The Battle of

Polashi (পলাশী)

About the game and how to play

What it is

The Battle of Polashi is an online multiplayer social deduction game for 5 to 10 players, set around the Battle of Plassey (Polashi) in Bengal, 1757. Each player is secretly dealt a historical character on one of two sides. The loyal Nawabs try to win the campaign; the East India Company (EIC) conspirators hide among them and sabotage it from inside.

It runs in the browser: one player opens a room, shares the room code or invite link, and everyone joins from their own phone or computer. Nobody needs an account.

Step by step

A whole game from start to finish, as it looks on screen. The control to press is outlined in gold.

  1. The start screen with an alias typed in and the Establish New HQ button outlined.

    Step 1. Create a room

    Host

    Type an alias under Step 1, then press Establish New HQ. Whoever creates the room is the host and runs the game.

  2. The host’s screen showing the room code and the Invite Allies button, both outlined.

    Step 2. Share the room code

    Host

    The six-character room code appears next to your name (on a phone, tap your name bar to show it). Read it out, or press Invite Allies to copy a link that fills the code in for your friends.

  3. The start screen with a room code entered and the Infiltrate Existing HQ button outlined.

    Step 3. Join the room

    Everyone else

    Type an alias, enter the room code under Or join, and press Infiltrate Existing HQ.

  4. The host’s lobby with six players ready and the Begin Campaign button outlined.

    Step 4. Gather the battalion

    Host

    Everyone who joins is drafted into the battalion; tap a name in the roster to stand them down as an observer. With 5 to 10 players drafted, press Begin Campaign. Before that you can switch off Secret Intel, or press Secure Room so nobody else can join.

  5. The character picker with both sides full and the Start Game button outlined.

    Step 5. Choose the characters

    Host

    Mir Jafor and Mir Madan are always in. Pick characters for each side until the counts at the top of both columns are full, then press Start Game. Each player is dealt one at random.

  6. A revealed character card showing the character, the Nawabs side and a Secret Intelligence list.

    Step 6. Read your secret card

    Everyone

    Tap the Classified card to see your character and side; tap again to hide it. Some characters also get Secret Intelligence about other players. Keep your screen to yourself.

  7. The host’s screen with the Appoint General button outlined.

    Step 7. Appoint a General

    Host

    Press Appoint General. The game picks a player and announces them to everyone. The host does this at the start of every round, and again after a rejected battalion.

  8. The General’s Assemble Your Battalion panel with two players chosen and the Initiate Council Vote button outlined.

    Step 8. Pick the battalion

    The General

    Tap names until the battalion is the size shown for this round, then press Initiate Council Vote.

  9. The Council Deliberation screen with the Approve and Reject seals outlined.

    Step 9. Approve or reject

    Everyone

    Tap the green seal to Approve the battalion or the red seal to Reject it. Choices stay hidden until everyone has voted. If half or more reject it, the battalion is not sent.

  10. The Final Verdict screen showing Approved, with the Take Secret Vote button outlined.

    Step 10. Send the battalion

    Host

    The verdict shows how everyone voted. If the battalion is approved, press Take Secret Vote. If it was rejected, press Dismiss and appoint a new General.

  11. The Cast Secret Vote screen with the Success and Sabotage banners outlined.

    Step 11. Vote on the mission

    Players in the battalion

    Only the battalion votes, in secret: choose Success or Sabotage. Nawabs can only succeed, so a Nawab’s sabotage counts as a success.

  12. The Confirm Your Choice screen with the Confirm button outlined.

    Step 12. Confirm your vote

    Players in the battalion

    Press Confirm to lock in your choice, or Go Back to change it.

  13. The Final Verdict screen showing Mission Success, with the Dismiss button outlined.

    Step 13. See the result

    Everyone; the host moves on

    The result shows how many chose success and how many sabotage, never who. One sabotage loses the round (two in round 4 with 7 or more players). The host presses Dismiss to continue.

  14. The round tracker with two green rounds and the third in progress, outlined.

    Step 14. Follow the campaign

    Everyone

    The five circles track the rounds: green for a success, red for a failure, and a white ring for the round being played. The label under each circle is its battalion size.

  15. The roster with a Spy button next to each player, the first one outlined.

    Step 15. Use the Guptochor

    The Guptochor

    From round 3, the Guptochor may investigate one player: press Spy next to their name in the roster (on a phone, open the Marshalled list first). Only you see their side; everyone is told an investigation happened.

  16. The Final Betrayal screen with a list of players and one name outlined.

    Step 16. Mir Jafor’s final strike

    Mir Jafor

    If the Nawabs win three rounds, Mir Jafor names the player he thinks is Mir Madan. A right guess hands Bengal to the Company; a wrong one and the Nawabs win.

  17. The result screen announcing that the Nawabs win, with the Prepare New Campaign button outlined.

    Step 17. Game over

    Everyone; the host decides what next

    The winner is announced and every card is revealed. The host presses Prepare New Campaign to return to the lobby with the same players, or Close HQ to end the room.

The two sides

  • Nawabs — Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah, Lutfunnisa Begum, Mir Madan, Mohanlal and their allies. They are the majority, but they do not know who is on their side.
  • East India Company — Mir Jafor, Rai Durlabh, Ghaseti Begum, Omichand. Fewer in number, and they win by staying hidden.
Team sizes by player count
Players5678910
Nawabs344566
EIC223334

Your character card is shown only on your own screen. Depending on the room settings, some characters also receive secret intelligence about who else is who.

The characters and their powers

Before the game the host picks which characters are in play; Mir Jafor and Mir Madan are always in. What a character knows appears under Secret Intelligence on their card, unless the host has switched Secret Intel off.

  • Mir Jafor (Company) — sees who the other Company members are, and which of them is Omichand. If the Nawabs win three rounds, he gets one guess at who Mir Madan is: a right guess wins the game for the Company.
  • Rai Durlabh (Company) — sees the other Company members, and which of them is Omichand. Mir Madan cannot see him.
  • Ghaseti Begum (Company) — sees the other Company members, and which of them is Omichand. Mohanlal sees her name next to Mir Madan's, without knowing which is which.
  • Omichand (Company) — works alone: he is not told who the other Company members are, although they know him. His intel shows two decoy names.
  • Mir Madan (Nawabs) — sees every Company member except Rai Durlabh. He has to guide the Nawabs without giving himself away, because Mir Jafor's last strike is aimed at him.
  • Mohanlal (Nawabs) — sees two names, Mir Madan and Ghaseti Begum (if she is in play), but not which is which.
  • Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah, Lutfunnisa Begum, Sinfray and Debshi (Nawabs) — no special knowledge. Their intel shows two historical names that are not in the game, as decoys.

How a round works

The campaign is played over up to five rounds.

  1. A General is appointed. The General picks the battalion for this round. The size of the battalion is fixed by the round and the number of players.
  2. The council votes. Every player votes openly to approve or reject the proposed battalion. If half or more reject it, the battalion is not sent and a new proposal is needed.
  3. The battalion votes in secret. Each member chooses success or sabotage. Nawabs can only choose success; EIC members may sabotage. Only the count is revealed, never who voted what.
  4. The round is scored. One sabotage is enough to lose the round, except in round 4 with 7 or more players, where it takes two.
Battalion size per round
PlayersRound 1Round 2Round 3Round 4Round 5
523233
623434
72334*4
83445*5
93445*5
103445*5

* two sabotages needed to lose this round

From round 3 onward there is also a Guptochor (spy). The General of round 2 holds it first and may secretly learn which side one other player is on. The player they investigate holds the Guptochor in the following round. Everyone is told that an investigation happened, but only the investigator sees the answer.

Winning, and the Mir Jafor endgame

The East India Company wins as soon as three rounds are lost. If the Nawabs win three rounds first, the game is not over yet: Mir Jafor gets one last act of betrayal. He names the player he believes is Mir Madan, the Nawab's loyal commander. If he is right, the East India Company wins anyway. If he is wrong, the Nawabs win.

So the Nawab players who know the most have to steer the votes without making it obvious who they are.

Credits

This is an unofficial, fan-made digital adaptation of Polashi, a social deduction board game published by Playground Inc. (Bangladesh). It is not affiliated with or endorsed by Playground Inc., and it uses none of their artwork, logos or rulebook text. The core mechanics come from The Resistance: Avalon by Don Eskridge.

Privacy

There are no accounts and no sign-in, and the game sets no cookies. You play under an alias of your choice, so you don't need to use your real name.

Your browser keeps the room code, your player id and a rejoin key so a reload puts you back in your seat. Leaving the room, being removed or the room closing deletes them. It also keeps a random device key, which stays after you leave so your games on this device can be grouped. It isn't linked to your name or any account. It also remembers the language you picked.

While a game runs, the server holds the room in memory and deletes it once everyone has gone. When a game starts it saves a record for statistics: the room code, each player's alias, device key, role and side, every proposed team with each player's vote on it, each mission's votes and result, Guptochor checks, dropped connections, and how the game ended. Records are kept with no set end date.

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Questions, or want your records removed? Email mahiralkamal.mak@gmail.com.

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