Panakizhi started life as a design challenge to see if we could design 3 fun games using a common set of pieces and game board. Over time we experimented with, and discarded, a number of different ideas - streamlining game play to keep the games as simple yet challenging as possible. With game times lasting 5-10 minutes each we feel that the 3 games presented in this set enable strategy players to always have access to a quick, tight, and challenging game wherever they are thanks to the compact and light design.

The three games are:

Vancanna

With only 12 pieces on the board the simplicity of its looks belies the strategy involved in winning. Players are attempting to move 3 of their coloured pieces off the opposite side of the board, the catch being that if they can jump their opponent's piece then they must make that move - and doing so will cause the piece jumped to be flipped to their colour. It may sound counter-intuitive, but the strategic use of forcing your opponent to jump your piece, and thereby losing it, can actually be advantageous as it could trigger a series of moves that see your pieces advancing across the board.

Talluka

This game is deceptively simple yet players can quickly find themselves with a limited number of optimal moves. Pieces are slid across the board one space per turn, the catch being that they can only move if they are on the outside of a line and are adjacent to another piece in the direction they are moving so that they can push that piece as well. Align 4 of your pieces adjacent to each other and in a vertical or horizontal line and you win.

Gopurrum

Gopurrum involves moving and jumping your pieces around the board as you attempt to make a stack of pieces 4-high. Each time you jump a piece, or a stack of pieces, the top piece on that stack is flipped so that it changes sides. Only your pieces, or stacks where your colour is showing on top, can be moved on your turn - and no move can end with more than 4 pieces being on a stack. Players can shed the top piece of a stack to an adjacent empty space if the top piece is theirs, but be careful as you may also be helping your opponent.

—description from the designer

Games