This product is a result of the ME to WE project, an initiative by A Hundred Hands, an NGO that encourages craftspeople across crafts, media and geographies to collaborate on design and innovation. Solitaire is a single-player game of concentration and skill. Traditionally ituses a set layout of tiles, pegs, stones or even cards. Most solitaire games function as a puzzle which, due to a different starting position, may (or may not) be solved in a different fashion each time. The first evidence of the game can be traced back to the court of Louis XIV and the specific date of 1687, with an engraving made that year of Anne De Rohan-Chabot, the Princess of Soubise, with the puzzle by herside. The August 1687 edition of the French literary magazine 'Mercure Galant' contains a description of the board, rules and sample problems. This is the first known reference to the game in print. The game is popularly known as 'Brainvita' in India where it is usually played with marbles on a wooden board. Our interpretation includes a hand embroidered mat with the holes being replaced by the traditionalpulli kolam (rangoli made using dots in South India).
How to Play?
To start the game, set up such that the 32 wooden channapatna pawns fill every pulli (or dot) of the kolam except the middle pulli. The objective is, making valid moves, to empty the entire board except for a solitary pawn in the central pulli (dot). Solitaire is played by one person and is therefore technically not a game but a puzzle.
Basic Play - The player makes successive capturing moves, removing a single pawn each time until it is impossible to make any more capturing moves. Each turn, the player captures a pawn by jumping over that piece orthogonally (not diagonally) from one adjacent dot to the vacant adjacent dot on the other side. Therefore, the first turn can be made only by jumping a pawn into the middle pulli (dot) from one of the 4 possible dots.
Advanced Play - Once you have mastered the basic game, target a different pulli (dot) as the one that the final piece should finish in.
Benefits of playing Board Games
Board games help bring family and friends together. They improve memory, arithmetic and analytical skills. Playing board games drastically reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and Dementia. They keep you mentally and physically active.
CARE INSTRUCTIONS
All lacware products must be kept in shaded areas and must avoid direct exposure to sun. Avoid blows against hard surfaces. Please do not wash them with water. Wood can react variedly to atmospheric changes which is beyond our control. Please dryclean the mat or wash the same lightly in cold water.