Layli Goobalay

Layli Goobalay, also spelled Layli Goobaly, is a board game played in parts of Somalia and belonging to the mancala family of count and capture games found across Africa and Asia. Its name means to exercise with circles in the Somali language, describing the sowing action at the heart of play. Like other mancala games, it derives from the Arabic word naqala, meaning to move, reflecting the shared mechanic of picking up and redistributing counters, seeds or stones pit by pit around a board. Mancala games such as Layli Goobalay are counted among the oldest two player strategy board games played anywhere in the world, with roots that predate written history in many regions. In Somalia the game is played informally, often on boards scooped directly into the ground rather than on manufactured equipment.