| Isolo |
| Other Names: Isumbi |
| First Description: Assia Popova, 1979 |
| Cycles: Two |
| Ranks: Four |
| Sowing: Multiple laps |
| Region: Tanzania |
Isolo (according to Kalumbete also called Isumbi) is the name of three related mancala games of the Sukuma in Tanzania. This is the most simple variant, which is played by women.
Rules
The board consists of four rows with eight holes each.
The game begins with 2 seeds per hole.
The right to start the first game is determined at random. In the following games, players alternate.
Initial Position
Each player controls the two rows next to him. All sowings are only on the player's own side.
On her turn, the player takes all the seeds from a hole on her side, which contains at least two seeds, and sows them counterclockwise, one by one, into the following holes.
If the last seed of a lap is dropped into an empty hole, the move ends.
If the last seed of a lap is sown in a hole that doesn't permit a capture, he takes all the seeds of this hole and keeps on sowing.
If the last seed of a lap falls in a hole of the inner row and the opponent's holes that are opposite have any seeds, she captures them. The captures are then sown in another lap starting at the same hole where the lap began that effected the capture.
If, on his turn, a player cannot move (he has no seeds or all of them are singletons), he has lost the game.
See also
References
- Kalumbete, B. B.
- ISOLO, or Bao played by the Sukuma. April 1, 2001. [Published Email]
- Popova, A.
- Isolo: Jeu Royal des Sukuma. In: Cahiers d'Études Africaines 1979; 19 (73-76): 111-123.
Copyright
© Wikimanqala.
By: Víktor Bautista i Roca.
Under the CC by-sa 2.5.