Tpanaa

Tpanaa

Two kwąt dice, used in tpanaa
Years active	at least 100
Genre(s)	Dice Gambling Tanni Nguniral
Players	2+
Random chance	Ubiquitous
Skill(s) required	Luck
Synonym(s)	tpañáa

Tpanaa (Maypaw tpañáa /tpaɲáa/ "big throw") is a Xuni game of the tanni and nguniral classes.

Rules

Setup

Tpanaa tends to be played in groups of 2 to 5 players. Players sit in a circle formation so that there is a space in the middle for the dice and stones. Several rows of stones or tokens are set up. These can be any object, e.g. coins, marbles, etc., but there also exist special-purpose tanni tokens which are used in this game. The most common setup is 3 rows, with 3, 4, and 5 tokens each, but any initial setup of multiple rows with multiple stones each is possible.

Play order is clockwise. Play begins when the first player either takes a stone or rolls the dice.

Gameplay

On each turn, players may either take a single stone or may roll the dice to take a random action. A player may roll one die before the other, or they may roll both dice simultaneously. Players may not choose to pass.

One die shows the action that must be taken that turn. Each face of the die is inscribed with a letter of the Maypaw script, standing for a verb root representing the action. This die is natively referred to as pemeyan (from Awatese nguniřął a pemehąn, “acting die,”) and is rolled first.

Meaning	Description
oꞌ take	The player takes the amount of tokens shown from a row.
râ put	The player puts the amount of tokens shown into an existing row.
zaꞌ give	The player moves the amount shown from one row to another existing row.
póya offer thanks	The player moves the amount shown from one row to a new row.
xáax go around	The player rolls the action die again.
zêzaꞌ push	The player does nothing. Play resumes without rolling the second die.

Another die shows the amount of tokens used for the action shown on the first die. When letters are included, the symbols shown for the fixed numerical values are digits in the Maypaw script, while the other two symbols are the words spelled out in Maypaw; most dice used and produced in Quaxin Xun do not include letters and only show the shapes. This die is called pezáan /peʒáan/ in Maypaw (from Awatese nguniřął a peząhąn “counting die”). It may be rolled after the acting die or together with it.

Symbol	Meaning	Description
•	mu one	One stone.
••	ra two	Two stones.
⛬	zi three	Three stones.
◆	xam half	Half of the stones in the pile. Rounds down to the nearest whole number.
▲	náltar all, every	All the stones in the pile.
(blank)	psíñayts nothing	No stones. Play resumes without action.

The last player to take a stone becomes the winner.

See also

• kwąt
• oha
• taongio ma