Anasazi Tasholiiwe
Tasholiiwe is a shareware computer conversion of a board game played by
many tribes of Native Americans. The name is Zuni, Indian for “wooden dice”
and is also their name for their version of the game, but it was also played
— with small differences — by Zuni, Hopi, Navajo, Apache and others,
probably dating back to the Anasazi.
The game is a simple “race and bump” game for four players (controlled by
human players or the computer), where you have to complete a circuit on the
board, a circle made of 40 stones (the “squares”), before the other players.
The board is divided into four sets of 10 stones by four “gates” or “rivers”.
Each player has a counter (a stick, or “horse”), which is moved by throwing
three casting sticks, each with a red and a black side, and the number of
black or red sides determines the count. The first player to complete the
circuits wins. When you move your horse onto an opponent, he will be bumped
back to the beginning, while when you land on a river, it’s you who has to
start all over.
Peculiar to the game is the fact that the moving direction is not
predetermined; instead, you can choose your direction at the beginning,
clockwise or counterclockwise. Another interesting detail are the “Anasazi
Facts” displayed from time to time, giving bits of information about Native
Americans.
Tasholiiwe offers a variety of options, allowing you to play some of the
variations used by specific tribes. The registered version enables betting on
the outcome as well as a “Contest” mode for multiple games.
Anasazi Tasholiiwe