An evening on the floor

The board games of Indian courtyards, played slowly and out loud. Sit with a friend over a room code, or with the computer — no account, and no signal needed.

2–4 players · cowrie shells

Chowka Bara

Race your four pieces round the chalk square and home to the centre. Cut, and the way inward opens.

2 players · no dice

Aadu Puli Attam

Three tigers against fifteen goats on the triangle. The goats arrive one by one and close in; the tigers leap to take them.

2 players · tamarind seeds

Pallanguzhi

Fourteen cups, a fistful of seeds. Sow them round the board and keep what lands your way. Counting, memory, and nerve.

2–4 players · six cowries

Pagade

Pachisi on the embroidered cross. Out of the centre on a grace, all the way round the rim, and home up your own lane. Tens and twenty-fives change everything.

2–4 players · one die

Snakes and Ladders

Paramapadam. A hundred squares, ladders for the virtues, snakes for the rest. No skill at all, and everyone shouts anyway.

The next table

More courtyard games are being drawn. The chalk is out.