← Games Our Grandparents Played

Vietnam

Cờ cá ngựa

Also called horse chess

Cờ cá ngựa is the Vietnamese member of the cross-and-circle race games that also include pachisi from India and ludo.

It is a family favourite at Tết, the lunar new year, when the whole household plays.

The rules, briefly

• Each player has four horses in a stable. Roll a six to bring a horse out, and a six lets you roll again.
• Move one horse forward by the number you roll around the cross-shaped track. Land on a lone rival horse and it goes back to its stable.
• After a full lap, turn into your own home column. You need the exact number to bring each horse home; the first with all four home wins.

Try this: Two on one square

Two of your horses on the same square make a wall nobody can pass. Try building one just ahead of a rival.

Play on AtlasTales (two players, one screen)

Read more: Cờ cá ngựa on Wikipedia. Written from published sources; if your family plays it differently, write your rules down in Heirloom Rules, and if something here is wrong, tell us: hello@sparkanvil.org.