About Azigo
In Where the Veil Thins, Isoken teaches Kenji how to play her favorite game, azigo.
What is azigo?
Azigo is a two-player game played by moving playing pieces, traditionally seeds, between the bowls that make up the game board. Azigo originated with the Igbo people of Africa and uses a very long game board with two rows of twenty bowls! However, you don’t need an official game board to play - you can make your own by drawing on a piece of paper or digging holes in the ground.
How to play mancala
Azigo is a type of mancala game. All mancala games involve moving pieces around similar game boards, but most types use a board with far fewer bowls. The most well-known game board style in the United States has rows of six small bowls, plus one larger bowl at each end.
Below is a list of rules for one version of mancala, but with so many variations, you’re free to come up with your own rules and game boards!
Setting Up
Place four playing pieces in each small bowl
Leave the large bowls empty
For a board with six small bowls per side, you’ll need 48 playing pieces
Taking a Turn
Scoop all the pieces out of a bowl on your side of the board
Moving counterclockwise, drop one piece in each bowl until you run out of pieces
If you reach your opponent’s large bowl (the one to your left), skip it
If your last piece goes in your large bowl (the one to your right), take another turn
If your last piece lands in any other bowl, your opponent’s turn begins
Special Rule: Capturing
If your last piece lands in an empty bowl on your side of the board, pick up that piece and any pieces in the matching bowl on your opponent’s side of the board and place them in your large bowl. In this picture, your opponent would want to choose their starting bowl so that they end in their empty bowl, capturing five of your pieces!
Ending the Game
The game ends when there are no pieces left on one player’s side of the board
The other player captures all the pieces remaining on their own side of the board
Each player counts how many pieces are in their large bowl
The player with the most pieces at the end of the game wins!
