Mancala is a game categorized as a “count and capture game”, where players move objects around a game board in a circuit to either earn points or capture their opponent’s pieces. The name is derived from the Arabic verb of the same name, which translates into English as “to move”. The game board itself features rows of depressions, called warri or awari, which are used to house the playing counters for the game. However, the board can vary differently due to the many, many versions of this game. These include whether or not the board has banks for scoring purposes, the number of depressions in each row, and whether the board has two or four rows.
The game of Mancala originated in Ancient Egypt and some versions of it have been fairly popular throughout the ages according to Alex de Voogt. However, much of the physical evidence of it has been lost, since wooden board would deteriorate over time and some “boards” are temporarily made in the sand. Various versions of the game has since been spread out into the world, though the most notable locales are Africa, the Middle East, and in the Caribbean . According to Voogt, many players often took their Mancala boards with them while traveling, and some even traded their boards, which could explain some of the wide-spread nature of the game. Another way versions of this game have spread across the globe is from the slave trade, which helped bring the Warri variation over into the Caribbean, the Cape Verde islands, and Brazil Caribbean , in turn, has continued to spread the game to its visitors, as the board is often sold to tourists and the board itself can be folded and carried along for easy storage.
As stated before, there are a huge number of variations of Mancala style games, which means that the boards and rules have a variety of tweaks between them. Perhaps one of the most interesting variations is the Owela version, native to Namibia , a country in South Africa
The commercial American, Kalah, was originally made in the 1950’s, and is most similar to the Caribbean version of Warri. The goal of the game is to deposit game pieces into your bank. The game can start with three, four, five, or six playing pieces in each hole, however three or four is usually the starting amount. Players take turns taking all of the playing pieces in a cubby on their side and place them one by one around the board in a counter-clockwise motion, starting from the cubby to the right of the recently emptied one. If the last piece falls in the players own bank, or kalah, the player receives another turn; meanwhile, if the last piece falls into a previously empty cubby hole, the player may take all the pieces from the cubby directly across from it. Play ends when all the small pits on one side of the board are empty, and the one with the most pieces in their kalah wins.
The whole series of Mancala style games have a fascinating history and cultural importance in many sectors of the globe. There are many, many types of these games across the world, whether it is in a casual drop-in/drop-out setting, a friendly challenge, or in a more organized group or club. These games can also have a deceptive amount of strategy, due to the easy to grasp and learn nature of some of these games. Whatever spin is put on it or what it is being called, counting games are an intriguing type of game well worth pursing if the chance to experience it ever approaches.
Sources Used:
“Mancala: Games That Count”. de Voogt, Alex. Expedition. Vol. 43, Issue 1. p38. 2001.
“Count and Capture Games (mancala)”. Elliot Averdon Virtual Museum of Games
http://www.gamesmuseum.uwaterloo.ca/VirtualExhibits/countcap/pages/index.htm
“Kalah (Mancala)”. Elliot Averdon Virtual Museum of Games University of Waterloo
Aug 30 2010.
http://www.gamesmuseum.uwaterloo.ca/VirtualExhibits/countcap/pages/kalah.html
Aug 30 2010.
http://www.gamesmuseum.uwaterloo.ca/VirtualExhibits/countcap/pages/kalah.html
