Board Game Playing Guide
Singhasan Sangram, Teen Goti and Chowka Bara. Pick a game below the video.
Singhasan Sangram
Players and pieces
Two players, Light and Dark. Each player has three pieces.
- Prince: large, the strongest
- Commander: medium
- Soldier: small, the weakest
The first player to bring all three pieces home to their End square wins.
The path
- The path is the loop of squares around the board.
- Each player has one Start square and one End square. Start and End are not part of the path.
- Both players move in the same direction: from Start, along the path, to End.
- Each piece completes one round only.
- The green squares have no special meaning.
Build the pyramid
Each player places all three pieces on their own Start square, stacked as a pyramid: Prince at the bottom, Commander in the middle, Soldier on top.
Count the open shells
Throw four cowrie shells. Count the shells that land with the open side up. There is no limit on extra throws. Complete the move before throwing again.
Throw, move, repeat
Only the top piece moves
- A piece on Start enters the path with any throw. Count the first square of the path as square 1.
- On the path, only the top piece of a stack can move. A piece with any piece on top of it is blocked.
- A piece may jump over any square, occupied or not. Only the landing square matters.
- Exception: the Rule of 8.
Three steps, always in this order
When your piece lands on a square that already has pieces, apply these steps in order. Colour does not matter, except in the Sandwich step. A captured piece goes back to its owner's Start and must enter the path again with a fresh throw.
If one of your pieces is already in the stack, all opponent pieces between that piece and your landing piece are captured. Their size does not matter. This is checked on every landing, so a stack never holds opponent pieces between two of your pieces.
Your landing piece captures every piece below it that is smaller. Your own smaller pieces are captured too.
- Prince captures Commanders and Soldiers
- Commander captures Soldiers
- Soldier captures nothing
Your landing piece sits on top of whatever remains. All pieces below it are blocked until it moves away. A smaller or equal piece can block a bigger one.
What these rules mean in play
Free a piece from under your own pieces
When you throw 8, you may move the top piece of a stack 8 squares as usual. Or, you may move a lower piece of your own by exactly 1 square:
- Look at the pieces of your colour lying together at the top of the stack. Only the lowest of these may take this move.
- The pieces above it drop down and stay on the square.
- It works with any pieces, not only a Soldier on top.
- It only frees your piece from your own pieces. An opponent's piece under your pieces can never use it.
Exact throw, strict order
- A piece must land on End by the exact number. If the number is more than the distance, that piece cannot move.
- Pieces reach End in order: Prince first, then Commander, then Soldier.
- The 1-square move from the Rule of 8 may be used to enter End.
- End is safe. Pieces on End cannot be captured, blocked or sandwiched.
Claim the throne
The first player to bring all three pieces to their End square wins. Because of the arrival order, the pieces stand at End exactly as at the start: Prince at the bottom, Commander in the middle, Soldier on top.
Teen Goti
The game and the board
A fast thinking and strategy game for two players. Each player has only 3 tokens, so every move matters.
Goal: place or move your three tokens in a straight or diagonal line before your opponent.
- The board has 9 circles joined by lines: 3 rows, 3 columns and 2 diagonals.
- Each player has 3 tokens of one colour (green or red).
- Players take turns.
How a game goes
- Placing. Players take turns placing one token at a time on any empty circle. Keep placing until both players have placed all 3 tokens. If you make three in a line while placing, you win.
- Moving. If nobody has won yet, on your turn move one of your tokens to an empty circle.
- One step at a time. A token moves only one step, to the next circle.
- Only along the lines. A token may move only along the drawn lines.
- No jumping. A token cannot jump over another token, and cannot move where there is no line.
- Winning. The first player to get all three tokens in a straight horizontal, straight vertical or diagonal line wins.
Chowka Bara
Know the squares
A race game for up to four players on a 5 × 5 board. Each player has 4 tokens.
Start at home
- Each player places all 4 tokens on their own home square.
- Players take turns in anticlockwise order: Player 1, Player 2, Player 3, then Player 4.
- On your turn, take the 4 cowrie shells and throw them on the floor.
Points from the shells
The number of points depends on how the cowrie shells land. Count the shells with the open side up.
From home to the centre
Share your points
If you earn extra rolls in your turn (by rolling 4 or 8, or by capturing tokens), you can share the points from different rolls among your tokens in any way you like. But you cannot divide the points of a single roll between tokens.
Land on them
You capture an opponent's token by landing on the same square as that token. When you capture a token:
- The captured token goes back to its owner's home square.
- You earn an extra roll as a bonus.
Where tokens cannot be captured
Capture first, then go inside
You must capture at least one opponent token before any of your tokens can enter the inner square path. Until you make your first capture, all your tokens must stay on the outer path.
All four to the centre
The first player to move all four tokens to the central square wins. The player whose tokens reach the central square last loses.