As one of the most popular games in the archipelago, Sungka is played by Filipinos both young and old. The traditional game which became a witness of the Philippine civilization across the centuries has become their pastime. It may be with friends or with their families, although it originally started as an amusement for ladies only. As for the origin of the term "sungka", historians found relics of an identical game of a stream in Indonesia. The stream widely known to voyagers as the Red River, is called "Songka" by the early Asians. The theory holds that the Sungka game Filipinos play today may have been brought by Indonesians when they migrated to the Philippine islands. Sungka is played by two persons using a wooden block called "Sungka-an" usually carved with intricate designs depicting the culture of a particular part of the archipelago where the Sungka-an is made. It has two rows of seven holes and two large holes at the end called "head".