Choko (game)

Choko is a two-player abstract strategy board game from the Gambia Valley in West Africa, played specifically by the Mandinka and Fula peoples and related to the game Yote. It is played on a grid of five by five holes set in the ground or drawn on a board, and each player has twelve pieces in two distinguishable colors. The goal is to capture all of the opponent's pieces. Play begins on an empty board with a drop phase in which players place one piece per turn, though the player holding the drop initiative may choose to move instead. Pieces step one space orthogonally, and capture by a short leap over an adjacent enemy piece in the manner of draughts, but only orthogonally. A capture also removes a second enemy piece chosen from anywhere on the board, so each capturing move takes two pieces.