Game: Congklak
Created by W. D. Troyka, September 2001.
Congklak is a Mancala game played in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Phillipines. It is known by a variety of regional names, including Sungka and Dakon. The game is essentially a hybrid of Kalah and Endodoi, also available on Zillions. It employs the capturing method of Kalah with the multi-lap sowing of Endodoi.
Congklak was featured on the cover page of the second edition of Abstract Games Magazine. Unlike Kalah, Congklak is an indigenous game with a long history of local play. As explained in more detail in the "History" section to Kalah, the game Kalah was likely derived from Congklak by an American game enthusiast in the early 20th century.
Congklak is traditionally played on 2x5 and 2x7 boards with cowrie shells or similar counters. This version is played with rubies. (You must pre-apply with our credit department before playing.) The number of rubies in each hole at the start of a game corresponds to the number of holes on each side of the board. Unlike most Mancala games, sowing takes place in the clockwise direction. Rubies are sown into a player's store -- but not the enemy store -- and into the lift hole on subsequent laps.
A turn consists of sowing the rubies from a hole on the player's side of the board. In the 2x7 version (the default), if the last ruby is dropped in the store, the player gets another turn starting from any friendly occupied hole. If the last ruby is dropped in an occupied hole, the rubies in that hole, including the last ruby dropped, are picked up and a new sowing begins as part of the same turn. You can make up to twenty moves in a single turn in this implementation. If the last ruby drops in an empty hole on the player's side of the board, any rubies in the enemy hole directly opposite are captured along with the last ruby dropped, and the turn ends. If the last ruby drops in an empty enemy hole or in an empty friendly hole opposite an empty enemy hole, the turn ends without any captures.
In the 2x5 version, if the last ruby from a sowing lands in the player's store, the turn ends without further moves. I have adopted this rule from the Abstract Games Magazine article. Although most descriptions of Congklak provide that sowing into the store gives you an extra turn, in the 2x5 version the bottom player can win the game on the first turn -- without the top player ever making a move! -- if such moves are permitted.
For the complete rule set, please read the "Game Description" that comes with the game.
Please send any comments or bug reports to
[email protected].
For more Mancala games available on Zillions, check out the Mancala game page.
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