These are clearly more time-consuming to make and more expensive to buy and may be regarded as prestigious objects owned by people of high social status. The two best-known versions are ayo, played in Nigeria, and wari, which is played across West Africa and the Caribbean.īoards from Sierra Leone are noted for their decorative openwork bases. The name mancala is a generic term - the game actually goes by numerous different local names, and has a wide variety of playing rules. Two-row mancala is the most popular version of the game and the easiest to play, but there are also three- and four-row boards. The aim is to capture as many of their opponent's pieces as possible. Two players or teams take it in turns to drop their pieces into the holes, moving them around the board in a set direction the name 'mancala' comes from an Arabic verb meaning 'to move'. Unlike chess, mancala is not a quiet game, and the noise of play is often accompanied by the shouts of the players. Wood is a popular material, partly because of the satisfying noise that 'sowing' the pieces into the holes makes. The pieces are seeds, shells or whatever comes to hand, and the boards can be dug into the sand or dirt, or even carved into rock. The game's popularity may partly stem from the fact that it is easy to play anywhere. Mancala is an ancient game still played across Africa, Asia, the West Indies, parts of South America and the Middle East.
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