FLAMES is the notebook game every Indian schoolchild has played — two names, cross out the matching letters, count what remains, and the acronym tells you your relationship. It works perfectly with Kannada names, and it is a genuinely useful way to practise the script. This page covers FLAMES plus the traditional Karnataka games that are quietly disappearing.
Playing FLAMES with Kannada Names
The acronym stands for Friends, Love, Affection, Marriage, Enemy, Siblings. Here are the Kannada equivalents.
To play with Kannada script, write both names in Kannada and strike out letters that appear in both. Because Kannada writes a consonant and its vowel as one unit, you match whole ಅಕ್ಷರ rather than separate letters — ಮ and ಮಾ do not cancel each other.
This is exactly why it is good practice. Playing it forces you to look carefully at each syllable block and notice the vowel signs, which is precisely the skill beginners find hardest.
Playing FLAMES and Traditional Karnataka Games
- Write both names in Kannada script, one above the other.
- Strike out every ಅಕ್ಷರ that appears in both names. Cancel one occurrence for one occurrence.
- Count the remaining letters across both names combined.
- Spell out F-L-A-M-E-S repeatedly, removing a letter each time you reach the count.
- The last letter standing is your answer. Announce it in Kannada — ಸ್ನೇಹ, ಪ್ರೀತಿ and so on.
A worked idea: for ರಮ್ಯ and ರಾಮ, the ರ in Ramya does not cancel ರಾ in Rama, because the vowel sign makes them different aksharas. Learners get this wrong constantly, and getting it right means you are reading the script properly.
ಲಗೋರಿ is the classic Karnataka street game — one team knocks down a pile of seven flat stones with a ball and tries to rebuild it while the other team gets them out. It requires nothing but stones and a ball, which is why it was universal.
ಅಳಗುಳಿ ಮನೆ and ಚೌಕಾಬಾರ are traditional board games played on wooden boards or squares drawn on the floor, often by women and older family members. Both are centuries old and are seeing a small revival.
ನನ್ನ ಸರದಿ — my turn — is worth knowing beyond games. ಸರದಿ is the same word used for a queue turn at a hospital or a temple, so it transfers directly to adult life.
Pronunciation Tips
- ಸ್ನೇಹ opens with the cluster ಸ್ನ. Say ‘sne-ha’ in two beats.
- ವಾತ್ಸಲ್ಯ has ತ್ಸ and ಲ್ಯ — the hardest word on this page.
- ಕಣ್ಣಾಮುಚ್ಚಾಲೆ has a doubled retroflex ಣ and a doubled ch.
- ಅಳಗುಳಿ has two retroflex ಳ sounds.
- ಗೆದ್ದೆ has a doubled d. ‘Ged-de’.
Common Mistakes
- Cancelling ಮ against ಮಾ in FLAMES. Different aksharas. The vowel sign matters.
- Playing with transliterated names. Use the Kannada script — that is where the learning value is.
- Confusing ಸ್ನೇಹ and ಪ್ರೀತಿ. Friendship versus love, and the distinction matters socially.
- Calling chinni daandu ‘cricket’. It is a distinct stick-and-peg game much older than cricket in the region.
- Assuming these games are extinct. Lagori and kabaddi are actively played, and kabaddi has a professional league.
Cultural Note — Games and Childhood in Karnataka
Traditional street games in Karnataka required almost nothing — stones, sticks, chalk, a rubber ball. That accessibility is why they were universal across income levels, and their decline tracks the loss of open street space in cities more than any change in children’s tastes.
Some have survived by professionalising. Kabaddi now has a national league with Karnataka teams, and ಲಗೋರಿ appears at organised cultural events and school heritage days. Board games like ಅಳಗುಳಿ ಮನೆ and ಚೌಕಾಬಾರ have seen a small revival among families deliberately reviving them.
For a learner with children, these games are genuinely useful. The vocabulary is short and repetitive, the situations are physical and clear, and ನನ್ನ ಸರದಿ, ಗೆದ್ದೆ and ಆಡೋಣ get used a hundred times an afternoon — which is exactly the repetition that makes words stick.
Practice
- Play FLAMES once using two names written in Kannada script.
- Learn the six outcome words in Kannada.
- Find out how ಲಗೋರಿ is played and what the seven stones are for.
- Use ನನ್ನ ಸರದಿ next time you are waiting in a queue.
- Ask a Kannada speaker which games they played as a child.