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The two main components in congkak are the congkak board and the congkak seeds.

The congkak board:

• Usually made of hardwood such as cengal or merbau, and elongated in shape.

• It consists of two parallel rows of small holes (each row containing either 7 or 9 holes, depending on the variation) and two larger holes located at both ends of the board, known as the rumah (house) or ibu (mother).

The congkak seeds:

• Typically consist of glass marbles, saga seeds, or rubber seeds.

• Each small hole is traditionally filled with seven seeds (or any agreed number, depending on the rules set by the players).

Congkak is played by two players who sit facing each other with the congkak board placed in between. The board consists of rows of small holes called kampung (villages) and two larger holes at each end known as rumah (houses) or ibu (mother). Each player’s rumah is located at the far-left end of the board according to their position.

Game Preparation

Before the game begins, each kampung hole is filled with an equal number of congkak seeds, usually seven (though sometimes five or nine depending on the variation). The rumah holes are left empty. The seeds can be made of glass marbles, saga seeds, rubber seeds, or small stones.

Starting the Game

The game begins with both players simultaneously selecting one kampung from their side of the board and picking up all the seeds within it. The seeds are then distributed one by one into the subsequent holes in a clockwise direction, including the player’s own rumah but excluding the opponent’s rumah. The distribution continues until the last seed is dropped.

Special Movement Rules

1. Dead (stop): If the last seed falls into an empty hole on the player’s own side, the turn ends immediately and is considered “dead.”

2. Capture (tembak): Suppose a player completes a full round, passing their own rumah and returning to their side, and the last seed falls into an empty hole. In that case, the player may “capture” (tembak) by collecting all seeds from the directly opposite hole in the opponent’s row.

   
   

3. Extra turn: If the last seed lands in the player’s own rumah, the player earns an additional turn and may continue by selecting seeds from any occupied kampung on their side.

4. Dead on opponent’s side: If the last seed falls into an empty hole on the opponent’s side, the turn ends immediately without capture.

General Rules of Play

1. Players take turns alternately until all seeds have been distributed.

2. If it is a player’s turn but none of their kampung contains seeds, the turn automatically passes to the opponent.

3. After the first round ends, each player refills their kampung with seeds taken from their rumah. Any kampung that cannot be refilled due to insufficient seeds is considered “burned” (terbakar) and may no longer be used in subsequent rounds.

Determining the Winner

The game continues until one player no longer has enough seeds to place even one in a kampung. At the end of the game, the seeds inside each rumah are counted. The player with the greater number of seeds in their rumah is declared the winner. If both players have the same number of seeds, the one with more “burned” kampung is considered the loser.

Differences from Similar Games

Although congkak shares similarities with other seed-and-hole board games such as Mancala in Africa or Sungka in the Philippines, there are distinctive differences. The most notable is that in congkak, both players begin playing simultaneously during the first turn. In addition, the distribution of seeds in congkak moves in a clockwise direction, whereas many related games are played in a counterclockwise direction.

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