Omweso

OMWESO is part of the Mancala Family and this version from Cheatwell Games is said to be the variant coming from Uganda.

From the box:

"Originating from the time of the Ancient Pharaoahs, Omweso is a game that spread with trade along the Nile and became established as an important cultural pastime in the Kingdoms of Uganda. Played on a carved wooden board with seeds from the Emkipi Tree, the game was ritually used in the coronation ceremony of each new Kabaka. Enjoyed throughout the Kabaka's palace, it was played by the King with his principal wives and chiefs."

As in other versions of this game the essential strategy of Omweso is to capture your opponent's marbles without leaving yourself open to capture. All of the marbles are kept in play during course of the game, being captured and recaptured across the board.

Like Bao the game is played on a board with 32 pits with each player having an inner and outer row of 8 pits each.

A move consists of collecting all the marbles from a pit and placing them one by one in subsequent pits in an anti-clockwise direction (or optionally in a clockwise direction if from a player's four left hand pits). If the last marble is dropped into a pit containing marbles, all of these are collected up and play continues. This continues until the last marble of the move is dropped into an empty pit.

Marbles present in both the inner and outer rows are vulnerable to capture, and, in order to capture a player must drop the last marble of a move into any occupied pit opposite vulnerable marbles. Captured marbles come across the board and play continues.

The game is won when the opponent is left with empty pits or pits containing only single marbles.

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