Sarita Sarita is a divination game played with two coins. You call Sarita, ask a yes-or-no question, toss the coins, and the combination they land in is the answer. It is a first cousin of Charlie Charlie: the same idea of summoning a spirit that answers, but without pencils and with a quicker kind of chance.
Where it comes from
Sarita Sarita belongs to the family of Latin American playground games in which a spirit is called by name and asked questions. Like the pencil game, it is passed on by word of mouth among schoolchildren, especially in Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, which is why it has as many versions as there are playgrounds. In some Sarita is a girl, in others a young woman who died; in all of them she answers whoever asks respectfully and gets angry at whoever mocks her.
Unlike Charlie Charlie, it never went viral under an English name. It remains a game of oral tradition, and that is part of its charm: every group plays it the way they learned it.
What you need
Two identical coins, a flat surface and silence. Some versions use a sheet with a Yes and a No drawn on it, but it is not necessary: the coins give the answer, not the paper.
How to play, step by step
The group gathers around the table and one of the participants says aloud: "Sarita, Sarita, are you here?". The two coins are tossed. If the answer is yes, the game has begun and questions may be asked, always ones that can be answered with yes or no.
With each question the coins are tossed again and the combination is read. The most widespread reading is: two heads, yes; two tails, no; one head and one tail, Sarita does not want to answer, or not now. Some groups swap heads and tails, or give the mixed combination the value of "maybe". What matters is agreeing on the reading before you start.
To finish, you ask "Sarita, Sarita, can we stop?" and wait for the coins to say yes. You do not abandon the game halfway: in every version, saying goodbye is part of the rules.
Why it works
Two coins in the air give four combinations with the same probability, so yes, no and "not now" share the odds. The game is not in the coins: it is in the question each person asks, in the silence while they spin and in how the group interprets the answer. That is exactly what turns a simple toss into a session nobody forgets.
The online version
On Esoterium you play Sarita Sarita from your phone or computer: you type your question, the two coins spin on screen and land showing heads or tails. Every toss is truly random, every question earns points, and with them you unlock mystic coins with different designs.
Tips and precautions
It is a game for getting scared in a group, and it should be treated as such: polite questions, no mocking, and close the session when you finish. If anyone gets overwhelmed, you stop. It is not a game for small children who are easily frightened.