윷놀이 / Yut Nori, a traditional Korean game

The traditional folk games of Korea are big on traditional holidays. When families gather to celebrate the times of new beginning, Seollolal, or thanksgiving, Chuseok, with the ancestral rites and abundant traditional Korean food, there always is room for playing a couple of folk games. The rules of the games are never written down, but passed down from one generation to another naturally by playing together. The folk games add that special element of the holiday spirit by bringing all members of the family together regardless of age or gender for sole purpose-rekindling the family ties and spirit and, of course, winning. Here are some of the games which are still widely popular.

In the Australia we have Monopoly and more other board games. In Korea, they have yut nori, which is a traditional Korean board game. It is often played during traditional holidays, such as Seollal and maybe Chuseok.

Yut-Nori is a traditional board game which is the most popular game played in Korea. Yut was played as early as the Tree Kingdoms (57BCE-668CE). The game is so easy to learn that most Korean families (regardless of age) enjoy playing during holidays. Audience would have an opportunity to actually play the game in teams after learning game rules. Korean snacks will be served during the presentation .

The game is a popular board game throughout Korea, and it is considered a game of deep tradition. The game is often treated as a social spectacle with onlookers and team members shouting loudly, encouraging each other, or wishing for a certain score. This game is played in almost every Korean Thanksgiving party or gathering and is commonly played almost at almost any region of the world with a significant Korean population. The rare scores of yut and mo in particular cause excitement, particularly if cast more than one at a time.

There is a folk explanation for the game, describing a bet by some villagers to raise five different kind of livestock: pigs,dogs,sheep,cows and horses.Each of the villagers would raise only one type.
The board and the game are known to have been used in fortune-telling, particularly in mountain-areas and small farming-villages, but this is no longer practiced.

How to play
The game is played between two partners or two teams who play in turns, sometimes it is played with more teams. Yut is a popular family game. There is no limit in the number of participants in a game,which means that the game can be played by a considerable group. When played with large groups it is not uncommon for some group members never to cast the sticks: they still participate discussing the strategy.

The start of the game is determined by each team casting the yut sticks. The team with the highest score
starts first.

Each team then casts the sticks in turn, then moves a mal according to the score achieved. One turn usually consists of only one cast. However, a player achieving a yut or mo earns an extra cast for the turn; if he/she casts a yut or mo at the second cast, he/she earns an extra cast again, so there is no limit to the number of times a player can cast again before the end of a turn, provided he or she keeps casting yuts or mos. The respective scores can be played separately if wished, each given to another mal (or group of mals, see below), but a score earned from one cast cannot be split into two moves—for example, a geol (advance three steps) cannot be split into a do (one step) and a gae (two steps).


Materials:
4 yut sticks (6" pieces of wooden molding that is flat on one sideand rounded on the other)
4 mals per player or team (buttons or place markers)
1 yut board (see diagram below)

Directions:
The game starts with all mals at home. A player throws the yutsticks in the air. When the sticks fall, the player moves a malaround the board the appropriate spaces.
Do -move 1 space- 1 flat, 3 round
Gae -move 2 spaces- 2 flat, 2 round
Gul -move 3 spaces- 3 flat, 1 round
Yut -move 4 spaces- 4 flat
Mo -move 5 spaces- 4 round

Rules:
1. Only 1 mal can be moved each time the yut is thrown.
2. If a mal lands on a corner spot, the player can take a shortcuttoward home through the middle of the playing board.
3. Players who score mo or yut get a second turn.
4. If two mals belonging to one player land on the same space,they may move
together.
5. If your mal lands on a space occupied by another players mal,the other players
mal is sent home and must begin again, and you get anotherturn.
6. The first player to get all mals home is the winner.

I really hope everyone enjoys playing Yut Nori (윷놀이) as much as i do now with my Korean friends .