Trouble by Jane Kurtz. Illustrated by Durga Bernhard (1997) Reading Level: Ages 4-8. 40 pages. Gulliver Books. ISBN: 0152002197.
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More About Gebeta (Mancala)
| Wooden boards are usually used to play Mancala
games. The board has rows of cups or holes which contain seeds or
similar pieces. Most often there are 2, 3, or 4 rows of holes and
generally two players. The board is placed so as each player looks at
the board, the rows of holes run from left to right, not up and down. A
variation of the game from East Africa, Bao, is generally considered
the most complicated of the variations. There is a modern version which
has been invented in the last few decades. One of these games is "Cups"
by Arthur and Wald Amberstone. Directions for this game are included in
Sid Sackson's book A Gamut of Games (Nelson, 1969). A more recent book, The Complete Mancala Games Book
by Larry Russ (Marlowe, 1999) will contain addition information about
many of the variations. The picture to the right shows Men in Malawi,
playing a variation of the gebeta game. |
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Those wishing to learn about Omweso, the Royal Mancala game of Uganda,
may wish to visit a site hosted by the International Omweso Society in
London. The Omweso website
states that "Omweso is an ancient "Mancala" count and capture game
played in Uganda. The rules are deceptively simple, but it is said that
it is the most challenging board game in Africa." The site provides
rules, strategies, and tactics for playing.
Learn about hundreds of variations by reading Paul Smith's article MindZine: Mancala Games and more about gebeta.
Then for more information go to these sources:
Books:
Bell, Robbie. Board Games Round the World : A Resource Book for Mathematical Investigation. Paperback - 124 pages (April 1989); ISBN: 0521359244 ; $20.95. Order the book from www.amazon.com or your local book dealer.
Bell, R. C. Board and Table Games from Many Civilizations (Dover Publications, Inc., New York, 1979, Revised edition June 1980. ISBN: 0486238555. Order the book from www.bookfinder.com or your local book dealer. -- Describes seven variations of Mancala games from Africa, India, and South America.
Finkel, Irving. Ancient Board Games. Stewart Tabori & Chang, 1997. ISBN: 1556706588 ; $19.95. Order the book from Amazon.com, www.bookfinder.com, or your local book dealer.
Kovach, Roger P. Oware, the National Game of Africa. Morrison Quick Print.
Oakland, CA, 1995. Order direct from the address below. -- The game
(3.5 in. diskette) and book are sent together. Packaging, packing,
addressing and shipping (postage) for the US and Canada is $3.00 US
Make check or money-order payable to R. P. Kovach Include your Mailing
Address
Mail to:
Oware!
P. O. Box 1009
Bolinas, CA 94924-1009
Murray, H. J. R. The History of Board Games Other than Chess. Oxford University Press, 1952. Out-of-print but may be available at a local library or from an out-of-print book dealer.
Nsimbi, M. B. Omweso, A Game People Play in Uganda. Occasional Paper No. 6, African Studies Center. University of California, Los Angeles 90024, 1968. Order the book from www.bookfinder.com.
Russ, Larry. Complete Mancala Games Book; How To Play The World's Oldest Board Game.. Paperback - 128 pages illustrated edition (August 1999) Marlowe & Co; ISBN: 1569246831. Order the book from www.amazon.com or your local book dealer. For more information :
Zaslavsky, Claudia. Africa Counts: Number and
Pattern in African Culture. Paperback. Revised edition, August 1997.
Lawrence Hill & Co; ISBN: 1556520751 ; $14.95 Order the book from www.amazon.com. Paperback. 3rd edition May 1999. Lawrence Hill & Co; ISBN: 1556523505 : $16.95. Amazon.com, www.bookfinder.com, or your local book dealer.
Websites
http://tft.www.media.mit.edu/courses/tft96/Students/ridleyb/assignments/toy1.html -- Focuses on educational issues.
http://tft.www.media.mit.edu/courses/tft96/Students/ridleyb/assignments/toy2.html -- Mancala as a toy.
http://www.cs.ruu.nl/~hansb/d.gam/mancala.html -- Many links to electronic versions.
http://www.ugames.com/rules/mancala.html -- Rules for Mancala.
http://www.playsite.com/games/board/mancala/index.html -- Rules for Mancala.
http://www.ktca.org/donnasday/creative/activ15.html -- Egg carton version.
http://members.aol.com/agcrump/mancala.htm -- Online shareware version.
http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/hist-games/archive/0084.html -- Rules variations.
http://www.gamerz.net/pbmserv/wari.html -- E-mail Wari play.
http://family.go.com/Features/family_0101_01/famf/famf010101_famfmankala/famf010101_famfmankala.html -- Egg carton game
http://members.dca.net/areid/oware.htm -- Simple instructions and egg carton game.
http://geocities.com/Hollywood/Screen/3946/Mankala.html -- Electronic version and instructions.
http://barbadosahoy.com/barbadosphotogallery/warri/warrigame.htm -- Extensive history of Barbados Warri.
http://barbadosahoy.com/barbadosphotogallery/warri/warrirules.htm -- Rules of Barbados Warri.
http://www.gamecabinet.com/rules/Bao.html -- Rules of play for Bao.
http://www.lettersfromafrica.org/dir/subjects/bao.html -- Rules of play for Bao, written by a child.
http://cernan.ecn.purdue.edu/~ee373/kalah.html -- Rules of play for Kalah.
http://www.mickeylelandmuseum.org/oware.htm -- Extensive history and rules of play for Oware.
http://www-air.inria.fr/People/berroir/ -- Rules of play, links, and electronic version of Awele.
http://www.crl.com/~rkovach/oware/order.htm -- Order "The Wonderful Oware Book"--comes with software.
http://www.crl.com/~rkovach/oware/book.htm -- Preface to "The Wonderful Oware Book."
http://www.gre.ac.uk/~sk442/WOF1Calendar98.htm -- World Oware Federation.
http://www.gre.ac.uk/~sk442/newslet.htm -- Oware Society, London.
http://members.aol.com/HyadesSoft/mancala/index.html -- Photo site of an Oware fan.
http://www.ahs.uwaterloo.ca/~museum/vexhibit/CC/countcap.html#Table1 -- Extensive site about global count and capture games.
http://www.ahs.uwaterloo.ca/~museum/index.html#countcap -- Extensive searchable site for the University of Waterloo, museum and archive of games.
http://members.aol.com/GBShare/awalink.htm -- Comprehensive Awale/Mancala/Wari-related resource with extensive links.
Name Variants:
Aba-pa
Adi--Nigeria
Adji
Ananam
Awale--Ivory Coast
Awari--Antilles
Awele--West Africa
Ayo--West Africa
Ayo-Ayo
Ba-Awa--Ghana.
Bao--Tanzania (East Africa), Zanzibar, Malawi (Central Africa)
Chunka/Chuncajon--Philippines
Congkak/Congklak--Malaysia
Gebata/Gabata--Ethiopia
Kalah/Kalaha--Ancient Orient, Egypt
Kay
Kpo
mancala/mankala--East Africa
Ohoro--West Africa
Omweso--Uganda
Ourin
Ourri--Spain
Oware [NCHOLOKOTO or OKWE]--West Africa
Poo
Rambool--Vietnam
Sungka--Philippines
Ti Wari(Antigua)/Warri(Barbados)--Originated in Ghana-->West Indies
pallanguli (Sri Lanka i sud de l'ïndia)
chisolo (Zimbabwe)
lontu-holo (djuka de Surinam)
hus (khoikhoin del Zaire, Zimbabwe i Azïnia)
mweiso (Tanzania)
bao kiswahilibao bau (illes Comores)
kiuthi (massai)
mefuhva (Transvaal)
conglak (Indonïsia)
mankal'ah l'ib al-ghashim i leab el-akil (països ïrabs)
kalah (Eua)
kiarabu (Zanzïbar)
ise-onzin-egbe (Nigïria)
tchuka ruma (l'ïndia)
aware, awele, adi, ti, walu i mbo (Kenya)
Places where Mancala games are played include the following:
"The entire continent of Africa (over 50 countries), Brazil, Middle
East, Caribbean Countries, Vietnam, India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia,
Indonesia, Philippines, South America, [former] Soviet Socialist
Republic, etc." -- http://home.att.net/~daniel.nwasokwa/MANCALA-GAMES/index.html
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