A Centuries Old/New Game That Is Better Than 52 Card Pick Up!
Written: Mar 17 '03 (Updated Mar 17 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Easy to learn, fun game, for the whole family.
Cons: Pieces can easily be lost or sucked up the vacuum. No expense to replace.
The Bottom Line: Mancala is game that any generation can play. The folding board makes it easy to store - but the real heart is easily laid out for all to enjoy.
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| lynus's Full Review: Fogdog Folding Mancala In A Tin |
Mancala is a game of history. Much like cards, its foundation was made so many eons ago that history has become blurred as to when it began, by who, and for what purpose. It’s a game that has found its mark in countless civilizations, in many forms, and has much like a typical 52 card deck found its way into just about every store although hardly changed as the years and centuries have passed.
The game is mainly about mathematics. There is a little bit of luck involved, but ultimately the game is about your ability to perceive and count pieces in the wake of the weight of your opponent as they too perceive and count pieces. Almost like poker, you can give away your entire hand based on a misplaced gesture or smile. Yet, if you want to be successful at Mancala you need to spend more time thinking about your straggly in your mind than thinking about what the next move your fingers will do.
In most Mancala boards – at least those commonly found on shelves here in America (there are different variations across multiple boarders) the game is set up as follows. A Mancala board has two large portions that are spooned from wood (or plastic depending on what you buy!). The two main portions act as your safe zone – the ultimate position you want the pieces to be in, in order to win the game. The playing field is made up of several smaller cups spooned out in the wood that act as the resting place for the Mancala pieces. The trick is, to get more pieces into your safety zone than your opponent.
The game play beings as follows. Upon setup four stones (more often the game “pieces” are flat plastic representatives of stones) are played into each smaller spoon like cup on the board. When the first player goes first s/he determines which bowl of stone s/he is to pick up. The trick is, and it’s a move that is the foundation of the game and will continue from beginning to end – is that the player must pick up all stone in the cup in order to play. You can’t pick up one, or two, or four, you must pick all stone that are in the cup of your choosing.
The next trick is, after you pick up the pieces from the bowl you want, is that you have to place one stone in each cup as you move in a counter clock-wise fashion around the board. The safety cup however to your immediate left is not your safety cup – but that of your opponent. As it is the case for your opponent.
What makes the game a little more interesting is that if at any time while moving around the board your opponent drops a stone into an empty bowl on their own side, and the bowl directly opposite of that bowl on your own side is not empty – that player can pick up all the stones in your bowl and place them into their safety bowl. So the trick comes to heed that you have to think and calculate and count the stones in each bowl and the subsequent actions that your opponent may think with each move.
If both players are smart and good at counting quietly in their heads, the game can move rather quickly, but the flip-side is that the game could move very slowly. If you want to speed things along a little, you can enact a house rule where players can only count the stones in each bowl by visually looking at them alone – they cannot pick up each piece. Kind of like trying to guess the total number of jelly-beans in a jar.
The game ends, when all the pieces from the game have found their way into one of the two safety zones. The player with the most stones in their safety zone, wins!
Depending on where you bought the game or from what culture you are from – the game has a few variations. From what I have been able to explore is that in some areas there are more bowls in the playing field, and different objects in what you play for (in some cultures stones are replaced with sea-shells). But the ultimate goal is to get more of what is in front of you to your side than your opponent.
On the surface the game may seem extremely straightforward. But by far it is not really that simple. For one, you have to not only count the number of stones on your side, but also count the number of stones on your opponents side and read into what they could and may do with the stones they have, that may force your hand in a way you may not desire. Part of it is luck but another part is skill – and through it all, it is best to think what you feel is skill or luck in the confines of your own skull. No talking out loud!
Overall, the game I think would be a great learning experience for a young child – although adults would have to keep an eye that no pieces went missing. Then again, even if they did, the pieces could easily be replaced with anything ranging from pebbles found during a nature walk to M&M’s. What makes up the game isn’t as important to treasure as what the game itself is made of.
This is definitely one game that you will remember for all time and one game that will be there in your family for centuries to come.
Note: The Mancala version I speak of here, is like the image you see above. The game folds easily and can be placed into a tin storage for storage. Both the tin, wood, and game pieces are made of a higher quality than I’ve seen in most games and should survive through lots of family exposure. Sure some “stones” may go missing over the years, but as I mentioned earlier those pieces can easily be replaced.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 0.00
Type of Toy: Game
Age Range of Child: 6 to 8 Years
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