Let's play Pancha...

Pancha Keliya

 Pancha is probably the most popular traditional game in srilanka.  It is still Played island-wide and regrated as an integral part of the Sinhala-Tamil New year. 

To minimize the impact on the environment, Panther has used dice instead of cowry shells. 

Instructions.

1. Number of players

Up to 8 (has to be an even number. Can be played with 2 players. If more than 2 players are playing, any player can be the leader of the team)

2. Number of Teams

Two (Playes have to be devided into 2 teams).

3. Number of pieces

Three for each team, 6 in total (Players can play in turns)

4. Dice 

2 dice are introduced to reprecent the cowries and the coconut shell used in the traditional Pancha keliya game. One dice shows the cowries and the other showsthe number. The number with the cowry facing downwarsd means you have scored that number. The number with the crowry facing upwards means you have scored 12. 

5. Starting the game 

👵 Toss the coin or simply agree to deside wich team is going to start the game. 

👵 Point 1 or 5 has to be scored to enter the game. One team starts from the bottom left and other team from the bottom right . Team leaders have to place first pieces on the board. If 1,5 or 12 is scored, that team gets another chance to throw the dice. 

👵 At the beggining of the game, if a player throws 1,5+ another number, the total can be covered with 3 pieces if the team wishes to do so. However, they have to deduct 3 when placing the piece. If he throws 12, only one piece can be used.

 

6. How to play

👵 You can advance in the board accoding to the scors of dice. 

👵 If a piece belonging to one team lands on a squre which is occupied by a piece belonging to another, the later should be removed from the board. That piece can only be returned to the board as described in "Starting the game".  

When a piece belonging to one team manages to surpass a piece of another team after scorong 1+another score, the later should be removed from the board.  pieces can not be removed while in the zone marked in Orange or on the squares marked with crosses. However, in the crossed square in the orange zone, the piece which gets there first gets priority. No other pawn can br kept there until the first one moved to a different square. 

👵 A team can bring 3 all pieces into the board. 

👵 In the final stage of the game, the exact number to the winning point has to be throw from the dice. 

👵 If only 1 point is left, 1 or 5 has to be thrown. 

7. How to win 

👵 The first team to bring all the pieces for the winning point wins.