Traditional Indian Games: Indoor and Outdoor Favourites

Traditional Indian games have been played in courtyards, gullies, school grounds and living rooms for generations. Some, like kabaddi and kho kho, are fast outdoor team sports, while others, like carrom, ludo and tambola, are the indoor games that come out at every family gathering, Diwali night and kitty party. This page brings together all our rules guides for traditional Indian games, with the number of players and a short summary of each, plus a few heritage games worth reviving.

Most of these games need almost no equipment: a chalk line, a few stones, a deck of cards or a board that is already in the cupboard. That makes them perfect traditional games for kids at school, in a housing society or during holidays at the grandparents' home.

Outdoor traditional games

These are the games of the playground and the street. They build speed, stamina and teamwork, and they cost nothing to play.

• Kabaddi (2 teams of 7 on court): A raider crosses into the opponents' half on a single breath, chanting "kabaddi", tags as many defenders as possible and races back. Defenders score by stopping the raider. Our guide covers points, bonus lines and the main rules.
• Kho kho (2 teams of 12, with 9 on the field): Chasers sit in a row facing alternate directions while one active chaser hunts the defenders. The chaser can only change direction at the poles and passes the chase by touching a seated teammate and calling "kho".
• Gilli danda (2 or more, often in teams): Strike the tapered end of a small wooden gilli with a longer danda to flip it into the air, then hit it as far as you can. Fielders try to catch it or throw it back near the striking spot.
• Lagori (seven stones) (2 teams, usually 3 to 9 each): One team knocks down a pile of seven flat stones with a ball and then tries to rebuild it, while the other team tries to tag them out with the ball. Also called pitthu, pithoo or sitoliya in different regions.

Indoor board games

These are the indoor games every Indian home seems to own. They are ideal for rainy days, summer vacations and family evenings.

• Carrom (2 or 4 players): Flick the striker to pocket your nine coins and the red queen, which must be "covered" by pocketing one of your own coins straight after. Played as singles or doubles.
• Ludo (2 to 4 players): Roll a six to bring a token out, race all four tokens around the board and home, and cut opponents by landing on them. A modern version of the royal game of pachisi.
• Snakes and ladders (2 to 6 players): Roll and move to square 100, climbing ladders and sliding down snakes. It began in India as a game called moksha patam, where ladders stood for good deeds and snakes for bad ones.

Card games

• Teen Patti (3 to 7 players): The three-card game played at family gatherings during Diwali. Play at home for fun with chips, matchsticks or points. Our guide explains hand rankings and blind and seen play.
• 29 (4 players in pairs): A trick-taking game with 32 cards where the jack and nine are the strongest cards. Teams bid on how many card points they will win, and the highest bidder chooses trump.

Party and group games

• Tambola (Housie) (any number of players): A caller draws numbers from 1 to 90 and players strike them off their tickets, claiming prizes like early five, lines and full house. The star of every kitty party and society function.
• Antakshari (2 teams, any size): Teams take turns singing songs, and each new song must start with the last letter or sound of the previous one. Simple, musical and loved by all ages.
• Dumb charades (2 teams, any size): Act out a film title or phrase without speaking while your team guesses against the clock. Agree the standard signals for words, syllables and "sounds like" before you start.

More traditional games to revive

These heritage games do not have full rules pages yet, but here is a short description of each. Rules vary from region to region, so agree the details before you begin.

Kanche (marbles)

Players flick glass marbles with the forefinger, bracing it against the thumb, to hit other marbles or knock them out of a ring drawn in the dust. Marbles that are hit are often won by the shooter for the rest of the game. Usually 2 to 6 players.

Chaupar and pachisi

An ancient race game played on a cross-shaped cloth board, with cowrie shells or long dice instead of ordinary dice. Two to four players move pieces around the arms of the cross and home to the centre. Ludo is the simplified modern version.

Pallanguzhi

A South Indian sowing game played on a wooden board with 14 pits, using seeds, shells or tamarind seeds. Two players pick up the seeds from a pit and drop one in each pit in turn, capturing seeds as they go. It works much like mancala, and it is a wonderful counting game for children.

Aadu puli attam (goats and tigers)

A two-player hunt game on a triangle-shaped board. One player has three tigers, the other fifteen goats. Tigers capture by jumping over goats, and goats win by trapping the tigers so they cannot move.

Lattu (spinning top)

A wooden top is wound with a string and thrown so it spins on the ground. Children compete to spin longest, to pick a spinning top onto the palm, or to knock other tops out of a circle.

Kith kith (hopscotch)

A grid is drawn on the ground and a player tosses a flat stone into a box, then hops through the grid on one foot, skipping that box. It is known by many names across India and is very similar to hopscotch.

More India favourites on the site

You may also enjoy 13 card Indian rummy, Bluff, Sixty-six, Business, passing the parcel and tug of war. Planning a ladies' get-together? See our kitty party games. For tambola night, use our free tambola ticket generator and tambola number caller.

How to pick a game

• Indoors or outdoors? For indoor games at a birthday party or on a rainy day, choose carrom, ludo, tambola, antakshari or dumb charades. With an open ground, go for kho kho, kabaddi, lagori or gilli danda.
• How many people? Tambola, antakshari and dumb charades can include the whole family. Carrom and 29 need exactly two or four. Kho kho and kabaddi need two full teams, though you can shrink the teams for casual play.
• Who is playing? Snakes and ladders and lagori are great for younger children. Kabaddi involves tackling, so match players by age and size and play on soft ground. Elders enjoy tambola, antakshari and carrom, so these are lovely for mixed generations.
• Safety first for outdoor games. In gilli danda, keep fielders well away from the striker. In lagori, use a soft ball and aim below the shoulders.
• Agree local rules. Many traditional Indian games change from one city to the next. A minute of discussion before you start saves a lot of arguments later.