Dixith Labs

Angana

Traditional games

Angana means courtyard: one app for the traditional games of India, played the way they were played at home. Sit down for a few minutes, by yourself against the phone or with someone beside you, and be a child again.

Open Angana

Free. It opens in your browser and works offline once opened. To keep it on your phone, open it and choose Install, or on an iPhone tap Share and Add to Home Screen.

A look inside

The games page: Chowkabara, Chennemane and Pagade, each with a New game button. Chowkabara on the red floor: the chalk board, the pawns and four cowries thrown. Chennemane: the carved board of fourteen pits, with tamarind seeds, half way through a game. Pagade: the cross on its mat, the pawns of two players and the two long dice. Paramapada Sopana: the board of a hundred squares, its ladders and snakes, and the cowries. Choosing the pawns: groundnuts, tamarind seeds, bangle pieces and more. The house rules: your family's way, kept for the next game. Chowkabara in Kannada.

What it does

Four games

  • Chowkabara, also called Ashta Chamma: four cowries for dice, and a chalk board of five by five
  • Chennemane, also called Ali Guli Mane: a carved board of fourteen pits, and tamarind seeds or cowries
  • Pagade: a cross of beads or cloth, two long dice, and four pawns each. The game of the Mahabharata
  • Paramapada Sopana: the old snakes and ladders, a ladder at every virtue and a snake at every vice

Play your way

  • Two to four players: pass the phone round, or let the phone take a seat
  • The phone plays as Gubbi, at Beginner, Medium or Expert
  • Your family's own rules, chosen once and kept for the next game
  • Pawns from the kitchen: groundnuts, tamarind seeds, peas, bangle pieces and more

The floor, the wood and the sound

  • The cool red floor, the chalk that wears as you play, the carved board with brass studs
  • The cowries rattle and strike the floor; a seed knocks on the wood. Every sound is made on the phone

Gentle on the family

  • After 45 minutes of play, Gubbi suggests a break, at a natural pause; it can be changed or switched off
  • No notifications, rewards or streaks: Angana never calls anyone back
  • Works offline, with no account; a game left half way is there when you come back
  • Sign in, if you wish, to carry a game on to another phone
  • In English, Kannada and Hindi

Free. Sign in only if you want your data kept safe across devices. Privacy

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