Mancala - Warri | Ancient African game | Rules | History | Strategy

Description provided by The Gaming Bench on YouTube:

Mancala is the name of a family of “count and capture” games with similar rules. The oldest is believed to date to at least the 3rd century, but is probably much older. This video focuses on Warri (or Oware, Warra, Awari, and many other names) — the version must familiar to American players. Mancala/Warri build video: https://youtu.be/TInmLKhEvgA Nine Men’s Morris rules/history/strategy: https://youtu.be/nxL7-HCcur4 African Math YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@AFRICANMATH www.thegamingbench.com Want to support the channel? Drop me a couple bucks at https://buymeacoffee.com/thegamingbench. Thanks! PHOTO CREDITS Beit Shean national park CC BY 4.0 Bukvoed https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Bukvoed Bao board from Zanzibar CC BY-SA 2.5 Víktor Bautista i Roca www.wikimanqala.org Bao/Omweso board w/jade gemstones CC BY-SA 3.0 Yintan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Yintan Thai mancala board CC BY-SA 4.0 Pratyeka https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Pratyeka Speelbord voor mancala spel CC BY-SA 3.0 Collectie Stichting Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen https://collectie.wereldmuseum.nl/default.aspx?ccid=88368#/query/599ac34e-9ef8-4dc1-a1b0-1453fcfc9a7e Mancala Game Board CC BY 3.0 Online Collection of Brooklyn Museum; Photo: Brooklyn Museum https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/objects/12699 COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Spelstenen voor mancala spel CC BY-SA 3.0 Tropenmuseum https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Tropenmuseum Mancala Game Board CC BY 3.0 Online Collection of Brooklyn Museum; Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.22.220_top_PS5.jpg https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/objects/12704 Kisolo board CC BY-SA 4.0 Eaglegrafix https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Eaglegrafix&action=edit&redlink=1 Nagatief CC BY-SA 3.0 Collectie Stichting Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen https://collectie.wereldmuseum.nl/default.aspx?ccid=290046#/query/bc750854-e580-4d96-abb1-064ebc58b388 Generic mancala 2x6 CC BY-SA 3.0 PilotPrecise https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:PilotPrecise Yourba man and boys posing during a game of mancala CC BY-SA 3.0 Collectie Stichting Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen https://collectie.wereldmuseum.nl/default.aspx?ccid=292460#/query/647a2c12-ab55-4269-9a44-341d6e4a83be REFERENCES Publications * Bell, R.C. Board and Table Games from Many Civilizations, Dover Publications, 1979 * Bell, R.C. The Boardgame Book, The Knapp Press, 1979 * Culin, Stewart. “Mancala, The National Game of Africa.” Report of the U. S. National Museum for 1894, pp. 595-607 (with plates 1-5 and figures 1-15) * Depaulis, Thierry. “Board Games Before Ur?” Board Game Studies vol. 14, December 2020, pp. 127–144. * Depaulis, Thierry. “Early Mancala and Tab Boards Found in Israel (and in some Other Countries).” Board Game Studies vol. 18, Issue 1, October 2024, pp. 39-60. * De Voogt, Alex. “Misconceptions in the History of Mancala Games: Antiquity and Ubiquity.” Board Game Studies Journal vol. 15, Issue 1, April 2021, pp.1-12 * Donovan, Tristan. It’s All a Game, Atlantic Books, 2017 * Grunfeld, Frederic. Games of the World, Ballatine Books, 1977 * Loader, Jeff & Jennie. Making Board, Peg & Dice Games. Sterling Pub Co Inc., 1993 * Livingstone, Ian; Wallis, James. Board Games in 100 Moves, DK, 2019 * Murray, H.J.R. A History of Board-Games Other Than Chess, Oxford at the Clarendon Press, 1952 * Parlett, David. Parlett’s History of Board Games. Echo Point Books & Media, 2018 * Pritchard, David. The Family Book of Games. Brockhampton Press, 1995 * Rollefson, Gary. (1992). “A Neolithic Game Board from ʿAin Ghazal, Jordan.” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research. 286. 1. 10.2307/1357113. * Schadler, Ulrich. “Mancala in Roman Asia Minor?” Board Game Studies Journal Vol. 1, Issue 1, 1998, pp.10-25 * Smith, Patrick J. The Complete Anachronist #71: Period Pastimes. The Society for Creative Anachronism, 1994 * Wilkins, Sally. Sports and Games of Medieval Cultures, Greenwood Press, 2002 Timecodes 00:00 - Intro 00:52 - Board & pieces 01:52 - Basic rules 04:06 - Advanced rules 05:53 - History 15:54 - Strategy 18:46 - Wrap-up #boardgames #ancientgames, #africangames, #mancala, #wari, #gaming, #history STANDARD DISCLAIMER: I am not a professional game scholar. At best, I am an enthusiastic amateur. This means my work may be incomplete, biased and, (I hope only rarely) outright wrong. I work hard to use reliable sources, double-check for accuracy, and draw reasonable conclusions. However, the scholarship surrounding ancient games is constantly growing and evolving; as a part-time game researcher and YouTube content creator, I am not always up to date on the most recent findings. If I present anything that is demonstrably incorrect, please call me out so I may increase my personal knowledge and understanding of this fascinating subject. Reach me at heygamingbench@gmail.com.