I've been really enjoying playing sungka with my eight-year-old daughter. We've been playing it for a number of years now. Usually she likes to start out with one shell in each cup and working our way up to seven shells in each cup over a series of rounds.

Over the last week, she's gotten a lot better at playing. In the past, she used to make her moves fairly randomly, and she liked having the advantage of starting off with a few extra shells in her home. Now she doesn't need that starting point, and she's beginning to plan ahead. She counts the shells to predict where she's going to end up. She recognizes common patterns like clearing out the cups closest to her home. She loves moving shells out of the way so that she can make a very large capture, cupped hands full of shells.

Sungka has taken over as her current hyperfocus. It's the game she asks to play with me when her virtual school is on a recess break. I enjoy playing with her. Even when I'm losing, I enjoy watching her become more dextrous as she drops the shells in one at a time, and I like watching her plan ahead.

I played sungka a lot when I was a kid around her age. I think the school had some sungka boards that people could borrow after class, and I played with the other kids until it was time to go home. I don't know if this is a game that I can bring to the playground. It'll probably be a challenge with sand and kids and lots of small pieces. I think this will just be a game for home and for us, but it's wonderful that I get to share it with her.