Anywoli

Anywoli is a traditional mancala game played by the Anuak people of the Gambela province in Ethiopia, as well as in the Akobo, Pochalla and Jokau regions of South Sudan. Its name translates roughly as bringing to life or giving birth, and the game shares underlying mechanics with other West African mancala games such as Ba-awa and Obridjie. It is played on a board of two rows of twelve holes each, called oto in the Anuak language, with four seeds known as nyibare, meaning children of the board game, placed in every hole at the start of play. Each player controls one row of the board and on a turn picks up all the seeds from one of their own holes, sowing them one at a time counterclockwise around the board; the turn ends either when the last seed sown lands in an empty hole or when it triggers a capture. A capture happens whenever a hole comes to hold exactly four seeds, at which point those seeds are removed and claimed by the hole's owner, and if a player's final sown seed creates such a four seed hole in the opponent's row, that player captures those seeds and their turn ends there. Once only eight seeds remain on the board the player whose turn it is takes them all, and the game is won by whoever has captured the most seeds overall.