Pallanguzhi

Pallanguzhi is a traditional South Indian mancala played on a board with 7 cups per side and 6 shells in each cup (84 total). Capture the most shells to win.

1. Your turn: click any highlighted cup in your row (bottom) that has shells.
2. All shells from that cup are lifted and distributed one-by-one counter-clockwise around the board.
3. Capture-on-4: if the last shell lands in a cup that now holds exactly 4, capture all 4 into your store. Sowing then continues from the next available cup.
4. Continue sowing: if the last shell lands in a non-empty cup (not 4), pick up all shells there and continue sowing.
5. Empty-cup capture: if the last shell lands in a cup that was empty, check the directly opposite cup. If it has shells, capture them into your store. Your turn then ends.
6. Win condition: when a player's row is empty, all remaining shells are swept to their owners' stores. The player with the most shells wins.

Pallanguzhi (பல்லாங்குழி) is one of the oldest board games of South Asia, with a history spanning over a thousand years in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Sri Lanka. Carved wooden boards — often made of teak or jackwood and polished with coconut oil — are still found in households across South India, alongside cowrie shells or tamarind seeds used as counters.

Traditionally a game played by women and girls, Pallanguzhi was a central part of household and festival culture, often played during Pongal and other Tamil celebrations. The game's name comes from the Tamil words pallam (pit/cup) and kuzhi (hole), describing the carved depressions in the playing board.

The game belongs to the global family of mancala games, variants of which appear across Africa, the Middle East, and Asia — suggesting ancient trade routes and cultural exchange. Despite modernisation, Pallanguzhi remains a beloved game, taught by grandmothers to grandchildren as both a pastime and a living piece of cultural heritage.