congklak

Congklak is a traditional counting game played with shells or seeds and a wooden board containing two rows of small pits. The game is known by many different names across Southeast Asia, including dakon in Indonesia, sungka in the Philippines, and mancala in other parts of the world, though specific rules can vary. The objective is to collect more seeds than the opponent.

Players sit opposite each other with the board between them. Each pit on the player's side is filled with a predetermined number of seeds, typically five or seven. The player whose turn it is picks up all the seeds from one pit on their side and "sows" them one by one into the subsequent pits in a counter-clockwise direction, including the opponent's pits and their own storehouse. If the last seed is sown into an empty pit on the player's own side, they get another turn. If the last seed lands in a pit that already contains seeds, the player continues sowing from that pit. Capturing occurs when a player's sowing ends in a pit on their side that is empty, provided the opponent's side has seeds in the corresponding pit. The seeds from both pits are then collected by the player. The game ends when all pits on one player's side are empty. The player with the most seeds in their storehouse wins. Congklak is a game of strategy and calculation, enjoyed by people of all ages.