Chula Chula was a game played by the Wadi race . The game board itself was a large abstract board , which however was portable ; once the case containing it opened , the board , in a flash of light , automatically materialized in the room and the players were transported in a virtual world . There were two levels of participation for players of the game , each represented in a different way . The primary player played the game via a traditional physical apparatus with abstract structure to represent components of the game , including an inverted - pyramid shaped stack of horizontal planes representing each level ( or " shap " ) , and small figurine s representing the active internal players . The board also had a control panel where the primary players could program the hazards and other events indicated by the dice . The rules are not explained to a first time player , learning them as you go along is part of the game . The internal players were transported to a virtual world generated by the game where they interacted in the same way that they would physically interact with the real world . The primary player and the internal players could be considered to be on a team together , but the primary player could not communicate with the internal players . The primary player decided what paths would be available to the internal players and what challenges they would face . He made a wager on the outcome , with challenges of higher difficulty offering a shorter path towards home as well as higher returns . There was also a measure of randomness added by rolling dice , affecting the challenge . The internal players needed to defeat the challenges to progress in the game , moving along a path that was separated by levels called " shaps " . Along the way they could be harmed or even " die " . However , this was only in the world of the game , and when it was over they were returned to the real world unharmed . The goal of the game was to get at least one player to the final " shap " , which was referred to as " home " . History . When the Wadi delegation visited Deep Space 9 , they discovered that Quark was cheating the dabo board . Falow gave him a chance to play honestly in order to forget this , and allow him to win more of their gems . When Quark accepted , Benjamin Sisko , Jadzia Dax , Kira Nerys , and Julian Bashir were transported in the game as internal players . Their disappearance alerted Jake Sisko and Odo . George Primmin located an energy flux on the Wadi starship , an intense bipolar current similar to a continuous transporter burst , and speculated it was responsible for the senior staff ' s disappearance . Odo transported on board the Wadi ship to investigate , but when he reached the source of the flux , he was instantaneously transported back to Quark ' s . When " thialo " occurred to Quark , he thought it was too much to choose whom to sacrifice , believing that his player would die . As a result Falow programmed a random hazard to be decided who would be killed . Sisko , Dax , and Kira were unable to stand and fell into a chasm , thereby being transported back to Quark ' s . This meant that Quark lost , but he was still interested in discussing a licensing agreement with them . ( ) Background information . According to one of the writers of the episode , Jeanne Carrigan - Fauci , the name of the game , " Chula " , comes from and is a of , as the maze game is a " three - dimensional form " of the game . ( " " ) The script for the episode describes the appearance of " chula " as " " Falow opens the case and a flash of light obliterates the room . When it clears the dabo table has been replaced by a strange alien game board . . . there ' s a central start point from which a winding maze serpentines downward toward the end triangle . There are twelve " shaps " ( levels ) . Within the board , there are short cuts between " shaps " , allowing players to move more rapidly to the end . Falow begins to put a variety of strange symbolic pieces ( think hotels in ) at various intervals , elaborately " setting up " the board . . . there is also an electronic component to the board with switches and blinkies . . . " " . ( " " )