Kaooa (also known as “Vulture and Crows”) is a traditional Indian hunt game estimated to be at least six hundred years old. It is an asymmetric game played on a pentagram (five-pointed star) board. One player controls a single vulture while the other controls seven crows. The crows try to trap the vulture so it cannot move; the vulture tries to capture enough crows to prevent being trapped.
Components
1 pentagram (five-pointed star) board with 10 intersection points
1 vulture piece
7 crow pieces
Setup
The board starts empty. The vulture player places the vulture on any intersection point first. Then players alternate turns, with the crow player placing crows one at a time on empty points.
Turn Structure
Players alternate turns. On each turn:
Crow player: Either place a new crow on an empty point (during the placement phase) or move an existing crow one space along a line to an adjacent empty point (after all 7 crows are placed).
Vulture player: Either move the vulture one space along a line to an adjacent empty point, or capture a crow by jumping over it.
Actions
Crow Actions
Place a crow: During the placement phase, place one of your unplayed crows on any empty intersection point.
Move a crow: After all 7 crows have been placed, move one crow along a line to an adjacent empty point. Crows may NOT jump.
Vulture Actions
Move: Move the vulture along a line to an adjacent empty intersection point.
Capture: Jump over an adjacent crow to land on the empty point directly beyond it (same as draughts/checkers capture). The jumped crow is removed from the board. Only one capture per turn – multiple consecutive jumps are NOT allowed.
Scoring / Victory Conditions
Vulture wins: By capturing at least 4 crows (reducing crows to 3 or fewer, which makes blocking impossible).
Crows win: By surrounding the vulture so it has no legal move (cannot move to an adjacent empty point and cannot jump any crow).
Special Rules & Edge Cases
The vulture can move and capture during the placement phase while crows are still being placed.
Crows can never jump – only the vulture can jump to capture.
Multiple jumps in a single turn are not allowed.
The pentagram board has exactly 10 intersection points, each connected to specific other points by the lines of the star.
Strategy for crows: coordinate to surround the vulture while minimizing exposed crows. Strategy for the vulture: capture crows early before they can form a trap.