Senthilnathan C and Subhatra Priyadarshini are welcoming young and old alike to try their hand at puzzles, board games and art & craft in Chennai. Untangle, as their house of puzzles is called, encourages enquiring minds and provides them the right ambience to solve, play and learn. Untangle opened to a full house in Feb 2020 but in just 40 days COVID applied brakes and slowed them down. But they persisted and now they’ve grown and scaled up to have two outlets in the city. Here’s their story.
Stepping into Untangle, Teynampet is like entering a world of make-believe. Walls stacked with rows upon rows of board games and puzzles greet us. We see groups of twos and threes poring over tables spread across the room. It’s quiet but one can almost feel brains ticking as they try to grapple with what’s before them. We’re brimming with questions and excited for our chat with cofounder Senthilnathan and his wife Subhatra, an engineer who graduated from Anna University.
Rolling the Die
“I did my schooling and college in Bengaluru, worked for Cognizant and Philips, pursued degrees from IIT Kozhikode and IIM Kozhikode, worked again with Citibank and Cit Financial for over 12 years. Throughout my life I’ve always itched to start a business of my own, but then I kept putting it off until in 2019 I decided to quit my corporate job. When posted in Delhi, my wife Subhatra started a home food business making chocolates and cakes called ‘Choc of the Town.’ So when we moved to Chennai she brought her business along. Her experience in entrepreneurship combined with my background working in corporates gave us the confidence to strike out on our own!” confesses Senthil.
Making Play Work
Interestingly Untangle was just one of the many ideas the couple was toying with. As part of their research, they visited other Boardgame Cafes in Chennai and realized they catered to adults only. This highlighted a challenge they were facing as a family at that point in time. When they went out as a couple they had to leave their four year old daughter behind and when they took her out to play they had to sit idle and wait for her. There was no space where they could enjoy themselves together. This sparked the idea to create a space where people across age groups could have a good time. Thus Untangle took shape.
Gadget-free Recharge
“One other appealing thing about this idea was getting people to spend time away from their phones. The positioning for Untangle was ‘gadget-free’! Finishing a puzzle gives a high which lasts for a few days and people enjoy this. That’s what keeps them coming back for more and it’s a good replacement to phones. We have many office goers come at the end of a busy week or even during lunch breaks to solve puzzles or play a board game. It’s like pressing a refresh button and they go back recharged!”
Going Viral
When Untangle was launched in Feb 2020, the response was amazing. With local newspapers covering the event, the space was booked on weekends and there was traffic through the week too. “We were so excited by this reponse that even when Covid brought the walkins down to zero we held on. We believed that we had a good thing going. But it wasn’t easy. We had to pay rent and salaries for one and half years while sitting idle. Finally in 2022 we started off properly. And we’ve not looked back since!”
Different Strokes for Different Folk
Untangle is now a regular hangout for friends. Young families come in to spend time together. While kids enjoy playdates at Untangle, their parents are also able to do their own thing. Sometimes three generations come together. “While people don’t come in for the food, we make sure they don’t go hungry. They can order from our limited menu from Choc of the Town. We also offer birthday packages. Sometimes the whole place is booked for a birthday party. And it’s not just young kids but even adults host parties at Untangle. Once a month we conduct Game Nights where customers can pair up with others to make up the required numbers for the games. This creates a whole new vibe!”
Game On!
So as a customer how does one use Untangle services? “Firstly you’ll need to call in to block a table. We charge Rs.250 for two hours per person for puzzles and games. When you come in your table will be ready and our Game Masters present you with options according to your preference including difficulty level. Once you’ve made your choice, the rules are explained to you and you then go ahead and get cracking!” Having someone explain and facilitate the games makes it more convenient and saves one the trouble of figuring out complicated rules. “The art and craft activities are charged between Rs.150 to Rs.600 and you get to take the art you create.”
Doubling the Team
With Senthil and Subhatra front-ending the business, they found it tough to take time out for themselves. “We have a Google rating of 5.0 and it was important for us to maintain the high standards. Would people they employ take as much care of the customers as they did? So one of the challenges we faced was how to scale up. Thankfully for us, Kirthika Sekar – one of our customers who became a friend and eventually a partner – suggested opening up a branch in T.Nagar. Seeing the same level of passion and love for the concept, we agreed and now we have two branches. This is great as when we had a single outlet we had to turn people away due to lack of space. Reservations are made for a couple of hours at a time and we need to allow people to complete their games. So a new branch came as a blessing and now we’re able to accommodate more customers.”
Staying Ahead of the Game
Another challenge in scaling up is procuring unique puzzles and games that Untangle is known for. Senthil stays abreast of the latest releases by following trends on various gaming forums and websites. Currently customers have 1200 puzzles and 400 board games to choose from! Senthil remarks that customers get so engrossed in solving that at one point when they had a powercut, everyone continued playing with their phone torches on in the dark, unmindful of the sweltering Chennai heat! Many customers have come back asking Untangle to conduct games at their offices. This has spawned the design of some new games which can be played by large corporate teams! Clearly the couple have brought something interesting to Chennai and have games aficianados in the city, thirsty for more.
Contact:
UntangleIndia on social media
