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Mancala
Game
Description:
MANCALA - An
exotic game from the continent of Africa, is one of the oldest games
played by mankind. Its history dates back to the ancient Egyptian
culture, and boards were found in pyramids and temples built thousands
of years ago. Europeans travelers started to bring back this games
to their homeland in the 19th century, and later to the New World.
The game has its own terminology. The shallow cups are referred to
as "holes", while the two larger end cups are "storehouses". The
stones are called "seeds". "Sowing" refers to the action of taking
the seeds and dropping them into the holes. There are many
different variations on the basic play among the various regions of
Africa. Following is one of the most popular:
WARI
Setup - Set
board between two players, and each players owns the row of holes
closest to him and the storehouse to his right. Place 4 seeds in
each hole (except the storehouses which serve as spots for the captured
seeds and are NOT involved in the moves). Decide which player to
go first by flipping a coin.
Object - To capture as many seeds as possible.
To Play - Each player takes turn to pick up all the seeds in any
one of his own hole and sow them one at a time in the next holes
(including the opponent's holes) moving counterclockwise. Do not
sow into the storehouses.
After sowing, if the hole where the last stone falls is an opponent's
hole that now contains 2 or 3 seeds, the player can capture all the
seeds in it and the seeds in the preceding hole if it is also on the
opponent side and the quantity is 2 or 3 seeds. A player must take
all the captured seeds and put them in his storehouse.
If a player picked up many seeds that allow hit to go complete rounds on
the board, he always skip sowing the original holes where he picked up
the seeds. So the hole where he picked up the seeds is always empty
at the end of his turn.
When a player has no more seeds in any of his holes, the opponent can
take all the seeds in his own holes into the storehouse and the game
ends.
The game also ends when a player wins by having 25 more seeds in his
storehouse.
If at any time the remaining seeds just circulate on the board with
neither player able to capture anymore seeds, these remaining seeds are
disregarded and the player with the most seeds in the storehouse wins.
AYOAYO
Same set up, object
and ending conditions as the Wari game.
To Play - The first player picks up all the seeds in one of his
holes and starts sowing counterclockwise around the board. If his
last seed lands in a hole which already has seeds in it, he picks up all
the seeds in that hole and starts sowing again. His turn is over
when his last seed lands in a hole that is empty. If this last
hole is on his own side, this player can capture any seeds in the
adjacent hole. Remember that if a player picks up enough seeds to
go all the way around the board, he should skip sowing the original hole
where he picked up and leave it empty.
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