Dhayam

About Dhayam

Dhayam [தாயம்] is a popular turn based board game in Tamilnadu. Dhayam [தாயம்] is a traditional game of Tamil Nadu. Players take turns rolling the Dhayakattai or Dice. When a player rolls a Dhayam (0 on one die and 1 on another), he moves one of his pieces one space, rolls again and advances his piece by the number indicated by the dice. The want to move all the pieces out of the home, Dhayam must be rolled for each one.

Pieces advance first along the side of the player and then in a clockwise direction. When a player rolls a one, five, six, or twelve (two 0s), they get to roll again. The numbers rolled can be distributed among the player's pieces (e.g., if a player rolls 5, 12 and 2, they can move one piece by 12, move another by 5, and then move one more by 2. Alternately, the player could elect to have the three numbers shared by only two pieces or even move only one piece by the total number rolled).

Pieces can 'cut' other pieces by landing on the same spot that they are in. A 'cut' piece is sent home. However, while in one of the safe zones or Mountains (marked by an X), a piece cannot be cut. After completing one lap, a piece starts to move up the on the inner edge of its owner's leg of the game board. It stays on the line instead of the spaces. The piece then needs to move the exact number of spaces to get to the center of the board and the respective piece becomes Fruit or Pazham. Players win by making all of their pieces as Fruits.