So far in covering a few of the dozens of mancala family games this column has focused on some simple, yet interesting versions.
But there are also mancala games which are far more complex in nature, and Bao is one that gamers wanting a far greater challenge will want to look into.
Bao is a traditional mancala board game played in most of East Africa including Kenya, Tanzania, Comoros, Malawi, as well as some areas of DR Congo and Burundi,鈥� details Wikipedia. 鈥淚t is most popular among the Swahili people of Tanzania and Kenya; the name itself Bao is the Swahili word for 鈥榖oard鈥� or 鈥榖oard game鈥�. In Tanzania, and especially Zanzibar, a 鈥渂ao master鈥� (called bingwa, 鈥渕aster鈥�; but also fundi, 鈥渁rtist鈥�) is held in high respect. In Malawi, a close variant of the game is known as Bawo, which is the Yao equivalent of the Swahili name.
鈥淏ao is well known to be a prominent mancala in terms of complexity and strategical depth, and it has raised interest in scholars of several disciplines, including game theory, complexity theory, and psychology. Official tournaments are held in Tanzania, Zanzibar, Lamu (Kenya), and Malawi, and both mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar have their Bao societies, such as the Chama cha Bao founded in 1966.鈥�
Players will note some immediate difference with Bao, starting with a board larger than the more entry level mancala games. Bao is based on a mancala board comprising four rows of eight pits each. Each player owns a half of the board comprising two adjacent rows.
Some pits that play a special role in the game have specific names. The fourth rightmost pit in the 鈥榠nner鈥� row of each half board is called nyumba (house) or kuu (main); in most traditional boards, it is visually distinguished by a square shape.
The first and last pits of the inner row are called kichwa (head), while the name kimbi applies to both the kichwa and the pits adjacent to them (i.e., the second and next to last pit in the row).
Every player has 32 undifferentiated counters, or seeds.
Since Bao is a traditional game from a region with a strong oral tradition there are different rule sets out there. The initial setup of seeds is one of the elements that distinguish different versions of the game.
Since the rules are far more complex, in the collection and sowing of seeds I suggest heading to www.kibao.org for a more detailed outline than can be provided here.
This is also a game where a visit to www.youtube.com is a great idea. There are some excellent instructional videos regarding Bao which as nearly must watch for beginners.
This game offers more depth than players familiar with simpler mancala games might expect, and certainly more complexity too. That said it is perhaps the best of the family for just those reasons too.
