If I say 14 Pits – you may wonder! Well, ‘14 pits’ is an indoor game also called as Alaguli Mane in Kannada, Pichaalla Peeta in Telugu, Pallankuzhi in Tamil, etc. I enjoy playing this game with my great grandmother who is around 93 years old and this game helped me stay indoors even during the corona pandemic.
This game is played by two people on a rectangular board which has 7 cups each across 2 rows. In the most popular type, each cup would contain 5 tamarind seeds, shells or stones. The first player picks up the seeds from any of the holes on their side and starts moving clockwise while placing one seed in each cup. When the seeds from the first cup is over, the player takes the seeds from the next cup and continues placing them in the following cups. In the game, when you don’t have enough coins to fill a cup, you cannot put your coin in that cup for the next round. Even if you put the coin by mistake that coin goes to the opposite opponent.
If you have only 3 or 4 seeds in a cup you have to immediately take it. When an empty cup follows the last seed dropped, the player collects the seeds in the cup following the empty cup; the player then continues play from the next cup containing seeds. If the last seed falls into a cup with two empty holes, the players turn is over. The second player then continues in the same way. The winner is the one who has the greatest number of seeds.
This game is popular among the kids and old people, especially on the rural side. After learning how to play this game from my paternal great – grandmother, I had a chance to teach my neighbours to play this game. Carefully holding the seeds and dropping them in the correct hole is the trickiest part in the game. I like this game because it helps me observe keenly, remember how many seeds are left in the cup and most importantly pick up the right cup so that I can ensure the maximum number of seeds remain on my side.
This game is known to stimulate the kids learning ability, counting ability and thinking ability. Well, 14 pits could be your favourite game too if you want to advance your math-ability!
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