Ancient abstract games from the Americas

♟️ Ludos is back! 😊 The Ludos series is a collection of traditional abstract games from around the world. After Ludos: Asia 🌏 and Ludos: Africa 🌍, the next installment, Ludos: Americas 🌎 from @lemerygames is launching on Kickstarter! This edition introduces four ancient games from North and South America, each suitable for two players and carrying a piece of history with it.

We've covered this series before, but if you're new to it, there are plenty of ways to support the project. You could just choose your favorite one and get it in a travel-friendly pouch on a pay-what-you-want basis… Or, if you decide to back all four games, they come in a beautifully designed collector’s box, along with the aforementioned pouch bags. 🤩 Each game features a colorful playmat and wooden tokens with unique patterns that match its origin.

Let’s see, what’s in the box:

First up is 🌽 Puluc from Guatemala - actually dating all the way back to the Mayan civilization - a war between two rival Mayan factions. You’ll cast corn kernels that let you move your pieces forward, with the goal of capturing enemy warriors by landing on top of them.

Then we have 🦙 Komikan from Chile, which means “eat everything” in the Mapuche language. This name is very fitting, as the game pits a single Puma against twelve Alpacas - While the Puma player tries to capture the Alpacas, the Alpaca player must outmaneuver the Puma and reach safety in the cave.

With the longest name, 🐍 Awithlaknannai comes from the Zuni Native American tribe from New Mexico. In this game you control snakes, trying to jump over opponent snakes to remove them from the elliptical board, possibly chaining jumps together in game winning plays.

Finally, 🌸 Konane from Hawaii, a game that Chieftains used to play as a contest to see who has the better strategic brilliance. Similar to Awithlaknannai, players can jump over opposing pieces to remove them from the board, thus making more space for possible movement, with the goal of being the last player to make a valid move.

If you love abstract games or you are just interested in gaming history, make sure to check out Ludos on Kickstarter! 🥰