About Vanikar™
Merchants of Software Craftsmanship
An ancient word for a timeless craft
Vanikar comes from Tamil, one of the world's oldest living languages — and our founders' native tongue. For millennia, Tamil vanikars sailed distant seas and built trusted trade networks, renowned not just for what they sold, but for the integrity, skill, and relationships behind every exchange.
We chose the name because we see software the same way: a fair exchange of value — deep expertise and honest craftsmanship in return for your trust. Like the merchants of old, we build things meant to travel far and last long.
Who we are
Vanikar™ crafts software that solves real-world problems — from immersive games to intelligent, AI-powered systems. Behind the studio is 21+ years of professional software engineering on mission-critical platforms for banking, defense & aerospace, and global retail — environments where software has to work the first time, and every time after. That discipline, paired with hands-on generative-AI practice and a craftsman's attention to quality, is what we bring to every table we build.
What we're building
Vanikar Games is the home for everything we make. Card Games by Vanikar brings more than thirty classic card games from every continent — Hearts, Spades, Scopa, Durak, Belote, Indian Rummy and more — to iOS, Android and the browser. Chess & Checkers by Vanikar plays chess, draughts on two boards and Chinese checkers in the browser, offline against the engine or online against another player. Board Games by Vanikar sets ten boards on the table: Snakes and Ladders on seven boards, the Tamil classics Dhayam, Aadu Puli Aattam and Pallanguzhi, Mancala, and our own Guilds to Galaxies. Strategy Games by Vanikar is in development. One account and one subscription cover all of it — with no ads, ever.
Card Games by Vanikar
Card Games by Vanikar is our love letter to the world's favorite card games — 59 of them, drawn from traditions on every continent: quick classics like High Card and Go Fish, deep strategy games like Cribbage, Belote, and Skat, and beloved regional games like Indian Rummy, Truco, and Tiến Lên. Every game ships with a detailed play guide, responsive AI opponents at multiple difficulty levels, and full offline support — polished experiences that entertain, teach, and connect people.
Chess & Checkers by Vanikar
Chess & Checkers by Vanikar brings the game of kings to your browser — chess, draughts on two boards and Chinese checkers. Play offline against an engine with three levels, or online against another player in a timed game with a clock, on seven boards in 2D or 3D.
Board Games by Vanikar
Board Games by Vanikar sets ten boards on the table: Snakes and Ladders on seven boards, the old boards it grew from on the Tamil stick dice, Dhayam, Aadu Puli Aattam, the sowing games Pallanguzhi and Mancala, and our own Guilds to Galaxies. Two to four to a board, against the computer or online with friends and family.
How it works
The app is free to download, and every game is free during your 2-week trial — no credit card needed to start playing. After the trial, keep any 3 games of your choice free forever for CPU play, or go Premium to unlock everything: online multiplayer, private tables with friends and family, and all future games and features as they arrive.
The app is currently in English, with more languages coming soon.
Get in touch
Have feedback, a bug report, or a favorite game we should build next? Visit our support page — or learn more about the studio at vanikar.com.