Pick a game
Tap a game to start playing straight away. Each one shows you how in three quick pictures.
- Tamil Nadu and Kerala PallanguzhiScoop seeds round the pits and grab the most to win! 1 or 2 playersA bit tricky
- South India KuzhipparaiKeep the seeds moving, then snatch the pit across! 1 or 2 playersA bit tricky
- Nepal Bagh ChalTrap the tigers before they eat your goats! 1 or 2 playersEasy to learn
- South India Aadu Puli AttamThree hungry tigers, fifteen brave goats. Who will win? 1 or 2 playersEasy to learn
- Karnataka NavakankariGet three in a row to knock out an enemy piece! 1 or 2 playersStrategy
- India Chauka BaraThrow the shells and race your tokens to the middle! 1 or 2 playersEasy to learn
- India, on a cross shaped cloth board Chaupar and PachisiThrow the dice and race all your pieces home! 1 or 2 playersA bit tricky
- Bihar PretwaJump over enemy pieces on a big wheel. Leave them three! 1 or 2 playersStrategy
- North India Gyan ChauperThe very first snakes and ladders! Pure luck, lots of fun. 1 or 2 playersEasy to learn
- Bengal and Bangladesh Sholo GuttiSixteen soldiers each. Jump over them to catch them all! 1 or 2 playersStrategy
- India Mughal PathanJump over pieces to catch them. Clear the board to win! 1 or 2 playersStrategy
Add it to your iPhone home screen
- Open this page in Safari on your iPhone.
- Tap the Share button (the square with an arrow, at the bottom of the screen).
- Scroll down and tap Add to Home Screen, then tap Add.
- Open Indian Games from your home screen. After the first visit it works with no internet.
On Android, open the browser menu and choose Install app or Add to Home screen.
About these games
These are real games with long histories, played on boards drawn in dust, scratched into temple floors and painted on cloth. Where the old rules are known, we kept them. Where nobody wrote them down, we made a fair version of our own, and the game tells you so. Each game links to the places we learned it from.
Some rules can be changed in Settings. Nothing is tracked, nothing is sold, and there is no account to make.
The 3D boards are built with free, open tools. See who made them.