AYO OLOPON. YORUBA MANCALA GAME

The rules of ayo olopon are quite simple, but applying them to gain the upper hand is quite technical. Each player has six pots on their side, and these pots contain four seeds each. From there on, this series of steps happen: The first player starts by picking up all the four seeds and distributing them (one per hole) as they move through the pots in a right-hand (counter-clockwise) movement. This movement might see them cross into the opponent’s side or stay on theirs, depending on which pit they pick their starting seeds from. Each player gets one turn. As soon as the distribution move above terminates, it becomes the turn of the next player This goes on till a player finds a way to ensure their last seed lands in a pit on their opponent’s side which brings the tally of the seeds in such a pit to 2 or 3 (less than four, but more than one). They are entitled to capture all of those seeds as theirs. The game continues till there are no moves left, and the player with the most seeds win.