Warning
Angkung (Bas Angkunh) is a traditional game that has been popular in Southeast Asia for centuries. Angkung is also known under the names "Angkunh" or "Bas Angkunh", "Ong Coon" or "Ang Kunch". Translated, the game means throwing brown nuts and is traditionally played with flat, brown, knee-sized nuts that are picked from trees.
Cultural background
As a Cambodian New Year game, it is played in streets and squares all over the country. This game is mostly played by children, but not limited to the three public holidays of the Cambodian New Year celebrations in April. The first day is called "Sangran" and means "movement". The second day is called “Vanabot” and means “to seek shelter”. The third day of the celebrations is called “Lerng Sak” and means “coming New Year”.
This game is one of a number of traditional games (so-called Khmer games). Other games are called "Tres", "Chol Chhoung", "Chab Kon Kleng", "Leak Kanseng", "Bay Khom" and "Klah Klok".
Children, and often adults too, come together in the evenings for spontaneous teasing parties. Teams with separate sexes often play against each other. The other players are quickly surrounded by a large crowd of spectators, and quickly dissolve after the game. The nuts from the angkung tree, which supplies the game pieces, can be bought for little money from street vendors. Outside of Cambodia, avocado kernels or flat stones are also used instead of nuts. Cambodia isn't the only country with traditional New Year games. In Korea , the yut is a very well-known New Year's game and a probable forerunner of the Indian pachisis and thus also of the German man don't get angry .
How to play
The main goal is to hit the other team's nuts to win points and thus the game.
Lineup
- Each team arranges their nuts as shown below.
- If your own nuts are hit by the opposing team, they are returned to their starting position.
- The distance between the teams depends on their skill. It is possible to first place the nuts closer together and increase the distance and thus the degree of difficulty from round to round.
Teams
- The number of players depends on the number of nuts.
- Each player on a team has their own throwing nut (borrowing is not allowed).
- The teams decide the order in which their players throw.
- The players stand behind the nut line when it is their turn to throw their nut.
Before starting the game
- The teams vote on the number of points that must be achieved to win.
- The teams choose the “punishment” for the team that loses the first round. For example, the losers have to carry the winners on their backs, etc.
- The chosen teams play Schnick, Schnack, Schnuck against each other. The winning team may throw first and thus start the game and the first round.
game
The game is played in rounds. During a round, each player receives an attempt to hit the opposing team's nuts. Each nut hit means one point for the throwing team. If several nuts are hit in one throw, the throwing team receives one point for each nut hit. The number of rounds to be played depends on the points achieved. For example: If the teams have voted that the group that has reached 20 points first wins and one group has already achieved this number in the first round, the game is over. Of course you can start a new game afterwards.
The game is also over if a team has lost all of its nuts.
The losers are "punished" by the winners, but:
- The losers get their lost nuts back;
- they may decide the punishment of the losing team in the next round
- and they can make the first throw of the next round.
The points achieved by each team during a round are "carried over" to the next round. The game is over when a team has reached the predetermined number of points that lead to victory. It is common for youth teams to knock the nuts on the opponent's knees as a punishment .
example
Team X has won the lot and starts the game and the first round by throwing a nut. If a player from team X has hit a nut from team Y, he gets his throwing nut back, team X receives one point and the next player from team X may throw. The first thrower of team X may only throw again when all other players have thrown from his team. The players of team X may throw until one of them throws and does not hit. If one of the players of team X throws and does not score, he has to fold this round (he loses his nut for this one round), it is team Y's turn to throw.
The players of team Y throw in the chosen order until one of them does not score and it is team X's turn again (the player in the order after the player who was last not hit and lost his nut has, it's your turn).
The game continues until all players on a team have not scored and have lost their nut. So if all the players on Team X have lost their nuts, Team Y will punish them. Then the players of team X get their nuts back and can choose the penalty for the team that loses the next round. You can also make the first roll of the next round.
Other variants
 
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- Depending on the number of nuts, each team can do two “nut heaps”. There are two nuts on top of each other in the first row. If these “nut heaps” are hit by the opposing team, the throwing team gets two points for it. To increase the level of difficulty, the “nut heaps” can also be placed behind the three individual nuts.
- Each team places its nuts as shown below. The teams decide whether when the nut in the middle is hit, the throwing team gets extra points or whether the throwing team loses the thrown nut and it is the other team's turn to throw it.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from April 22, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ On the Cambodian New Year , accessed April 27, 2008.
- ↑ http://www.angkorguides.com/events/khmernewyear.php?mid=15
