Sungka

Sungka is a traditional Filipino board game in the mancala family. It is played on a boat-shaped wooden board with two parallel rows of pits and two larger pits at the ends that serve as stores. The game is popular in the Philippines and among Filipino communities abroad.

The board typically contains two rows of evenly spaced pits and two stores at either end. Small seeds, shells, or stones act as playing pieces. Players usually control the pits on their side and collect seeds in their store as play proceeds.

On a turn, a player chooses a pit on their side and sows all seeds counterclockwise, placing one seed into each subsequent pit and into their own store, typically skipping the opponent’s store. If the last seed lands in an empty pit on the player’s side, the seeds in the opposite pit are captured and moved to the player’s store. The captured seeds plus the last seed go to the store. The game ends when one side runs out of seeds in its pits, after which the remaining seeds on the other side are captured by that player. The player with more seeds in their store wins.

Sungka is commonly played in family settings, schools, and community gatherings in the Philippines. The game has regional variations in board layout and rules, reflecting local customs. It is part of the broader Mancala family of games found in many parts of Southeast Asia and Africa.