Holy Week in Malaga is now a game: from Trivial Pursuit to Guess Who?

Imagine playing a game of trivia, goose, UNO, or Guess Who?, but where the questions and squares revolve around images from Holy Week in Málaga, thrones, history, and curiosities of the brotherhood world. This is an idea that has been turned into reality by Pablo Cañete, a native of Málaga, raised in neighborhoods like Miraflores or Pedregalejo who, after studying Fine Arts in Seville, began in 2011 to design board games under his own brand, Arte Cañete—with an online store—, to enjoy and learn about Holy Week. "I always had in mind to make these games because when I was a kid there were none," he says. Being based in the capital of Seville, he started with the Holy Week of Seville, but in 2025 decided to jump to his hometown. "I was very eager and we have expanded the catalog," he confesses.

The star game, Cañete specifies, is the trivial Málaga Cofrade, with more than 1,200 questions about Holy Week, divided into four categories: history, curiosities, images, and music. "For example, in the music section, there are questions where you listen to a piece of a march and you have to guess the name," he explains. The creator comments that the difficulty of the game is 60-40, meaning 60% of the questions are complicated, while the rest are standard. "In the images section, images of the Captive or the eyes of the Esperanza might appear," he points out.

He had the help of two people from the Brotherhood of the Dove during its six-month development process and admits that without them he could not have managed to create the game. "It has been a very complicated job because there is a lot of information that is not digitized," he adds. The motto of his store is To learn while playing, therefore, the development of these games involves a very elaborate research work so that the Málaga brotherhood members can learn more about this festival. So far, the creator states that the acceptance of the game is good, as they have sold hundreds of units. "Even, they are demanding a question update," he comments. Cañete, aware of the annual changes that Holy Week experiences, confirms that there will be an update in the coming years.

Pablo Cañete poses with the trivial Málaga Cofrade and the Guess Who? / M. H.

Guess Who?, A Pulso and the goose game of the Holy Week of Málaga

For the brotherhood members who do not have much knowledge and for the younger ones, Cañete offers in his store three other board games about Holy Week in Málaga. One of them is the traditional Guess Who? but with 48 images, instead of 24, featuring images of the titles of each Brotherhood or Fraternity. "The initial question is whether it is a Christ, a Virgin, or a secondary image from some sculptural group," explains Cañete. The following questions will be details of the images to guess the opponent's choice. "With this game, especially the little ones, learn about imagery and differentiate one from another," the creator points out.

Cofrade Guess Who?, another one of the Arte Cañete games. / M. H.

Another one is A Pulso Málaga, similar to UNO. The traditional game colors are changed for Christs, Virgins, sculptural groups, and shields of the brotherhoods and fraternities, and instead of numbers, the day each one processes is used, including the Brotherhoods of the eve. "If a card of a sculptural group from Holy Wednesday is played, the next player has to throw either a sculptural group from any day or a card from Holy Wednesday," he explains. There are also cards to add dynamism such as Brotherhood with delay (you must draw a card), throne bell (to change suit) and rain (changes the direction of the game). The player who is left with one card must say aloud the phrase "next time on impulse" and when he runs out of cards, he says "on impulse" and must raise his hands to simulate that he is lifting a throne.

The last one is the traditional goose game. The board has 63 squares, the first of which is the Pollinica and the last the Resurrected. According to its creator, instead of the goose square, the guide cross is represented: "From guide cross to guide cross and I shoot before the Brotherhood passes." The bridge squares, which allow you to go from one to another, are illustrated by the sculptural group of the Puente del Cedrón and by the Captive crossing the bridge of Aurora. "The phrase would be from bridge to bridge and I shoot because my people ask for it." And the squares that in the traditional board allowed you to roll the dice again are replaced by buttresses: "From buttress to buttress and I shoot because in my Brotherhood I am important." The squares of the jail and the well are Brotherhoods that are delayed and block the throw for several turns and square 58 is the rain that forces you to start over.

Oca Cofrade Málaga by Arte Cañete. / m. h.

For anyone who wants to delve into the Holy Week of Málaga, Cañete is clear about the plan they should follow with his games: "They should start with the goose and A Pulso to get familiar, then Guess Who? to know the imagery, and finally the trivia." Now, after the boom, he does not rule out that in the coming years they will expand the catalog.