Shoशो

The track and the pad

Sixty-four cowrie shells are laid in a spiral round a round leather pad. Coins rest in the gaps between shells: a coin "on 7" sits just after the seventh shell. The coins travel clockwise along the spiral, the way the turns go round the table.

The dice are thrown by slamming a wooden cup, mouth down, onto the pad and lifting it.

Players and coins

Each player has nine coins in hand at the start. With four players, the two sitting opposite each other are partners and share one set of nine coins between them: either partner may move any of their coins, and partners' coins stack together. Three players is the usual game.

The first player starts, and the turn passes clockwise.

Opening

While a side has no coins on the track, its throw opens: two coins go on together as one stack, after the shell that matches the total. An opening throw of two (pa ra) or three (sug) puts three coins on.

If an opponent's stack is already on that spot, it is killed and the opener puts down one coin more than it had. So when two players open with the same number, the second one kills the first one's two coins and puts down three. An opening kill earns no extra throw.

The same happens whenever a side has lost every coin it had on the track: its next throw opens again with two.

Moving

Once you have coins on the track, every throw does one of two things: put one new coin from your hand on the spot that matches the total, or move one of your stacks forward by the total.

You may jump over any stacks on the way. Only one side's coins can rest on a spot. If no move is possible the turn passes, but whenever a move is possible you must make one, and a throw with only one possible move is played for you.

Stacking

Land on your own coins and they join into one stack. A stack never splits: from then on all its coins move together with a single throw. Stacking earns another throw.

Killing

Land on an opponent's stack with a stack of the same size or bigger and you kill it: those coins go back to their owner's hand and must come round again. Killing earns another throw.

A bigger enemy stack blocks you: you cannot land on it, so that move is not allowed. A single new coin can kill a single coin.

Pa ra

Two ones is pa ra. Keep it and throw again at once. Then move by the new throw, by the kept two, or by both added together. If you throw pa ra again, it is kept too and adds another two.

At an opening, pa ra simply puts three coins on.

The crooked nine

If a side has already opened once but has no coins left on the track, a throw of 3 and 6 puts every coin it holds in hand onto the ninth spot as one stack, provided that spot is empty.

Finishing

A stack leaves the track as soon as it reaches or passes the gap after the last shell. It does not need an exact throw, and any steps left over are lost. Finishing does not earn another throw.

The first side to bring all nine coins home wins. Partners win together.

Where these rules come from

Sho is played from memory, and families differ. This table follows the rules most sources share and the detailed account of play in Lhasa:

• Sixty-four cowries, two dice, the cup and leather pad, nine coins a side, clockwise play, partners sharing coins: every source, including Daisuke Murakami's fieldwork in Lhasa (Revue d'Etudes Tibetaines 29, 2014), the Tibetan Wikipedia essay by Nyalam Kalsang Lhundrup of Tibet University, and the English, Chinese and German Wikipedia articles.
• Opening with two coins, three on pa ra or sug, and the same-number kill that puts one coin more on: Murakami, the Tibetan essay, the Tibetan Sho app and druksho.com. BoardGameGeek's description opens with three coins instead.
• Equal or smaller stacks are killed and bigger ones block: nine sources agree. Extra throws for kills and for stacking: Murakami, the Tibetan essay, English Wikipedia and druksho.com. Some players give one only for a kill, which is an option here.
• Pa ra is the rule where sources differ most. Murakami and the Tibetan essay let the thrower either throw again or lay the pa ra down as two coins. English Wikipedia, the Sho app and druksho.com keep the two and let you use it alone or with the next throw. This table uses the second way.
• The crooked nine (3 and 6 with no coins on the track): Murakami, English Wikipedia, the Sho app and druksho.com.
• No exact throw to finish: eight sources, none against. Whether leftover steps can be used differs; here they are lost, as in the Lhasa rules on druksho.com.
• We found no written rules from Sherpa or Tibetan players in Nepal. The Tibetan essay's author comes from Nyalam, and the cups are made in Kyirong, both on the Nepal border, so the Lhasa and Tsang rules are the nearest guide.
• Not used here: who throws first by time of day (the eldest in the morning, the youngest later), dice that land stacked on each other winning outright, and the drinking customs of the game.

Stacking ends the turn

Some players give an extra throw only for a kill. With this option, landing on your own coins still stacks them but your turn ends.

No stack of nine

A well-known house rule never lets all nine coins travel as one stack. With this option any move that would make a nine-stack is not allowed, and the crooked nine cannot bring all nine on at once.