| For all these games you will
need a mancala board with two rows of six pots and a store
at each end and up to 60 playing pieces (seeds).
How to move your pieces around the board
In play it is the position of the seeds on the
board that determines whether or not you can move them, not
the colour of the seed. You can begin by moving any of the
seeds on your side of the board, but you can’t start
from your opponent's side of the board. Always pick up all
the seeds in the pot you are moving from. Place one seed in
each pot as you go around the board. Travel round the board
to the right, ie anticlockwise.
The board is placed between the two players.
Each player controls the row closest to him and the store
on the right.
Basic Game
This is a single lap mancala game. You
move one group of seeds at a time.
Number of Players: 2
Game Duration: 20 mins
Players Aged: 5+
To Prepare
Fill each hole with three seeds except
the stores.
The Play
Take it in turns to sow the seeds around the board, including
your own store but skipping your opponent's. If the last seed
that you sow goes into the store you get another turn.
If the last seed you sow ends in an empty pot on your side
of the board you capture that seed and all the seeds in your
opponents pot opposite. Put all these seeds in your store.
The game ends when one player clears all the pots on their
side of the board. All ther seeds left on the other side of
the board are now theirs to count, so don't let the other
player clear their side of the board!
The player with the most seeds in his store wins.
Owari
A single lap mancala game with more strategic
potential.
Number of Players: 2
Game Duration: 20 mins
Players Aged: 7 +
Setting up: Four seeds are placed in each pot.
The Play
The first player picks up all the seeds
from any of their pots and sows them into the next four pots.
No seeds are sown into the store.
If the last seed is dropped into an opponent's pot that contains
only one or two seeds (no more) the player captures these
seeds and the one he has just placed in the pot and puts them
in his own store.
Counting the last seed sowed, the pot contains two or three
seeds, so it is capture by twos and threes.
Remember a player can only capture on the opponent's
side and only if he is sowing his last seed in a pot that
already holds either one seed or two. If there are three or
more seeds no capture is made.
When a capture is made, the player also captures
the seeds in the penultimate pot if it contains two or three
seeds. If the pot before this one also contains two or three
seeds the player can again make a capture. The player continues
to capture in this way as long as the sequence is unbroken.
The player may not capture on his own side of the board during
this process.
A player is not required to make a move that
results in a capture, but if he does make such a move he must
take the captured seeds and put them in his store.
The number of seeds in each pot will vary dramatically
as play proceeds. Enough seeds may accumulate in one pot to
go round the board more than once. In this case the pot used
for the beginning of the turn remains empty at the end of
the turn (you skip over it).
At any time, a player can count the seeds in
any pot to help him plan a move. As the game draws to an end
many pots will be empty.
The game can end when one side of the board
is empty. If player 1's side is empty then player 2's seeds
must be arranged in such a way that he cannot pass any seeds
to the empty side of the board on his next move. The remaining
seeds become the player 2's.
It is also possible for the last seeds to circulate
with no captures possible. The players may agree to end the
game and each take half of the remaining seeds or they can
be disregarded.
The player with the most seeds in his store
wins.
Ayoayo
A game of instinct rather than luck, it can
be difficult to anticipate the outcome of moves. A multiple
lap Mancala game, one group of seeds can lead on to another.
Number of Players: 2
Game Duration: 20 mins
Players Aged: 9 +
To Prepare
Place four seeds in each hole.
The Play
This is a multiple lap mancala game. After
you have sown the seeds from the first pot you pick up all
the seeds in the last pot of the sowing and move those on.
Keep sowing until you reach an empty hole. Place seeds in
your own store as you sow around the board.
So the player 1 sows seeds around the board
until she lands the last seed in an empty pot. If the empty
pot is on the player 2's side the turn is over. If the empty
pot is on her own side and the opposite pot is empty the turn
is over. But, if the empty pot is on her own side and the
pot opposite is occupied with seeds then player 2 captures
all the player 1's seeds from that pot and puts them in her
own store. This is the end of the turn. Players take turns
sowing and capturing.
If a player starts his turn from a pot that
contains enough seeds to go all the way round the board she
skips over that original pot when sowing past it.
The game ends when a player cannot make a move
because all her pots are empty. If player 1's side is empty
then player 2's seeds must be arranged in such a way that
he cannot pass any seeds to the other side of the board. The
remaining seeds become the player 2's.
The player with the most seeds in her store
wins.
Giuthi
This is a multiple lap mancala game with
a twist, suitable for players who are familiar with the simpler
games.
Game Duration: 60 mins
Round Duration: 15 mins
Players Aged: 12+
Setting up: Six seeds are placed in each hole.
Object: To capture the most seeds over several rounds, reducing
the loser to four seeds or less.
The Play
Game 1: The first player takes all 6 seeds from
a chosen pot, on their own side and sows these one in each
pot in either direction.
If the last seed is sown in an occupied pot, the contents
are picked up and sown in the opposite direction. Each time
seeds are scooped from a pot the direction reverses until
the last seed is sown into an empty pot. If the empty pot
is on the opponents side there is no capture and the turn
ends. If the empty pot is on the players side it is possible
to score:
-the player captures all the seeds in the opposite pot and
the last one sown in his own pot.
- but if no pieces were added to the opposite pot during the
player's turn, there is no capture and the turn ends.
- if the opposite pot is empty, there is no capture and the
turn ends.
If the next pot on the player’s side is also empty the
seeds in the opposite pot are also captured and this is the
case for all empty holes in sequence on the player’s
side. This multiple capture is stopped by an occupied hole
on the player’s side or an empty hole on the opponent's
side.
Captured seeds are placed in the players store.
A turn cannot begin from a pot containing only
one seed and if a player cannot move the turn passes to the
other player. Players alternate turns until neither can make
a move then each player adds remaining seeds on their side
to their store.
Subsequent Games
To start the next game, the loser distributes
all their seeds placing at least one seed in each pot on their
side. The other player then matches this distribution.
Any remaining seeds the previous winner has are left in their
store.
If the loser of the previous round has less
than half his original seeds, he may shorten the board for
the next round using only four pots per side instead of six.
If he has less than a quarter, he may shorten it to three
pots per side. Less than an eighth and he may shorten the
board to two pots per side. If the previous loser regains
any seeds in succeeding rounds the board must be restored
to the appropriate size.
The winner of one round begins the next and
it is likely that several rounds will be played before one
player is reduced to four seeds or less and therefore loses.
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