Peralikatuma
Peralikatuma is a two-player abstract strategy board game from Sri Lanka. It is a game related to draughts (checkers) Alquerque as players hop over one another's pieces when capturing them. But its actual closest relatives are Sixteen Soldiers and Kotu Ellima which are also games from the Indian Subcontinent. All three games use the same board which consist of an Alquerque board, and attached on each of its four sides is a triangular patterned board. The only difference between the three games is in the number of pieces. In Sixteen Soldiers, each player has 16 pieces hence the name of the game. In Peralikatuma, each player has 23 pieces. In Kotu Ellima, each player has 24 pieces.
The game is also related to Terhuchu from northeast India, and Permainan-Tabal from Indonesia.
The game is also spelled as Perali Kotuma.
Goal
To capture all the opponent's pieces, or to block the opponent's pieces so that they cannot move.
If neither player can make a move, the game is a draw.
Equipment
The board consist of an Alquerque board, and attached to each of the four sides of the Alquerque board is a triangular patterned board. There are 49 intersections on the board, and the pieces are played on those intersections.
Each player initially has 23 pieces. One plays black, and the other plays white, however, any two colors will suffice.
Game Play and Rules
1. Players decide what colors to play, and who starts first. Players alternate their turns, and only use one piece to either move or capture per turn.
2. Each players pieces are initially set up on the first four ranks of their side of the board, and on the triangle patterned board to the right of the player.
3. A piece moves one space per turn in any direction following the pattern on the board onto an unoccupied point on the board.
4. A piece can capture an enemy piece in any direction by the short leap as in draughts or Alquerque. The player's piece must be adjacent to the enemy piece, and leap over it onto a vacant point on the other side. The leap must be in a straight line following the pattern on the board. The same piece can continue to capture and even change direction to capture provided capturing requirements are satisfied. Captures are compulsory. A piece must continue to capture if it is able to do so. Captured pieces are removed from the board.
5. If a player has more than one option to capture, then the player can choose any one (and only one) of them.