In modern times, the game's instructions are often printed on mooncake packaging, although the game is also played with prizes of daily necessities, household appliances or money. The Hokkien Chinese name Po̍ah-piáⁿ translates as 'gambling for cakes', and the game traditionally has 63 different sized mooncakes as prizes for the winning players: 32 of the smallest cake, half as many of the next largest, and so on ending with a single large Chiōng-gôan cake.
The game became popular in Amoy (now Xiamen) and is considered a folk game.
The game was an attempt to boost the morale of Koxinga's homesick troops during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Zheng was stationed with his troops in Amoy planning the Siege of Fort Zeelandia to take Dutch Formosa, which had been occupied by the Dutch since 1624. The game dates back to the 1600s when it is said to have been invented by the Chinese general Koxinga of the Southern Ming, along with his lower officer Hong Xu. It is traditionally played with six dice and a china bowl. Mandarin Chinese: 博餅 pinyin: Bóbǐng ( Hokkien Chinese: 博餅 / 跋餅 Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Poa̍h-piáⁿ, also known in Hokkien Chinese: 跋狀元餅 Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Po̍ah-chiōng-gôan-piáⁿ) is a Chinese dice game traditionally played as part of the celebration of the Mid-Autumn Festival. Six dice in a bowl: a roll of 1-2-3-4-5-6 is a Bangyan, and its prize is the second largest mooncake
