Dadu
A game of strategy and funDadu — Play the Traditional Cowrie Shell Board Game Online
Dadu is a classic two-team cowrie-shell board game. Roll five cowrie shells, race your pieces from reserve around the shared track, and capture opposing pieces along the way. This free multiplayer version runs in your browser — create a room and share the code to play with friends in real time. New to the game? Read the full Dadu rules.
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Level 1
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Rules & Scoring
How Dadu is playedCowrie Throws (5 Shells):
- 1 Flat up: Move 1 space + Bonus Throw. Mandatory: if you have any pieces in reserve, a roll of 1 MUST be used to enter one.
- 2, 3, 4 Flat up: Move 2, 3, or 4 spaces.
- 5 Flat up: Move 10 spaces + Bonus Throw.
- 0 Flat up (Bust): 0 spaces, all pending throws lost, turn ends!
Movement & Safe Squares:
- Pieces travel the shared track around both oval yards. Squares marked with an X are safe.
- Friendly pieces may freely stack on the same square.
- Reaching the center home (Ghar) requires your team to have captured at least one enemy piece first.
- Bearing a piece off from the Ghar requires a roll of exactly 1, and zero pieces left in reserve.
- 🔒 A player's rolls can't move any piece until they've personally rolled a 1-flat at least once in the match.
Entrenched Attack (in place):
- A roll of 1 lets you eliminate an enemy camped alongside one of your pieces, if that enemy's team has zero in reserve.
King (Nakto) Mechanics:
- Unprotected King (Nakto) captured → ALL pieces of that team return to reserve!
- King (Nakto) + friendly pawn → pawn is sacrificed to shield the King.
- King (Nakto) captures opposing King (Nakto) → entire opposing force wiped out!
Results
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Win Streak
Match-by-match history is coming soon — these totals start moving once a game finishes.
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