Awari: The African Stone Game

Enjoy strategy games? Try playing Awari, one of the world's oldest board games.

Awari is one of the oldest games. There is evidence that it was invented by the Maasai tribes in Eastern Africa and has been played for more than 4,000 years.

Awari is a two player game with simple rules but a complex strategy. Players take turns and the player with the most stones in their Kala at the end of the game wins. Optionally a player can choose to match wits against the computer.

Play begins by selecting one of the six pits on the players side of the game board. Moving counter-clockwise, one stone is dropped in each pit.

If a player lands in their Kala with their last stone, the player gets an extra turn.

If the player lands in an empty pit on their side of the board, they capture their stone and all the stones in the pit on the opposite side of the board.

The game ends when one player clears all the stones from their side of the board. All remain stones are captured by the player.