Awale, also known as Awélé, Wari or Awele, is one of the oldest strategy games, similar to Mancala. Its origin is believed to be from ancient Egypt. These games are very popular in Africa today and symbolize the importance of agriculture.
- Goal: Capture as many seeds as possible. The player with the most seeds at the end of the game wins.
- Players: 2
- Board: The game is played on a board with 2x6 holes.
- Preparation: Each player places 4 seeds in each of the 6 holes in front of them.
- Storage Holes: Each player has a storage hole on their right-hand side, which does not count as a playing hole.
- Play: The first player takes all the seeds from one of their holes and drops one in each subsequent hole in an anti-clockwise direction.
- Capture: If the last seed is dropped in a hole on the opponent's side that already has 1 or 2 seeds, the player captures the resulting 2 or 3 seeds. This process can continue, called a "sweep", if the previous hole also has 2 or 3 seeds.
- Loop: If a player captures more than 11 seeds, it creates a loop in the game where the starting hole is skipped, and the player continues in a similar way.
- Forbidden Move: A player cannot make a move that captures all the seeds from the opponent's side.
- End of Game: The game ends when one player has no seeds left in their camp, and the other player captures the remaining seeds.