Game: Mancala

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mardeck — 2008-08-03T23:41:22+00:00

Folding travel version from Cardinal Industries

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aleacarv — 2008-07-24T21:14:55+00:00

detail (by brazilian's publisher Origem)

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aleacarv — 2008-07-24T21:13:18+00:00

Game by brazilian's publisher Mitra

Thread: 3, 000 years old

droberts441 — 2008-06-29T22:54:50+00:00

Sonja gets the credit for bringing the attention of this article in this forum: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/308223.

But I thought it would also be good to include a link: http://www.cais-soas.com/News/2008/April2008/19-04.htm
in this Mancala News forum.

It shows a board very similar to a 2 x 5 Mancala board.

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jouslare — 2008-05-22T11:27:30+00:00

Description and Board from Sid Sackson's The Book of Classic Board Games

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fractaloon — 2008-05-10T10:13:18+00:00

A different cover for the "children's version".

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Boah — 2008-05-09T03:49:49+00:00

Macala Set

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handofachlys — 2008-05-04T22:26:47+00:00

Mancala by Michealle

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jack61 — 2008-04-18T21:48:34+00:00

Greetings from the 70s

Thread: Re: Please suggest interesting Mancala games for me

FiveStars — 2008-03-14T20:22:57+00:00

Bohnenspiel is a great game - the best players you would find in Kazakhstan today. But please do not recommend Wikipedia. It's an ugly site with lots of wrong information and nasty people. Wikinfo is far better and has got hundreds of articles on mancala games (36 of them can only on Wikinfo, nowhere else). If you're interested in the Bohnenspiel replay the historical games given on Wikinfo and try to solve the beautiful endgame problems you can find there:

http://www.wikinfo.org/index.php/Bohnenspiel

General mancala portal:
http://www.wikinfo.org/index.php/Category:Mancala

Some other games which I recommend:

Vai Lung Thlan:
http://www.wikinfo.org/index.php/Vai_Lung_Thlan

Oware:
http://www.wikinfo.org/index.php/Oware

Alemungula:
http://www.wikinfo.org/index.php/Alemungula

You could also try Kauri (a modern invention with an interesting twist - you can substitute black Go stones for the cowries and white stones for the seeds):
http://www.wikinfo.org/index.php/Kauri_%28mancala_game%29

BTW, Moshe, there is an ancient Palestinian mancala variant called Al-manqala (which is better than I thought):

http://www.wikinfo.org/index.php/Al-manqala

Shalom,
Ralf

Thread: Re: Please suggest interesting Mancala games for me

cdunc123 — 2008-03-04T03:12:23+00:00

I can't vouch for any of these games, but if you are not familiar with this site, it could be of interest to you:

http://www.wikimanqala.org/wiki/Main_Page

Check out the "traditional games" and "modern games" links in the left column of the page.

Also, this:

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/wiki/page/Mancala_Family

and this:

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/13665

Good luck. If you find a game you particularly like, post it back to this discussion thread!

Thread: Re: Please suggest interesting Mancala games for me

sos1 — 2008-03-03T17:58:54+00:00

I recommend Oware - I can't tell if you know it already or not. I have a review of it here on BGG.

Thread: Re: Please suggest interesting Mancala games for me

whac3 — 2008-03-03T17:43:26+00:00

RichardV wrote:
I like the Bohnenspiel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Das_Bohnenspiel
It doesn't have the repetitive continual sowing of most other games, and offers some choices. You'd need your Go stones, but your board is OK.
I don't think in general the game can be as deep as some other abstracts as your choices each turn are fairly limited, but there is enough there to be fun for me.

Thanks! That's exactly what I'm looking for.

Thread: Re: Please suggest interesting Mancala games for me

RichardV — 2008-03-03T06:24:45+00:00

I like the Bohnenspiel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Das_Bohnenspiel
It doesn't have the repetitive continual sowing of most other games, and offers some choices. You'd need your Go stones, but your board is OK.
I don't think in general the game can be as deep as some other abstracts as your choices each turn are fairly limited, but there is enough there to be fun for me.

Thread: Please suggest interesting Mancala games for me

whac3 — 2008-03-02T07:47:40+00:00

I have a "standard" [?] Mancala set consisting of a board with twelve bins in two rows of six plus also two larger bins on either side aross both rows as well as forty-eight undifferentiated stones. If need be however I can substitute Go stones though for differentiated stones.

As one can tell from my comments about this game and my rating of it, I do not like the Mancala games-- just two basic ones really-- that I know how to play. Yet, I love abstract strategy games and many people seem to like Mancala games. What I do not like about the games I know for this equipment are that they are enormously repetitive; given any board position-- from the very start of the game-- there is one obvious best move and no real strategic choices. Surely I'm missing something here.

So what are the best Mancala games I can play with the equipment I have?

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Howitzer_120mm — 2008-03-02T03:48:49+00:00

Travel fold-up wood board with carry bag for the glass stones

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Artax — 2008-02-24T17:35:25+00:00

Mancala Cat

Thread: Re: Propose to split to Oware and Kalah

droberts441 — 2008-01-06T23:29:43+00:00

I posted the following on another thread, but I think it apples here as well:

"I think it should be remaned to Mancala Games, just as there is a "Traditional Card Games." The top Mancala games (like Oware) should have their own entries; just like Poker, Bridge, Pinochle, Gin Rummy, etc. have their own entries. "Mancala Games" would be for all the other Mancala Games not played as much."

I also want to thank Sonja. I have a few books on Mancala games, the best one being Larry Russ' The Complete Mancala Games Book. None of them have the rules that came with the board I bought here. Now I know that game is Kalah, and it looks like it was created here, which is why it is not in any of my books. I have always played Oware, but I have always known it as "Wari."

Thread: Re: Rename to Kalah

droberts441 — 2008-01-06T23:15:00+00:00

I think it should be remaned to Mancala Games, just as there is a "Traditional Card Games." The top Mancala games (like Oware) should have their own entries; just like Poker, Bridge, Pinochle, Gin Rummy, etc. have their own entries. "Mancala Games" would be for all the other Mancala Games not played as much.

Thread: Re: Player Beware

FiveStars — 2007-10-11T18:57:40+00:00

What you describe is actually Kalah. And you err, if you insist on four stones per hole. William Champion (the inventor of the game) preferred to play it with six.

Thread: Re: Rename to Kalah

RichardV — 2007-10-02T07:55:45+00:00

Joe, my remark was directed at Sonja not you, so no need to blush.

I don't think the Geek is the place to finely dissect traditional games. The most played games in the world (traditional games in the family of chess, checkers, cards, dominos etc) all rate fairly low here which would seem to be at odds with their enduring popularity.

I am very happy to see discussion of everyone's variations of Hearts, but I wouldn't want each one to have a separate entry. The Mancala games often have very subtle variations. A lot of classification seems to be based on board configuration, but this often has a fairly small impact on play. The wikimanqala is a great source
www.wikimanqala.org
as is regular Wikipedia. I think any division beyond the most basic families would be tricky. I would not choose Kalah as the exemplar.

Thread: Re: Rename to Kalah

jgrundy — 2007-10-02T04:36:43+00:00

RichardV wrote:
The entry makes it clear it is a family of games. and if I hadn't been trying to rush out the door when I replied I would've taken the moment to check that too.

I guess then the only question is whether it would be appropriate to separately list each of the major games within the Mancala family. I don't see any reason not to do that. (And send a geekmail to every rater prompting them to try to work out which specific game they actually were rating.) eg you could:
- separately list each game
- link the separate games from the current Mancala game page
- an admin or interested party could list and check the ratings comments that mention a particular version and an admin could batch move over appropriate ratings
- batch geekmail everyone whose rating was moved
- batch geekmail every other rater to tell them what's going on

Or just do whatever's usually done in this situation which I guess is quietly split the game entries apart and keep the ratings against the most most common version of the game. (?)

An existing body of fuzzy data based on fuzzy definitions is no reason to delay improving the definition... eventually "1000 raters" would either mostly fix their ratings or be only a fraction of the final raters... and most of the ones left over are probably in the right rating ballpark anyway.

Thread: Re: Rename to Kalah

puffinslayer — 2007-10-02T02:59:56+00:00

Never heard of "Kalah" either.

Thread: Re: Rename to Kalah

RichardV — 2007-10-02T02:36:32+00:00

I think that would be a mistake. The entry makes it clear it is a family of games.

Kalah is not a familiar name here in Australia: we often have Congklak in our shops, I guess because of our proximity to SE Asia. I believe Kalah is well known in North America because it was included in teacher education material. The rest of the world probably best know the family as Mancala or one of the variant spellings of Oware.

I agree that there is a great variety in the family and that there are arguments for listing specific games. However the present format probably gives the game the best chance of rating well as each person can rate their favourite version and indicate what version they play in their comment field.

Thread: Re: Rename to Kalah

jgrundy — 2007-10-02T00:50:53+00:00

Tricky. I would never have heard of Kalah, and I own "Mancala" and always called it that. I suppose "Kalah" is technically correct and I would support the change. Please keep Mancala as an "other name" so plebs like me can find it.

Does that mean that each (common) game in the Mancala family should get a separate entry?

Thread: Re: Rename to Kalah

Sonja — 2007-10-01T22:17:51+00:00

Mancala is like having an entry for "deck of cards". Of course that's what it's called in the store. But the rule set that they tend to include with the ones in Western stores is simply the game Kalah invented by Champion.

Thread: Re: Rename to Kalah

clandaith — 2007-10-01T22:10:32+00:00

Well, I have never seen a kalah game for sale in a store, but plenty mancala games. I say leave the name as it is.

Thread: Rename to Kalah

Sonja — 2007-10-01T21:28:28+00:00

This entry should be renamed to Kalah, since that's probably the version most people think of. We already have a wiki entry for the family: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/wiki/page/Mancala_family

Thread: Re: Player Beware

dbmite — 2007-08-22T12:19:26+00:00

8. If your last piece is placed in an empty "cup" on your own side, you may take it and all the pieces in the "cup" across from it and place them in your mancala.

If I may add:

Only if your opponent has pieces in their cup to take. Otherwise, you don't get to keep your "last piece placed in your empty cup."

I always hoped we were playing right in regards to no. 8 and this exception, whereby an opponent has no pieces in their cup to take. Some computer programs let you take the last one you placed even though the opponent has no pieces in their cup. Other programs do not allow this.

We've settled on only letting a player take their last piece placed when the opponent actually has pieces in the cup directly across. It' funny, I had a hard time finding a clarification for this.

Thread: Re: Player Beware

Gnomekin — 2007-08-21T21:17:47+00:00

Actually, Mancala is actually a family of games, not a single game. So, there really are many different sets of rules for Mancala from different regions and countries.

The rules that are most commonly found in American Mancala sets are for the game Kalah, which is the game you've described, which shouldn't be confused with Oware, which uses a similar set up but has some meaningful differences.

Still, good review!

Thread: Player Beware

GreatAtuin — 2007-08-21T19:59:37+00:00

Mancal is a simple game, but has a certain charm. In many ways it really does invoke a feeling like "checkers" but the simularities in play are few.

The most important think to remember about mancala is to get th erules right. There is a plague of people just making up rules for this game here in the US. Here are the rules that I have seen consistantly represented by reputable people and in game instructions:

1. Each "cup" on the board starts with 4 pieces in it. Not 5, not 6.

2. The board is placed between the two players, so that each player is facing 6 "cups" of their own.

3. Each player moves the pieces on their own side of the board only.

4. Pieces move in a counter-clockwise direction.

5. Players pick up a "cup" of pieces and they distribute the pieces one at a time around the board (in a counter-clockwise manner as noted above.) Pieces are placed in the large "cup" (the mancala) on each player's right-hand side, the mancala on the left in skipped.

6. The player's turn is over after moving the pieces unless:

7. If the last piece from a "cup" ends in the player's mancala. This entitiles the player to an extra turn. This may be repeated as many times as possible.

8. If your last piece is placed in an empty "cup" on your own side, you may take it and all the pieces in the "cup" across from it and place them in your mancala. Your turn ends.

9. If you do not have any pieces to move, your opponent gets the remaining pieces on his/her side and places them in his/her mancala.

10. The player with the most pieces in his/her mancala wins.

The game is great for young ones to learn counting. It can be fun for older players because you have a few options on how you choose to play: capture pieces, move into your own mancala, hold all the pieces. I personally have had the most success playing "straight-up" moving my pieces towards my mancala.

This game is definately worth having for its game play - especially if you like simple, fun games like checkers. Not to mention the decorative elements of many fine wood sets.

Thread: for young children

papa_bear_is_asleep — 2007-06-16T09:07:47+00:00

I am gradually introducing my 5-year-old to various games. Does anyone have an opinion on the best count-and-capture game for very young players?

Thread: Re: Propose to split to Oware and Kalah

FiveStars — 2007-04-28T18:08:21+00:00

The address of the BGG wiki is:

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/wiki/page/Mancala_family

Thread: Re: Propose to split to Oware and Kalah

sbszine — 2007-04-16T01:36:47+00:00

Icehouse and piecepack pieces too.

Thread: Re: Propose to split to Oware and Kalah

PhotonStorm — 2007-04-13T05:37:52+00:00

I like this idea at first blush but let's think about it a bit.

In general, variants should probably be grouped into a single entry for the system/component set. Unfortunately, the line is based on the arguable definition of what is a variant.

For Oware/Kalah, I think the line is there, but subtle. Though there are many Mancala variants, most fall into a few major families, which could benefit from unique game entries.

Can anyone think of more examples like this of a single component set having multiple game entries? Off the top of my head there are at least a few:

- Traditional card games which use a standard deck of cards

- Games played with a go-ban

- Games played w/checkers on a checkerboard

Thread: Re: Propose to split to Oware and Kalah

Sonja — 2007-04-11T19:12:12+00:00

What most people call "mancala" is probably Kalah.

But Oware is the international tournament standard game... and it certainly deserves an entry too.

Thread: Re: Propose to split to Oware and Kalah

cerulean — 2007-04-11T17:24:24+00:00

I think the majority of people looking on BGG are looking for "mancala" as the majority of BGG visitors think of The Game as Mancala. This is one more area where perception is more forceful than truth.

Another precedent is Icehouse. The Icehouse system and the game Icehouse share a game page, with a link to the Icehouse system wiki page. Confusion was cleared up by creatng game pages for the more popular games in the Icehouse system, and refering seekers to those pages via wikis and Geeklists.

Thread: Re: Propose to split to Oware and Kalah

edosan — 2007-04-10T23:11:00+00:00

Hmmm...that's a tough one. I think that there are certain games (mancala, mah-jongg, and poker spring to mind) as games that should probably be just grouped together as "families" instead of splitting them out. I've got a book with nothing but mancala-like games here on my desk, for example.

Thread: Re: Propose to split to Oware and Kalah

Tall_Walt — 2007-04-10T22:08:45+00:00

The BGG Wiki page doesn't exist (as of the time of this message). Perhaps you were thinking of the Wikipedia articles? I think the problem here is that lots of people make mancala sets, but there's no uniformity of rules. Wikipedia lists something like a hundred different names for the game; variant rules are probably more numerous. From what little I've seen, rule variations shade one into another, and you can play essentially the same rules with different numbers of holes. Dividing the set of rules into only two variants would be misleading, and dividing it into the full set of known rules--well, with under a thousand ratings, you could end up with few or no variants getting enough ratings. I also think the unified entry promotes discovery of other rule-sets.

Maybe the way to make it happen (if possible) is to put the rules you think are best for "Oware" and "Kalah" on the Mancala page, write some reviews and session reports, and see if you can stir up interest in those two particular variants.

But, I'm not optimistic. Liar's Dice has major published variants in Borg's Liar's Dice (aka Bluff) and Perudo and the recent Pirate's Dice. These variants have definite designed, copyrighted rules; but the presence of previous public domain variants, most akin to poker dice, seems to inhibit splitting the entry. And that's only a few different versions, not the hundred of Mancala.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mancala
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mancala_games
(Many more references from Wikipedia.)

Thread: Propose to split to Oware and Kalah

Sonja — 2007-04-10T20:08:19+00:00

We seriously need to split this into two separate games: Kalah and Oware (and reset everybody's ratings)

And have as the wiki mancala simply a list of all mancala-family games individually.

How can we make this happen?

Thread: Re: Joey's Take on "Mancala"

FiveStars — 2006-09-13T08:07:47+00:00

Well, the adress of the WikiManQala has changed recently:

http://www.wikimanqala.org/

Now you find the rules of 148 games and many gorgeous photos, too!

(Try also http://www.wikimanqala.org/wiki/Category:Mancala-like_games for some odd games.)

Ralf

Thread: Re: Joey's Take on "Mancala"

funpaul — 2006-08-31T14:19:53+00:00

Well, there really is no single "right" way to play Mancala, any more than there is single "right" way to play cards or Checkers. It is a family of games using common equipment.

Some of these rule sets are simple ones considered best for children, and others have exhibit strategic depth:

http://www.manqala.org/wiki/index.php/MancalaGames

Thread: Re: Joey's Take on "Mancala"

clandaith — 2006-08-30T21:17:18+00:00

I passed Mancala up for so long. I would see it in stores and just think it looked "odd", "too simple", and "boring". Wow was I wrong.

Mancala is a great game.

Thread: Joey's Take on "Mancala"

joebelanger — 2006-08-30T19:05:40+00:00

I hated this game. This game made no sense to me, I could not understand its appeal and how it had survived as a game for 1,400 years. Grrr…Mancala. I was taught Mancala by my little brothers and enjoyed the simplicity of gameplay, but could not understand how this could actually be classified as a game, as it seemed heavily weighed toward who went first… Oh, did I forget to tell you? I did forget? Whoops, I was taught this game wrong; very wrong. Rather than tell you how wrong and it in what ways, let me instead give you this caution… don’t learn Mancala from anyone claiming to be my little brother. There, that’s much easier.

Well, with that out of the way, one day I was on BoardGameGeek, bored and went to Mancala’s entry. Scanning over the description of the game, I saw that there were a few differences of how the game was actually played from how we had been playing the game. I then went to our copy of the game and read the rules. What the …?! They were the same. Having played this game for years, incorrectly, I decided to give this game another chance and play it correctly. One evening, I reeducated my family as to how to correctly play the game. Years earlier, I taught my family the way that my brothers had taught me… ah, the foolish traditions of our fathers and all of that…. My family picked it up quickly and Mancala actually became a game and a good game at that! So much so that Mancala is the game of choice to play between the time I get home from work up until when dinner is ready.

OK, sorry, that was a bit long-winded, but I wanted to give you some background. So what’s so special about Mancala:
- It is easy to teach; even correctly. It is also easy to understand. There is a bit of a learning curve as some of the concepts are not all apparent at first.
- Mancala is highly portable. At least my copy is, which folds in half and can be easily thrown in a carry-on bag.
- We have an El-Cheapo copy of Mancala that was bought at Tal-Mart or some such retailer. The version we bought was inexpensive and yet the components are nice. A nice wooden board and half, flattened, glass beads make a nice feel to the game. The production is simple and elegant in that simplicity.
- Mancala has depth. There is conflict. There are moves that come back to bite you later and there are moves you make that are “set-up” moves, offensive moves and defensive moves. There are also a couple of endgame strategies that have you biting your fingernails at times.
- Mancala is a brief game and can be played a handful of times in quick succession.
- I think this is a rumor. I had heard that the origins of this game were that the game was created in the savannahs of Africa. The game was originally played by digging shallow holes in the ground, to form the board, and that hardened dung was used as the pieces. There’s something to be said for a game that used poop as a component. Even, if it’s not true, the game is still good; poop or not.
- This game is engaging for all ages. I play this game with my wife, friends and children. I even play this game with my two-year old. He’s watched us play it enough that he understands how to play the game. He doesn’t understand how to win, but he enjoys picking up the beads and dropping them off in the cups. I think it makes him feel older. Any game that I can play with all of my children is a great game in my book.

Aspects of Mancala that irritate me:
- Little brothers should not teach older brothers how to play this game.
- In our copy of Mancala, the cups are a bit too shallow for the beads at times and they overflow. Mancala manufacturers, please give us deeper cups. Not a big deal, but in case you were wondering; bigger cups.

I love Mancala. Mancala is a great game to take on trips and to fill ten to twenty minutes. Mancala is deep enough and quick enough that if you lose, it is very common to hear, “Let’s play that again. I want a rematch.”, or “Come on, best two out of three.” I’d like to get a nice set of Mancala for the coffee table. I think it would really bring the room together. Mancala is a lot of fun and if you have children, it's a “must have”.

Thread: Re: 9-pit board?

FiveStars — 2006-07-30T16:43:43+00:00

In fact, there are well over 500 Mancala games played all over the world, the modern ones not counted.

You could try the English language Manqalapedia at

http://www.manqala.org/wiki/index.php/MancalaGames

(Try again tomorrow, its server appears to be down today)

or join the Mancala forum (probably one of the most active board game groups at Yahoo!):

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/mancalagames/

The statue that you have seen appears to be that of King Shyaam aMbul aNgoong, the founder of the Kuba kingdom in central Congo. Most three-row Mancala games are today played in the Horn of Africa (Eritrea, Ethiopia).

I cannot recommend "The Complete Mancala Games Book" as lots of games are incorrectly described when you compare the rules to those in the original sources. The board you described looks almost like an Embeli (also known as Ambala) board which is played by the Boa in the Democratic Republic of Congo near Buta.

BTW, I prefer the correct spellings:

- Toguz Korgool (or Toguz Kumalak) rather than Toguz Xorgol
- Layli Goobalay instead of Leyla-Gobale (the most advanced variant is played by the Isaaq clan in Berbera, Somaliland, using a 2x12 board)

The best game to be played on a 2x9 boards might be Toguz Kumalak. There will be a Toguz Kumalak tournament at the Mindsports Olympiad (MSO) in London, UK, in August.

Ralf

Thread: Re: Mancala

Marko Raos — 2006-07-30T12:10:51+00:00

Hmm, you seem to miss the point that Mancala/Wari (etc) should be considered more of a game-system sharing a common board, game pieces and some fundamental rules.

A modern example of this approach is Icehouse system where you get your bunch of abstract game components and then may play hundreds of different board games using these pieces.

The rule-set you described is one of the simplest for this game. Personally i prefer straight Wari where you collect opponent's bins if the last seed dropped brings total in them to 2 or 3 and there is no seed collection in side bins (they're always skipped). There are a few more rules in this variant mostly dealing with end-game which can get really intense indeed. The rule sets for Mancala family of games are a myriad and range from very simple to quite complex (mathematically some variants have been proven to surpass chess in complexity).

So.. google Mancala rules or Wari rules and you'll be richly rewarded if elegant abstracts with simple rules and high gameplay complexity are your thing

Oh and P.S. Mancala may be the oldest board game in the world, its history is quite fascinating in itself.

P.P.S. This is probably the only board game i would never think of bringing to a desert island. Making a fully playable version of the game requires a patch of soft ground and a fistfull of gravel!

Thread: Re: 9-pit board?

B Weage — 2006-07-27T16:45:59+00:00

I found some things:

Toguz Xorgol is at the end of the single lap chapter and uses a 2x9 board with 9 seeds per hole.

Endodoi is at the start of the multi-lap African section and is played on boards ranging from 2x6 to 2x10.

Ndoto is a multi-lap 2x8 with 2 seeds per hole
Dabuda is a multi-lap 2x10 - 4 seeds
Mbothe is a multi-lap 2x10 - 2 seeds
Lami is also a multi-lap 2x10 - 2 seeds

Giuthi is a multi-lap 2x5 - 2x10 (with 2x6 and 2x8 the most popular)

Sadeqa is a multi-lap 2x10 with 4 in some holes, 0 in others, and 1 hole with just 1 seed. (and the name is also used for a different 2x10 game)

Leyla-Gobale is 2x6, 2x8, 2x10 - 4 seeds - from Somalia

The "Capturing by Fours" chapter has no 2x9 or 2x10 examples but some seem like they could be adapted.

The chapter on "India and Sri Lanka" uses mostly 2x7 boards, which would probably scale to 2x9 reasonably well. (Most of these use a modified multi-lap sowing - when you finish a lap you pick up the seeds from the next pit, not the one you ended in.)

The chapter on "Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines" uses either 2x7s, 2x10s, or variable from 2x6 - 2x10.

Later chapters are on games using boards with more than 2 rows.

Your title said 9-pit but your diagram was for a 10-pit. If you could clarify, I'd be willing to try to explain the rules to a couple games that are applicable to your board size and which look like they might be interesting or unusual for you.

Thread: Re: 9-pit board?

B Weage — 2006-07-25T23:12:27+00:00

Mancala is a family of games with many members, some of which are played on boards with unusual dimensions.

You might want to get a copy of "The Complete Mancala Games Book" (#18271), which would provide a good variety.

I'll try to remember to check (this week) if there is one specifically for a 9 wide board (I think your diagram shows a 10 wide board with two storage pits - I'll look for that as well).

I have a few favorites that play well on the (very common) 6 wide board with the storage pits positioned at the ends rather than between the rows. At least a couple of these should easily extend to the 9 or 10 wide board. There is another one I quite like, one that only works on a 5 wide board, and - before I bought the special board - I used to play it on a 6 wide board with a large sea shell in two of the pits at one end so we would remember not to play there. If you have a 10 wide board, just place something in the two pits at each end of each row and you can play all the basic 6 wide games and explore many of the others you can find for larger boards.

(And yes, there are some games that aren't considered within the Mancala family, but which use very similar boards - some with 4 rows of 12 pits for example.)

Thread: 9-pit board?

timpeters — 2006-07-25T22:19:03+00:00

My mom's parents were missionaries in Africa, and she went to the Peace Corps in Togo. Due to this, we have a lot of old stuff from Africa. While rummaging through our family board game cabinet, I found a cheap Mancala board, as well as a much nicer, sculpted, and polished dark-brown wooden board. The only thing is, the nicer board has nine pits (plus scoring pits), and the scoring pits don't look like other mancala boards I've seen. It's layout is like this:

O O O O O O O O O O
O.............................O
O O O O O O O O O O

I also found a small african statue of people playing Mancala, but on it, the board has five pits (plus the scoring pits) per player. Now, I suppose that the rules for Mancala aren't entirely standard, due to the oldness and somewhat folkloric nature of the game. I'd like to use this nice 9-pit board...my mom says it's an antique, and it's quite attractive. But do people think the game play will be hurt by the different layout? If anybody else has tried it, I like to know their thoughts. It should become a much longer game, maybe with more strategy.

It could be designed for another game entirely. Are there any other africa boardgames similar to Mancala?

Thread: Re: Discovering Bohn Duell

FiveStars — 2006-05-11T05:57:19+00:00

BohnDuell (written as one word with a capitalized letter inside!) is nothing else than the German name for Cups used by Brettspielwelt. The game wasn't invented by Sid Sackson, but by Arthur and Wald Amberstone. A few years later, the game was described in a book written by Sid Sackson in which, btw, he named the Amberstones as inventors of the game. I told Brettspielwelt several times of their error but it was obviously asked too much of them to correct this mistake! Sid Sackson never created a Mancala variant!

A few links:
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/19916
http://www.manqala.org/wiki/index.php/MancalaGames/Cups

Ralf

Thread: Discovering Bohn Duell

Gnomekin — 2006-05-04T20:04:05+00:00

My earliest exposure to Mancala actually predates my becomng a board game geek. I first learned of Mancala from a friend who was the daughter of an international atache who had spent many years in Africa.

Since then, I rediscovered Mancala around the same time as I discovered Settlers of Catan and Puerto Rico. I was (and still am) charmed by the simplicity of Mancala and the huge family of games that it encompasses.

Over the last few years, I discovered Sid Sackson as well, with Acquire, Can’t Stop, and the books he wrote, including the extremely handy Klutz Boardgame Book. I was aware that Sid Sackson had created a Mancala varient and that one could play it on BSW. However, until quite recently, I had never tried Bohn Duell.

Bohn Duell is quite different than the Mancala variations that I have played. It uses two rows of pits, plus a scoring pit for each player. The stones start out outside the board, with each player having a supply of 40 stones.

On your turn, you can either add stones to your row or you can move (or, if you prefer, seed) one of your pits.

When you add a stone, you must add a stone to all of the pits behind that pit. If you place a stone in an empty pit that is across from an opponent’s pit that has stones, you claim the stones in your opponent’s pit, adding them to your own scoring pit.

When you move or seed a pit, the pit must have exactly the number of stones as the distance from your scoring pit. For instance, you can only seed the last pit to the right when it has only one stone in it. The farthest pit to the left can only be seeded when it has four stones in it. As per most mancala games, you will drop a stone in every pit in between the pit you choose and the scoring pit.

This means two things. First, the last stone you drop will always be in your scoring pit so you will never be dropping any stones on your opponent’s side of the board. Second, if you ever put too many stones in a pit, you will have effectively frozen it since you can not seed that pit. The only way those stones will leave is if your opponent takes them by placing a stone in an empty pit across from them.

The game ends when neither player has a legal move. One player may be frozen while the other player finishes the game with several turns in a row. Whoever has the most stones in their scoring pit is the winner.

Bohn Duell has a very different feel than any other member of the Mancala family I have played. It is a much slower, less frenetic game. Part of what I like about other Mancala games is how they are almost races between the players and part of how you show your skill comes from how fast you play.

Despite that, I enjoy Bohn Duell. For one thing, it’s much more suitable for playing on the computer and, so far, that’s the only place I’ve played it.

Bohn Duell becomes a game of caution and brinkmanship. You need to be careful how you place and move your stones because it can be very easy to freeze one of your pits. One wrong move and you can hand your game to your opponent. At the same time, you have to be prepared to take advantage of every mistake your opponent makes.

In Bohn Duell, Sid Sackson created a game that is more than just a Mancala clone. He added his own sensibility to the game. At the same time, it very much is a part of the Mancala family, even if it is a distant cousin.

Thread: Mancala

abodi — 2006-04-02T05:51:07+00:00

Mancala is known by many names, and i was first exposed to it on the nokia 3310 mobile phone under the name Bantumi. To my suprise i later found out it was a boardgame, and had to have it.

RULES

Mancala is played on a board with 6 pockets in a row on both sides of the board and 2 scoring bins, one at each end of the board.

A game of Mancala starts with 4 counters being placed in the 12 pockets of the board. then the first player will pick up all the counters in a pocket on his side of the board, and moving anti-clockways proceed to drop one counter in each pocket including their own scoring bin (but skipping the opponants scoring bin).

If the last counter lands in your scoring bin, you have to take another go.

If the last counter lands in an empty pocket on your side that counter immeditly goes into your scoring bin, and any counters in your opponents pocket, opposite the empty pocket you landed in, are also then added to your scoring bin.

Then it is the next players go and it continues in this fashion, until one player has no more counters on his side of the board. When this happens the player that does have counters on his side of the board adds all these counters to his scoring bin.

Summery

This game is quick, plays in about 5 minutes. (depending on players)
Because of it's quick play you can play several games in a row, and due to it's simple rules is easy to grasp for new players.

I like to play first to 5 wins or something simular.

This game comes in alot of varties of boards and counters. and is generally cheap, but i have seen very expensive set too. It's upto your taste.

The other thing i like about this game when playing against new players, is watching them learn the subtleties of the game. Most new players try to get as many extra turns as possible, but of coarse this mean you run out of counters on your side faster and cause your opponets to win.

Overall a nice cheap game with 0 luck factor, and small learning curve.

Thread: More about this family of African Games.

eldrbarry — 2006-03-16T02:35:39+00:00

These ancient African games are part of a large family of "sowing" or "count and capture" games played in numerous variations around the world. Play involves scooping the "seeds" from one's pits and then sowing them one per pit around the board. Captures are made a variety of ways. Since the pieces are common to both players, and constantly rotate around the board altering both player's positions, it becomes a challenging strategy game. The "sowing seeds" imagery of these games reflects the importance of agriculture in African life, even as the "cows" imagery in the game of Morabaraba (below) reflects the significance of their cattle.

The best known games of this family in the Western world are Oware (Ghana), Kalah, Omweso (Uganda), and Bao (Zimbabwe) - though the names may vary from place to place. Mancala games play a role in many African and some Asian societies comparable to that of chess in the West.

I have put together a page of links related to Mancala - Oware, Kalah, Omweso and Bao, etc on my web site at http://www.eldrbarry.net/hatr/mankala.htm.

- eldrbarry

Thread: an ancient game that still feels young

Gnomekin — 2005-08-30T23:50:01+00:00

There is a lot of debate about what the oldest board game in the world is. I have read arguments that favor Go and Nine Man Morris also has a reasonable shot at the title. What may have been an ancestor to Backgammon has been found in Egyptian pyramids. However, in my heart, I personally believe that Mancala is the oldest board game in the world. I don’t have a particular reason for feeling that way. It just seems right to me.

Mancala is not an actual game in and of itself. Mancala, which is also known as the seed counting game or the sowing game, is actually a family of games. Different versions of the game can be found all over Africa and parts of Asia, particularly India. Some of the versions are radically different than others. However, they all share some similar characteristics.

Mancala is played in a series of pits or spaces. Some versions of the game have two ranks or rows of pits while others have four. Each of the pits has a certain number of tokens, traditionally seeds or stones, placed in them. On a player’s turn, they scoop all of the seeds out of one of the pits and proceed to sow them in the other pits. Whether or not they go clockwise or counterclockwise or if they stop when they run out of the seeds from their starting pit can vary, depending on the variant of the game. It is also possible to capture the other player’s seeds as well.

One of the reasons why it is hard to honestly gauge the age of Mancala is because it can be made out of so many materials that simply don’t last long enough to leave archeological evidence. In some areas, the game is actually played by digging literal pits in the ground. In other places, the pits are formed with circles of seashells. It is not a game that requires any manufactured parts.

In this day and age, it is very easy to get a Mancala board that is nothing but manufactured parts. In the United States, you can easily get a Mancala board that is two ranks of six pits, as well as two scoring pits on either side, with at least enough tokens to have four in every pit. I have seen plenty of nice wooden boards with smooth pits carved into them to hold the seeds. Although these days, instead of seeds, you usually get glass stones.

The instructions that come with these boards are for the variant known as Oware. At least, I believe that is the proper name. With so much Mancala lore in so many different languages, it’s easy to get the wrong information.

In Oware, the rank of pits that are closest to a player are that player’s rank. On a player’s turn, they scoop the seeds out of one of their own pits. They proceed to drop a seed in each hole that is counterclockwise to their own hole. They will circle around the entire board. The scoring pit on their right is their own scoring pit and they will drop a seed into that one but they will not drop a seed into their opponent’s scoring pit. Once they have sown all of the seeds in their hand, their turn is done.

If the last seed they sowed was in their scoring pit, though, they get another turn. In this way, it is possible to take many turns in a row.

If the last seed that a player sowed is in an empty pit on their own rank and the pit opposite them has seeds in it, the player scoops the seeds out of their opponent’s pit and places them in their own scoring pit.

The game ends when there are no seeds in one of the player’s ranks. At that point, after all, they will have no moves that they can make.

Players will then count the seeds in their scoring pit and whoever has the most seeds is the winner.

Not only is Oware one of the most common forms of Mancala, at least on this side of the Atlantic, it is also one of the simplest. Almost every other version of the game that I have played or read about has been more complicated. Oware is simply the first step into a family of games that has some surprisingly striking depth.

I first learned Mancala from a woman who had been born in Africa, although she is technically an American citizen, and I learned more about Mancala from one of my gaming mentors after I became more interested in board games. One of the most important lessons I learned from both of them is that, while Mancala is an abstract strategy game of perfect information in theory, in social practice, it is a game of speed.

One could play Mancala as a careful, calculating game, carefully counting the seeds in every pit. I think this would bore me to tears. Apparently, in the countries where Mancala is a regular, social game, speed is a strong part of the game. The faster someone can play, apparently the more they are esteemed. Well, as long as they win at any rate.

Played this way, Mancala becomes a game more about intuition and quick decisions than a game about careful counting. It also becomes a lot more exhilarating and fun. While I have heard Mancala described as the African chess, a description that makes me roll my eyes, it is more of a social game, a game played to hone friendships rather than intellect.

There are many reasons to play Mancala and to learn more about Mancala. It is a part of our history, both as human beings and as a species that plays games. It will help you discover a wide variety of abstract strategy games that are completely unlike what we usually classify as abstract strategy. Most of all, Mancala is a game that’s fun to play.

Thread: Awale: African chess

_Kael_ — 2005-08-23T07:34:37+00:00

This game is hard! The Asians have Go, we in the West grew up with Chess and Checkers, the Africans have Awale.
Set up is easy: drop 4 pieces in each hole. ‘Moves’ are made by emptying one hole and dropping one nut counter clockwise in each of the other holes. See files for game rules.

The first time a friend introduced me to this game I thought “what’s this all about?” At first it seemed like randomly picking up nuts and dropping them in compliance with the rules. But in a few moves understanding dawned: there were certainly many different tactics. In my second game I was as focused as I am playing Go and Chess. It is a wonderful game in it’s simplicity. Each turn, you can only choose to empty 1 of the 6 holes in front of you, so choices are even more limited than Chess or Checkers. But whatever move you make, it changes (mostly) the number of nuts in your opponents holes. Still, he’ll probably have an ideal move, but also only 6 choices. So, like the other mentioned games, since there is no luck factor and only a limited number of choices, the game lends itself perfectly for planning: “If I do this, he might do that, which I can counter by this”, etc. For fans of abstract strategy, this is a must-have, IMO. I am surprised it’s so unknown.

Playing time is obviously mostly determined by the time needed for analysis. Still, as amateur in this game, I’m inclined to think that even at high level, this game won’t last as long as Chess or Go, since there’s always 6 options max. and the fact that when you capture playing pieces it’s minimum 2 and often a lot more (contrary to chess, where pieces leave one-by-one) so the game board empties quicker. We played several games in under half an hour each, but hey, I suppose my first games of Chess also lasted for that ‘long’

What I find a novelty in this old game and what sets it apart from Chess etc. is that both players obviously play with the same set of nuts. There’s no ‘black’ and ‘white’. So it’s harder to tell who’s in the lead. Sure, you can count the nuts each side has captured, but since the nuts still in the game constantly rotate around the board it’s much harder to tell who has an advantageous position. And in chess, go or checkers you’re building a strong position. The only way your opponent can change that is by moving in and capturing pieces. In Awale, almost each move you make, alters the position of you AND your opponent (number of nuts). So that makes it even more interactive as the other games mentioned.

I believe this game isn’t that easy to come by. Obviously, making one yourself is a piece of cake. But if you want the real thing, I think you should try a store with African and Asian clothes, mire, little statues etc. in stead of your local game store
Or you can buy a beautiful set on your trip to Gabon, Africa.

Thread: Re:User Review

ValJor — 2004-12-17T21:27:15+00:00

Hi Steven!

You wrote:

This is by no means a scientific study, but I used to play this game with a former girlfriend, and it did not take either of us being a supercomputer to solve the game. We eventually figured out that the first player will always win with a specific opening move, which, since for that reason I have not bothered to play the game in a few years, I can't exactly remember what it was.

Perhaps you should have a chat with Henri Bal and John Romein from Amsterdam. They proved the game is a draw...

Thread: Re:User Review

schenker — 2004-12-17T18:11:46+00:00

KakarisMaelstrom (#67270),

This is by no means a scientific study, but I used to play this game with a former girlfriend, and it did not take either of us being a supercomputer to solve the game. We eventually figured out that the first player will always win with a specific opening move, which, since for that reason I have not bothered to play the game in a few years, I can't exactly remember what it was.

Perhaps starting the game with unequal pits (i.e. they do not all start with 4) might solve this problem somewhat, but I wasn't interested enough to try.

Thread: An interesting abstract... but it has been solved

KakarisMaelstrom — 2004-11-23T23:21:53+00:00

Mancala, an ancient game of Africa, is an interesting abstract… that has, in fact, been solved.

Basic Stats:
Players: 2
Play Time: 10-15 minutes.

Components
Board featuring 2 large scoring bins at each end and 2 rows of 6 bins between them.

48 markers, historically I believe these were seeds. Most modern versions use glass beads.

Each player claims ownership over one of the rows and the bin to their right.

Setup

Each smaller bin gets 4 markers placed in it. Time: seconds.

Gameplay

Players grab the markers out of one of the bins on their side, dropping one marker in each bin after it (but skipping their opponent’s scoring bin).

If the last marker lands in their scoring bin, they take an additional play (but only once per turn).

If the last marker lands in an empty space, they collect that marker as well as any markers on the opposite side of the board.

Very, very simple.

Personal Thoughts

I first discovered this game in the PC game Quest for Glory III by Sierra. I played this a lot against the computer but I seemed to win a little too often (though the opponent's skill level may be modified by my character's intelligence, who knows). Anyway, I think I broke the AI.

After I met my to-be-wife, I got her this game and we’ve enjoying it spuratically ever since. It’s very simple and quite quick to play.

This game has been solved. What this means is that if you had a supercomputer figure out every possible combination, it’s been determined that the ideal opponent will always cause this game to end in a draw.

Whether that’s a downfall or not, I’d say no. If your opponent is a supercomputer, I’d recommend a different game. If your opponent is human, try it! It’s only a few dollars at Wal-Mart and it’s one of the “classic” games that any self-respecting gamer should own.

In Closing…

I heartily welcome your thoughts and comments. Post them or message me.

Thread: General Comment

fantum — 2004-08-19T20:45:41+00:00

Mancala games can be played solo by using a die to determine the opponent's move. If the move is illegal, roll again. This is a good way to test the rules of a new game and to practice while you are new to it.

Thread: General Comment

BoardGameGeek — 2002-01-01T06:00:00+00:00

I'm assuming the Alex Randolph 3M bookcase version of Mancala Daniel is referring to is Oh Wah Ree, which was first published in 1962. In this version, Randolph arranged the pits in a circle, allowing two, three, or four to play with the same display. Players showed ownership of a pit by placing a marble of their color in the hole provided on top of the pit. This also allowed games to be played in which *pits* could be captured, as well as the stones within them. Oh Wah Ree was an excellent production with a fine assortment of variants provided and was probably most American's first exposure to the fascinating world of Mancala.