Oware

History and society

Oware is perhaps the most widespread game in the mancala family. It is considered the national game of Bono State, Ashanti City-State, and Antigua & Barbuda. Its name literally means 'he/she marries' and derives from an Akan legend about a man and woman who played endlessly and married to stay together.

Reflecting traditional African values, players encourage participation by onlookers, making it a social two-player abstract. Spectators often discuss the game and advise players. The game also played an important role in teaching arithmetic to African children.

Rules

The abapa variation is considered the most appropriate for serious adult play. The game uses an oware board and 48 seeds. A typical board has two straight rows of six pits called houses, and optionally one large score house at each end. Each player controls the six houses on their side and the score house on their end.

The game begins with four seeds in each of the twelve smaller houses. Boards may be elaborately carved or simple; they may include a pedestal or be hinged to fold for portability. Scoring houses are most commonly at either end but may be placed elsewhere. The ground may also serve as a board.

In the Caribbean, seeds are typically nickernuts; beads, pebbles, oval-shaped marbles, or cowrie shells are also used. The objective is to capture more seeds than the opponent; capturing 25 wins, and 24 each results in a draw. Players take turns moving seeds. On a turn, a player chooses one of their six houses, removes all seeds from it, and sows them one per house counter-clockwise, skipping the starting house and the end scoring houses.

If a house contained 12 or more seeds, it is skipped and the twelfth seed goes in the next house. After sowing, seeds in houses on the opponent's side that contain two or three seeds are captured.

Variations

A grand slam in Oware means taking every one of the opponent's seeds in a single move. Different rules handle this situation. Some versions forbid the move entirely. Others allow it but give no capture—this is common in international play.

Another rule permits the move but then gives all remaining seeds to the opponent. Some rules let the move happen but skip capturing the first or last house. In 2002, researchers at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam proved that in versions where a grand slam ends the game, either player can force a draw. One commercial version, Oh-Wah-Ree, was sold by 3M in 1964.