Tuknanavuhpi

Tuknanavuhpi is a game that has been played for several hundred years by the Hopi of Arizona and neighboring tribes in the U.S. and Mexico. It appears to have roots in Alquerques which was brought to the area by Spanish invaders 500 years ago. It was first recorded by Stewart Culin in 1907.

It’s a jump-and-capture game in the same family as checkers and draughts, but it has its own unique personality. As pieces are moved and captured, if an outer row or column becomes emptied at any time during the game, that row or column becomes off-limits for the rest of the game. The board shrinks as the game goes on!

The game ends either in the elimination of a player's pieces or when no more legal moves can be made. In the latter case, the player with the most pieces still on the board wins. (Or the game ends in a tie.)