The "Sungka"

“Sungka” is a traditional Filipino Game played by two participants. The objective of the game is to amass stones or cowrie shells in the player’s home base (bahay) by continuously distributing the shells around smaller holes until the player runs out of shells to distribute. The person who collects the most shells in his or her “bahay” wins.

“Sungka” board consists of a set of cups that hold stones. Each player has seven playing cups, along with a home cup at the far right end. Each cup (except for the home cup) initially holds seven stones (for more info).

Right now this is one of the favorite pass time in my house and my nephew who is eight years old, have found numerous ways to cheat in it. The fun part isn’t winning but in watching and catching your opponents cheating in the game (of course they never admit). So don’t be shocked if now and then you notice that someone’s been stealing your stones. At the end of the game you’ll find them under your opponent’s butt, burning up (You have to be really obsessed with winning to endure that!). So don’t be surprised if your opponent suddenly burst into a fit saying he/she didn’t know he/she had been hiding them. No wonder you couldn’t win (haha!).

Let the loser cast the first stone.