Ashta Chamma: Chowka Bara Ludo

Play Ashta Chamma, the classic Indian cowrie shell board game, just like on the courtyard floor at your grandparents' home. Throw four cowries, race your pawns round the board, capture your rivals and bring all four pawns home to the centre first. Known as Chowka Bara in Karnataka, Thayam (Dayakattam) in Tamil Nadu, Daayam or Pakida in Kerala and Kavade in Maharashtra, it is the traditional Indian ludo that families have played for generations.

HOW TO PLAY ASHTA CHAMMA
• Throw the 4 cowries: count the shells that land mouth up for 1, 2 or 3 steps.
• All four up is 4 (Chamma) and none up is 8 (Ashta): both give you another throw.
• Land exactly on a rival pawn to send it back to its start and throw again.
• Pawns on the castle squares marked X are safe.
• Capture once to open the gate to the inner squares, then spiral into the centre.
• First to bring all four pawns home wins.

FEATURES
🐚 Real cowrie throws with a satisfying toss animation
🎲 2, 3 or 4 players: against the computer or pass & play with family
🧠 4 computer levels from Easy to Expert
🔲 Classic 5×5 board and the grand 7×7 board
🏰 Traditional rules: safe castles, bonus throws, capture to enter
💡 Hints that show the best move
🏆 Ranks, XP and 14 achievements
🎨 4 beautiful boards: Kolam (rangoli), Silk, Teak and Slate
💾 Auto-save, statistics and win streaks
📴 Works fully offline, no Wi-Fi needed
🇮🇳 In English, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam and Marathi

A GAME WITH HISTORY
Ashta Chamma is one of India's oldest race games, a cousin of Pachisi (Chausar, Chaupar) and the ancestor of modern Ludo. It was drawn with chalk or rice flour on the floor and played with cowrie shells or tamarind seeds during festivals, summer holidays and family evenings. The name comes from Telugu: ashta means eight and chamma means four, the two lucky throws.

Simple to learn and full of exciting moments: plan which throw to use, when to chase and when to hide on a castle. Relive your childhood or teach the game to your kids.

Download Ashta Chamma free and throw the cowries!