Congkak is a well-known game played by the natives of Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Southern Thailand. This mancala game is also quite famous in some regions of Sumatra and Borneo.
History:
The word Congkak is derived from an old Malay word “Congkak” which means mental calculation. This game was, therefore, given the title Congkak because the players have to practice mental calculation while playing it.
Why Still Got People Like To Play Congkak?
Congkak is a traditional game of various regions of the world. People played it to make their tradition alive. Moreover, Congkak is a very interesting game to be played. People played it for the sake of entertainment. Others just played it to seek people’s attention.
The Advantage Of Playing Congkak:
Congkak is a traditional game that promotes our historical culture. This game is a unique way to preserve the culture of our ancestors. Playing Congkak also helps our new generation to learn about our traditional history and art.
Step How To Play:
Congkak is quite easy to play. The players need to get rid of the marbles and move them over across the opponent while keeping their marble in their house. The game will end once a player collects more marbles in their house or empty his row of holes.
Step 1
This board game consists of two rows of 7 holes are named houses and the two bigger holes are named storehouses. Before starting the game, the houses of both the players were first filled with 7 Congkak marbles or seeds. The storeroom of both the players is kept empty at the beginning of the game.
Step 2
The game starts when both the players scoop up all the shells in any of their houses at the same time.
Step 3
After that, each player drops a shell in the next house and continues this move in the clockwise direction. The player also has to drop a shell into his storehouse every time he passes it.
Step 4
The first round ends when a player is left with no more shells on his side.
Step 5
In the second round, the players again distribute the shells from their storehouse to their own houses in the same manner. When a player has no more shells to place in his house, the remaining houses are left empty and considered burnt. In case, the player has extra shells, he has to deposit them in its storehouse. If the opponent deposits more shells than he has won.
The loser has to start the second round again. The games are continuous in the same manner as before but this time player has to bypass burnt houses if the shells are deposited in the houses. In case, a shell accidentally falls into a burnt house then it will be stored in the opponent’s storehouse. The play will continue until a player loses all of his houses.
Summary:
However, the Congkak is an old traditional game. But still, various people enjoyed playing it. Everyone should try to promote this tradition of playing Congkak. In this way, our cultural practice will move from generation to generation.