Mū tōrere

Mu torere is a two-player abstract strategy board game played mainly by Maori people of New Zealand's North Island. Each player controls four counters on a small star-shaped board of eight outer points surrounding a single central space, moving one counter at a time along the board's lines with the aim of blocking the opponent so they cannot move. Despite its small board, experienced players can plan many moves ahead, and the game is considered a genuine mind sport rather than a children's pastime. Mu torere carries deep cultural roots, with its play and stakes woven into Maori oral history; one account describes a Ngati Haua chief offering a match against the colonial governor George Grey with a district as the stake, an offer Grey declined. Maori players developed a reputation for winning considerable sums from settlers unfamiliar with the game's tight, blocking-based strategy.