Mancala is played today primarily in Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the Caribbean area. But still mancala boards were found in ancient castles in Germany, Islamic cultures name the game with respect to the physical action that takes place during the game calling the game "mancala" (The word "mancala" means to move in Arabic).Ĭount-and-Capture Games were never very popular in Europe, except in the Baltic area, where they loved the game Bohnenspiel. In certain West-African dialects the holes in the board are referred to as warri or awari and in those cultures the game is called "Wari". ![]() The number of seeds and the number of holes featured depends on the type of game. These versions of the game typically contain holes which house marbles or rocks, seeds or beans, or other small round objects called “seeds”. In the agora of Izmir, a Mancala board was found which proofs that the Romans and ancient Greeks also played the game. Parts of Africa and then to the Middle East. Stone Mancala boards from 1400BC have been found carved into the roofs of Kurna temples in Memphis, Thebes and Luxor. It's origins are rooted in ancient Egypt. Earlier version of Mancala games used primitive tools constructed of wood or clay, or the game board You can also download an app from the iTunes store or play online.Mancala is one of the oldest two-player strategy games in the world and has been played throughout Asia and Africa for over 7.000 years. If you want to play Mancala, you have endless options! If you don’t want to buy a handcrafted or mass-produced board (or you just feel up to some arts and crafts), you can make your own using egg cartons and play using rocks or marbles. While many of us won’t achieve the skill of a great mancala player (a “bao bingwa” or “fundi” in Swahili) we can enjoy the game as some great fun and mental exercise. Stronger players are able to do these kinds of calculations in their heads and can predict what the board will look like several moves out. Without the idiosyncrasies of human players, very little of the game is left up to chance and mathematical analysis can illustrate what a flawless game could look like. Programmers sometimes refer to the game as “Nim” after a machine exhibited at the World’s Fair in 1940. Much like chess, mancala has been a subject of interest for mathematicians and computer scientists. This version is the one that most Americans are familiar with today as the game “Mancala.” started manufacturing “Kalah” sets after come to believe that they had strong educational value. A version called “Warra” became more popular in Louisiana and in 1940 a man named Willie Julius Champion Jr. The Cape Verdean “Ouril” became more popular in New England for example. Different versions became more popular in different regions in accordance with the heritage of the people who had brought it over. Several mancala variations made their way over to the Americas and the Caribbean by way of African people taken in the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. There are still at least 200 regional variations in Africa including Ayoayo, Bao, Oware, Awale, Ouril, Warri, and Endodoi among innumerable others. Historians believe that mancala spread throughout Africa, into the Middle East and Asia, before eventually being brought to the United States. There’s been slight speculation that it was also used as a ritual or divination tool since some ancient boards were found in temples. Mancala is so old its precise origins are unknown, but the most reliable evidence exists for mancala having been played 3,600 years ago in Ancient Sudan or Ghana. It’s a two-player game that’s also called “pits and pebbles” since players sometimes choose to dig small holes to play if a board is not available. ![]() The word “mancala” is derived from the Arabic word “naqala” which means “to move” and is generally used to describe a family of board games that represents sowing and harvesting. This paradoxical quality is likely why mancala has been played for literally thousands of years. Though it has fewer pieces than Monopoly, it hardly requires less strategy it has simple rules, but it’s not easy to win. Played by school children and bar patrons alike, the game is immensely popular and we all have a cousin or a friend with a board and a set of marbles. Mancala is a game that makes regular appearances at board game nights.
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