SUNGKA GAME RULES AND MECHANICS

Sungka is a Traditional Count and Capture game of the Philippines. The aim of the game is to capture as
many shells as you can and to place them into your "ulo" (head).

The game is played individually by two opposing sides. It starts by placing the sungka board horizontally
between the two player so that each player could have seven houses in front of them and the heads
should be at the far ends to the left and right. Each player's "ulo" is the hole/pit to his extreme left.
Next, players must put 7 shells/stones on each of their houses. With that, the game is now ready to start.

ACTUAL MECHANICS

1. Each game must be played by two opposing players ONLY.

2. The first turn for each player is taken at the same time. Players may decide which of the seven houses
directly in front of him (on his side of the Sungka board) he wishes to begin with.

3. After deciding, players must pick up all of the shells from his chosen bahay and he should then move
his hand around the board in a clockwise-direction, dropping one shell in each house or head he passes
over, including all of the houses on both sides of the board and the player's own head but NOT the
opponent's head.

4.1. If the player's last shell/stone land in their own head, then they may continue their turn by picking
new bahay or house with shells/stones from any of their houses

4.2. If you drop your last shell into a house that already had shells in it, then you may pick up every shell
in that house (including the one you dropped) and continue your turn.

4.3. However, if you drop your last shell into an empty house, then your turn is over. If this happens in
one of your own houses, on your own side of the Sungka board, then you may claim all the shells in the
house directly opposite (from your opponent's side of the board) and drop them in your head, although
the turn is still over.

5. Once a player has ended their first turn, he must wait for the opponent to also end his turn and from
that point on, players simply take it in turns to play their turns. For each subsequent turn, you may only
start with a house on your side of the board. The game end exactly when one of the players lacks any
more shells/stone to move.

6. After the first round, players must redistribute their earned shells from their own head, starting filling
their houses from the left-hand side of the board.

7. Any excess shells should be placed back in the head. If you do not have enough shells to completely
fill the quota of seven for a house, then you should not put any shells in that house at all, but instead,
put the remaining shells back into the head.
8. Any houses that are not filled with seven shells have been burned and are entirely unavailable for this
game and cannot be used by either player at any point.

9. A player will be considered the winner of the game if the number of the burned houses of their
opponent reach the maximum number of 4.