Pasang

Pasang is a two-player abstract strategy board game from Brunei. The game is often referred to as Pasang Emas which is actually a software implementation of the traditional board game. The object of this game is to acquire the most points by capturing black and white tokens on the board. Black tokens are worth 1 point, and white tokens are worth 2 points. The board is initially laid out with all 120 black and white tokens in one of over 30 traditional patterns. Players choose a piece called a "ka" which is used to capture the tokens on the board. Each player's "ka" moves around the board capturing as many tokens as possible. As a note, the "kas" are the only mobile pieces in the game. The other pieces are stationary, and are captured by the "kas". Players must capture token(s) during their turn, or lose the game. When all tokens have been captured from the board, the player with the most points is the winner. However, if there are any tokens left on the board, and none can be captured on a player's turn, then that player loses the game, and the other player is the winner.

The game is divided into three phases each with its own rules of capture. All three capturing methods are perhaps unique to Pasang. In the first phase, each player must choose a column of tokens to capture on their side of the board. The empty column left on the board is called a "passage". For the second phase, each player chooses a "ka" from among the tokens next to the passage, or tokens one column away from the passage whichever method both players agree upon. The "ka" then enters the passage and captures any odd number of tokens of the same color that it forms a line with from any orthogonal direction. From there on (third phase), each player's "ka" moves any number of vacant spaces in an orthogonal direction provided it can capture an odd number of tokens of the same color. However, the "ka" at this phase of the game captures tokens differently. If the "ka" is moving vertically (up and down), it can only capture tokens in a horizontal direction that it forms a line with. Likewise, if the "ka" moves horizontally (left and right), then it can only capture tokens in a vertical direction that it forms a line with.

The game is unrelated to any other board game. It is perhaps remotely related to Fanorona. Its resemblance to Fanorona is that several pieces are captured in a particular line, and the pieces cover most of the board in the beginning. There is also a rule in the second and third phase, that an odd number of pieces must be captured reminiscent of the capturing rule in Rimau.

Read more about Pasang:  Goal, Equipment, Game Play and Rules, Related Games