gamchung opens: a box of free Tibetan games for children
Terma Heritage Foundation has opened gamchung.com, a home for free Tibetan games. gamchung (སྒམ་ཆུང་།) means "the small box." Every Tibetan home has a box for the things that matter. This one is full of games.
Why games
Children today grow up with games, and hardly any are Tibetan. Tibetans have a word for what childhood leaves behind: bakchak (བག་ཆགས།), the marks the early years leave on the mind for life. What a child plays with and loves when they're small becomes part of who they are. So we put Tibetan inside the games children already want to play.
Five games to start
- Butter Run (ages 6+): drive Gonpo's old truck from Ngaba to Lhasa and keep the butter cool for the Jokhang's lamps, with town names on the signs and Tibetan numbers on the kilometre stones.
- Horse Festival (ages 6+): race, pick up khatas and shoot arrows at a summer horse festival, with a commentator speaking Tibetan.
- Jangchub and the Return of the Jewel (ages 6+): a kind little hero and Lungta the wind horse bring the Jewel home, using Tibetan words as powers.
- Momo Shop (ages 6+): fold, steam and serve momos, then count real Tibetan money of the 1950s at closing time.
- Losar Dress-Up (ages 3+): dress a girl for Losar, learning 26 colour names in Tibetan and English.
Free, on any screen
Every game is free, with no ads, no sign-up and nothing to buy. The games play in the web browser on phones, tablets and computers, with nothing to install. Each game shows its age and what it teaches. More games will be added to the box over time.
Visit gamchung.com to play.