''Çoan ki'' (, also ''erectus ludus'' or "The Bottle Game") is a Chinese
board game
A board game is a type of tabletop game that involves small objects () that are placed and moved in particular ways on a specially designed patterned game board, potentially including other components, e.g. dice. The earliest known uses of the ...
similar to western
tables games
Tables games are a class of board game that includes backgammon and which are played on a tables board, typically with two rows of 12 vertical markings called point (tables game), points. Players roll dice to determine the movement of pieces. Tab ...
.
It was first described in 1694 by
Dr. Thomas Hyde in ''De Ludis Orientalibus Libri Duo''.
Gameplay
On a
board
Board or Boards may refer to:
Flat surface
* Lumber, or other rigid material, milled or sawn flat
** Plank (wood)
** Cutting board
** Sounding board, of a musical instrument
* Cardboard (paper product)
* Paperboard
* Fiberboard
** Hardboard, a ...
divided transversely into eight fields, players take turns to move their sixteen bottle- or vase-shaped pieces around the board according to the roll of two
dice
A die (: dice, sometimes also used as ) is a small, throwable object with marked sides that can rest in multiple positions. Dice are used for generating random values, commonly as part of tabletop games, including dice games, board games, ro ...
. The aim of the game is to get all of a player's pieces to make one full circuit around the board and return them to their starting position.
Dice rolls can be divided between pieces as follows: either one piece moves the total value of the throw, or two pieces move the values shown on each individual die. If a double is thrown, the player may move two pieces the total value of the throw or one piece half the value (such that if a double five is rolled, two pieces may each move ten spaces or one piece may move five spaces). If the two dice show consecutive numbers, the player may move one piece the full value of the throw and one piece the lower value, or he may move one piece the full value and another piece the full value minus one (e.g. a throw of two and three would allow either one piece to move two spaces and another five, or one piece to move five spaces and another four). A player must use the full roll of the dice; if he cannot do so, he loses his turn.
By stationing eight pieces in the same field of the board, a player can create a block, which cannot be passed by the other player. Blocks cannot be created on either of the starting fields.
Players must enter a
stake
A stake is a large wooden or metal implement designed to be driven into the ground and may refer to:
Tools
* Archer's stake, a defensive stake carried by medieval longbowmen
* Survey stakes, markers used by surveyors
* Sudis (stake) (Latin for ...
before the game begins. If at any time a player rolls double-one on the dice, he loses a piece and must stake an additional fine worth 10% of the total value of the pot. Under some
rule codes, it is possible to avoid losing a piece by paying a larger fine. The winner of the game takes the
pot.
References
{{Tables games
17th-century board games
Chinese games