Mancala Oware (Owari)
Mancala is an abstract stragegy game for 2 players (10 min game) where the object capture the most marbles. This game is from Africa and there are tons of variants out there. I like to play Oware (Owari) the best. In The classic version rules come with the game so just read those if you wish to play that one. Oware has the most strategy to it though. To capture pieces you must end your marbles on an opponent's side cup (can't capture marbles on your own row of cups) with either one or two marbles. Thus any one you increase to two or three marbles you capture all of those marbles in that cup.
To start each of the 12 cups is filled with four marbles each. The top player has the top six rows of cups and owns the mancala (big empty space to his right). The bottom player owns the bottom six rows of cups and owns the mancala to his right where capture marbles are placed.
Movement is COUNTER-clockwise. Still not sure if you did play clockwise how it'd affect Oware though. Rules are rules though. So top player chooses a cup from his rows and moves all the marbles placing one each in the next cups counter-clockwise.
So now top left has 5 marbles, bottom left has 5 marbles, etc.
Bottom player has six marbles (this is for all the marbles...sorry couldn't resist) and moves counter-clockwise.
Bottom player captures the top left cup (two marbles) and also captures the one before it since it had one marble previously too. You can do this capturing as long as it's not broken (completely chain capturing, if you will).
Bottom player places the four capture marbles in his mancala (right side of player).
Top player is capturing a cup with two marbles in it (if either one or two marbles are in the cup it is up for capture).
Bottom player takes the three captured marbles and places them in his mancala (to his right).
wEnd of the game is when no one can make a move to the other side or both players agree it's an endless chase around the board. Remaining marbles are disregarded. The player with the most marbles wins.
Picked Mancala wood game board up from Target for five dollars.
Updated Nov 9, 2005
