Jasper Eales provided me with professor-like critiques and lots of helpful technical advice and leads. Orms printed the beautiful Perspex lid and Mike Ormrod kindly put me in touch with other production people.

There were a lot of other manufacturing types from Retreat and Voortrekker Road who took the time to do small runs for me. Sam also managed to find an expert printer, Bernt Shuttler from Digital Action, to print and foil our cards. On the writing side, Dylan Culhane helped me and I think gave the game the perfect doleful, gnomic yet funny tone.

What makes this game fun?

It’s a strange mix of deep and silly. You’ll laugh a lot but you also might just cry. It’s going to teach you things you never knew about yourself and your friends. Just as in life, there are a lot of elements to the game. Luck and strategy play a role, but there are also yoga poses, psychic tests, dice rolls and even silly forfeits.

How many people can play and how long does a typical game session last?

Between three and eight people can play and you can double up in couples, but it works best with four to six individual players. The game is obviously quicker with fewer people, but may take up to 2 hours.

What are you doing to market it?

I’m putting together a digital brochure and a website, and will use that to market it directly to the public and to selected stores. When I have enough orders, I’ll take deposits and make up the game.

For more information, email info@escapefromsamsaragame.com.