Print — bhutan-traditional-board-games — BhutanWiki

Before the arrival of television in 1999, the internet, and smartphones, Bhutanese communities relied on a repertoire of traditional games for entertainment, socialisation, and mental stimulation. While archery, khuru (darts), and degor (stone throwing) are the most celebrated outdoor traditional sports in Bhutan, the country also possesses a quieter but equally rich tradition of indoor board and strategy games played with carved pieces, pebbles, cowrie shells, and dice on boards scratched into the earth, drawn on cloth, or carved into wooden surfaces. These games, played around hearths during the long winter months in Bhutan's cold mountain valleys, are an underappreciated aspect of the kingdom's intangible cultural heritage.^[1]

The traditional game culture of Bhutan reflects the country's geographic position at the crossroads of South Asian, Tibetan, and Central Asian civilisations. Games that are recognisably related to those played across the Himalayan region, the Indian subcontinent, and Tibet have been adapted to local conditions and preferences, developing distinctive Bhutanese variants over the centuries. Monastic communities have historically been important custodians and practitioners of board games, with monks and nuns playing strategy games during leisure periods — a practice tolerated and even encouraged by some religious teachers as a form of mental discipline, even as others viewed gaming with suspicion as a distraction from spiritual practice.^[2]

Bagh Chal: The Tiger and Goats Game

Bagh Chal, known in Dzongkha as "Tag and Sheep" or variants thereof, is perhaps the most widely recognised traditional strategy game played in Bhutan. Originating in the broader Himalayan cultural zone — the game is considered the national game of Nepal and is played across northern India, Tibet, and Bhutan — Bagh Chal is an asymmetric two-player game in which one player controls four "tigers" (or leopards) and the other controls twenty "goats" (or sheep). The game is played on a five-by-five grid of intersecting lines, with the tigers attempting to "capture" goats by jumping over them (as in checkers) and the goats attempting to surround and immobilise the tigers by filling all available positions on the board.^[3]

The game's appeal lies in its elegant asymmetry. The tiger player has superior mobility and the ability to capture, but is outnumbered; the goat player has overwhelming numbers but individually limited tactical capacity. A skilled goat player must coordinate placements to gradually restrict the tigers' movement, while the tiger player must strike early and aggressively before the board becomes too crowded. In Bhutanese village settings, Bagh Chal boards were traditionally scratched into flat stones or dirt surfaces, and the pieces were small pebbles of two different colours or sizes. More elaborate sets carved from wood or bone were prized possessions, sometimes passed down through families.^[3]

The game carries cultural significance beyond entertainment. In a society where farming communities have historically coexisted — sometimes uneasily — with predators such as tigers, leopards, and snow leopards, the narrative framework of Bagh Chal resonates with real-life experience. The game teaches the value of strategic patience (for the goat player) and decisive action (for the tiger player), and the dynamics of asymmetric conflict — relevant lessons in a society where small communities had to manage real threats from wildlife, harsh weather, and occasionally hostile neighbours. Anthropologists have noted that traditional games often encode cultural knowledge about power dynamics, resource management, and survival strategies.^[1]

Chhosey: The Bhutanese Dice Race Game

Chhosey is a traditional Bhutanese dice-based board game that bears structural similarities to Ludo, Parcheesi, and other "cross-and-circle" race games found across South and Central Asia. Players move pieces (traditionally cowrie shells or small stones) around a track on the board, with movement determined by the throw of cowrie shells or cubic dice. The objective is to be the first player to move all pieces from the starting position around the board and into the "home" area. Landing on an opponent's piece sends it back to start, and various rules govern safe squares, bonus moves, and the conditions for entering the home stretch.^[1]

Chhosey is a game deeply embedded in Bhutanese social life. Unlike the cerebral, silent concentration of strategy games like Bagh Chal, Chhosey is a boisterous, social affair — players shout, cheer, groan, and engage in vigorous banter as the dice determine their fortunes. The element of luck introduced by the dice makes the game accessible to players of all ages and skill levels, and multi-generational Chhosey sessions are a common feature of family gatherings, festivals, and the long indoor evenings of the Bhutanese winter. The game is often played for small stakes — money, snacks, or chores — adding an element of excitement that has made it popular across social classes. In some communities, Chhosey tournaments are organised during festivals and holidays, drawing participants and spectators from surrounding villages.^[4]

The Bhutanese version of the game has distinct features that differentiate it from related games in the region. The board layout, the specific rules governing piece movement and capture, and the use of cowrie shells rather than cubic dice in the most traditional form all reflect local adaptation. Some regional variants within Bhutan employ boards with different configurations of squares and pathways, suggesting that the game has evolved differently in different parts of the country — western Bhutan, eastern Bhutan, and the central valleys each having their own preferred versions.^[1]

Carrom and Other Adapted Games

Carrom, while not indigenous to Bhutan, has been adopted so thoroughly that it functions as a de facto traditional game. Introduced through cultural contact with India, carrom — a tabletop game in which players flick a striker to pocket small discs — is played ubiquitously across Bhutan, from roadside tea shops and village community halls to school common rooms and military barracks. The game requires a combination of fine motor skill, geometry, and tactical thinking, and its low cost and portability have made it one of the most popular indoor games in the country. National and dzongkhag-level carrom competitions are regularly organised, and Bhutan has participated in international carrom tournaments.^[4]

Chess (chandraki in Dzongkha, derived from the Sanskrit chaturanga) has a long history in the Himalayan region, and variants of the game have been played in Bhutan for centuries. The traditional Bhutanese chess set differs from the standard Staunton design used in international competition, with pieces carved in forms reflecting local artistic traditions. However, with the spread of formal chess through schools and the Bhutan Chess Federation, the international standard version has largely supplanted traditional variants. The Bhutan Chess Federation, affiliated with FIDE (the World Chess Federation), promotes the game through school programmes, national championships, and participation in regional competitions such as the South Asian Games.^[5]

Games in Monastic and Educational Settings

Monasteries have historically been important venues for board game culture in Bhutan. Young monks, who may spend years in residential monastic education far from their families, have traditionally played board games during recreation periods. Some senior monks and scholars have viewed strategy games as complementary to the analytical and logical reasoning cultivated through Buddhist philosophical debate (tsema), while others have cautioned against excessive gaming as a form of attachment. The tension between these views has produced a complex monastic attitude toward games — neither fully embraced nor fully prohibited, but managed within the framework of monastic discipline.^[6]

In secular education, the Royal Government has shown increasing interest in incorporating traditional games into school curricula as a means of cultural preservation and education. The Royal Education Council has explored the inclusion of traditional games in physical education and cultural studies programmes, recognising that these games teach valuable skills — strategic thinking, pattern recognition, probability assessment, and social interaction — while simultaneously reinforcing cultural identity. Several schools, particularly in rural areas, have organised traditional game clubs and competitions to encourage students to engage with their cultural heritage.^[7]

Decline and Revival Efforts

The rapid penetration of digital entertainment — television since 1999, internet and mobile phones since the 2000s, and smartphones with social media and gaming apps since the 2010s — has significantly reduced the time Bhutanese people, particularly young people, spend on traditional games. A 2019 survey by the National Library and Archives noted that fewer than 30 percent of urban youth could describe the rules of Chhosey or Bagh Chal, compared with near-universal familiarity among their parents' generation. The shift is particularly pronounced in Thimphu and Phuentsholing, where access to digital entertainment is most widespread, but it is also evident in smaller towns and even rural areas as mobile connectivity extends.^[8]

Cultural preservation organisations have responded with revival initiatives. The National Museum of Bhutan has included traditional games in its cultural exhibits, with interactive displays allowing visitors to play Bagh Chal and Chhosey. The Folk Heritage Museum in Thimphu similarly features traditional game sets in its recreated Bhutanese farmhouse interior. Cultural festivals increasingly include traditional game demonstrations and competitions alongside the better-known archery and khuru events. Non-governmental organisations working in cultural preservation have developed educational materials — booklets, posters, and online content — documenting the rules, history, and cultural significance of traditional Bhutanese games.^[1]

Digital technology itself offers potential avenues for revival. Mobile app versions of Bagh Chal have been developed (primarily in Nepal, where the game is the national game), and similar digital adaptations of Bhutanese traditional games could reach young audiences on the platforms they already use. The Bhutan Centre for Media and Democracy and the Loden Foundation have both expressed interest in supporting digital cultural preservation projects, including the gamification of traditional Bhutanese games for smartphone platforms — turning the very technology that threatens traditional games into a vehicle for their preservation and dissemination to a global audience.^[8]

Traditional Board Games of Bhutan

Bagh Chal: The Tiger and Goats Game

Chhosey: The Bhutanese Dice Race Game

Carrom and Other Adapted Games

Games in Monastic and Educational Settings

Decline and Revival Efforts

See also

References