Has anybody ever heard of the game Mancala? It's a pretty neat game....also a stone game but not grid based. It's not nearly as complex as pente either but it does rely on a little bit of strategy. It's elimination game with the winner being whoever has the most stones at the end of the game. I suggested it to Dweebo as a possible addition to one of his upcoming versions. If someone does know of this game and possibly a place to play online please pass that info along to me. thanks
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Mancala may well be the oldest game in the world since, like Morris variations, it can be easily played with whatever medium happens to be around. For instance, African people often play using hollows scooped into the earth with pebbles, rings in the sand with cowrie or other seashells or specially carved wooden board with seeds. It is a wholly mathematical game and its more complex versions have as much scope as Chess despite its primitive origins.
Stone Mancala boards have been found carved into the roofs of temples in Memphis, Thebes and Luxor - the game was definitely being played in Egypt before 1400BC. It appears that the game might have evolved in Egypt from boards and counters which were used for accounting and stock taking; evidence for such record keeping boards having been found in even more Ancient Sumeria as well as Ancient Egypt.
Also, I haven't tried yet, but you can play (against a computer) at
Thanks Will! I'm playing the computer at that site right now....it seems ok . I recommend to anybody out there to go check it out....it's a pretty neat game. And then we ought to talk to Dweebo about maybe putting it up on his site (if he can do it). Anyhow, thanks again!
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Re: Mancala
Posted:
Feb 20, 2001, 11:26 AM
WoW! You are quite a historian Will! That was interesting about Mancala. I wonder if stone type games were played on the floors of the caves where those people painted such great pictures on the walls?? I am convinced they did! I know they had stones back then so why not?? Does anyone know more about the origins of stone games like Go? Joe
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I really don't know anything about Go etc, but it is interesting to speculate on what people were doing that long ago. They had to entertain themselves somehow I guess.
Will
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Re: Mancala
Posted:
Feb 20, 2001, 10:42 PM
This Christmas I've won a Mancala Board. I've not yet studied the game. It seems to be very interesting. I will try to play Mancala over the Internet in order to learn how to play.
I can place a picture of my board in the photo section of the club (If someone is interested in it).
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Sierra's Quest for Glory 3 for the PC lets you play Mancala as a mini-game. Its a couple of years old so it may be hard to find however but its one of the few computer games set in an Africanish setting.
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Yes, Will, I am sure that sometimes they had to entertain themselves. However, I would think they had to spend a greater percentage of the day on mere survival than we do. FAR greater.
This message was originally posted at Yahoo's pente group.
