Puluc
Puluc Opening
Alternate Names
Boolik may represent an alternate spelling of this game or another very similar game. A very similar game called Bul is played in Belize.
No. of Players
Two
Equipment
Many traditional Puluc boards are made setting fifteen corn cobs in a row with fourteen spaces between them. The cobs are about three inches apart. A mock Puluc board is constructed here but one may have a lot more fun by playing this game with larger materials laying around the house, perhaps even the traditional way if one has fifteen ears of corn at their disposal. Also required are five each of black and white stackable counters and four binary dice. The board is called something equivalent to a road and the counters are called something equivalent to a warrior. The binary dice traditionally used are seeds of corn which are blackened on one side and plain on the other. Of course, any sort of binary dice may be used or even a standard die (in which case a player will have to roll again if rolling a six).
History
Puluc is played by the Kekchi (also spelled Qeqchi) Indians of North Guatemala, a tribe descended from the Maya.
Objective
A player wins the game when he has captured and killed all of the opposing counters.
Play
The game begins with the board empty of counters. The dice are cast by each player to decide which one will play first. Then each player, in turn, casts the dice twice in order to determine how far to move one of his or her own counters according to the table below:
After throwing the dice twice, a player adds their totals to attain the number of steps that they will then move one of their own counters. The sum of the two rolls can be used to enter one counter and move it that distance or move one counter that is already on the board. Roll sums cannot be split for different counters. The opposing counters start by entering from opposite ends of the board and move contrary to one another. Black enters counters one at a time from the right side of the board and moves them to the left while white enters from the left and moves to the right. A player may have any number of his or her own counters on the board at one time but two friendly counters may not occupy the same position.
If, while traveling across the board, a player’s counter lands by exact throw at a position occupied by an enemy counter, that enemy counter is placed beneath the friendly one and taken captive. The capturing counter may then, on her next turn, reverse direction towards their end of the board (from whence the capturing counter began) with the captive now in tow underneath. If the capturer and his victim reach the capturer's end of the board (an exact throw is not required), the capturer is now ready to be reentered for another journey, whilst the captured counter is killed and removed from play for the rest of the game.
If a player’s counter lands at a position occupied by an enemy counter that has a captive in tow, the moving player’s counter is placed on top of the stack and it now changes direction and is in their control. Control of a stack may change owners several times and grow larger and larger before it eventually arrives at one end of the board. When this happens, the top counter and all others of the same color are returned to their player and made ready for new journeys, while all of the opposing counters are killed and removed from the game. Any counter that travels the entire distance of the board one way without capturing or being captured is returned back to the stock of its owner and may be reentered into the game at a later turn. Unused steps from a roll sum after bearing off a counter may not be used for any other counter.
Variations
RC Bell describes this game as being played on a smaller track consisting of nine spaces (ten corn cobs). Others mention a larger version of twenty-one spaces. Doubtless, many sizes of tracks have been utilized historically. Likewise, any equal number of counters may be used to play a game of Puluc.
The website, boardgamegeek.com, mentions that,
"There are five slightly different versions, and usually people play each, one after the other. Versions are called "aj sayil" (the ant), "aj t'iwil" (the eagle), "aj sina'anil" (the scorpion), "aj sakalil" (warrior ants) and "a k'aak'il" (fire)".
The site does not describe the different version any further than that, however.
Sources
Bell, R.C. Board and Table Games from Many Civilizations. Revised Edition. Oxford University Press, 1969. Print.
Parlett, David. The Oxford History of Board Games. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1999.